AN: WAZZAP PEEPS?! This is my first fan-fiction, and to be honest, I'm a little nervous! Well, anyhow, just to clear a few things up, this takes place after Volume 2. Zwei is at the veterinary clinic, Roman is behind bars, Cinder is plotting, and Volume 3 isn't out yet (unfortunately).

So, enjoy! Leave a review, constructive criticism is welcomed.

Vale's Museum of Remnant History: 11 years ago…

Ruby gazed in awe as she was beholden to one of the most amazing pieces of jewelry that her silver eyes have ever seen. The four-year old was holding her father's hand along with her half sister, the blonde, six-year old Yang. The item in question was a silver necklace made with the purest of the metal, holding one of the most elegant emeralds among its smaller sisters.

"Wow…" Ruby had never seen such a sight in her life.

Taiyang looked down at his daughter, and smiled. Suddenly, he felt his left hand being tugged by his other, older daughter Yang.

"Hey Daddy, what's up with all this protection? It's just a rock…" Yang asked.

"Well, you see, sweety, some people put great value on things like rocks," Taiyang explained, "and they will pay a lot of lien to have them."

"Oooh… so they have to protect them from thieves?"

Taiyang chuckled. "Yes, they do."

"Umm… Daddy?" Ruby was pointing her little finger at the skylight, "there's something on the skylight…"

Taiyang looked up, then went wide eyed in surprise as the thing fell through the glass. The father instinctively covered his daughters to protect them from the falling debris. After the glass settled, Taiyang looked up from his terrified daughters to see a man… floating? The man wore a red tuxedo with a black rose pinned over his heart and a black cape with a dull silver trim. One of his gloved hands on the brim of his red and black striped fedora, bordered with a golden trim. He wore a half white mask over his face, covering the upper part of his face, his chin bared a goatee.

'By dust, who is that?' Taiyang thought as the man seamlessly lowered himself like a feather onto the display, a smile was very much present on his face. He swung his right arm out high with great manifesto.

"Hello all!" he exclaimed in a pleasant, yet exciting tone, "I do hope you enjoyed tonight's exhibit, but unfortunately…" he bowed, bringing the same arm into his stomach, "there will be a transfer of one of the items…" He stood up straight, then tapped his heel on the case, and an audible click was heard as he jumped off, the case's door swung open, exposing the necklace to the world. The man carefully grabbed it, then held it up in the air, studying it. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, and the glass shattered in front of the thief. He turned around to see a officer branding the Schnee symbol on his uniform, and wielding a small revolver. His hair was white and slicked back in a wave.

"Ah," the thief said, "Inspector Calt Schnee. What an honor…"

The inspector scoffed, "Put down the necklace, and surrender. Otherwise, I'll shoot… Krimson Kaito!"

A tsking sound came from the gentleman thief. "Don't you rich guys ever learn?"

He jumped up in the air, followed by bullets from the inspector. Krimson twirled in the air, avoiding the projectiles by inches, and landed on a catwalk. Calt continued to shoot at the thief, unaware that Taiyang was below said platform.

"Yang, Ruby! Go!" he ushered at the girls to move towards the exit, however, a stray bullet shot overhead, and cut a rope to one of the hanging skeletons on some pre-historic creature. The skull descended at an alarmingly high rate.

Straight towards the sisters.

"NO!" Taiyang screamed as the object crashed down on the tile, shattering into millions of pieces. He was on his knees, thinking he had lost the only two reminders of his friend, when suddenly…

"Ahem… Mr. Xiao Long?"

The hunter looked up to see Krimson on the ledge of a large stair-like exhibit case, behind it a large window, holding two girls, one with black and red hair and another with golden blonde. Krimson smiled. "These yours?"

"Yang! Ruby!" he was overcome with relief.

He sets both girls down on the step below him, Ruby looking up at the man.

"U-um… mister?"

Krimson looked down at the girl, and patted her head. In a puff of smoke, a rose appeared on his right hand, and gave it to Ruby, who took it with care. He chuckled, "You know, Ruby… you remind me of a little guy back home…"

"Really?" she asked. The phantom nodded, the ruffled her hair up. He then stood straight, facing the Schnee.

"For the seedlings of tomorrow… I, Krimson Kaito, shall perform one of his amazing magic tricks!" he exclaimed, snapping his fingers high in the air. The window behind him suddenly vaporized into an array of sakura petals, and leaned back, the window nor floor protecting him from gravity's wraith, falling down towards the street below. For a moment, everything was still, until the flapping of a cape, and a familiar scarlet phantom figure flew up into view. He took a few steps back on the air, and snapped his fingers, his body covered in flames, then exploded into dark silver flower petals, the thief gone. Calt cursed under his breath, but Taiyang ran up to his daughters, and embraced them tight.

"Thank god you two are alright…"

Present Day: Beacon Docks.

"Ugh… why do we have to go to a stupid museum…" Yang complained as she boarded the airship. Weiss rolled her eyes at the brawler, obviously annoyed.

"Well, since we were invited by my uncle to see the new gem collection at the Museum of Remnant, and we get in there for free, mind you, and get to see countless pieces of jewelry that are worth more than twenty million lien…"

"But…" Yang went on, "they're rocks!"

Blake patted her on the back, however, Ruby was looking out the window of the VTOL, lost in her sea of memories. A few minutes pass, then Yang glanced at her sister with some worry.

"Hey, sis… you alright?"

Ruby blinked, then turned her attention to her teammate. "Oh! Sorry…"

"Thinking about that day again?" Yang asked with a grin, which caught the attention of the faunus and the heiress.

"Yea… I mean, he was so cool! The way he held himself like he was the king of the world! Yet he was so kind…" Ruby trailed off a bit, then regained her train of thought, "Dad always wanted to thank him in person, but never got the chance after Krimson escaped-"

"Wait a minute, Ruby," Weiss interrupted, "Krimson as in the infamous Krimson Kaito? The very same one that stole the Green Tears?"

"Yup!" both Ruby and Yang said at once. Weiss groaned in sudden annoyance.

"Something you should tell us, Weiss?" Blake raised an eyebrow as she looked up from her book.

"My uncle is obsessed with him! He's always on the trail for that thief ever sense he made him look like a laughing stock in front of our family, and the robber's disappearance isn't helping anything!" Weiss vented, almost on the verge of another rant (the first one was in the morning "discussing" shower habits) until the intercom announced overhead.

"We have reached Vale's Museum of Remnant History. All passengers must exit the VTOL. We hope you had a nice flight!"

No more than ten seconds after team RWBY exited the airship, a man wearing a sharp grey suit with balding grey hair appeared before them. He had a piercing glare of the bluest eyes which froze the huntresses' souls in fear and terror. 'Wha- what is this?' Ruby thought, 'It's almost as if I'm being scolded by a Glynda who thinks we have stolen her chess pieces...'

Weiss, however, was the first one to snap out of it, and awkwardly smiled.

"Still haven't changed, have you, Uncle Calt?"

The 32 year old rolled his eyes. "Still see you're still a spoiled brat, my niece."

Weiss's eye twitched in annoyance, and gritted her teeth. "Mind letting my teammates go?"

Inspector Calt sighed and places a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, and the other three found themselves able to move again, much to their relief.

"What… was that?" Yang asked with uneasiness in her voice, which is peculiarly odd to the usually cheerful tone.

"My semblance. Intimidation and fear helps me with interrogations and catching crooks… speaking of which…" Calt nudged his glasses down a millimeter, which made Yang flinch in anticipation, "weren't you that kid that demolished that one particular club?"

"Um…" Yang was stuck between telling the law enforcement officer and staying quiet, but his glare…

Scary...

He waved his hand dismissively. "No worries, it's not in my department to investigate your case, Miss Xiao Long."

Yang sighed with relief, then the inspector handed four cards to each girl.

"These are your passes to the exhibit. I was in a good mood this morning, so I added a 100 lien allowance on each card, so you can buy lunch or whatnot."

Just as Weiss was about to say something, Calt was one step ahead. "By the way, it's your father's money."

With that, he strode off into the building, leaving a excited Ruby, a shocked Weiss, a suspicious Blake, and a relieved Yang.

"Wow… wonder what's new here!" Ruby spoke with a child-like tone, "Wonder if the new ancient weapon exhibit is open!"

"The nerve of him! He sometimes acts like the thieves he catches!" Weiss vented, her face slowly turning red with anger.

"Wonder how he did it…" Blake mused as she looked at the card with some regard. Her bow twitched a bit.

'Thank you, transcendental being for letting me avoid that glare again,' Yang prayed in her mind in a thankful tone.

Ruby raised her fist, and with an authoritative tone, she declared, "Team RWBY… Divide and conquer!"

Blake wandered the many halls of the museum, her boots making tapping noises on the black and white tile. She passed by many corridors and chambers, each one labeled something, such as History of Dust, Grimm Encounters: the Tale of the Southeast Quadrant, and many more until one sign caught her attention: Faunus Rights Revolution. She entered, which she was beholded to photos, antique weapons, pieces of old abandoned forts, and scenes of battles fought in the war. Blake's ember eyes glanced side-to-side, observing the photographs with intensity. One picture showed a human tank pressing through a forest, an army of men taking in P. behind it. Another one, a photo of human Lt. Must Custard before he was killed by an assassin at the Battle of Horn River. Suddenly, she felt a strange, ominous presence behind her…

"Who's there?" she called out as she quickly turned around. Only the hallway, devoted of any human or faunus presence, reached her eyes. She gave a quick glare down the monochrome corridor, then shrugged, and turned back towards the pictures. Little did she knew that her portable copy of Ninjas of Love: Volume 2, was poached from its nest in Blake's pocket.

Weiss groaned. She tapped her foot furiously out of pure impatience at the man's blabbing. Normally, she would either sit it out more calmly, or tell the man to get lost. However, when Inspector Calt contacted her, he specifically told Weiss that she should not reveal herself as a Schnee: no need to make an innocent trip a hostage situation. Suddenly, she was nudged slightly by a man wearing a long trench coat, her waist feeling lighter than it should be…

"Hey!" she called out to the man, who turned around.

"Hm? What is it?" he asked. Weiss outstretched her hand out.

"Give me my money back," she demanded, in which a confused face was plastered on the man.

"Er… excuse me?"

"Give. Me. My. Money. You. Dirty. Pickpocket." Weiss put an extreme emphasis on each word.

"Look," he held his hands up, "I don't want no trouble, but I don't have your money!"

He then proceeded to empty out all of his pockets, and much to Weiss's sorrow, her small purse was not in a single one of the pockets. He pointed at a spot on the ground.

"Is that your purse, miss?"

Weiss looked down to see her money on the white tile, and looked relieved. The man grunted, then walked away as Weiss knelt down and picked up her wallet. She opened it and counted the lien and made sure her pass was safe, then carefully stored it back to where it belongs, and walked off. However, she did feel lighter still, as if her ears had disappeared…

"SQUEEEE!"

Ruby's eyes were shining in awe as she gazed upon the countless weapons of ancient hunters and huntresses. Shotgun spears, sniper gauntlets, assault rifle chakrams, a grenade launcher knife/sword, and even a magnum sniper was present (although Ruby wonders why the hunter decided to have two gun modes). Suddenly, a boy leaned on the railing beside her. He was wearing a black hooded strap jacket (in which the hood was up, covering his hair) made of some sort of leather. An equally dark bandana was tied around his neck loosely, and the boy's hands were covered with silky black half gloves. He was wearing dark-grey jeans with many pockets tightened at his ankles, just before it touches his shoes, which were a worn grey. His eyes were the deepest brown Ruby has ever seen. He looked kinda cute…

Ruby started to feel heat flow up to her face and quickly turned her head away. However, the boy glanced at her, seemingly confused.

"You alright?" he asked, which Ruby froze up in embarrassment and fear.

"Erm… yes?" she spoke with uncertainty in her voice.

The boy rolled his eyes, but smiled none the less. "So, you're a weapon fanatic, eh?"

Shocked back into reality and out of her secret girl-thoughts by the sudden question, she smiled.

"Yup!" she cheerfully exclaimed, "From the smallest dirk to the largest great zanbato!"

"Heh… I suppose you want one of the amazing weapons that the hunters use…"

"I have one! Crescent Rose is my high-powered sniper scythe that I use to fight the monsters of Grimm!"

He blinked in sudden reverence. "You're a huntress?"

"In training. I'm learning some mad moves at Beacon."

As Ruby made some karate sounds, swinging her hands in the air in chops and punches, the boy tapped his pointer finger on his chin, then went wide eyed as he saw three figures, one with blonde hair, one with snow-white hair, and one with raven-black hair (including a bow).

"So…" his tone was wavering slightly, "you came here with your team, correct?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Yea… why?"

"Because they're coming here right now. And they look mad…"

"RUBY ROSE! STOP THAT MAN!"

Ruby winced at Weiss's scream, but noticed out of the corner of her eye that the boy was about to leave.

"Wait! I didn't get your name!"

The boy turned around, and gave a small two finger wave salute, one of Ruby's clips for Crescent Rose in between his fingers. "Arsene D'or Voleur, at your service!" With that, he broke into a run, leaving a surprised Ruby checking her pockets. One of her clips has been stolen, and a small note with a grinning coin stamped on the lower left hand corner was in its place. Ruby did not have time to read it as Weiss and Blake ran after Arsene, Yang stopping by to get Ruby going. Not long after, they soon caught up with Weiss.

"GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID THIEF! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Weiss yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Don't know, don't care, unless you want a date!" Arsene called back, bursting through the door, muscling past a few people.

"Ruby!" Yang was running as fast as she could, "Catch up to Blake! You two are better suited for chasing after him!"

Ruby nodded at her half-sister and sped up towards her teammate.

"Weiss! Help Yang get around some areas!" Ruby ordered.

"Fine!"

Arsene made a quick left turn into an alleyway, causing Ruby to zoom past the entrance. Blake, however, was able to get into the narrow passageway without trouble. She glared at him with an intensity of a predator as she vaulted over a dumpster. Arsene was about to reach the end of the alley, until he heard a battlecry, and a golden figure taking a huge swing at his face. He slid, and everything went into slow-motion, Yang's fist just an inch from Arsene's face. As time sped back up again, he jumped up onto a chain fence and climbed on top of it, then hopped onto a ladder, quickly climbing up the fire escape up onto the roof. Blake looked up and sighed, then started climbing.

Arsene looked back on the roof, then looked down on the street… which was about seven stories high. 'I'd break a bone if I fell from here...'

"Hey, jerk!"

Arsene looked back to see team RWBY on the other side of the roof.

"GIVE ME BACK MY EARRINGS YOU MONGREL!" Weiss shrieked at the the thief.

"You mean these?" He held up the pair of said jewelry, which were as clear as ice can be.

"YES, THOSE!"

Arsene outstretched his arm and made a taunting wave. "Come and get them! Ladies first!"

Weiss took out a baton that her uncle gave her, and readied it, a white glyph appearing below her. With the power of her semblance, she lunged at him, thrusting her baton at his chest. He barely dodged this speeding bullet, and grabbed her by the collar of her jacket. With a heave, he threw her to the right, Weiss flying into a vent. She made muffled screams in insults while she was attempting to get out of the metal corridor. He rubbed his hands together.

"One down, three more to go…" Arsene muttered to himself as Blake came down with a flying kick. Arsene came up with to block with his left forearm, but Blake suddenly split into two, and kicked his back, the clone disappearing as Arsene tumbled a bit. 'Clones, eh?'

"Give my book back, and maybe I won't castrate you," Blake threatened as she narrowed her eyes, which made the poor thief shutter at the thought.

"You know, I just wanted to see how it ended. No need to reenact chapter seven…" Arsene quipped as he ducked under an enraged Blake's flying kick, then backflipped as her clone disappeared, the real Blake sliding under him. To add insult to injury, he snagged the bow off her head and-

'Wait… cat ears? A faunus?!' Suddenly, an idea popped into the thief's head.

"Here, take your bow back," Arsene said as he tossed it towards the distraught faunus. Blake quickly puts it back on, however…

'I'm feeling weird...' Blake's head was spinning, 'I feel like...'

Blake suddenly collapsed on the ground, rubbing her bow against her face, making what sounded like purring. A sweatdrop appeared over Yang's, Ruby's, and Arsene's head.

'Didn't actually expect that to work...' Arsene thought as he carefully placed the spray bottle of catnip extract back into his pouch. 'I feel like a jerk now...'

"HAIYAAA!"

Arsene turned to see a speeding Ruby Rose coming straight for him. He couldn't move fast enough to avoid the punch as her fist connected to his chest… then Ruby yelped in pain as she shook her red throbbing hand. Arsene opened his eyes, expecting some sort of pain, or flying.

"Owww…" she moaned.

'Eeeeeh?' Arsene tilted his head in confusion, then realised that Ruby probably didn't have a strong punch with that frame. Arsene looked back to hear an engine roar, and down below, an open top mattress truck. The thief grinned, then ran towards the edge.

"Wait!" Ruby yelled, "Don't jump!"

As he turned around mid-air, he quickly puts on a familiar pair of yellow sunglasses, then puts his hands behind his head in a relaxed fashion. 'Deal with it,' his smug face and aura said as he plunged into the now moving truck, his cushion softened by the mattresses. Yang ran up towards the edge and shook her fist at the truck.

"Jerk! Those were my glasses!"

Ruby sighed in defeat.

A tired team RWBY sighed as they got off the VTOL, stepping onto Beacon's docks. They told Inspector Calt about the pickpocket so he could get a notice out about the missing items and the said thief.

"I cannot believe he bested us!" Weiss was beyond furious now. Blake was wearing a makeshift bow out of a white cloth they found on the roof, her original bow in the trash.

"He owes me a new bow… and a new book…" hate emitted from the faunus-ninja, her voice filled with venom and a small hint the drug-induced pleasure. Yang just shrugged off what happened; it wasn't the first time something was stolen from her. 'Of course,' Ruby thought, 'with her connections with Junior, I'd expect a thing or two was stolen while "talking" with Hei Xiong...'

Suddenly, she remembered the piece of paper that was tucked into her clip holder, and quickly took it out, the emblem on the grinning coin shimmered in the light. She unfolded the note, only to be more confused than before.

"Eh?"

The other three girls looked over Ruby's shoulder. The message said: When all the light is gone, I can see your demons, and the devil comes to pay his dues.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked.

"You're telling me…" Yang shook her head, confused.

Tucking away the note, Ruby led her team to the dorms. It was getting late, around nine-ish, and the four were getting sleepy, including the usually energetic Yang. They quickly showered, then got on their nightwear. Ruby climbed into her bunk, then looked out the window. With a heavy sigh, she snuggled with herself in the blanket, and closed her silver eyes.

Thud.

I slowly got up from the ground, scratching the back of my head. I looked back towards the box I was hiding in, which thankfully, was large enough for me to fit in at the spur of the moment, I'd hate to miss out on an opportunity to hang out with my favorite… "friends". I lift up my facemask.

Time to get to work.

I slowly crept along the bushes, avoiding the well-lit sidewalk and the students who were walking about on said pathway. Careful not to rustle the leaves, I continued my treacherous crawl up until a crossroads. There was a student standing in front of the low hedge, a huge muscular fellow with a mace on his side. He had a brown-ginger head of hair, and by the looks of him, he was a big shot around here. That didn't matter, all that did was he wasn't facing me, and his lien wallet was. I quickly snatched it, my movements made no sound, my hand a blur with a black vapor flowing out. I continued on my way, heading left from my starting point towards the dorms. 'Half way there, Arsene,' I think to myself. The hedge disappeared a few feet ahead, the dorm farther away from the cutoff. I cursed under my breath, then peeked over, scouting the area. There was a student in a different uniform, a grey-haired individual wearing a long collared black shirt and a white armband, contrasted the blue and gold suits the other students wear. He was just looking around nonchalantly… almost as if he was casing the place. Props for doing so well. However, he was between me and my objective.

I flick my wrist, and a small crossbow arms shoots out, the string already drawn back. 'God, I love my sister,' I thought as I take aim at the wall behind him, then fired, pressing the trigger on my pointer finger. The bolt zoomed out of my weapon, impaling on the ground a few feet behind the kid, then it flared, making loud popping noises. The student turned around in surprise, and with that, I dashed through the light and back into the shadows on the other side, where a conveniently placed vent was located. I chuckled silently, and carefully removed the cover, and began my crawl into the dark, damp, and tight space. After a few minutes of following the main air duct through the building, occasionally peering inside from the smaller vent covers, I came to my well deserved exit that lead out to the courtyard. I carefully lifted the cover, then crept out, hugging the wall. A metallic grid that was bolted on the wall, probably for vines, caught my eye. I grab one of the rungs, then I lift myself up, grabbing the other rung, placing my foot in one of the holes. I began to climb up the wall, scaling it with each foot until I reached the third floor. I inspect the window, examining every inch of it.

"Bingo…"

I pull out my shim bar, and carefully pried the window open. I froze when I heard one of the floorboards squeak as I made my entrance. I look around frantically to see if anyone was awake, but the only response I got was the blonde haired girl groan in her sleep and she turned away. I relax my muscles, but not my mind, because it was too busy looking for things to "liberate".

A painting of Forever Fall.

Some golden earrings.

Cloak clips in the shape of silver crosses.

A cookie jar.

Enough items for me to steal.

I lurked towards the painting, taking out a small scalpel-like knife. I began to cut it out of its frame, sliding the blade around the perimeter of the target. Silently, I roll it up and place it in one of my many pockets. Next, the earrings, which were on the raven haired girl's nightstand. I did a double take on the bunk beds, checking on my incapacitated hosts, then I snagged the jewelry from the threshold of the wood, while also hooking the clips and storing them on me. Finally, the cookie jar. I take out a small sack, and carefully open the jar's lid-

"Ding do-"

I quickly shut the jar, my face paled.

Did they hear it?

I looked back, sweating slightly as the black and red haired girl shifted… Ruby, was it? Yea, it was Ruby… I sighed with some form of defeat silently, then I close my eyes. With the resolve to get the sugary treasure, I opened the jar, my hand was a blur grabbing the cookies out of the jar, then I closed it. Two and a half seconds, I used my semblance to nab the cookies from the jar. I looked towards the door, then back at the window. This would be enough for tonight… still need to find my safehouse here… I looked back towards the team of huntresses, and shrugged, then I climbed out the window, into the moonless night.