*A/N: My next story begins here, it will have a mixture of flashbacks and current events which I will break with a single line to show start and double line to show end. I have many more chapters planned and I hope it will be to everyone's liking.*

The students of Beacon Academy have been gathered together in the auditorium for special presentation, all other classes having been called for this particular event. The students file in and taking the prepared seats in front of the large stage, a single microphone set up in front of a comfortable looking chair.

A hush falls over the gabbing students as the teachers and advisers stand the assembled mass up for the guest that is slowly making her way up the dark side passage to the prepared area. A young professor moves to help her but she shrugs him off, standing straighter for it and walking with more purpose to her step. As she enters the lights beaming down on center stage, her appearance becomes clearer.

A well-aged woman stands before them, hair faded from time, once a brilliant yellow blonde, now a white-gray with only a hint of its previous vibrancy, a worn brown leather coat, showing many a repair, over a faded yellow blouse hung loosely around her thin but still toned frame. Her eyes are closed as she stares at the floor, hands clasped in front of her, a tarnished yellow metal greaves around each wrist.

One could hear a pin drop as she finally looks up, opening her eyes, only one stunningly bright lilac orb looking out as the other is nothing but an empty socket surrounded by scar tissue. The silence is broken by a single sentence, a confidence to it but at the same time an immense tiredness, "My name is Yang Xiao Long and I fought in the Great Grimm War…."

She settles down into the comfortable looking chair and lowers the mic to her seated level. "Everyone sit down and get as comfortable as you can, this is a long story." The students are all seated and staring expectantly at her. "Let me start by saying that what I'm about to tell all of you is horrific, terrifying….and exactly why we Huntresses and Hunters exist. We exist to fight off the Grimm so that everyone else can live their lives happily and secure. We fight knowing the costs we may have to pay, including our own lives." She sighs, long and tired. "I lost so much over the years of that war, my eye." A single gloved hand rises to touch the scar tissue covered socket. "So many friends, a lover, and even my baby sister…" Tears well at the edge of her good eye before she blinks them back with a sad shake of her head, "But it is something that had to be done to protect the kingdoms and what we humans and faunus have made for ourselves." She looks down at the barren wooden stage and says, barely above a whisper but picked up by the microphone, "I just pray that it is something that we never have to do again." A single tear finally looses itself from her eye and drops to the floor with a barely audible blip.

She raises her head back, held high as the strength of her voice return, her one good eye scanning the audience. "It all truly started in our first year at Beacon, my baby sister, Ruby," Her voice cracks a little before she pulls herself back, "She had been able to jump two years for exemplary combat prowess and our team was formed through initiation as anyone else, becoming Team R.W.B.Y with Ruby as the leader, myself, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna. We had another team we became close to, Team J.N.P.R lead by Jaune Arc," Her voice hitches again and she takes a deep breath before continuing. "Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. They were a good group and our two teams would often intermingle." She looks over to the side of the stage, making a small motion with her hand. "Could one of you get me a glass of water, I'll be talking for quite some time and I know I'll need it."

A quick scrambling off stage and a young looking blonde boy, couldn't be more than 16 stumbles out with a few bottles in hand. Dropping the bottles off, he attempts to backpedal out of the light, but a firm grip on his wrist stops him. "Wait…" He turns and Yang's good eye sparkles as she looks him up and down, "You look just like him…." Her eye brims with barely held tears before she slumps and her grip loosens. She sighs and shoos him away. "Go…."

The aged brawler sags into the worn chair and casts her eye over the audience, "Now then, our first hint of trouble was actually before the year had even started, the exemplary combat my sister had shown was her stopping a robbery at a dust shop. She stopped the robbery but the robber got away, but they weren't normal thugs or criminals. They were wanted criminals for higher crimes, Roman Torchwick and a bitch named Cinder Falls." Her fist clenches at the name before she spits to the side and continues with a stuttered breath. "But even they were just pawns in the greater game….but I get ahead of myself."

"We started our school with a few interesting adventures and misadventures, well tread memories as they were some of the last happy times we had together. We had a good first semester, found out about the White Fang's involvement with Roman and Cinder but we didn't find out exactly what they were planning, learned a few things, despite Oobleck's speed and Port's tendency to ramble." A weary chuckle passes her lips. " If you'll forgive an old lady her ramblings, there is one memory that I hold very dear." She leans back into the comfy leather chair, a smile spreading across her lips.

"It was the beginning of our second semester….." She leans forward and begins motioning with her hands as she speaks.

I was having a back and forth with Nora in the cafeteria, chunking food all around while Weiss and Blake chatted about something. Suddenly Weiss stood up and a pie veered off course and slammed her right in the face, as Nora pointed the finger at poor Ren, I knew this was gunna be quite a day….

The food fight broke out in earnest as everyone started getting involved, hunking pastries and drinks and even Jaune at one point, then, without warning, the entire cafeteria cleared out in a rush, leaving just us and JNPR atop their hastily constructed tower of tables and vending machines. All the while, Nora is calling out, 'I'm queen of the castle.'

Ruby gave a rousing speech as before we rushed forward, raring for a fight….Watermelons flew everywhere like a hail of mortar fire, but my little sister didn't even flinch as she brought me to the frontline, calling orders. I slid my hands into a few turkeys nearby to make replacements for Ember Celica and went straight at those damned watermelons, slamming them apart with my fists of poultry as Blake came to my side with these two big baguettes. I slung the turkeys at Pyrrha first, trying to take out JNPR's experienced fighter first but she flipped out of the way and I just knocked poor Jaune clear across the room.

Ruby and Wiess started really getting into it after I got knocked out for a bit from baguette spears tossed by Pyrrha, til Weiss got taken out of commission by Nora wielding a watermelon warhammer. She actually hit hard enough to blow Weiss into a pillar and bring it down.

Regaining my senses though, I leaped back into the fray, grabbing a new set of poultry pounders and getting into a melee with Ren and his leeks. Poor boy shoulda known better than to get into it like that with the Blonde Brawler. Took him down with quite the stunning aerial slam into the ground, left a crater and everything.

And finally, I got into it with the one who started it all, Nora, after jumping back from a slam with her melon hammer. It was like something from a movie as we rushed towards each other and I launched that orange haired demon through the room with a swift uppercut…..

A light, airy giggle echoes through the auditorium before a chipper but worn voice follows it. "That's not quite how I remember it Yang…."

The brawler's eye widens as a greater smile overtakes her face and she looks to the back of the room, where the voice came from, "Nora, you old bitch…" All eyes turn to the short, dull red headed woman and the salt and pepper haired man beside her. "It's good to see you two, get on up here."

The couple makes their way slowly to the stage, slowed due to Nora's right leg dragging limply on the ground. Two new chairs are brought out for them as Yang stands and embraces her old friends. "Come, sit and tell me how 'you' remember the story going then."

Nora's smile widens and even Ren's neutral face is broken by a soft smirk, the two taking the provided seats. "Well, if I recall, what actually happened then was…."

I brought my melon hammer up in a sweeping arc and slung dear Yang through the ceiling. I didn't even have time to revel in it cuz Blake pulled a long chain of sausages and started whipping it all around at me. So I had to move back and throw cans of soda at her, letting their popping serve as small explosives so that Pyrrha could pull this super cool thing with her Semblance and made ALL the cans come of the ground and into Blake, taking care of her.

Then….then…..your sister stood up and looked super serious and sprinted straight towards up, picking up everything around her in this vicious whirlwind and she started spinning like a crimson corkscrew and threw all four of us against the wall to be pelted by so much food…it was great.
Glynda came in super pissed and used her wand to clean everything up and was definitely going to give us a scolding about it all…

Yang smiles, "And then I came down"

Nora nods, "And then you came down and we all had a good laugh about it."

The three of them laugh for a brief moment at the shared memory until Yang retakes the audience's attention. "Those were the truly happy times of our lives. Things didn't start to really go downhill until our second semester of year one, when they started to make more moves, recruiting further for the White Fang, stealing Atlesian war machines, detonating a hole for the Grimm to get in in the middle of town, even infiltrating the school posing as students." Yang speaks clearly as Nora and Ren lean back in their chairs, settling in for the telling of their long tale. "And then year two started where things started going horribly wrong."

*A/N: First chapter, just shy of 2k words, a bit rocky I'm sure but now that I've gotten it rolling, I can run with all the ideas written down in my notes. I hope many of you choose to stay with me through this journey. May the night see you safe and the dawn greet you kindly readers.*