Chapter 1 - Reunion

The aura and dust infused bullet tore through the air, and then through the head of one of the enormous Ursa. The beast was dead instantly, collapsing in a heap. The remaining five perked up at the danger, identifying it and charging. A hail of bullets met them, but these Ursa were not so foolish as a newborn, and negotiated their way through the storm, closing on the target.

Ruby Rose narrowed her eyes and sighed before rising. The anti-material rifle in her hand extended into the scythe of Crescent Rose. She would have to do this the messy way. She activated her semblance and, a moment later, she was gone, a trail of rose petals fluttering in her wake. She dashed to one of the large Grimm in an instant, spinning her weapon in a circular, mid-height slash. It ripped through the stomach of the Ursa as Ruby flipped herself over the beast, running the blade of her scythe straight down its back as she landed. She gracefully turned and shot a bullet through the creature's skull before flipping away. She could see the remaining four Ursa become warier. Intelligence glittered in those blood red eyes as they took up something resembling a formation, covering each other's blind spots. Grimm gained intelligence over the course of their lives and battles. Not many lived long enough or experienced enough to go beyond being savage animals, but these ones were different. Rare as such Grimm were, it had been some time since Ruby had hunted ones such as these. And to find six in one place? She would worry about that later.

She dashed forward with her semblance once more, sweeping Crescent Rose in an upward arc… and found air. She nearly stumbled from surprise but found her footing and easily avoided the retaliatory swipe.

She glared up at the offending Grimm, "you did not just dodge that."

It simply let out a bloodthirsty roar in response. Not sure what she had expected, she pushed her semblance harder. Soon, she was a blur among the beasts, avoiding their assaults and catching them every time she got a chance. It became quickly apparent that this was going to take a while. The Grimm knew they were outmatched, but were making every, increasingly coordinated effort to make her life hell. They were protecting their weak points and swiping unpredictably. And, fast as she was moving, she had to be careful not to accidentally run into a stray blow. She went through the motions of this for a couple more minutes, gradually wearing the Grimm down. She wondered briefly if she should push harder and get this done now, but she decided to take it slower, evaluating her prey. These Ursa were old, or at least they acted like it. And there were six of them. If they had been close enough to attack a village, she tried to decide if it was reasonably possible for no hunters or military or scouts or anyone to have noticed. Old, experienced and dangerous Grimm earned a reputation and were swiftly eliminated. These Ursa seemed to bear the knowledge of surviving many battles. She was jerked from her thoughts as a doubled layered circle of Glyphs surrounded her and the beasts. She dashed past the runes in an instant, practiced motion, leaving the Ursa within. Before they could assess the situation, a shower of razor sharp icicles cut through them, killing them in seconds.

Ruby's mouth quirked upwards as she sheathed Crescent Rose and turned around. "Hi, Weiss, thanks for stealing those."

Her old teammate sheathed Myrtenaster and folded her hands across her chest. "You were being so slow, I got impatient. Has the great Ruby Rose lost her touch?"

"I was thinking," she replied airily.

"While fighting Ursa?" Weiss asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Is there a better time?"

"Dolt."

"Ice Queen. You played to that pretty literally this time."

They stared at each other for a few moments before bursting into smiles and hugging. Ruby was momentarily conscious of Weiss' body pressing up against hers before they separated. She grinned.

"It's good to see you, Weiss, it's been too long."

Weiss smiled back, "yeah, it has. What has it been, a year since we met in person?"

"Something like that, yeah," Ruby nodded.

She studied her old teammate quickly. Weiss really hadn't changed much in the past year. She wore her hair slightly shorter than when she had been at Beacon, and still kept it up in a ponytail during missions and hunts, though she had developed a tendency to wear it open in more casual settings. Her trademark white outfit seemed somewhat more dust infused than last time, offering more protection. And Myrtenaster was, as always, at her side. If Weiss had been pretty at Beacon, she was utterly stunning now. Ruby shoved that thought aside, at least for the moment.

"Didn't know Ozpin was sending you here too," Ruby said as Weiss walked with her towards the ruins of a village in the distance.

"Well he mentioned that he had sent you to investigate this, and I didn't have much else to do, so I thought I would come say hi. And save your butt."

"Stare at it, you mean," Ruby smirked.

"Dream on," Weiss shot back and then paused suddenly as they neared the village. "Fucking hell."

Ruby was quiet for a few moments. "Ozpin didn't let on how bad it was."

"Well, he did only have preliminary reconnaissance. Come on, we should take a closer look."

Huntresses with their experience and caliber were not unused to death. To an extent, they were almost jaded to it. But it was still jolting to see the brutal massacre in the little hamlet. Not one survivor, not even one surviving building. The Grimm had been thorough, taking two hunters down along with the town. Ruby knelt down to examine the corpses and grimaced.

"Definitely the work of those Ursa back there. Can't say I'm terribly surprised…"

"There's more though," Weiss said as she knelt beside Ruby. "Some of these wounds were not made by Ursa, they were fighting other Grimm too. Probably killed them, given that there's no more around."

"Full scale attack then? Including six really old, really skilled and really pissed off Ursa."

"We are definitely asking Ozpin about those."

Ruby nodded. They sat there, sharing a few moments of silence for the tragedy around them. Weiss spoke eventually, voice quiet.

"Fourth big Grimm attack this month. Something is up."

"You don't say, it's been a very long time since anything like this has happened. Not surprised we got called back here."

Ruby smiled slightly as she stood up. "It'll be nice to work together again. Just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Tell me about it," Weiss muttered, glancing at the devastation around them once more before she and Ruby left to return to Beacon.

Team RWBY had kept in touch since graduation, and met as often as they could. Which turned out to not be very much as the four young huntresses dove into their work, making a name for themselves across Remnant. Although, they'd already done that a little bit with the whole Cinder fiasco. That all seemed so far away now that eight years had passed. They had all changed, going from young teenagers in training, soft and green to full fledged huntresses, experienced and hardened.

But perhaps none of them had changed quite so much as Ruby. She had been a few years younger than the others at Beacon, and had gone through several transformative years there. She wore her hair a little longer now, it fell just past her shoulders, though she still left it open. She had grown significantly taller and filled out in her last spurt. Her fashion sense remained mostly the same, with her black and red outfit, the cloak she would never part with and her white rose emblem. Crescent Rose remained her trademark weapon, albeit a significantly upgraded Crescent Rose. But she was the same person at heart - bubbly, cheerful, sweet and excited. But there was more to it now. Her demeanor had become calm and collected. Mostly. Her fighting style had become increasingly disciplined and precise, tempered by years of training and hunting. She had also developed a sharp, irreverent and sardonic sense of humor accompanied by playfulness and teasing. To the people who knew Summer Rose, there was little doubt that Ruby was her mother's daughter, though she'd inherited an appreciable amount of her father as well.

Members of team RWBY had worked together occasionally on hunts and missions, but they'd never ended up taking on something together since graduation. Honestly, it was just that nothing had come up that required four of Remnant's best and brightest to be brought together. Until now.


Ruby and Weiss strolled through the streets, heading towards Beacon. They had been lost in their own private thoughts for a time after they left the ruins of the village but dragged themselves back to reality as they entered the city.

"So," Ruby smiled, "excited to see Yang and Blake?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "More excited than I was to see you, that's for sure."

"Please," Ruby scoffed, "you couldn't live without me."

"I managed just fine for a year, thank you very much."

"Probably touched yourself thinking about me," Ruby smirked.

Weiss' cheeks pinked slightly and she silently cursed herself for it. "Stop projecting, Ruby."

"Didn't say I wasn't guilty of it," Ruby whispered to her.

Weiss shoved her playfully. "Still a pervert, I see. What happened to the sweet, innocent Ruby I used to know?"

"You guys happened," Ruby deadpanned.

"Oh, shove it."

They continued to banter as they approached Beacon academy, enjoying each other's company. They entered the courtyard and approached the entrance as Weiss noticed-

"YANG!" Ruby shouted, as she dashed and grabbed her sister in a hug, tackling her to the ground.

Weiss smiled and shook her head. Some things never changed.


Charon passed complicated mechanical devices across the table. The only thing apparent about them was that they were filled with dust. Neo grabbed a few with a grin, slipping them into her bag. Emilia looked at them somewhat apprehensively, before taking the rest.

"Just throw them like a bomb, right?" She asked as she ran her hand absentmindedly across one of her antlers, an old nervous habit.

Charon nodded. "Don't worry, I've prepared these carefully. Heaven knows, it's practically taken me a year. They'll work and they're easy to use, and you're going to need them."

Emilia took a deep breath. "It's finally time, isn't it?"

Neo smiled playfully, "about time, I say. Any longer in prison and they'll forget how to fight."

Charon sighed. "You do make a good point, mind you. They've been on ice for nearly eight years now. You have weapons for them, but don't rely on them. They're going to be rusty, it's going to take a long time to get our old allies back to their capable selves."

Neo giggled, "don't worry, relying on Torchwick isn't something I did very much. It was the other way, you know."

He gave her a wry smile before his face straightened again. "Alright, this is it. Neo, you're getting Roman, Emilia is getting Mercury and Emerald and what's left of her White Fang associates will get Adam. I'll get Cinder myself."

They both nodded.

"We've worked long and hard to get our inside people, so this is our only real shot. Do not fuck this up," Charon continued. "You will wait for me to begin the assault on the main Atlas military compound. You will wait a little longer until an appreciable number of resources have been diverted to help with the crisis. Then you will begin. You should have an easier time than me anyway. You're well aware of the escape plans and arrangements."

He ran his head through his hair. Neo smiled, "don't worry, Charon. We've been over this a thousand times. We know what to do."

Emilia gave him a reassuring smile. "She has a point. Don't worry, it'll be fine."

He sighs, "Fair enough. Alright, time to split up and get to work. Brief your people, Emilia. We'll meet back here. This is our one surprise attack. Once this is over, we're back to the same old fight, with every resource they can muster hounding us."

"We'll make it count," Emilia said. "They won't know what hit them."

She saluted and moved away, heading off to brief her soldiers. Neo gave him a playful bow before skipping away. Charon sat a little while longer, opening a case by his side and examining the white glove that lay within it, marked with a stylized, red eye.

"Soon, Cinder, very soon."