Ruby woke up to the sound of her alarm. As she prepared for her day, she thought of the schedule ahead. Her main class for the day was with Professor Port. To make things worse, the overly verbose teacher had said that the class for the day will be a review day. For most classes, this means a day to look back over notes, ask questions, and make sure you have a general understanding of the course material. For Professor Port, it means telling his stories a second time in case anyone missed something.

Once the class started, Ruby just sat there and started to pass the time by thinking about various things, mostly Crescent Rose. Over time, she started to space out. Then she started to drift. At one point, she fell asleep.

Ruby found herself in the classroom. Only, now, it was completely empty. Save for herself, and one other being.

"Sleeping in class? What would Weiss say?" Valenrir was sitting on Professor Port's desk.

"I don't think she'll be too mad…"

"It's Weiss."

Ruby hung her head. "Yeah. I know."

Valenrir jumped down from the desk and started to walk around the room. "So, now that I have you for a moment, what do you want to do?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"You're no fun." Valenrir took a deep breath. "Okay, shoot."

"Who is this Reaper, anyway?"

"No idea."

"Then how am I supposed to help you?"

"So quick to be rid of me, huh? We've only known each other for a day."

Ruby sighed. "It was a simple question…"

"Yes it was. The Reaper will reveal itself in time. You don't actually need to do anything. In fact, if you wanted, I could leave at any time."

"Then why stick around?"

"You never asked me to leave."

"It can't be that simple."

"It is." After a moment of silence, "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Aren't you going to ask me to leave?"

Ruby was about speak before she found herself back in reality. She had woken up. Professor Port was mid-story when the ball rang.

"…and then I grabbed the Ursa and… Oh! It seems we're out of time. Until next time, class. And remember, stay vigilant."

Ruby stretched before looking down toward her notebook. Weird. I didn't think I opened it. Sprawled across two previously blank pages was a detailed and intricate design. It consisted of several looping vines, a series of thorns, and four flowers. The first was a flower that grew in the deserts of Vacuo that Ruby could never remember the name of. The second was a lily that seemed to be stained in some way. The third was a rose. And the last flower seemed as though it was completely mechanical. The design was in her book, using her pencil, but she doesn't remember ever creating it.

What the…?!

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The rest of Ruby's classes were more interesting and passed by too quickly for the young student's preference. That said, it was nice to be back in her dorm for a while. The rest of her team all had one more class each, so Ruby was on her own for another hour. She decided to take a nap. After all, someone has some explaining to do.

She found herself in her room, but it was clear she was asleep and dreaming. The Grimm god in the three piece suit proved that.

"Hello again, little Rose."

Ruby grabbed her note book and turned to the pages with the design. "Explain."

Valenrir looked over the page. "Not bad. Never knew you were the artistic type."

"I didn't draw this. It showed up in class… while I was talking to you."

"Quite." After what seemed like a few minutes of silence and stares, the Grimm god sighed. "You see, little Rose, each of those little flowers represents a person."

"A person?"

"Yes. Three individuals that you will meet in the coming days. Four people more powerful than you can possibly imagine, each in different ways."

"Why are they so important?"

"Contrary to how I may carry myself, I don't know everything."

"So, you have no idea who they are…"

"I have a few ideas."

"Care to share?"

"I don't see why not. The first flower clearly represents someone from Vacuo, specifically the desert regions. Possibly tied to it in some way. The second is a symbol of death and I'd bet the stain is blood. The third is too generic to tell. The last on is likely related to someone that is more machine than human."

Ruby started to think. The first one… I could ask Sun. He's from Vacuo. The second and third might be more difficult. The fourth one might be talking about Penny… She turned back to Valenrir. "Anything else you can tell me?"

"Not really. Though a bit of color would push your questions along, don't you think?"

"And how do I do that? I don't exactly know what it's supposed to look like in color."

"We're in a dream. Just think of colors and they'll come."

"…okay. I'll try." Ruby starts to think of various colors and they actually start to fill the design. The stain on the lily was, in fact, a deep blood red. While the rose filled in with a deep blue. The flower from Vacuo took on a sand coloration and the mechanical flora was mostly gunmetal grey and red. "Got it."

Valenrir concentrated on the design before smiling. "This may just make the job a bit easier."

"Do you know who they are?"

"I have some guesses."

After a moment of silence, "Are you going to tell me?"

"Nope."

\/

Ruby woke up nearly jumping in anger at Valenrir. This, combined with the fact that she slept on a top bunk that was precariously hanging from the ceiling made for a quick lesson in the effects of gravity on the human body. When she stood back up, she looked over to her clock and found that she had only slept for about 15 minutes. Great…

She decided to go for a walk to cover the remaining 45 minutes before her team returned from classes. She stretched and opened the door to start the endeavor. As she left the main building, she took a deep breath and smiled.

As she was walking along one of Beacon's many walkways, her attention was grabbed by movement in the courtyard. She took up a position behind some bushes and peered down to see what was happening, her hand on her scroll in case she needed to get her gear or team quickly.

In the main courtyard was a pair of huntsman, specifically Professor Alexander Peach and Professor Goodwitch. Professor Peach's pink suit seemed almost ridiculous when compared to the disciplinarian. Between them was a Faunas she didn't recognize. However, based on her attire, she was a member of the White Fang. They were just standing there, as if they were waiting for something.

It was here that a large, solid black Bullhead ship approached the school's courtyard harbor. Wow! It landed and the door opened with a fair share of smoke.

The Faunas started to laugh. "You know that no human prison can hold me, right? I'll be back. And you will all pay!"

Goodwitch rolled her eyes and Peach laughed a little.

"What's so funny, human?"

"You're not going to a normal prison."

"What?"

A pair of individuals stepped out of the Bullhead. They were easily 8 feet tall and in full black armor. They moved like the early Atlasian Knights, but they didn't seem mechanical. They seemed… inhuman, and yet still human.

"What are those?"

"Those are your prison guards." Another figure walked down the ramp. He was dressed in a mainly red, hooded coat with a few slashes of white. Beneath it was a t-shirt, a pair of dark pants, and a pair of combat boots. On his back was a large bag, like a guitar case (but not as obvious in what it contained). His hair was black and feather-like. His eyes were a deep, blood red. Stranger still, he didn't seem much older than Ruby, maybe 16-19. "And I am your warden."

"You?" The prisoner burst into laughter. "You are just another foolish human!"

"No…" He moved his hand toward the bag and drew a large scythe from the object. It was menacing, intimidating, and looked like it should be wielded by Death himself instead of a prison warden. "… I am the Reaper. And you will follow my rules from now on."

Ruby nearly jumped. Reaper?! Could she have found him already?

"A reaper? Yeah, right! You're just a human that tries to keep down the faunas!"

"Be you human, faunas, or some other creature, I will treat all things equally. For all beings are subject to death. I am Dante "The Reaper" Grimm. And you are without hope from here on out." He waved his hands and the large armored men grabbed the faunas and dragged her into the Bullhead. With that, it began to take off, leaving Dante behind. He turned back toward Goodwitch and Peach. "So, while I wait for my ride, do you mind if I grab something to eat in the cafeteria?"

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King: Hello there everybody! Here's hoping you had an excellent holiday season and New Year. Hope you enjoy the continuation of this story and sorry it's a little over due, as are my other story's continuations. I just need to figure out a direction for them and I'll return to them in no time. That said, it's not as easy as you'd think...