Chris Nest's Ruby Heart

by twilightnite13

(This is a continuation of A friend of mine's story, Ruby Hearts. I will do everything in my power to continue and complete it while adding a little of my own ideas to make it interesting.) With the Vytal Festival going underway, our heroes try to enjoy their time by fighting in the tournament instead of for their lives. However Darkness seem to be close to completing their scheme.

2. Extracurricular Training

(Extracurricular Training: Hey guys how's it going? I'm sorry if I haven't posted in a long time, had stuff to deal with and finals to prepare for. I'll be able to write more as soon as I'm done with some things. Until then enjoy the newest chapter of Ruby Hearts. And as a reminder I don't own any of thecharacters from RWBY or Kingdom Hearts. The only ones I do own are Vino, Gin and a mystery third character that'll be revealed as the chapter goes on. Now then, let's get this story continued.)

Pyrrha was gearing up in a locker room. As she walks out of the locker room, walking through a tunnel before exiting, into the awaiting ring were her classmates were waiting.

Everyone in the class watched as she began her spar with Cardin and the rest of Team CRDL. Sora and his gang had to cover their eyes at some close calls, but it looked like she was untouchable, as if the red headed warrior was already a graduated and genuine huntress. Cardin tried to use his mace to fire a blast of energy, and darkness, at her but she was able to evade it as she deliviered the finishing blow to the bullying team's leader.

"And that's the match." Glynda said, approaching from behind Cardin who clutched his ribs

Cardin, groaned, annoyed that he didnt win, even with his enhancements from the darkness, "Lucky shot." Before collapsing. From the stands, Sora kept an eye on Cardin as he knew he saw the bully with Pete before the seven of them, plus four, went exploring for any leads about Torchwick, the White Fang, and the Heartless.

Glynda turned to Pyrrha as she complimented, "Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament.

Pyrrha wiped some sweat from her brow as she said, "Thank you, professor."

Tapping her scroll, Glynda said aloud, "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for a bit more sparring matchs."

Glynda looks around at the observing students, "Any volunteers?"

She however ignored the fact that Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Vino were raising their hands, while in Vino's case, frantically, as her eyes held a certain faunus student who was reading a book, "Ms. Belladonna?"

Blake slams her book shut and stares wide-eyed at Glynda, who continued, "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-"

Mercury raises his hand, interrupting as he said, "I'll do it."

"Mercury, is it?" Glynda asked, remembering the boy's name right as she looked down to her scroll to select another student, "Well, let's find you an opponent."

Mercury then interrupted her by saying, "Actually, I wanna fight... her."

Mercury pointed to Pyrrha who asked in surprise, "Me?"

Glynda narrowed her eyes as she said, attempting to dismiss Mercury's "ridiculous" request to fight someone on Pyrrha's level, "I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner."

"No, it's fine!" Pyrrha said to her teacher, before looking up at Mercury and smiled, "I'd be happy to oblige."

Mercury struts into the arena, visibly sizing up Pyrrha. Their spar begins when he makes the first attack and is knocked down. Recovering quickly, he deflects an attack and begins trading blows with Pyrrha until she knocks him back with her

Ruby Rose turns toward Emerald sitting behind her. Smiling Ruby commented, "Hey, your friend's doing pretty good."

"Yeah." Sora said watching as he never saw anyone using boots with shotgun barrels on them before, especially with Mecury's fighting style before.

Emerald gave a fake smile at the two before rolling her eyes when Ruby and Sora turns their backs to her.

Mercury unleashes a series of powerful strikes. Pyrrha allows his kick to slam against her forearm before Mercury manages to disarm, a kick impaling her blade into the ground. Pyrrha secretly used her Semblance to redirect the direction of Mercury's next kick. Mercury, who felt the difference, raised a brow as she charged him with her shield, he shoots off of it and turns his back to her. When Pyrrha tried to rush him again, Mercury surprised everyone as he non-nonchalantly said, "I forfeit."

Pyrrha almost stumbles as she stops beside him. She then asked, "You... don't even want to try?"

Shrugging, Mercury said, "What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart."

Glynda, clearly annoyed by what she felt was a waste of her class' time announced, "In that case... Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match... again."

Emerald smirks. Mercury sneers back smugly, catching the attention of Sora and his two teammates, wondering what he has to be smug about. Pyrrha had an annoyed and disappointed look on her face, and places her left hand on her hip. The Aura display for both Pyrrha and Mercury show as Mercury's changed from green to red, indicating his loss.

Narrowing her eyes Glynda then advised, "Next time you might want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent."

Mercury looked back as he said, "I'll be sure to do that."

"Now then… Anyone else wishing to go in the ring?" Glynda asked as she looked throughout the class of students assembled, only to find Gin standing and said, "I'll do it."

Everyone stared, blinking, or gaped in surprise, Even Glynda was surprised of this development as she said, "Mr. Dios, this is a pleasant surprise. Who do you wish to spar with?"

"Him." He said as he turned his eyes on Sora. Sora looked flabbergasted as he and his two friends/teammates asked, "Huh?"

Gin got up and jumped down into the ring, before landing softly on the ground. Sora shrugged as he said, "Alright then."

Sora then got down, changing into his usual outfit as he then stood there as Gin didn't even seem to want to change his clothes.

"Mr. Dios, are you certain that you don't want to change?" Glynda asked raising a brow by this.

"Positive." Gin said, his voice having a little more life to it than usual. Shrugging, Sora summoned his Keyblade and took his usual stance. Gin remained silent as he held his hand out like Sora and his aura began to flare as a katana like blade formed in his hand, made from his own aura.

Glynda looked between the two. Wondering what the Vino's younger brother was thinking.

The two stood still waiting for the other to move, which shows Gin that Sora can be smart and wait. Not needing to be brash like his brother or any of the other Huntsmen in training. Sora, getting impatient made the charge with a downward swing at Gin who blocked with just one hand on his sword. Sora rolled backwards just as Gin began to gather his aura into his hand making it glow slightly as he slammed it into the ground, causing rock made spikes to shoot upwards to which Sora had to leap backwards as far as possible before leaping up and used the spikes to push himself towards the albino huntsman. Unable to use the same arm to block because of the type of attack he had used before. So he used his sword arm to block the attack, locking the two weapons in place as neither seem willing to give. With a force of strength Gin pushed Sora away as he used his aura-constructed sword to kick and break the rocky spikes to where Sora moved out of the way. Turning to face where he thought the albino opponent was, Sora felt a sense of danger and blocked in time to catch Gin's slash downwards, causing a bit of the ground to break at Sora's feet.

Pyrrha turned to Gin's brother and said, "Your brother's good."

Vino however was watching with a serious expression that wasn't seen before as he began to think that Ozpin may not like this turn of events.

Gin used the force of the two colliding weapons to push himself off, landing across the rocky ring. Gin looked down to his currently unusable hand and saw that he was able to move it. Gin then commented, "Impressive."

Sora grinned before calling, "You're not so bad yourself."

"Then maybe I should step things up." Gin said as he used his other hand and made another aura sword, as he took a different stance. From the stands, Donald was shouting 'Dirty fighter' as Goofy held a hand to his mouth almost like he was biting his nails. Emerald glanced over to Mercury who glanced back, wondering what the Keyblade warrior that the witch was so worried about as he watched the two fight, thinking that someone that Ozpin likes to keep around was more of a threat than a kid with a big key.

Sora, getting air back raised his Keyblade high and cried, "Thunder!"

Gin had took the second to dash himself away in an instance of increased speed similar to Ruby's semblance, dodging a bolt of lightning that fell where he once was. Turning around Sora saw his opponent and pointed his Keyblade at him shouting, "Freeze!"

A big sliver of ice appeared before being shot out at Gin, who was briefly surprised, kept his composure and used his two swords to slash through the icicle, cutting it into four pieces as they continued their path but leaning away from Gin as they hit the wall.

Just then Gin then used another bursts of speed to deliver light cuts along Sora's body. Sora used his Keyblade to block as many as possible but he wasn't able to keep up with Gin's speed for long. Gin then took some time to take deep breathes as he left himself visibly open for Sora to send in some flurries of his own, even as his two teammates and his friends cheered him on. Gin then used his bare arm to stop the Keyblade cold. Sora was forced back and saw some kind of light grey light over Gin's left forearm before another appeared over his right forearm and two greaves over his legs from the knee down.

Emerald and Mercury raised a brow at this, even as the two shared another glance. Vino however was shocked to see this as well. The Dark Warrior's younger brother then his duel-wielding stance and seems to be regaining his aura somehow. Sora who saw something different going on, got himself ready and as the two were about to clash again an alarm sounded which not only jolted Blake awake, who had begun to nod off again. The alarm also stopped the two combatants from continuing the match.

Glynda, trying to keep her composure, turned and called to the class, "That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."

As everyone leaves, Mercury stops beside Emerald, remarking, with sarcasm in his voice, "Learning is so much fun."

Gin passed Sora and his two friends, then saying in a hushed tone that only the Keyblade wielder can hear, "Meet me outside, near the forest, alone."

Sora looked after Gin, wondering what he wanted as Goofy and Donald helped Sora outside of the arena.

Outside, SSSN are standing at the entrance as Team RWBY walks past. Sun notices Blake and ran after her, calling, "Hey, Blake!"

Sun grabbed Blake by her shoulder as he asks, concerned, "You uh, doing okay?"

Blake shut the book she was reading with a very irate expression, which was shown as she faced the blond Faunus, "I'm fine."

Sun clearing his throat began to say what he wanted to say to the black haired beauty before him, "So I hear that there's this dance going on this weekend, and it sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?"

Blake became confused as she asked, "What?"

"The dance!" Sun said, before continuing, "This weekend! You wanna go, or what?"

"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would get that." Blake said, walking away, past her team. Sun sinks from his rejection.

"Gawrsh… I hope Blake won't stay mad forever." Goofy said worried about the cat-faunus's health as he patted Sun's back in a friendly manner.

"She's strong, but she sure is stubborn." Donald said, knowingly with his eyes closed and arms crossed as he nodded.

Goofy chuckled as he asked, "You sound like her in some way."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean you big palooka?!" Donald asked, jumping angrily at his laughing friend.

Looking around Goofy asked, "Ah… where's Sora?"

The two of them began looking for their friend and team leader. The two were unaware as they were being watched by a certain bully.

Sora stood alone as Gin walked out from the bushes as the keyblade wielder asked, "Why'd you want to meet me out here? Isn't it dangerous to be out here? We're gonna be late for class."

"Not if we do what needs to be done before the others notice our missing." Gin said as he placed his thumb on Sora's forehead and the other over his heart as Gin closed his eyes and began to release his aura, Sora can feel a change in the wind as the silver haired young man kept releasing his aura, which caused their hair to begin to rise slightly. Gin began to mentally chant the phrase that was used to release his own aura as well as his brother's and many other huntsmen in training, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

Sora began to feel a warmth, a different warmth than that from what his heart gives off whenever he did something that helped others. It felt similar to the change in the air that Gin had done with his own aura. Gin felt his arms become limp as he stared, his eyes looking as though he was going to faint as he said holding his ground, "I'm fine, It took more than I thought to release your aura."

"Whoa…" Sora said feeling the warmth that he identified as his aura began to dim and Gin noticed that all of the cuts and bruises that Sora received form their spar had healed.

"You have a similar kind of aura as Jaune." Gin said closing his eyes, as he tried to see a change in Sora's aura now that it is unlocked, but in doing that he let out a gasp and moved away. Sora got confused before shrugging and walking away.

Gin opened his eyes and thought, 'His Aura... It's almost as powerful as mine, but how? Does the heart truly give strength when all else failed? I guess I wouldn't know…'

"Aww ain't that sweet. An emo helping out a loser." A snide voice called as both turned to find Cardin standing there with a more of a twisted grin on his face. Darkness flowed out of his body while two of his teammates were carrying Donald and Goofy as if they were sacks of worthless things. Tossing them to the ground with little care for the two's health even as Sora cried, "Donald! Goofy!"

"You know I don't understand why someone like you should be friends with these Faunus freaks, I mean look at them. They're nothing like us, just say you'll work for me and we'll rule this school. We're the only ones that deserve to live in this world, animals like them should be locked up where they belong. They're just worthless animals…" Cardin said, loving how this power of darkness felt, making him stronger.

Gin was glaring at the bully, just as he was about to do something, Sora turned and said, angrily, "What's wrong with you!?"

The emotion of Sora's words made his Aura shine briefly, stunning those around him, even Gin who rarely shows any emotions. Sora glared as he said, "What does it matter what we look like? We're all different no matter how we look or how we're born. The only thing that you're doing is showing them that you're the things that you accused the others of being. It shouldn't matter how someone looks or acts just as long as they know what's right and good

"Aww... ain't that a sweet? I was so moved I was touched..." Vino said as he wiped a finger on one of his eyes as he began laughing. Then turning to Sora Vino spat, in disgust, "Don't be so damn naive. The world doesn't work that way, the only way to survive is to become much darker and fight back..."

{Shrouding Dark Cloud – Kingdom Hearts OST}

Everyone backed away as Vino's dark aura flared to life almost like an intense bonfire, raging around and looked like if anyone got too close they'll get burnt. Sora stood in defense at this as he didn't like where this is going. Gin stood in a defensive position as well, knowing the true strength of his brother more than anyone in the immediate area.

Cardin smirked as the darkness flowed out of him and said, readying himself for the fight, "I'm gonna enjoy beating that faunus-loving face of yours to the ground."

"Ooo, I'm shaking in my boots." Vino taunted back, not even trying to mock being scared, as he drew his weapon, holding it still as it unfolded and assumed its giant broad sword mode.

Cardin's anger got the better of him as he charged at the student that had made his bullying of the faunus students a colossal failure. Vino smirked as he used his sword to block the downward swing of the bully's mace. Cardin's face became even more outraged, his darkness growing stronger from his darker feelings, thus attracting more Heartless to him. Sora and Gin got into their battle stances and began to fend off the Heartless and any of Cardin's teammates that wanted to fight. Vino's face became even darker as his grin became more like a slasher's grin whereas Cardin's face of anger became one of deep hatred, their individual darknesses clashed with each other around them as Vino let out a heartless chuckle.

Sora moved, fighting at his highest strengths when he was facing the Heartless but held back for the humans that were fighting him. Gin however kept the same level of strength, regardless of if they were heartless or not. The two worked together even as more and more Heartless arrived soon surrounding the two warriors of light. Gin raised his arm and made two aura swords appear in his hands as he said, "We may not survive."

"Don't give up, we can beat them." Sora said back keeping himself standing.

"I'm not giving up, I'm stating the obvious." Gin stated as his expression remained the same.

Sora shook his head as he said, swinging at an incoming heartless, "No. I won't give up. Not when I have people I want to protect."

The Keyblade wielder suddenly felt warmth in his heart as Goofy, waking up looked and reached for his friend, "S-Sora…"

{Turning the Key – Kingdom Hearts OST}

A light began to shine from both Sora and Goofy before one of the streams of light intersect and become some kind of rope before it pulled the captain of the guard to Sora. As soon as their bodies collided a bright red light shined. So brightly it made all the non-Heartless in the area to cover their eyes as the two using their darknesses seemed to recoil in pain before all eyes turned to see Sora floating in the air, some feet from the ground as Sora's clothes turned into a red and black color scheme with a fleur-de-lis on each of his sleeves and pant legs. In his right hand was his Keyblade, Kingdom Key while in the other appears a Keyblade with a guard that appeared to be two shooting stars. The blade like shaft of the Keyblade is blue like a certain someone's hat, decorated with stars, while the teeth is a crescent moon and a star. As he wields the two Keyblades a red mist seems to come out of his hands before his feet touched the ground and his eyes opened. The first thing that Sora noticed was the Keyblade in his other hand and said, "But this is…"

{Shrouding Dark Cloud {resuming}}

"Sora." The Keyblade wielder then looked to see more Heartless have arrived and seem to try and dog-pile the two sword wielders.

Sora then took a stance that felt natural to him with two Keyblades and began a very rapid, but powerful flurry attacks. He didn't even notice that his natural speed had increased, but it wasn't as fast as Ruby's. He also didn't notice that he had also become very dexterous, sometimes even spinning the Keyblades on a single finger during a combo attack. Everyone watched as Sora then jumped high into the air while spinning like a twister before placing his Keyblade over his head and like a drill spiraled back down, tearing through the hordes of the Heartless before landing on his feet with no harm to them.

Russel stutter, before finally able to find his voice, "There's no way we can beat Gin, Vino, AND Sora's newly awakened semblance now…"

"Run away!" Sky shouted as the three members of CRDL ran for it, back to the school. From the shadows of the forest, Pete even stared flabbergasted at the power boost that the pipsqueak with the key had gotten, that the bully had planned to beat with the help of those fine young thugs, had slew all of the Heartless in seconds. He took this time to remark, "I... might have to agree with blue hair there… Oh Maleficent's not gonna like this…"

He then used the darkness to escape.

Noticing that his teammates were abandoning him, Cardin roared, "You Traitors!"

Vino however smirked, "Can't betray that you fear, dum-dum."

Cardin turned in time to see Vino raising his sword high into the air before bringing it down. Cardin's aura took the blunt of it as flew into a tree, knocking it down as he hit the ground. With his aura now depleted Cardin began to feel very afraid and angry.

{Night of Fate: End; Destiny Force: Begin; Kingdom Hearts OST}

"Damnit… I hate you…" Cardin wheezed, attempting to get air back into his body while standing. His eyes began to glow yellow as he roared, "I HATE YYOOOOOOOOOUUUU!"

He then saw a giant shadow appearing and looked to see a Heartless like Grimm that's twelve feet tall appearing to be a some sort of Griffin with a heartless emblem on its chest, lion like mane around its face to its body, powerful Grimm feathery wings and orange eyes from its Grimm mask. The talons were gothic in style with the tail looking like a mace. The body color of the Griffin was a midnight purple color.

Cardin smirked as he climbed up the Griffin's awaiting, lowered head, and stood on the top of its head. Laughing maniacally as it took off from the ground.

The pointing his weapon at them, Cardin shouted, "This is where you freaks belong! Beneath me!"

The three fighters below glared up at the obvious, power mad, darkness-user and silently agreed to attack when the Griffin begins its assault from the air. When it rose up before diving at the three. the three warriors jumped over it, Gin landed on a tree top as he held his sword in a way before swinging, causing an archway made out of his aura to fly out, at Cardin.

Cardin had barely enough time to get himself out of the way in time to not be hit. As Gin kept distracting the disgraced huntsman by firing more of his aura-made slashes. Vino and Sora was given the time to get into position. The two kept running along keeping up with each other with a speed that surprised the brunette Keyblade wielder. Sora pushed himself when he got at the right time with Vino as the two began their assaults on the Griffin's wings. Sora's quick flurries and Vino's chainsaw teeth made great amount of damage. This assault caused the Grimm/Heartless to let out a cry of pain as it fell to the ground. Cardin looked back to see what the problem is before charging at them, dark energy coming from his mace as he attacked them.

Duskstart Dawnfall

"Sora!" Vino called, catching the Keyblade wielder's attention. They ran to meet Cardin head on before both, Sora and Vino took turns to block, deflect, and evade the mindless attack. They then blocked the final downward slash causing the griffin to let out another pained cry. Vino looking back shouting through the sound of his sword's chainsaw teeth repeatedly being used to push back Cardin's mace which wouldn't snap, "Any time now!"

"Okay!" Sora said as he slipped between the two and sliding between them, used his new found physical strength to run to Cardin's back and began using his two Keyblades to deliver swift but powerful slashes at Cardin, just enough to make him too weak to push against Vino's sword.

This was enough for the dark warrior to use to kick the bully away just as Gin came down sending what appeared to be balls of light at the Grimm/Heartless, saying, in his usual emotionless, soft-tone, "This is the end."

The Grimm/Heartless roared in pain, shaking its body wildly in order to get the cause of its pain off. However that also meant that Cardin was being shaken off as well. Cardin let out a growl as he ordered at the monster, "Get back here!"

The Griffin let out a roar as it obeyed and flew to retrieve its master.

Reaping horror-time

Vino, grinning savagely went and began running, compacting his weapon as he did as he shouted, "Give me a lift!"

"You got it!" Sora called back as Gin nodded, together they used their weapons to be a make shift trampilean as to help Vino soar higher. Time seemed to have slowed down as Vino used his own semblance to push himself even higher into the air. The Griffin let out a eagle cry of shock as it saw the dark warrior approaching in a fast speed.

Vino smirked as he pulled out his weapon but instead of it becoming a giant sword it became a scythe with the same teeth rotating around the blade as he held on to it. Cackling to himself, Vino laughed, "Fun time!"

Gin, sighed as he placed his hand to his head and muttered, "Idiot…"

He ignored the sounds of the scythe's chainsaw blade tearing through the Grimm/Heartless, already used to it from his time with his brother. Sora however looked scared. So scared that he completely forgot about Cardin who charged at them Gin used this moment to push Sora forward before using him as a table to slide over, slamming his foot into Cardin's chest.

Aura Beater

"Now, follow my lead." Gin ordered as he took a kata stance. Sora nodded as he did the same thing, dismissing his Keyblades.

Sora saw that Gin was forming the aura gauntlets around his arms before making an armor that looked like a paladin's armor. Sora followed suit but his aura armor looked slightly different and familiar to the keyblade wielder, even though it's rose red now. The two then charged in unison as their movements are in sync with each other as they gave Cardin a royal beating that caused his aura to drop greatly. The two then brought out/summoned their sword weapons and slashed at the same time. Cardin let out a roar that showed that he was beaten, and his aura dropping, close to zero.

Cardin fell just as Vino landed on him. This impact made the last of the bully's aura to drop to zero. The Griffin fell to the ground some feet away with gash marks along its head and neck. This showed the battle was completely over.

As the Griffin dissolved Sora panted heavily, unable to believe the things he did while fighting Cardin and the Heartless, especially with that Heartless/Grimm thing that Cardin summoned.

Vino smirked, his eyes still hungry for more conflicts to fight, "Well that was a workout. What's next?"

"You're... kidding... right?" Sora asked, between breathes, unable to understand where the dark warrior gets his energy from. Gin however stood over Cardin, his expression would be enough to scare the life out of someone. Noticing this Vino called, "Gin?"

"He perverted his aura, corrupting it and allied himself with creatures that shouldn't exist... He must pay the ultimate price." Gin stated, coldly as he raised his sword high into the air, the blade pointed down at the bully and just as he was about to skewer him. Sora blocked with his Keyblade.

When he was able to push the apathetic warrior off, Sora asked, "What's wrong with you?! He's beaten, there's no need to go that extreme..."

"He must pay the price for corrupting his aura." Gin stated as an intense wind flowed around him, forcing Sora to use his Keyblade to shield himself from the sheer power. It was like Gin was more powerful than he let on, even as they had battled in class.

Vino however approached, using his arms against the wind as he muttered, "Gin. Stop."

Hearing his brother's voice caused him to remember where he was and the wind stopped. Sora blinked in surprise as Vino said, "I'll take care of Gin and Cardin, you should get yerself and your buddies treated after this."

Sora then remembered just as the same light from his chest shined and Goofy was fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora said going to check on his two friends and teammates, forgetting his outfit is back to normal. As Sora went to help them back to the academy for treatment. Cardin's eyes opened, and he heard everything that happened around him.

"I don't understand... why didn't you let him finish me off?" Cardin asked, weakly.

Looking over to the retreating Keyblade wielder, Cardin asked, "Why did he protect me? After everything that I've done?"

"Beats me..." Vino said as he watched the boy with the dog and duck leave, "Gin said that his aura was unlike any that he ever seen before. Almost like his 'light' is stronger than any darkness."

Looking over at the bully, he said, "Which is ridiculous since this world is darker than that idiot believes."

"Sora is not an idiot, he is innocent and that is a part of where he gets his strength. He is able to make a bad situation become brighter than the sun." Gin corrected his brother watching the brunette go, "It was shown when his Semblance awakened to his strong emotions. His love for his friends allowed him to unlock a rare ability to bring two hearts together in battle and to protect others. No matter what darkness that hasn't stopped him from following his heart no matter what he saw. That heart of his allows him to gain more strength through his ties with others. That is what allowed this Semblance, Unity, come to be."

"Unity huh?" Vino asked, dryly, "More like he absorbed his friend to get stronger since he wasn't strong enough to do it himself..."

A smack was heard and Vino let out a yelp. Turning to face his younger brother, through the pain, he saw that the thing that he hit him with was the handle of Gin's sword, and thanks to the dark warrior's semblance it didn't break open his skull like it would have done. Angrily Vino yelled, "What was that for?!"

"For you being narrow minded." Gin stated as he picked up Cardin, hanging him over his back and proceeded to carry him to the academy before reporting this to Ozpin with his brother. All the while Cardin remained silent at what the two said, and Sora's actions.

After Donald and Goofy went to get treated, Sora was greeted by team RWBY and team JNPR. They had heard from Russel and the others about Cardin and Sora using some kind of power boost while fighting the things that their leader and some kind of giant dog Faunus called Heartless. The moment that they heard it they went to help their friends only to find Sora helping Donald and Goofy to the infirmary.

When he was unable to answer any of his friend's questions, especially that of Team RWBY, due to their extremely scary/suspicious looks he was getting. Sora let out a heavy heart and explained, everything. Team JNPR however had to leave for only five guests were the maximum number of guests for the patients.

By the time Sora finished his story Weiss was flabbergasted, Blake narrowed her eyes while Yang was unreadable and Ruby seemed interested.

"You can't be serious into thinking that there are other universes or worlds, as you call them out there are you? Weiss asked, finding the keyblade wielder's story completely ridiculous.

"You have to understand, we were trying to keep the world order." Sora said, trying to get to his friends.

"You three lied to us." Yang said, her voice sounding rather darkly.

Blake remained silent as she knew they could be trusted since they had kept her secret, but she can't help but feel a little annoyed that Sora and his friends couldn't confide in her at least. But in her current state she was just as annoyed and feeling that his story was as ridiculous as the other two members of the team, "There's no such thing as other worlds!"

Ruby however popped up in Sora's face and began asking so many questions, "OOOoooo! What kind of worlds have you been to? Are there ones of superheroes saving the day every time a crisis happens? Is there one where Animals can talk and sing like they do in the cartoons and movies? Are there worlds with magic, genuine magic? Is that how you and Donald are able to do what you two did when you blasted at Torchwick with your weapons? Are Donald and Goofy from other worlds? How many other worlds have you been to?"

Sora blinked, while feeling his face warming up as to how close Ruby was, not sure how to answer all of these questions at once but seeing the angry and annoyed looks on the rest of team RWBY's faces.

Sighing, Sora got up and looked to each of them, "Look, I'm sorry for lying to you all but we had to keep our secret to keep the world order. People from other worlds aren't supposed to know about each other or meddle in their affairs, but when the Heartless are threatening every world what do we have to stop them and keeping everyone safe? You guys haven't seen the Heartless before and haven't know how many worlds were taken by the Heartless. So many worlds destroyed when they find the world's keyholes... The Keyblade is the only thing that can stop the heartless permanently while keeping this and other worlds safe."

As Sora spoke the other three's expressions soften, seeing the emotion and how Sora was telling the truth about everything he told them.

"Sora's right." Ruby said, gaining the attention of the others before continuing, "Sora's as much of a huntsman as us but he's having to fight who knows how many of them in order to not just keeping this world safe but others... can we really think about arguing when we're trying to keep the Grimm from coming?"

The more that she spoke, the more Weiss and Yang began to understand. Blake however, due to her sleep deprivation and obsession on stopping Torchwick she just threw up her hands and stormed out of the room. Sora winced when the door was slammed shut but Goofy and Donald were asleep as if it never happened.

When Donald and Goofy had woken up Sora had to tell them that he told team RWBY about where they really came from. Donald was giving his usual temper tantrums of Sora telling people things that were supposed to be secrets. Goofy however was very apologetic, which the girls accepted and assured that it was alright. They however brought Blake's recent changes to the three man team and wondered if they could help. Without even needing to discuss it, the three otherworlders nodded in unison.

So that night in team RWBY's dorm room. The six of them, plus Gin, were meeting, waiting for Blake to arrive and when she asked why they called her and taking her away from her important time. Ruby told her and as she sat on the bed, the team's resident Faunus looked at them wide eyed before asking, outraged and annoyed, "You what!?"

Ruby glanced to her friends before repeating what she had said, "We want you to go to the dance."

Blake, sitting on her bed with her arms crossed, looked away and said, "That's ridiculous."

Yang looked to her partner and said, "Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head."

"She's right..." Donald said worried.

Goofy nodded, "Ah-huh. We just want to make sure that yer all right..."

Weiss began counting the facts on her fingers as she spoke, "You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering."

"You think I care about grades?" Blake asked, shrugging gesturing to the opened window, "People's lives are at stake!"

Yang puts her hand on Blake's, lowering it, "We know, and we're also trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to."

Ruby then pointed out "Thanks to you, Donald, Goofy, and Sun, we know that they're operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale."

Weiss nodded before adding, "And, the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies over the last few months."

"And that Torchwick's in league with someone like Pete who's involved with the Heartless and gave him the power to control them." Sora pointed out from his seat. He had told his friends that a big jerk by the name of Pete, from Donald and Goofy's world was working for someone power and command over the Heartless.

Yang, then said with a matter of fact tone. "Don't forget about their missing military tech too."

"Gwarsh... don't cha mean stolen military tech?" Goofy asked aloud.

"But there's still unanswered questions!" Blake interjected.

Ruby, turning to her friend, said "Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open!"

"You're aura and semblance will suffer greatly if you do not regain your strength and peace of mind..." Gin said, his voice holding a little bit of more emotion in it than usually.

"All we're asking is that you take it easy for one day." Yang said, emphasizing on the last two words.

"Yeah, she's right. I can't tell you how taking things easy helped us during our adventure." Sora pointed out as he and his two friends smiled.

"It will be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it." Wiess pointed out, joy in her voice.

"Yeah! We're planning the whole event!" Yang pumps her fists which causes the bed to bounce Blake.

"Excuse me?" Blake asked, suspiciously.

Weiss then explained, "Team CFVY's away mission lasted quite longer than expected."

"So, Weiss and I decided to pick up where they left off. And now we can make sure you can have the perfect night." Yang added, before turning her eyes to Sora, who felt a bit uneasy and looked away scratching his chin as he does.

"And once it's all over, we'll return for our search, rested and ready." Weiss finished with a cheerful eyes closed smile. Gin nodded as he, though not like everyone in the room, would agree that relaxation and a means to take the edge off of things does do their auras much better.

"So what do ya think?" Ruby and Sora asked, unintentionally saying it at the same time, much to Yang's slight annoyance.

Blake, still looking, "I think this is a colossal waste of time."

Blake told them, after looking out to the window. She then got up, walked away from the group and opened the dorm door slightly.

"I'll be in the library." Blake said before she walked out of the room.

Yang, Sora, Donald, and Goofy let out a simultaneous sigh while the blond murmured, "Great."

"She can't keep going on like this." Weiss said to the remaining people as Donald and Goofy nodded.

"She'll hurt herself at this rate." Goofy remarked sadly.

"Wish there was something we can do..." Donald said, feeling useless to not help the cat faunus out like how she helped them.

'She's acting like him...' Sora thought, remembering a certain silver haired friend of his, the one who he was looking for since he work up in that world called Twilight Town and left Yen Sid's Tower.

There's a knock at the door and Weiss approaches to open it. Gin however warned, "I wouldn't…"

However it came too late as everyone in the room saw Jaune at the door with a guitar, strumming it very quickly and actually sounding good to those who know music. As he played it he sang aloud, "Weiss!"

Weiss slams the door in his face. Sora and his team winced as Donald commented to Goofy, "Well, at least he learned how to play the Guitar good."

"Ah-huh. Maybe your friend Panchito might like to give him some more lessons on how to sing?" Goofy commented, thinking of Donald's rooster friend.

Before Sora could ask who Panchito is, they heard Jaune speaking from the other side of the door, "Oh, come on, open the door! I promise not to sing."

Weiss opens the door. Only to be greeted by Jaune as he sang, strumming his guitar between each lyric, "I lied! Weiss Schu-nee, will you accompany me, to the dance on... Sunday!"

"Are you done?" Weiss asked, unimpressed.

"Yes?" Jaune asked, shrugging his shoulder as he grinned, hoping for Weiss to come with him.

"No." Weiss answered as she shut the door in his face. Turning around, she sees the others staring at her, asking the group in genuine surprise, "What?

Both girls are standing precariously while the three members of team SDG stared wide eyed. Gin however remained where he was before shaking his head at Weiss' actions.

Yang, smirking pointed to her and remarked, "And that is why they call you the Ice Queen."

"That, and why they said, that you and Gin are perfect for each other." Ruby commented before falling to the ground.

Weiss however asked, blushing in surprised, "E-Excuse me?"

Sora sighed as he got between the heiress and the others, "Weiss how come you won't give Jaune a chance?"

Weiss, sighed as she explained her actions to the obviously clueless boy, "All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name."

She then smiled as she said, with a knowingly sly expression, "Besides, I already have a date in mind."

"Date or no date, none of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go." Ruby pointed out after getting back on her feet. Sora can't help but feel like Ruby might be right about that, especially since he and his friends were attacked by Cardin and his team.

That night, Pyrrha and Jaune are sparring at their spot on the roof. Jaune appears to gain the upper hand until Pyrrha sweeps his legs out from under him.

Laughing, Pyrrha sheathed her sword and offered her team leader and friend a hand. "Well done! Your swordplay's improved immensely."

Jaune accepted her hand and Pyrrha helped him to his feet. Jaune then said appreciatively, patting the dust off his body, "I couldn't have done it without you."

Pyrrha smiled before asking, "So, are you ready to move on to Aura?"

Jaune, however suggested, hesitantly, "I'm actually thinking that maybe we skip Aura for tonight?"

"Might go on a jog or something." He added, trying to get out of Aura type training.

"Come on, I know you get frustrated. But you must keep trying. I'm sure you'll discover your Semblance any day now." Pyrrha added, thinking that it was Jaune's usual difficulties with Aura training, even with Gin's help.

"That's not it. It's just..." Jaune began before hesitating for a moment before admitting, "It's dumb."

"What is it?" Pyrrha asked, approaching Jaune and places her hand on his shoulder. She then assured the blond teen, "Jaune, you know you can tell me."

Jaune took a deep breath before telling her the truth, "It's... Weiss."

Pyrrha's face fell slightly after hearing that, "Oh. What about her?"

"I asked her to the dance and she shot me down." Jaune told her before laughing halfheartedly and asking, rhetorically, "Big surprise, right?"

Pyrrha tried to smile as she told him, wanting her friend to not give up hope, "Well, I believe the saying goes: There's... plenty of fish in the sea."

"That's easy for you to say. You've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out." Jaune said, not believing that anyone could be having his kind of bad luck.

It was Pyrrha's turn to chuckles halfheartedly, "You'd be surprised."

Jaune dismisses the thought, turning away as he walked back to the door's room, "Oh please. If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh."

Pyrrha drops her smile and looks upset. However, what she was not aware of was being watched as someone in a black coat looked from the top of a tower before disappearing in the darkness, leaving behind several creatures in white behind to spy on the area.

These creatures, unlike the Heartless have thin, sinuous bodies that appear to be capable of dumbfounding feats of flexibility, as shown as they flew away from the tower's top. They had large, cylindrical heads with a flat top that is emblazoned with a symbol. The creatures' bodies seemed to be covered in a light grey jumpsuit, and its "mouth" is actually a zipper that undoes itself to reveal its actual, grey, sharp-toothed mouth underneath. It appears to be fairly muscular, though its arms and legs are very thin. The sides of its body are lined by a black line, which pulses weakly with light. Its feet and hands are pointed and lack digits, and its hands each sport two black bands around them.

The Symbol itself looked similar to the Heartless emblem, but upside down was in shape. It was with several circular notches taken out of its edges. The symbol's base is shaped like an upside-down heart, while its top is a thin, spiked cross. Spikes and sharp edges often evoke the Nobody emblem without the full symbol being displayed. The symbol is white or silver in color.

As Pyrrha seemed to have not noticed these creatures as she was still lamenting over Jaune talking about Weiss.

"Excuse me, Pyrrha?" A soft-spoken, empty voice asked, causing the redhead to turn to the source, looking surprised at who it was.

"Tell me about the Keyblade wielder and his two friends."

Cinder asked in her dorm room, sewing a black dress as she sits on one of the beds. Emerald looked at her scroll sitting on the floor, as she read, "They're Sora, Donald, and Goofy. An ordinary boy with two guys that are like Faunus, but aren't."

"But that doesn't make them human." Mercury pointed out as he read the comic book in front of him.

Emerald glared before continuing her report, "Most of his styles of fighting are self-taught and somewhat unrefined, even as he was facing the younger Dios brother."

"He's also able to do things similar to the witch." Mecury pointed out turning from his comic book.

At this Cinder looked, and smiled sinisterly, "You don't say."

"Sora's ability to use magic, like the kind we saw today means stems from his weapon every time he uses it." Emerald elaborated.

"So without it he's as harmless as a child." Mecury added smirking, flipping the page.

"And his two friends?"

"The dog uses an ordinary shield as his weapon and is apparently well trained to use it for not only defensive but also offensive techniques. The Duck however seems to use magic just like the boy, but he's been seen to use it without his wand." Emerald explained remembering the times that Donald and Goofy had done some rounds in the ring.

Looking over, "You mentioned something about a Dios' abilities involving his Aura?"

"Yea it was freaky how he was able to make a sword from his aura before moving as fast as that Ruby girl. Before making some sort of armor from it. I didn't think that as possible." Emerald answered, sure aura was supposed to be a shield but nothing about it looking like actual armor.

Cinder smiled more as she continued sewing, "It may not be a common thing, but Huntsmen can do that level of advance techniques involving their auras. I see that the rumors of his skills weren't completely exaggerated. Add him and his brother to the watch list as well..."

"Who's next?" Mercury asked, laying on his back to read his comic.

Emerald slide the screen and showed the image of a certain red head young woman, "And finally, Pyrrha Nikos."

"Ah, the invincible girl." Cinder remarked, remembering seeing her in passing and during some practice training.

Mercury turned from his comic and said, "She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible."

"Do tell." Cinder mused, as she continued sewing.

"Her semblance is Polarity. But you'd never know just by watching." Emerald reported as she looked up to her leader.

"After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted. But she only made slight adjustments." Mercury reported, remembering how his boots made movements that made it seem like she was in slight control. Someone else might have not noticed, but not someone like the kickster.

Emerald then finished the report by stating, "Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts her opponent at a disadvantage."

Cinder smile continued before she mused in a dark pleasure on the redhead's style of her powers, "Hmm... People assume that she's fated for victory, when she's really taking fate into her own hands. Interesting. Add her to the list."

"You should be able to take her no problem, even without the witch or the Heartless." Mercury remarked, smugly, sure he found the Heartless and Maleficent useful, but he didn't like the effect both were having on the woman he's been following.

Cinder looked down as she said, "She did teach me a valuable lesson: It's not about overpowering an enemy. It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time.

"I hate waiting." Mercury whined, laying on his back.

"Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us." Cinder assured before pausing and said, "I also think it's about time to bring our other friend into this, he needs some exercise if he's going to keep being of use."

The two looked at each other. Surly Cinder wasn't thinking about bringing… him… Not after they reunited with him just after he had fought some of the White Fang and the Heartless.

"Are you sure that's wise? He hasn't had the longest time to be accustom to the ways of how people live…" Emerald asked, bringing up very good points.

Cinder however smiled, "Don't worry… He knows how to obey, and learn. After all a wolf follows their Alpha to even their bitter end."

The two looked nervously to each other again, even as Cinder looked at the needle in her fingers and smiled, 'This will one party none of us will remember. That's for certain.'

(Hey Guys, what did you all think? Sorry I've been unable to post recently, but I had stuff I have to do and will be needing to do for next couple of days… Yes I did add limits for Sora, Vino and Gin while they fought Cardin and his Grimm/Heartless which I like to call "Griffin" Which is similar to the Grimm species Griffon but with an "I" instead of an "O" before the "N". Besides I bet some of you are wondering what is going on with that man in the black coat, and who is this friend that Cinder had mentioned fondly? Find out on the next chapter: Burning Candle through Darkness.")