Bloody Evolution of the Planet of the Apes

by Velo C. Raptor

During a mission on a seemingly uninhabited, Grimm-infested continent, Teams RWBY and JNPR discover an entire colony of intelligent Grimm versions of Apes. As their way of life is now in question, the four Kingdoms of Remnant are pressured into coexisting with these Grimm Apes before they become the dominant species!

2. Chapter 2

Ownership:

RWBY is owned by creator Monty Oum, God rest his soul, and Rooster Teeth Productions
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is owned by 20th Century Fox, Chenrin Entertainment, and TSG Entertainment.

I, the humble author of this fan-work, own absolutely nothing, gain no profit whatsoever, and wish only to express his writing and love for these fandoms artistically.

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This chapter might be a little controversial, based on how the apes are portrayed… you'll see.

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Chapter 2: A Grimm Discovery

In hindsight, perhaps the students should not have met with Ozpin while wearing their formal school apparel. It would have been less appropriate, but it would have been more time efficient to already have their casual combat gear on. They could have had their weapons on them too. Alas, they went down the laborious route. So as fast as they could, Ruby being the fastest, the members of teams RWBY and JNPR gathered their weapons, packed their overnight supplies, and adorned their favored clothes for missions.

It is without need to be said that what they wore reflected themselves:

Ruby wore a black blouse and large skirt, the cuffs of the sleeves, the underside of her skirt, and her neck collar ending in a red trimming. Holding the skirt and blouse in place was a black clincher, held together with red lacing, and below that was a loosely hanging gray belt. The belt had a magazine pouch and a gray colored version of the her emblem, a stylized rose, attached on her right side, and sown in loops holding individual bullets on her left side. She wore full black stockings and large boots that ended halfway at her calves, tied with red laces and red trimming. Her most obvious feature was the red cape she wore, pinned to her shirt by two crosses. Ruby had her weapon Crescent Rose attached to her back in storage form. It is a massive red scythe and, at the same time, a high caliber near-precise sniper rifle.

Weiss wears a bolero jacket, pale blue in color and a barely darker blue at her sleeves, and is red on the inside. She was dressed in a similarly colored dress and skirt, with black lacing making up the top of her dress. Tied around her waist is a white ribbon, and a light colored bag in the back of her dress. Her boots were wedge-heeled, the same pale to light blue color and red inside, reaching to her calves as well. On the back of her jacket was her emblem, closely resembling a snowflake. She has her weapon held on her hip, a sharp rapier named Myrtenaster, with a revolving chamber installed in the hilt, designed to carry Dust cartridges.

Blake had one of the darker colored attires of the group. Despite white shorts and a white crop top, she had a black buttoned vest with coattails, exposing her midriff. On her shorts were decorative zippers on each leg. Under her shorts, she wore black stockings that transitioned to a purple color around her ankles and she wore low heeled shoes. Her emblem was sown into her stockings on each outer side of her upper thigh, which likely resembled the coincidentally named belladonna flower. Black ribbons were tied around both of her forearms, a detached sleeve held by a silver band only on her left arm. On her back was metal plate, magnetized to hold her weapon Gambol Shroud in place. It is a versatile weapon, a sword combined with a pistol. Her sheath was sharpened and could be used as a second sword, and with a black ribbon she could use Gambol Shroud as a weaponized projectile, like a kusarigama. Around her neck is a small black scarf. Her most noticeable feature was the black bow tied on top of her head, hiding her partially secret feline ears.

Yang was the more… revealing, of the students. She wore a tan vest, outlined in gold, over a low-cut yellow crop top with her emblem one the left side of the shirt, resembling a flaming heart. Her vest has short puffy sleeves that ended in black cuffs. She wore black fingerless gloves attached to her weapon, Ember Celica, currently in bracelet form. Over her black short shorts, she wore a brown buckled belt that held a banner-like clothing piece with her emblem sown into it, a pouch attached on her left side, and a long white, asymmetrical piece resembling a skirt. She wears a large orange scarf around her neck. She wears brown leather platform boots, orange socks that were brought up at different heights, and a grayish purple bandanna tied around her left leg, over the sock but under the shoe.

Jaune made himself look like a makeshift knight. He wears a simple short sleeved hoodie, light blue jeans, and black sneakers that were white at the toe of each shoe. Two belts of differing brown colors were wrapped around his waist and a detached, reddish orange sleeve on each arm. His armor consisted of a large white chest plate and white shoulder guards that have a rerebrace. He had brown gloves, the fingertips exposed, that each had a small metal plate attached to them. He had his family sword Corcea Mors sheathed in his compactable shield, attached to the side of his hip.

Nora's top was a complicated piece. It was a black collared vest that reached to the back of her waist, her emblem of a hammer with a lightning bolt on the back of it, a white sleeveless top with an small open heart shape over her chest, and two indescribable pieces of clothing that were red and blue respectively. The combined shirts and jacket seemed to be held by silver brace like armor that surrounded her neck and abdomen. She wears a pink skirt that ended mid-thigh and pink and white shoes. She has detached white sleeves worn on her arms and pink fingerless gloves. She was holding her weapon Magnhild, a war hammer and grenade launcher combination, currently in its ladder form and inactive.

Pyrrha has the most defined and detailed armored attire of the group. Her top consists of two layers, the first layer being a light brown piece with button like embroidered on the side and the second later a low bronze colored V-neck, all held together by black lace in the back. She wears a very short brown miniskirt and a red drapery reaching her ankles, held together by a thin brown bell with pouches attached to it over her rear. On the right side of her hip she has a circular bronze plate with her emblem engraved to it, a spear crossed over a shield. Her legs are sealed in elaborate bronze greaves, her upper thigh only slightly exposed, and wears brown, high heeled boots. She wears a detailed bronze goreget neck piece and a circlet headpiece of the same material. She has brown detached sleeves that serves as gloves, leaving her shoulders exposed. On her left arm, she wears a bronze armband above the sleeve, and a bracer strung together by lace on her forearm, over the sleeve. She has her weapon stored on her back, named Miló, a versatile tool that takes three forms: A javelin, a rifle, and a sword. Strapped over Miló is her shield, Akoúo.

Last but not least, there is Lie Ren. He wears a long sleeved green tailcoat, with pink cuffs, buttoned diagonally by small gold bowties, and has thick black trimming that is outlined by thin gold trimming. His collar is made up of the black and gold. The cuffs reaches halfway down his forearms, while black sleeves (whether they are detached or not being unknown) cover up to his wrists. He wears simple white pants and black shoes. Attached to the back of his waist are his weapons Storm Flower, two semi-automatic machine-gun pistols, with curved blades protruding from each of them, just under the barrel of the guns.

The way these students presented themselves was rather colorful, figuratively and literally. Now that they had what they needed, the hunters-in-training quickly set out for the landing platforms, expecting to see the bullhead that will be their transport.

Now that the teams realized it, why were they using a bullhead? They were fast but they were not used for traveling over continents, because they lacked enough fuel for such distances. The aircraft's transport room was also cramped for eight people. They could have used an airship but their great size would make the trip much slower, or an air bus, which was slower than a bullhead but more efficient than an airship. Seeing this particular bullhead however… may have given them an idea why they're using it.

The typical bullhead is streamlined in shape and its armor is significantly strong. The vehicle is best known for its rotatable jet engines, one placed at the end of its primary wings. Said engines could support the vehicle when hovering, ascending, descending, and the vehicle could position the engines into making a sharp turn. The vehicle in front of the students, however, was very different. Sleeker, longer, less protruding armor, and the engines too seemed to have a slimmer design that differed from the original. The tail of the vehicle sported conventional stabilizer fins that were smaller than a regular bullhead's stabilizer. If the students saw the vehicle from the top, they would have noted that the wings formed a V-shape. It seemed to be a stealthier variant of a bullhead.

Why teams RWBY and JNPR are taking this, which was basically a high-grade vehicle, possibly used by the Atlas military, they had no idea. Aside from that, they stared at the aircraft in awe. Unsure of themselves if they were getting this, they approached the weaponized bullhead until the pilots, who happened to be standing next to the vehicle, noticed them. "You the kids heading for 'West Dragon?'" the first one asked.

"Yeah! We're teams RWBY and JNPR." Ruby answered for her friends.

"Took y'all long enough," the second pilot stated abruptly. "Hop in. The ride's gonna be long, almost three hours, and I'd like to get going. Then again, we might get there faster with this beauty." He clicked a button on his belt, the doors to the transportation quarters opening and the glass cockpit popping up. The pilots moved to enter the cockpit.

"Wait a minute!" Weiss interrupted them, gaining the two men's attention. "Why are we taking this? This is obviously a military grade stealth vehicle!"

"Your father requested you'd be taken in this aircraft, Ms. Schnee." The first pilot explained, addressing the heiress in a surprisingly formal manner. "And you're correct, this happens to be the prototype 'seeker variant' bullhead. General Ironwood got word of this mission and Herr Schnee happened to owe him a favor. I guess you could say it's like killing two birds with one stone." He chuckled at the end.

Weiss only responded by glaring at him for a moment, then stormed off to board the seeker bullhead. The rest of the students followed suit. The vehicle seemed to have the same width as the original bullhead, but the length seemed to make it roomier for the students and their luggage. Once the teams were aboard, the doors closed and they almost immediately felt the vehicle take off.

---

Two hours, nineteen minutes later.

---

The ride had gone smoothly at this point. Well, the hunters-in-training could not see much because the transportation quarters had no windows, only having ceiling lights for visibility, and there was the occasional shaking from turbulence. Now with how much time has passed, it seemed that they could reach their destination at any moment. At least, that's what they hoped.

The best the students could do to pass the time was having conversations with each other, no matter which team they were on. Blake, on the other hand, chose to read her books on the ride. She brought them in case she had any leisure time during the mission. She would add her own comments when she felt to do so, or answer a question or two. Strangely though, it seemed that she had slight fatigue in her eyes, more than before.

Yet, there was someone abnormally quiet during the two-hour ride – Weiss. All she had been doing was observing and polishing her sword, Myrtenaster. Her back had been turned to everyone else and she occasionally swung her sword in the air once or twice. When she did, they were rather forceful swings.

At this point, Ruby felt it was necessary to inquire what was wrong. Stepping closer to her ice hearted partner, she asked cautiously, "Weiss? BFF? Is everything okay?"

Weiss turned her full attention to her and her brow was furrowed. "What did you call me?" she asked.

"BFF. You know, best friends forever? Or best female friend–"

"Don't call me that."

"…oh…" Obviously, her attempts were rejected. Weiss turned back to attending her sword, causing Ruby to pout dejectedly. Seeing the failing interaction, Yang approached the two.

"You don't need to be rude Ice Queen, what's the matter?"

"Don't call me that either," she replied without looking at them. Yang turned to Ruby with her eyebrow raised, secretly judging whether they should continue with this. The latter gave her a concerned look.

"Weiss," Ruby addressed the heiress once more. "…is this about your dad?"

No answer.

"Your dad?" the brawler questioned. "Is it that big of a deal that he set this gig up?"

"My father broke a promise to me by merely organizing this mission." Making her conflictions known to the half-sisters, Weiss turned to them with an icy glare. "If you have experienced what I feel right now, you'd know it's a 'big deal.'"

If that didn't make them understand and just leave her alone, Weiss wouldn't know what else to say. Thankfully they understood, if their shocked expressions actually meant anything.

"…You wanna talk about it?"

Weiss only scoffed at Yang's innocent question and turned to her sword again. Frustrated that everything had gone downhill, Ruby elbowed Yang in the gut for apparently making things worse. "Ow! Hey!" her sister exclaimed.

"You're not helping!"

"What am I supposed to say?!"

At this point, everyone present in the room stopped what they were doing to look at their friends' fiasco. Even Blake paused her reading to observe this. She thought it was ironic really, remembering that Weiss herself made her promise to tell their team whatever troubled her. Perhaps she should practice what she preaches.

"Weiss, look…" Yang started to reconcile. "I get that you're having daddy issues. Our dad isn't perfect either. But Ozpin said it himself that he gave this thing the green light, not your dad. Can you at least enjoy the fact we have a mission with our friends? Heck, let's make it more interesting! How 'bout a… uh…"

Taking a moment to think, Yang held her chin in her right hand. Ruby looked at her sister curiously, unsure of what she was going to say. Even Weiss looked at the blond brawler with a half-lidded stare, waiting for a suggestion. Everyone else present was staring intently at them. Suddenly, a wide grin came across Yang's face.

"…How about a bet?" she finally offered. Weiss raised an eyebrow at the mention of it.

Ruby gasped. "Yang! Dad said not to gamble our money while we're away! Or at all!"

"Oh c'mon Rubes, let a girl have fun!" She dismissively exclaimed. Their father, Taiyang Xiao Long, was a loving parent but very overprotective. He told them not to follow strangers, not to waste their good money, and not to do… more adult things. If anything, Yang lived to break the rules, even her father's. "Dad should lighten up, y'know."

"But–"

"Also, I don't mean that kind of betting. Hear me out, we're going to a new country, right?"

"A continent where multiple exploration missions have failed." Weiss corrected. She turned her full attention to Yang and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay, a nearly unexplored continent, whatever. Back to my idea, what if there's something there that no one has seen before? Like a new type of fruit, or a new creature of Grimm, or–"

"Or an ancient city abandoned by a forgotten civilization! Or alien ruins!" Jaune excitedly added. The moment he finished his outburst, everyone looked at him surprised. Nervous under their gaze, his sudden confidence died down. "…o-or just new fruit, heh."

"…Or what Jaune said. We could be just like scientists, or whatever!" Yang continued, "So here's the challenge – whoever finds something on 'West Dragon,' something that has never gotten any kind of recognition… losers have to do something for the winner!"

…

The strangest thing about this was that Weiss was actually considering this. After Yang explained the bet's guidelines, she brought her own hand to her chin, narrowed her eyes and hummed in concentration, not particularly looking anywhere. Before she could give a response, Pyrrha spoke up.

"Why don't we make this more interesting?" she asked with a smirk. "If one of us finds a new discovery, then their whole team wins and the losing team has to treat the winners."

"Huh. I like that idea, P." Yang admitted.

"Thank you, but…" the Spartan heroine turned to Jaune, her team leader, with a slight tint of red oh her face. "I hope it's okay with you, Jaune."

He was flabbergasted that his partner was asking for his consent. "H-huh?! W-w-why're you asking me?!"

This time she was shocked, widening her eyes and realizing her mistake. "Y-you're our team leader, of course! I-I mean… I don't want to make decisions for the team without your consent…"

"O-oh, uh… o-of course! I-I like the idea, Pyrrha, a-and I agree with it." Upon hearing his stuttering approval, Pyrrha looked away bashfully, the red tint having grown. To many, it was obvious that this famous warrior, who won several tournaments for Sanctum, held this lowly knight-to-be close to her in a certain way. However, said knight wasn't very observant. He hardly noticed to her chagrin.

Putting the awkward moment aside, Jaune looked towards Ren and Nora. "Do you guys wanna join in on this? I wouldn't force you."

"Of course we're doin' this! It'll be a blast!" Nora happily answered and Ren gave a small smile as his response. Suddenly, Nora gasped and hastily turned to her childhood friend. "What if this place has Pancake-Plants?!"

… Pancake what?

Ren sighed, seeming to have gone through this act before. "Nora, I told you that no matter where we go, there isn't a place with plants that grow pancakes."

"My dreams of pancake farms and sloth sanctuaries will be reality one day, Renny! HIYAA!" She ended her ludicrous vows by excitedly pumping her fist in the air, her war hammer in hand. Almost everyone laughed at her antics.

"What do you say, lil' sis? You're not against it because it's a bet, are ya?" Yang asked her own team leader.

"Well, after hearing this out… of course I wanna do this, silly! It'll be fun to find new things! … as long as we're not betting with money, okay?" Ruby wanted to make sure that this was a clean challenge.

"Yup. Wallets sealed. What about you Blake?" Yang and Ruby turned to their quiet teammate. Seeing them, she sighed.

"I guess I'd rather not be left out of it. Sure, I'll take part." That just left… Weiss.

Since she was the only one who has not made an answer, everyone looked to her in anticipation. While they waited though, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company pondered this competition.

'…Anyone can get recognition and money for a new discovery…' she thought. 'This… is… perfect! If I find something so completely mind-boggling, or something that can even change the history of Remnant, I could become a legend! No one will judge me for my family reputation… they'll see me as a queen! A goddess! With this opportunity, I can finally claim what's mine and set the company on the path of righteousness! He-he-heh, watch out father, I just might take this company sooner than you expected!'

"Weiss? What do you say?"

Brought out of her sinister musings, Weiss saw everyone was looking at her, as if they were waiting for something. Of course, they were waiting for an answer. Making her decision, Weiss donned a grin that slightly displayed some cockiness.

"I will gladly accept this bet." She proclaimed.

Ruby cheered and Yang smiled triumphantly, their attempts to hearten the ice hearted girl were a success.

"So… What is the award for winning the bet?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh! Well… um…" Yang didn't really think that far. Honestly, they might actually get some sort of recognition award for making discoveries, but that didn't count for this bet.

"How about… dinner paid by the losing team?" Ruby suggested.

Yang waived her hand objectively. "Nah, it should be more interesting than that."

"What if the losing team buys school supplies for both teams, for next year?" Ren offered. Nora however, looking at him incredulously, seemed to disagree.

"Ren~! That's boring!" She complained.

"Disinterest in supply shopping does not matter. Our academics are important in our growth as –"

"Blah blah blah!" she interrupted childishly, which caused Ren to sigh.

"I got something!" Jaune propositioned. "What if the losing team… has to make a wish come true for the entirety of the winning team?!"

"That's definitely creative…" Yang considered, then suddenly snapped her fingers. "I got it! How 'bout we do all three?"

"Ooh~, I like that!" Ruby agreed.

Hearing the final suggestion, Weiss' eyes widened. "That… could cost a lot of lien," she realized.

"Better than nothing," Blake admitted.

Feeling that this was the best award, Ruby called for a vote. "All in favor?"

""Aye!"" the majority claimed.

"Ugh, fine," Weiss concurred. She wasn't excited about possibly spending a great sum of lien for these awards.

Ruby pumped her fists. "Awesome!"

Despite the head of the Schnee Dust Company having started this mission, in attempt to put Weiss' status of heiress into use, the students felt that they could actually gain something from this. Figuratively and literally of course. Before any more could be said on the matter, the voice of the first pilot came through the intercom.

"Alright ladies and gents, we've arrived at our destination"

"Hmph, it's about time." Weiss chastised the timing of the flight.

"Alright! Time to kick some Grimm butt! … Or whatever's left of them there." Yang exclaimed, before realizing the continent's diminished Grimm population.

Feeling the vehicle cease flying and the thump from landing, the students knew they were here. The doors opened, revealing the view of the land before them. They landed on a beach, the sand being a dull light brown color, ending at a line of tall, thick trees. The Students stared in awe at the trees' great heights, being much taller than the trees of Emerald Forest or Forever Falls. The weather was grey and cloudy, and signs of a fog were evident. As all of the students exited the vehicle's transport room, jumping out of it and easily landing on the ground, one of the pilots entered the room, using the door connecting it to the cockpit.

"Alright, listen up y'all," he called out to them. "You better remember what I'm gonna say now cause I'm saying it once. Today's the first day of your three-day mission. The vehicle for your return trip will arrive at this spot at four o'clock in the afternoon. We don't know if we'll be the pilots to pick ya up, so… nice knowin' ya, I guess."

His half-attempt at making a well-meaning goodbye irked a few of the students, but it didn't really matter. If he did not care about them or his job, then that was his problem.

"Bye!" Ruby exuberantly waved. The pilot reentered the cockpit, the doors to the transport quarters closing shut. The seeker bullhead revved its engines before taking off, flying into the cloudy distance. The members of RWBY and JNPR turned to the forest, their weapons ready and their nerves steeled. "You guys ready?" the read hooded girl asked her peers.

"Yup!" Yang responded, Blake and Weiss nodding in agreement.

"We're ready when you are." Jaune replied, his team also nodding in agreement.

Ruby smiled. Perhaps this mission was going to be fun. "Alright! Our objective is to find Dust and new, possibly cool things! Mission… start!"

---

"I can't believe we couldn't find anything~!"

To be fair, Ruby could have expected to not find anything at first. It was the first day of the mission. Unfortunately, the bet had made her more excited for it. With her high expectations underwhelmed, she lamented over the day's empty results. Yet this was not an excuse for Ruby to not feel disappointed.

She wasn't the only feeling this way. None of them found anything. Not a single member of the two student teams made a discovery. Even the high–energy Nora would have found something at this point but she had not. They didn't even find a single Dust deposit. They all saw nothing but trees for miles, which seemed to grow bigger the farther they went into the forest.

When they first entered the forest, they searched the area as a whole unit, but it did not get them far. They had separated into their own teams to make to vary the search, but nothing was found. Then they had gone with their own partners, but even this strategy yielded nothing. Eventually, the day had gone by and it was close to late evening. They gathered at the spot they were situated at currently, a campfire between them and their tents set up for the night.

"Well, it was only the first day. Perhaps tomorrow will yield better results?" Pyrrha asked hopefully.

"… Yeah, I guess so…" Ruby answered.

---

"We still didn't find anything!"

Yet again, their efforts were for naught. They did what they had done yesterday, separating with their partners to expand the search. The weather was not good either, raining almost the entire day. A few of them had claimed to have defeated a creature of Grimm but they were young and inexperienced, barely providing a good fight. The types were common too, like boarbatusks and beowolves, in contrast to their competition.

There was no Dust to be found still. Not a single sign of a shard or even an empty Dust mine. It was too strange for the students to believe it. What was going on, they wondered, why was the land so empty. Perhaps a past group of explorers actually found something, and took everything away from the island. … No, that wouldn't be the case. If it was, then it could have been public knowledge and none of them would be here now.

Ruby was once again disheartened by the day's results. She really wanted to find something. Not for the bet or to earn fame, but just for fun really. Heck, she even wanted to fight a Grimm or two. It's not too much to ask for, being a huntress and all. Alas, there was nothing. Weiss was angered by the lack of progression. There was nothing in sight! How can she uplift her reputation at this point now, when there isn't anything but trees in this forsaken continent? Nothing but trees! Trees for miles! None of this was worth spending piles of lien for the bet's rewards!

Blake hadn't made her own opinions obvious, having kept a stoic face for most of the mission. However, out of all of them, Yang noticed that behind the quiet bookworm's mask were hints of fatigue, the condition seeming to have increased. Speaking of the brawler… she started to think that this was a mistake. A bet in which whoever makes a new discovery wins? It seemed to be a great idea at the time, having successfully gotten Weiss out of her former glumly state (how it worked, Yang was not sure). But there was almost nothing in this place, not even the Dust they were supposed to look for.

Team JNPR had fared no better. Jaune was utterly confused with how this land was so barren, save for its trees. His hopes of winning the bet had shrunk. If he had won, Jaune would have used his wish to get a date with his crush… Weiss herself. Weiss had constantly rejected his attempts to date her before, so of course he thought if he won, a date would be foolproof (if only he could see what was in front of him). However, West Dragon's emptiness had reduced his chances.

Pyrrha herself was disheartened by the lack of the country's resources. The whole idea of this bet actually sounded fun, and it could have been a great bonding time with Ren, Nora, the whole of team RWBY, and… Jaune. Yet the country's emptiness had hindered all of her hopes. Ren, on the other hand, had a more indifferent reaction than the others. It was like he had prepared himself for this outcome. Perhaps that's one perk that came from living with Nora, predicting what every endeavor's results will be. Speaking of whom…

"I know, right?! This is so boring~~!"

That summed up how she felt about the mission.

"How is it that we haven't found anything in this blasted place?!" Weiss demanded.

"Maybe we haven't looked in the right places…?" Yang surmised questionably, only to be shot down by the heiress.

"The right places? This whole continent is fog, dirt, and trees! Where else are we supposed to look?!"

"…Under the rocks?" Ruby suggested meekly.

"UGH!" Weiss only responded with an indignant shout and throwing her arms in the air. She proceeded to cross her arms and turned her glare to the campfire currently alight.

"…This doesn't make any sense…" Pyrrha began. "Why haven't we found anything of an unfamiliar nature? I mean, 'West Dragon' is a large continent, but nothing should be so spaced out like this. Could everything be well hidden without us knowing it?" That was a good question. Maybe everything was camouflaged in some sort of natural way, but none of them were sure.

Jaune did his best to answer. "Well… it's still a big place. Maybe we're in some sort of dead zone?"

"What I don't understand is how the country is seemingly void of Dust." Ren remarked. "There should have been something here."

Yang was taking this all into thought before speaking up. "Well, the mission's not over yet. We still got plenty of time tomorrow to find something!"

"Until four pm, when the bullhead arrives," Blake reminded her.

"Yeah but still, plenty of time! I'm sure if we search far enough, we'll at least grab some Dust for the mission." Her words at least uplifted the others slightly. "Heck, we still might find something cool for our bet!"

"Euewwwwwwwl~…"

"…Well, speak of the devil…"

The students were startled upon hearing the strange, high-pitched sound. Each of them stood up, staring at the direction of the call, while some who were more vigilant, like Blake and Pyrrha, kept a hand over their weapon, ready to fight if necessary.

"W-what was that?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know…" Jaune answered.

"Whatever it is, we should prepare to face it." Pyrrha proclaimed.

Each of them entered a fighting stance, holding their weapons at the ready. Whatever it was, it was coming towards them. In fact, "it" sounded like it was coming in numbers, if the trampling of hundreds of feet had meant anything. The same cry could be heard from more than one creature.

"Guys… it's getting closer…" Ruby was getting anxious.

"Just keep it together, Rubes! We can take it!" Yang advised.

The trampling kept up, the thud of heavy feet on the earth coming closer and getting louder. The bodies of the unknown assailants could be heard brushing against the leaves and twigs of bushes. The high-pitched call could be heard over and over, each time out of synch with others and having a different pitch – there was definitely more than one. However, over the time that they were getting closer, the trampling seemed to slow down and the noise starting to soften.

Ruby had picked up on that. "What the…? Are they slowing down?"

"Focus, Ruby! They're still coming towards us!" Weiss snapped.

Ruby quickly concurred, returning to keeping up her defense. The students kept waiting for whatever was coming, but as they were getting closer, the stomping still grew softer. Ruby was right, they were slowing down but why? Were they trying to trick them? Regardless, they still kept their guard up. Whatever they faced, whether it be Grimm or something else, the students were ready to prove they are not to be trifled with.

The assailants were almost upon them. Their shadowy shapes could be seen through the trees, the light from the fire helping the visibility, but only slightly. Slowly, they crept towards the students. They were here. The figures exited the forest, revealing themselves to be –

"Elk?"

…

Exactly what Ruby said.

Indeed, they were merely elk. A whole herd in fact, consisting of many young calves, females with their offspring or by themselves, and large bulls with impressive antlers. Their tan, reddish–brown fur visible in the dim light from the fire. They appeared to be tired as well, many of the animals panting. Perhaps they were in a stampede, and had now tired themselves out.

Teams RWBY and JNPR, though slightly surprised, lowered their guard and sighed in relief. The elk had come to a stop, many of them standing around the students while some chose to lie down in rest. They must have been truly exhausted to not even notice the eight youths they surrounded.

"Well, that's a lot of elk." Yang commented, Ruby nodding in agreement.

Jaune turned his head, left and right, looking at the animals around him. "I didn't think that a bunch of elk would be here." He questioned.

"Elk aren't a widespread species, but they do live in forests like this one." Blake informed.

"Huh… that's cool…" Ruby hadn't known much about animals, usually giving her attention to those with cute appearances, like dogs – specifically her and Yang's corgi Zwei. Before she knew it, one of the females was approaching her, sniffing her scent as it came closer. The noise of its huffs surprised Ruby for a moment, making her step back. The elk paused in reaction to Ruby's, but took a step closer, to observe the girl in front of it. Ruby too was curious of the animal, awaiting its next action.

The next action the elk took – it began licking the girl lightly, as if it was actually curious of her taste. "H-he-he-hey! stop that! That tickles~! He-he-he-ha-hah~!" Ruby tried to stop it, but couldn't resist the ticklish feeling of the elk's tongue. Everyone looked at the spectacle in utter stupor.

"…Why is an elk licking my baby sister?" Was all Yang managed to say.

"That's… a new one…" Blake answered, the informative girl failing to give a straight answer.

Pyrrha hummed in thought. "Perhaps these elk have not seen a human before?" She surmised.

"What? How could these guys never see a human before? Or even a Faunus, for that matter?" Jaune questioned.

"Some regions of the world have not been fully explored, like 'West Dragon.'" She answered.

"Perhaps none of the settlers before us had come this far to stumble upon the elk." Her words were truly thought provoking. If the settlers hadn't managed to come this far, then they did. The question was, how were they unable to make this progress.

The elk didn't hold any sort of hint to the answer. Like the elk that approached Ruby, the others were moving towards them. Some elk were merely observing them, while the others were smelling them or even going as far as licking them, like the first elk. The students either welcomed or rejected it.

"If these things think they can lay their slobbery tongues on me, they have another thing coming." An aggravated Weiss declared, keeping an eye on any elk that were mere inches away from her. She did not want any of them to wet her clothes with saliva.

"Oh lighten up Weiss! This is kinda fun. It really does tickle, he-he-he!" Said Yang, feeling the full tickling-sensation of the animals' curious tongues.

"Yeah, they're just being friendly!" Ruby concurred. "I wonder if these guys would make good pets," she thought while petting the snout of the elk who approached her. Suddenly, when the animal turned its head to the left, she saw a long mark on its upper shoulder. Ruby wasn't able to make sure of what it was but, eyeing it more closely, she almost instantly recognized it.

"Hey, guys… look at this." She got their attention, each of them turning from the elks that approached them. Ruby turned her elk to make the mark more visible.

"A scar?" Jaune noted. It was long, narrow, and pale, the hair on it matching the complexion that contrasted with the animal's natural color. It must have been old, the flesh looking healthy despite the scar.

"Ooh~, that's nasty." Yang noted as well.

"Wait, why is this important?" Weiss questioned. "Don't these animals fight with their antlers? So wouldn't something like this happen often for them?"

"They do." Blake confirmed. "The bulls fight for territory or mates, ramming and clashing their antlers with each other. Maybe this female was injured from a past duel?"

"That's not the case." Pyrrha claimed almost instantly, gaining everyone's confused attention. She walked over to where Ruby and the elk was, then ran her hand gently across the scarred skin. The elk didn't seem to mind. "An elk's main form of attack is to charge, yes? So a protrusion from the antler could make a perfect stab wound. But this…" she turned to everyone else, her expression serious. "…This was caused by something sharp and flat, like a blade."

Everyone's eyes widened upon the champion's statement. "From the look of this scar, it seems that something had flown by while making contact with skin. I would guess that a spear was the culprit, having narrowly missed its target but was able to leave a mark."

"A… a spear…" Weiss was almost unable to understand the implications of this.

Jaune was astonished by how Pyrrha deduced the cause. "P-Pyrrha… how did you–"

"I have received multiple wounds like this in my training." She clarified. "Though, none of them had ever left a mark like this one."

For a moment, Blake felt she had been dumb for not recognizing the type of wound. She had experience with such things, in her time with the White Fang.

"Hold on," said Yang, starting to make a connection. "If this elk got that from a spear… does that mean there's people here?"

"Preposterous." Weiss abruptly claimed. "There can't be any form of a populace here. We've covered so much of the area, there weren't even any signs of people!"

"There could be people in hiding and covering their tracks." Blake suggested.

"Even so, there should have been some clues!" Weiss rebuked.

"Well, here's some more evidence." Ren stated. Everyone turned their attention to him. In front of him were other elk with scars, some shorter or longer. However, a greater difference was that these scars were, in a sense, fresh. They had healed over, but their color was a bright red and had a glassy appearance from the sealed wounds. Even worse, some had stab wounds. These were not made from any kind of antler though, as they appeared wider and more narrow then the shape of an antler's protrusions.

"Woah! Those are gnarly!" Nora exclaimed.

"T-this can't be… m-maybe we're overthinking this… maybe this is all just from the elk's dueling…" Weiss tried to rationalize their situation. Apparently, she could not accept the possibility of people living and hunting on the continent.

"G-g-guys…" Jaune stuttered. "Y-you might wanna see this…"

Now their attention on Jaune, he was pointing to one of the elk. At first glance, it was merely an average bull elk, with an exceptional display of antlers. However, looking a little more closely, one can see something entangled on its right hind leg. It was brown, rope like, and had a stone tied onto each end of the rope.

"Are those… bolas?" Ruby managed to identify the object.

"They are." Ren confirmed. "We're not alone."

The revelation of people on this continent was truly shocking. Nothing like this was confirmed to the public, as the earlier settlers and explorers had never colonized West Dragon because they were almost instantly attacked by the Grimm. Could they have survived the multiple Grimm hordes? Could they have lived on the continent in secrecy? Such questions and many more were going through the minds of these young hunters at the moment. However, out all of them, only Yang made at least one of her thoughts clear to them.

"So… who wins the bet?"

That very statement instantly turned the significance of their situation upside down.

Confused, Jaune looked to the brawler and asked, "What?"

"We just found something new, right?" She clarified.

"Everyone knows about elk, you brute." Weiss criticized.

"No, I mean whoever hunted these elk. We just found evidence of a person here, or even a group of people!" Yang further explained.

Pyrrha scrunched her brow in thought. "Yang, this isn't solid evidence–"

"I'd say I win."

Yang's abrupt declaration of apparent victory caused Jaune's jaw to drop to the floor, figuratively. There was no way that he was letting her go that easily. "W-What?! No way, WE totally got this!"

"I guessed right that there were people here!" Yang defended.

"Pyrrha figured out what made those scars!" Jaune rebuked. His defense mentioning Pyrrha caused her to blush. "We totally won!"

"Oh yeah? Say that again, I deer you!"

…

Yang's awful pun caused everyone to look at her strangely, despite her attempts to emphasize the joke with a knowing grin. Jaune could only raise his eyebrow and gawk, Blake and Weiss were disapproving, Pyrrha's eyes went wide at Yang's attempted humor, Ren's eyes were also wide but not as much as Pyrrha's, and Nora was poorly holding in her laughter. Apparently she was the only one who thought it was funny.

Ruby covered her face with her hand in embarrassment. If she was going to be honest, she's surprised that a pun regarding the elk hadn't come sooner, knowing her pun-happy sister.

"Really, Yang?"

"…*sigh*, I try."

Even the elk found her wordplay was in poor taste… well, maybe. Eventually the herd started to move again, heading for another place on the continent. Whether they were going to find food or to find another place to rest, teams RWBY and JNPR would not know.

"Bye bye~!" Nora called out to them, waiving her hand. At least one of the animals looked in her direction, but only for a moment and kept moving forward.

As the elk left, Ruby addressed her sister about the bet. "Yang, I think the bet's still on. I know you like winning and all, but… that wasn't thought out to well… eh-heh." She chuckled nervously at the end, hoping Yang wouldn't be offended.

The brawler looked at her sister for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I was a bit hasty."

"A bit?" Jaune muttered questionably.

"Hey, don't worry!" Ruby reassured positively. "We still have tomorrow to complete our objectives!"

---

Their progress hasn't increased. Well, the day wasn't over yet, but it was nearing their time for departure. They were still nowhere near finding Dust or making a new discovery. They came across tree after tree and dirt after dirt. The stress of possibly failing their mission and nullifying their bet was hovering over them. Yet they would not give up. They were determined to locate a Dust deposit. They wanted to win the bet, whatever their intentions were or whatever they wanted for winning the bet. They were going to achieve the mission.

The thing was though, they would find something. It wouldn't be just Dust either, they each would come upon one, single discovery. A discovery that would change the very face of Remnant, revoking what was forgotten and throwing everything into chaos…

---

Searching through the forest, Ruby and Weiss kept going. They didn't know what to really look for at this point, whether it be Dust or not.

Ruby turned up rocks and stones to look under them, though Weiss restrained from doing the same, fearing for the cleanliness of her clothes. She searched through bushes, though Weiss refrained from that too, hoping not too scratch herself on a twig or thorn. Ruby even climbed up one of the gigantic trees, using her semblance to quickly reach the top. Weiss…

"Do you see anything?!"

In summary, she wasn't completely much help at the moment.

"No! Just trees! … and more trees… and more… maybe a mountain–?"

"Ugh! This is pointless!"

Hearing the heiress' abrupt distress, Ruby sped down the tree and moved towards her partner. With a concerned expression, she tried her best to understand.

"What's pointless?"

"Everything! This mission! This continent! THAT STUPID GAMBLE YOUR SISTER STARTED!"

The screeching sound of her complaints surprised a flock of birds, flying up into the air from their perches. Ruby took a moment to see them fly off, herself surprised by them, before turning her attention back to Weiss. "Weiss, don't be like that. We still have some time left. We're going to find something, I know it!" She hoped her cheery tone will uplift Weiss's mood.

"Hmph, that's reassuring." Weiss sarcastically rebuked.

"Weiss!"

"… What are we going to find here, Ruby? There's obviously no Dust here for miles, and there's definitely nothing for us to discover. This is just a barren forest! I question why the Grimm would even be here!"

"Well… we still have to find something! We can't give up!"

"You're just naïve to the end, aren't you?"

Weiss's demeanor further disturbed Ruby. Before she could say anything more, the heiress turned her back on her, deciding that the conversation had come to a moot point. However, taking a moment to collect her thoughts, Ruby had one more thing to say on the matter.

"Weiss, people are counting on us. Blake, Yang, and everyone in JNPR want us to succeed, and we want them to succeed to. I want them to. Ozpin and even Professor Goodwitch want us to achieve something in this mission. And… I think your dad is expecting you to do good also."

…

Weiss gave no response. Ruby could only sigh to counter the silence.

"… I'm going to keep searching." She informed. "I'll come back to you if I find something."

Her lack of response only confirmed that she wasn't coming along. Ruby turned around, and speedily climbed another tree. She would do so again and again, unable to see anything of value.

Though Ruby did not see nor hear it, Weiss had given her leader a response. It was in the form of a pained, angered expression, and a single thought.

"You don't even know half of what he expects from me…"

---

Jaune and Pyrrha weren't faring much better. The trouble with their search, though, wasn't any lack of effort from one of them but that they were simply unlucky in finding anything. For the past few hours and the last two days, they could find nothing for the mission or the bet. It felt like they were on the short end of the search. No matter how diligent they were, they turned up with nothing.

Pyrrha watched Jaune modestly, as he searched through the bushes. Seeing her leader would sometimes make her feel complicated. She would always be happy to see him, occasionally be worried for him, or she would even be amused by his unsubtle antics. She thought he was cute.

"Oh! Hey there, little buddy–"

*Chomp*

"Augh! Pain!"

Like just now, when he found a squirrel in the bush.

One would ask what she ever saw in him and her answer would simply be, along the lines of this, "because he saw her for who she was, not for her reputation." Jaune was one of the first who treated her so casually. The others were friendly too, but she felt something more profound with Jaune. Sometimes, she felt that many of the students she conversed with at Beacon were slightly shy around her, or few were trying to befriend her because of her status. She even thought that Weiss had tried to exploit herself as her friend. Sadly, it was an entirely one-sided affair for her, Jaune only acting as a friend or as the team leader around her. Then again, Pyrrha was thankful to have the current connection they had with each other. As of now, she couldn't be happier.

They went on with their searching, Jaune tending to the slight, throbbing pain in his hand and Pyrrha keeping her flustered thoughts to herself.

---

Yang and Blake were searching with little success as well. "Geeze, you'd think that we'd find something by now." The brawler mentioned offhandedly.

Blake did not reply. Though she wasn't expecting an answer, Yang thought that it would have been nice if she said something.

During the day, Blake had kept quiet for the whole time. Yang wasn't sure of the reason, but it seemed that the quiet bookworm was deep in thought or she was actually staring off into space. Yang was hoping that it wasn't the latter but, she had an idea that it was. Over the whole two to three days of the mission, Blake seemed to have a worsening fatigue. She had bags under eyes that were darkening over time and her hair was starting to frizzle, loose strands and even split ends were evident.

Yang was concerned. She knew Blake was the reserved type, but even people like that had to keep their health in check. She didn't know why her partner was in such a condition, and she didn't know why she was letting herself go like that. That's what scared her, not knowing. She didn't know the cause, what was affecting Blake. She didn't even know what to do or how to help. The only thing she could do was… wait for Blake to open up… and she knew that couldn't happen any time soon.

Right now, all Yang could do was continue with the search. She was about push through a bush, until she heard the secretive Faunus spoke for the first time.

"We're not going to find anything."

Surprised, Yang turned to her. "What?"

"We're not finding anything. The only thing that inhabits this continent are the trees and animals, and there isn't a single sign of Dust here."

"Well, maybe we haven't searched far enough–"

"Don't use that excuse." Her sudden abruptness surprised Yang further. "There's nothing here. This whole mission has been a waste of all our time."

"Hey, don't get all 'Blakey' on me now." Yang rebuked. "There's like, a lot more area to be covered and we still got time before we have to go."

"And you think we'll just find something in that time?"

"Yeah! …Maybe… probably… I dunno."

Blake sighed in displeasure. "You want to know what's the worst part about this?" Yang gave a questioning look as a response, waiting for an answer. "We're lost."

"…Wait, what?"

Yang looked around to take in her surroundings… and Blake was right. The trees were positioned differently than Yang remembered, and some were thicker than the last. Some appeared to even have moss covering them, a trait she hadn't noticed before. The fog seemed to have thickened as well, making visibility slightly more difficult. Wherever they were now, they were certainly deeper in the forest.

"…Crap…"

---

Ruby couldn't remember how many trees she climbed at this point. Each tree she scaled was the same, with the only difference being their varying heights. And no matter where she looked from the top of the trees, all she could see were more trees. She couldn't remember why she was doing this anymore either. What was the benefit of climbing these trees? Was it an instinct to search from the sky, like an eagle eyeing the earth for prey?

Ruby hadn't thought of such doubtful questions before. She usually gone a more optimistic route in situations because it was easy. Perhaps that reflected her naivety and childishness. Was Weiss right? Was this mission pointless? Today's endeavors had proven fruitless, the same as the last two days. It was truly disheartening for the young girl. She did not want to fail one of her first missions and she didn't want their bet to be pointless either.

With a defeated and disheartened sigh, Ruby was going to climb down the tree she was on… until she spotted something. With whatever was left of her interest peaked, she glanced at what she saw. In the fog, she would see several silhouetted shapes but over time she could tell that they were the outlines of the trees. However, what she saw now were several different shapes. She was able to make the height of the shapes and, though varying, seemed to overshadow the trees' height. They were solid shapes, streamlined with straight edges, and the top ended in a sharpened tip like that of a weapon's. If Ruby were to guess, these shapes reminded her of…

Of Dust crystals… but that couldn't be. Ruby knew that raw Dust came in various small sizes and were found in mines. These couldn't be… If what she was thinking was fact, then could these actually be…?

Before she could finish her thoughts, Ruby saw light shining from the sky. The sun had started to break through the clouds slightly, its rays shinning onto the forest. The fog started to clear, as if it was moving itself away from where the light touched. Coincidentally, the light was starting to shine on the mysterious shapes as well. Miraculously though, once the light hit shapes, something emitted from them that Ruby could never have expected: color. The massive shapes were emitting various colors in the sunlight, like a rainbow was being released from each towering shape, once the light touched them.

Dust emitted certain or multiple colors when under UV light… these shapes were emitting colors in the sunlight… then this could only mean–!

Ruby's eyes were practically the size of dinner plates from realization, believing to have finally found something.

"WEISS!" Ruby immediately called out for her partner, jumping off the tree and landing on the ground, an impressive feat from such a height thanks to the use of aura. Using her semblance, she ran through the forest, maneuvering past each tree.

"WEISS! I THINK I FOUND SOMETHING!" She called out again. Before she knew it, she saw a white shape in the vastness of green. It was Weiss! Ruby skidded to stop, just inches from ramming into the heiress. Surprised, she looked to the red caped girl in confusion.

"Ruby? Were you just calling for me–?"

"WeissIjustfoundthemostawesomethinginthehistoryofawesomethings~~~!" Ruby excitedly declared in her infamous hyperactivity.

"What? Slow down! I can't hear what you're saying–!"

"There'snotimewehavetogotherenowandIthinkIfoundDust!"

"Are you even speaking in basic–?!" Ruby grabbed the heiress's hand. "GAH–!" And sped off.

Wherever they were going, Weiss wouldn't know. All she could think about was holding on for dear life while Ruby was using her semblance. Just what had gotten into this girl?

---

Ren looked around, taking note of his surroundings. Being calm, logical, and level-headed, he always rationalized his approach to almost each and every situation thinkable. Though his strategizing wasn't perfect and he wasn't at the peak of his skill, his acrobatic performance as a fighter was well known among his peers. And right now, he was mentally reviewing every possible option he had in completing the mission, and possibly finding something for the bet.

Nora, on the other hand…

"Ren! I think I found something!"

"Is it the berries from thirty minutes ago?"

"…Yeah…"

She was basically in a loop of finding berries. Though they looked unfamiliar, no one would really be interested in berries as a popular discovery. What was tiring about it was that she's been finding the same type of berries in almost every bush they passed during the day.

"Just refrain from eating them."

"Okay!"

Taking a breath in and out, Ren continued the trek with Nora following close behind. Although, they did not notice the speedy blur of white and red from a distance away from them.

---

"RUBY, SLOW DOWN!"

"WE'RE ALMOST THERE! JUST HANG ON!"

Weiss thought she was going to be sick. She never thought what it was like to be in Ruby's shoes when using her semblance but with what she was experiencing now, she would never want to run at this speed herself. It was enough to be pulled along while her partner was using it. The nausea in her stomach, the aches in her limbs, and being unable to clearly see anything as it was just a blur, it was too much! How was that child able to master it so well?

The running kept on for a few minutes, and all Weiss could see were the blurred colors of green, brown, and red. She could faintly feel some of the rose petals land on her face while being dragged along, which appeared whenever Ruby's semblance was activated. Suddenly, the red clad speedster came to a halt. Whether it was unintentional or not, Weiss seemed to be sent flying for a moment, before hitting the ground and skidding face-first across the dirt. She eventually stopped skidding but laid still where she stopped for a moment. The entire scene would be comical, were it not for Weiss had possibly been hurt.

"*Gasp*! Weiss, I'm sorry!" Weiss could hear Ruby call out in apology. "I thought I was hanging on to you, but then I stopped and I thought you would be fine, but then I just saw you whiz by me and I saw you skidding on the ground and–"

"You… you…" Slowly, Weiss pushed herself up and started to stand, though there was evident effort as her legs were shaking. Then, she turned to reveal her condition. "You… have just… ruined my PERFECTLY CLEAN CLOTHES!" True to her word, Weiss's self-perfected image was tainted. She was covered in skid marks made of soil, her face dirtied and her combat dress smeared with the brown color of dirt. Her bangs were ruffled too, with some pieces of grime tangled in them. Saying that Weiss was upset at the moment was an understatement.

"Oh my gosh Weiss, I'm really, really, really sorry!" Ruby tried to apologize.

"Well you should be, damn it!" Weiss refuted, cursing to emphasize her anger.

Ruby took a step back, her eyes widening in fright and shock. She never heard Weiss swear before, not even when she would yell at her. Obviously, she crossed an apparent line. Cursing made the young girl uncomfortable; sometimes, she would hear Yang cuss casually but even then she would disapprove. To hear her partner curse directly at her, she felt hurt.

"Weiss…" She started to address the situation cautiously. "I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear, but this is really important. I think I found Dust!"

Weiss's angered expression suddenly switched to that of neutral, blankly staring at Ruby. "…You… found… Dust?" Ruby nodded quickly. Before she made a response, Weiss brushed some of the dirt out of her hair and exhaled a stressful sigh. "…If this is some sort of false lead, I swear on Dust itself–"

"N-n-no, really! I found it!" Ruby attempted to confirm the truth of her claims.

"Then where is it?!" Weiss demanded, her expression turning wrathful again.

Scared further, Ruby nervously pointed behind her with her index finger, the digit shaking slightly. Weiss hastily turned around to see the supposed Dust. To be honest, it wasn't what she was expecting… in fact, the very things that were in front of Weiss were something she thought she would never see in her lifetime.

Slowly but gradually, Weiss' expression turned to that of awe. Her brow loosened from furrowing, her teeth unclenched as her mouth slowly opened to gawk, and the flame of anger seemed to ebb away from her eyes. The condition of her uncleanly appearance was currently forgotten between the two, Ruby as well taking in the sight before them.

What was in front of them was indeed Dust, but it was no Dust mine. They were witness to an innumerous number of literal towers of Dust. They perfectly resembled any single shard of Dust, but they were enormous. They reached heights neither of them had ever seen before, far surpassing that of the trees. The clouds thickened and started to cover the sun again, but with the remainders of the light shining, they could see hints of various colors that radiated from them wherever the light hit them.

The two girls knew what these were… they were Dust Spires. It has always been said that long ago, when mankind was at the brink of extinction at the hands of the Grimm, it was thanks to their discovery of Dust that they fought off their enemies and continued to thrive. There is one variation of this story, though: The very first form of Dust that mankind discovered were the Spires. Through these massive Dust forms was mankind able to craft weapons that harnessed the elements to defend themselves. Such behemoth structures of nature's raw energy were considered unfeasible today, but here were two student huntresses standing in the presence of the Dust Spires.

"I… I can't… believe this…! The Dust Spires… actually exist?" Weiss finally stated in her amazement.

"Y-yeah… I think they do…" Ruby concurred.

Weiss slowly approached the Spires, walking towards the nearest one. Once in arms' reach, Weiss thought that she could see her own reflection. She cautiously moved her hand towards the structure, and once the hand made contact with the Spire she almost immediately took her hand off of it, looking at her hand in surprise.

"What's wrong?" asked Ruby, moving up next to Weiss.

"It's… warm." She responded.

"Warm?"

"Yeah… It was like the energy of a Dust crystal tenfold, and I felt it transfer into my very being from touching it." Ruby was astonished to hear such a description. Wanting to feel this for herself, she brought her hand onto the Spire. It felt warm… really warm! The heat that radiated from this structure traveled to Ruby's very core, giving her a sense of sudden elation. She took her hand off of the spire, staring intently at her warmed palm. She turned her head towards Weiss, her expression filled with amazement as well.

They found Dust… they completed the mission!

"We… we did it…" said Ruby.

"We… found Dust… we completed the mission…" Weiss concurred.

Feeling a sudden rush of energy, Ruby jumped into the air, throwing her hands up, and shouted "WE DID IT~!" She then sped off with her semblance, stopping at every Dust Spire she could find and touching them as well. She couldn't be any happier! After three days of searching, they finally found Dust!

Ruby could imagine it now, the praise she would receive from everyone – team JNPR congratulating her, the head professors approving of her achievement, Blake offering her silent applause, receiving Yang's signature bone-crushing hug of sisterly love, and Weiss would practically thank Ruby for being her leader and finally coming to a conclusion to their mission! Heck, she might finally recognize the friendship between them!

Ruby soon returned to Weiss in front of the first Dust Spire. "Weiss, I can't believe we did it! We found Dust and completed the mission!"

"Ruby… I think we won the bet too." Claimed Weiss.

"We won the–? *GASP*! We totally did!" Forget what was thought earlier, NOW Ruby couldn't be happier!

It was a given that most know of the legend of Dust Spires, but to actually find a large number of them existing! What was thought to be myth would soon become fact! The discovery of these massive Dust crystals would surely win team RWBY the bet.

"Ruby… we finished our mission's objective!" Weiss happily declared.

"Yeah!" Ruby concurred.

"We won the bet for our team!"

"Yeah!"

"And I can take over the family company!"

"YEA– wait, what?"

This was a sudden turn. Weiss's expression was full of glee, but there seemed something slightly sinister to it. She continued, "Just imagine it, Ruby! With these Dust Spires, I could practically use them to buy the SCP itself! Father would have to follow my rules! As of now I am Weiss Schnee, the one who found the greatest forms of Dust to ever exist on the face of Remnant! I can finally correct our family's crimes! HAHAHAHAHA~!"

As Weiss was maniacally laughing to her apparent plans of "buying" her family company, Ruby took a moment to think. "Okay… that was weird. She wants to buy the Schnee Dust Company?

Isn't she the company's heiress? Maybe she's not thinking too clearly… I mean, she does want to become the head of the SCP, right? But to do that right now? I don't know, maybe she needs more time to… wait a minute…"

Time. The moment she thought the word time, she realized something important. Ruby took out her scroll to check the current time. Analyzing it for moment, she attempted to get Weiss' attention.

"Uh, hey Weiss?"

The heiress in question was still laughing maniacally.

"Weiss…?"

Still laughing.

"WEISS!"

She gasped, suddenly brought out of her maniacal laughing. She turned to her team leader and sheepishly asked, "Uh, y-yes?"

"What time do we have to leave?"

Upon hearing an important question, Weiss straightened herself out. "Oh, uh, around four in the afternoon, about the time the bullhead arrives… duh."

"…Uh-oh."

Weiss raised her brow curiously. "What?"

Ruby showed Weiss her scroll's home screen, the time reading 3:45pm.

…

---

"Dammit, it's almost time to go!"

Yang cursed her and Blake's current situation. They were lost, they almost could not see anything, they haven't found anything, and it was around fifteen minutes before departure. The worst of it though…

"I told you."

Was Blake's current attitude.

"Rrrrgh~!" Yang growled in frustration. She took a moment before dramatically addressing the situation, pointing her index finger at Blake to address her. "Don't worry, Kitty Kat! We–"

"Don't call me that."

"–still got time to find something! I don't care if it's Dust or whatever, we gotta be close to finding something! I can feel it!"

"And you think that will just miraculously happen?"

"I know it will!"

Blake exhaled loudly in frustration. "Yang, just give it a rest! There's nothing here, we're not finding anything and no one else will!"

"We can't just give up!" Yang rebuked.

"So you want to continue with this pointless mission?!"

"There's still that bet we have to win!"

"Why do you want to win your dumb bet?!"

"Because I want a cool new outfit!"

…

"… New… outfit…?" Blake slowly asked, giving a blank stare at her. Her voice slightly monotone but questioning tone.

Yang herself was surprised to reveal her secret so easily. She blinked a couple times, shrugged her shoulders and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. She started to explain herself while still embarrassed. "Well, yeah… one part of winning the bet was getting a wish granted by the losers, right? I kinda wanted to get JNPR to buy me this cool suit I saw the other day."

"… Suit?"

"Yeah, I remembered it a few days ago. It was this cool battle gear in one of the clothes shops! It was even in my colors too! I tried it the first time I saw it, but the price was too big. And, well, I thought… that this could work…" She further tried to defend her reasons.

"… Yang Xiao Long, you are by far the vainest person I have ever met." Blake deadpanned.

"Hey!" Yang barked at Blake's blunt accusation. Unfazed, the dark-haired girl continued.

"Do you really think this is worth it? Searching aimlessly for whatever we thought was here? Well, it's not. There's no Dust and there's nothing else to find. This whole mission has been a failure." Yang was certainly stunned to hear this from her partner. Though she knew she was a skeptical person, she hadn't spoken what was on her mind like this, for whoever was present to hear. Yang decided to take another approach to this.

"…Blake… is everything okay?" Blake widened her eyes in surprise to her question. "You haven't been sleeping well. I can tell, there's bags under your eyes. And now, you're fussing over this mission. I know you can be skeptical and you're right, this whole thing's been pretty sketchy. But… you don't go this far to question anything. Is something wrong?"

It only took Blake a short moment before narrowing her eyes at Yang, and walked past her. Yang turned her head to see the secretive girl still walking before she abruptly stopped and turned to her, her expression bordering on anger. "Do you know what we could be doing? Anything that's twice as productive as this!"

"How are mandatory missions not productive?" Yang questioned, putting her hands on her hips. "This stuff is for our grades and… uh~… for us to learn… and to train…" Yang tried to defend the mission's importance, but she couldn't think of anything. She didn't actually care for academics, but she had to get by if she wanted to graduate as a full-fledged huntress. "…and our grades!" She repeated.

"I don't care about grades!" Blake refuted. "Do you know what could be happening while we're hear?! The enemy could be acting on their plans right now, doing whoever knows what, and we would not be able to do anything to stop it, because we're stuck on this damned continent!"

Yang was almost immediately shocked, her eyes widening and her mouth slightly open. However, at the same time, something clicked in her mind. She realized what was bothering her partner, the truth behind her fatigue. A few days before the mission, their team came into a confrontation with Roman Torchwick. Though the battle ended with his escape, they were able to gather some information on his activities. Yang thought that it was the end of if for now, but it seemed that wasn't the case for Blake.

She was still thinking about everything. It wasn't just Torchwick either, she was thinking about the White Fang and the Dust robberies. Blake wanted to know why the terrorists, her former brothers and sisters in arms, are cooperating with the classy criminal. A human criminal no less. She also wanted to know why they were behind Dust robberies. The White Fang had enough resources since turning to violence and had gained more trough their campaign of raiding the Schnee Dust Company. The Dust robberies would give them more resources than necessary. She still had questions that needed answers.

Blake would prioritize finding answers to her questions. She would give up aspects of her life and devote much of her time to do that. She was beginning to neglect sleeping already, who knows what next she would do to herself. Blake was willing to put her life aside for this, Yang knew it. She knew because she did the same thing a long time ago and almost lost her life… and Ruby's. Yang was worried, scared, concerned, and any other word that described what she was feeling for Blake. She did not want Blake to make the same mistakes as her, she had to convince her otherwise!

"Blake… are you still thinking about Torchwick?" Yang asked cautiously, trying not to aggravate the tension of the situation.

"I'm not just 'thinking' about him! The White Fang, the Dust robberies, all of it! I'm trying to find answers, but I can't because I'm stuck here!" She declared, her emotions rising up each time she mentioned their troubles. Taking this as confirmation of her fears, Yang knew what to do next.

"Blake… you have to slow down." Yang firmly suggested, suddenly donning a serious and determined expression.

"What?!" Blake asked incredulously.

"You shouldn't just focus on something this important and shove away everything else!" Yang explained. "This takes time, and we have to think about ourselves! You have to think about yourself."

"Then I should just stop everything I'm doing?!" Blake refuted in question. "Should I be a good girl and get good grades, while they try to… I don't know, destroy the city?!"

"I'm not saying you should stop, I'm saying you should slow down! You can't just… just…!"

Ironically, Yang stopped talking, confusing Blake. Her attention was pulled to something else. She hadn't expected the headstrong girl to pause midsentence. It was uncharacteristic. Curious, she tried to get her attention back. "Yang?" she pried.

The only response she got was the blonde's face suddenly turning into an expression of shock. Gradually, her face widened further, as if the shock she was experiencing had deepened. Blake herself was genuinely shocked, but obviously not as much as Yang. She tried again to get her attention but before she could speak, she saw something in her eyes. With her enhanced vision, thanks to her heritage of cat Faunus, Blake looked closer into Yang's lilac eyes. She saw the reflection of two, dark shapes.

Blake turned around and immediately found what Yang was gazing at: Grimm.

She and Yang were staring into the eyes of two creatures of Grimm… and they were staring back. They had arms and legs but appeared quadrupedal, resting their knuckles on the ground, and their backs were hunched. She wasn't sure what their full height was, but she estimated around six feet or shorter – a rather small Grimm type. They had black skin and hair like any other Grimm. However, from what Blake could tell, they were lacking the typical bone-armor of the Grimm. The most she could see were bone plates emerging from the top of their shoulders and small, sharp thorns protruding from their elbows. On their torsos were two columns of horizontal stripes of white hair, making a rib-cage pattern. The one in front bore two large scars across its right shoulder and chest, and a scrape on its cheek. The second had a visible discoloration of ash grey speckles on its skin.

Yet that wasn't the reason why these Grimm were so bizarre. The Grimm were best characterized by the bony "masks" that grew from their skulls but… they had no masks. In place of masks were merely a pale white coloration resembling a skull covering them like face paint, except it appeared to be their natural skin tone, and a small red marking on their foreheads. Without masks, Blake could see their facial features, which seemed to be a primitive version of… a human's… or a Faunus's even! Their faces were flat with rounded lips, noses that displayed their nostrils openly, and large brows over their forward-facing eyes. These Grimm… they appeared to resemble primates. To be more accurate, they resembled apes.

Their eyes… Blake couldn't believe what she was seeing. They had eyes, but not the eyes of the Grimm. In place of pure red eyes that burned eternal hatred were the eyes of someone who was frightened. The physical resemblance to a human or Faunus was uncanny too, having an opaque white sclera, a colorful iris, and a pitch-black pupil. The first one in front had blue eyes and the other had green. However, their irises had tiny red flecks within them, as if it was what remained of their demonic origin.

Despite what they were, they appeared scared of them as much as the girls were shocked of their existence. They appeared to act more human than Grimm. A Grimm that acted and looked like a human… it was the scariest thing that neither of them had ever thought of. However, Blake hadn't let it get the better of her. Whatever they looked like didn't matter, they were wild Grimm that could attack at any moment.

In an instant, she drew Gambol Shroud in pistol form and aimed it at the Grimm. Seeing this, Yang hurried into a signature boxing stance, remembering they were in danger. They were ready to fight… the key word being "they." The moment the two Grimm witnessed their stances, they were scared further, almost jumping back in response. Yang dropped her guard slightly, completely confused as to why they reacted that way. Blake kept her weapon up, but inside she was dazed by their actions.

"What are they doing?" Yang thought in bewilderment. First she saw the strangest Grimm in her life, now she sees them showing emotions. Were they even Grimm? …For some reason, Yang thought it was possible to… reason with these Grimm. "H-hey… it's alright… d-don't be scared…" Before she could continue "comforting" them, the Grimm with the blue eyes slowly donned an expression of complete contempt.

The moment Yang started talking, Blake turned her head to her, the sword-pistol wielding girl's expression obviously saying what the hell are you doing? Yang gave her own confused expression saying I don't know! Before anything else could be said silently, they heard snarling. They turned to see the blue-eyed Grimm trying to intimidate them, threatening them into leaving. It even appeared to be protecting the other Grimm, who was still frightened. The girls were further amazed by them. However, after a second snarl, Yang noticed something wrong with Blake. Her hands were shaking; soon, she was barely able to hold up her pistol.

"Blake?" Yang asked in concern. She took a step closer to Blake while the snarling only gotten louder. Yang could see the side of her partner's face, sweat starting to run profusely, her mouth in a panicked frown, her clenched teeth showing, and the pupils in her eyes dilated from an emotion unknown to Yang. This time, Yang was scared of her, afraid of what was happening to Blake. What was also unknown to Yang was the second ape noticing the nervous body language. Whether it was making its own attempt to negotiate or it was merely curious, the grey-skinned Grimm took a step in front of its companion. Unfortunately, Blake noticed it with widened eyes.

*BANG*!

She fired her pistol instinctually, the sound of the firing mechanism echoing through the forest, and the bullet hit its intended target.

---

"Did you hear that?!" Ruby exclaimed.

As she and Weiss were trying to configure a plan for how to regroup with the others and meet up with the bullhead, and how to pinpoint the exact location of the Dust Spires on the continent, they heard a loud gunshot.

"Yes, I did…" Weiss confirmed. "Who fired their weapon?"

"I don't know, but our friends are in trouble! We have to help!" Ruby declared, then immediately grabbed Weiss' hand.

"What are you – wait, DON'T USE YOUR SEMBLANCE–!"

Ruby used her semblance and sped off, with Weiss practically hanging for dear life once again while screaming her head off.

---

Jaune and Pyrrha heard the gunshot just as well.

"Uh oh…" Jaune uttered in dread.

"Come on!" Pyrrha proclaimed. They both ran for wherever the gunshot was, hoping to make it in time to aid whoever needed it.

---

Ren and Nora stopped in their tracks. Halting their search, they turned their heads to the direction of the gunshot. They then turned to each other, both acknowledging from the other what they had to do. They quickly changed directions and ran towards the location of the gunshot. They didn't know who, but their friends needed help.

---

Unknown to all of the students, deep in the forest, there lies a village. Its huts and homes made of the same wood from the trees that surrounded them. From a hill that overlooked the village, there stood a tree. It was hardly as tall as the forest's trees though, being a different kind of tree, but it stood high above the village. Built into this tree were large logs that formed a stairway. This stairway led to a large, decorated hut at the top of the tree. It's only residents was a family of three currently, one of them hardly a day old infant. It was a peaceful sleep for this family.

Until a loud booming sound went off.

One of them awoke frantically, possibly being the family's patriarch. Breathing heavily, his eyes swept the room left and right. He turned to his family, relieved to find them alright and still asleep. However, he was deeply troubled once he heard that sound. He knew that sound well. He hadn't heard it in such a long time, he'd never have thought that he would recognize it now. He knew what tools make that sound… and he knows what two species use those weapons. He had seen neither of their kinds for so long, he thought they were long dead. How arrogant of him. What troubled him more was why or how they were hear, or even if both species were here.

The patriarch then heard hooting. Exiting the room and watching below, he witnessed the residents of his village in a panicked crowd. He wasn't the only one who heard that sound. He saw many of his compatriots trying to make heads or tails of what they heard. Before he could calm the villagers, he heard a distressed call from afar. Despite the noise coming from the panicked villagers, he could pick up this call for help. Unfortunately, he knew who was calling.

Now with a newfound determination, the patriarch thundered a commanding shout, his voice heard amongst the villagers. They looked up to see their leader atop the village tree. As all eyes were on him, the village patriarch gave orders to form a search party, to find out what was happening, and to find the one calling for their help.

No matter what, Caesar had to find his son.

---

"Blake, what did you do?!"

The girl in question said nothing. She merely stood there, motionless. Her expression was wrought with horror at what she apparently had done.

The shot she fired hit the grey-skinned Grimm, only scathing the creature's shoulder. The pain was enough to send the "ape's" body into a fit of uncontrollable spasms. It was in shock, its breath beginning to hyperventilate. The only control the animal seemed to have of its body was the fear it expressed for its life. While Blake seemed to have shut down, Yang was surprised by the Grimm's ability to express fear. What shocked her more was what the blue eyed Grimm was doing.

The moment its companion was writhing in pain, the blue eyed Grimm came to its aid. It held its "friend" in its arms, trying to ease its pain but its attempts were useless. Fear was also evident in this creature's face but not for itself or of its assailants, but for its friend. Yang couldn't explain the spectacle of emotions she saw before her, from Grimm no less. The blue eyed Grimm turned its head to the girls, the fear growing in its eyes. In the short moment she locked eyes with it, Yang herself was scared. The Grimm broke the eye contact and began shouting a loud series of pants and hoots, turning its head left and right to spread the echoing of its "pant-hoots."

It was calling for help. Of course there would be more of them. Unwilling to face more of these strange Grimm with the condition Blake was in, Yang tried to get Blake out of her stupor. Grabbing her shoulder, Yang shouts at her, "Blake, we should go!"

Fortunately, her words got the girl's attention. Gasping and blinking her eyes, Blake turned to Yang. "Wha–? What's happening–?"

"We have to go! It's calling for help, we can't–!"

Before she could finish her sentence, they felt a small gust of wind blow into them. "Yang?!" spoke a young voice. The blonde brawler in question turned to see Ruby and Weiss two meters from them, the former having used her semblance to reach them as the latter dropped to her knees in exhaustion.

"Don't… do… that… without… telling me… again…!" Weiss muttered between breaths.

"Ruby?! How did you find us?" Yang asked.

"We heard the gunshot from earlier! Are you guys… *gasp*!" Ruby was explaining how she found them, but noticed their predicament with the strange beasts. "Are those… Grimm?"

"G-Grimm?! Where are the–!" Weiss tried to ask before seeing them for herself, her eyes widening.

The blue-eyed Grimm stopped the hooting to see them as well, the grey-skinned in its arms still in shock. The fear in the Grimm's face was greater now, realizing the danger it was in increased. It continued its pant-hoots, this time louder and more frantic. Both Ruby and Weiss were surprised by the creature's reaction.

"What is it… Yang, what's going on?" Ruby asked, unknowing of what had occurred or what the Grimm was doing now.

"I'll explain later; we should get out of here–!"

"Guys?!" another voice interrupted. The reunited team RWBY turned to see Jaune and Pyrrha, and catching up to them were Ren and Nora. Just how close were they to have found them this deep into the forest?

"We heard the gunshot, is everything all right – w-what in the world?!" Pyrrha tried to ask what was happening, until she noticed the Grimm apes.

"Woah! Ren, are those… Monkey Grimm?!" Nora asked incredulously.

"… I… think they resemble apes… Nora…" Ren answered unsurely, surprised to see this type of monsters and more so by the expression of fear one of them had.

The blue-eyed Grimm was now silenced with fear. It was surrounded by humans, and none of its kind were here. It wasn't even sure if its calls were heard. Everything seemed hopeless for it. It would have to run with its friend, but it knew that escaping from them wouldn't be possible. It was likely thinking that they were going to kill them both at this point…

"What are they? I haven't seen these kinds of Grimm before…" Jaune questioned.

"I don't know, but we're wasting time!" Yang informed them. "It's been calling for help, so we have to–!"

Much to Yang's annoyance, she was interrupted again but to her fear, it wasn't from a person or even an individual. Gradually, they heard trampling and multiple pant-hoots from the hill above them. The Grimm's help had come. The eight student hunters turned to witness what could just possibly be an army of these Grimm apes. Each of them bore the characteristics of the first two they found: black hair and skin, white coloration over their faces and torsos, very little bone armor that consisted of either bony plates, spikes, or both, and the human-like facial features, including the colorful eyes. Unexpectedly, these Grimm had another surprise for the students. Many of them were carrying spears.

As the party was coming closer to the students, one of the Grimm apes suddenly landed right next them, surprising them. This ape was barer than the others, an ashy hue to its skin. It had the same white markings only faded, the bony plate armor on its shoulders, and a curved spine protruding from each elbow. It was holding a large spear and pointing it at them, while making the panting noises like the others.

"Well… I guess we now know who were hunting the elk…" Yang thought.

The Grimm apes had come to a stop, merely a few meters were between them and the young hunters-in-training. On a tree stump stood a single Grimm Ape, possibly the leader of this group. It was the only thing that stood between the Grimm and the students. It basically looked the same as the others, having green irises, and it had some sort of resemblance to the blue eyed Grimm who called for their help. Yet this Grimm was different. It exuded some sort of authoritative aura from itself, as if it had a strong will and an absolute resolve. This Grimm was definitely the leader.

The eight students were amazed at the Grimm apes' organized formation, the hand-crafted spears they carried, and the surprising show of intelligence they displayed. They could possibly be more intelligent then they let on. So shocked were these youths, they had almost completely forgotten their training at the moment, nearly ignoring the fact that they should take up their fighting stances in the presence of the Grimm. Fortunately, fighting did not seem necessary at the moment. The Grimm apes seemed to be curious, cautions, or frightened of them (the leader having all three of these emotions), rather than wanting to consume their flesh. Nevertheless, the students did have their guard, though they were slightly faulty at the moment.

The hairless Grimm approached the first two Grimm, and taking the wounded Grimm in its arms from the blue eyed Grimm. The hairless Grimm took a moment to gaze in shock at the wounded, and started hooting. The hairless Grimm was in pain, not physically, emotionally. It obviously had a bond with the wounded Grimm like the blue eyed one, but the students didn't know what kind of bond. The hairless Grimm was addressing the leader with its hooting and making hand gestures of some kind. The leader responded with hand gestures of its own, which somehow calmed down the distraught Grimm ape.

Ruby wasn't sure what she witnessed, but she at least understood the meaning behind it. They had communicated through these pant-hoots and gestures. If she had to guess, Ruby assumed that they could have been using sign language. She wasn't sure how but they did. They were much more intelligent than she believed, than any of them believed. …What if they didn't want to fight? Could she try to talk to them? Would they be able to understand her if she spoke? Before Ruby completely knew what she was doing, she decided to test that theory.

"Um… we come in peace?" All eyes were on her, the Grimm's and her peers' included, the latter glaring at her in bewilderment. "Uh, I mean… we don't mean any harm!"

"Ruby, what do you think you're doing?!" Weiss questionably whispered. "You can't possibly negotiate with them, you dunce!"

"Y-yeah, they're just Grimm!" Jaune nervously concurred. "They can't understand us!"

"I don't know, I'm trying!" Ruby whispered back in response. "Besides… do they really look just like Grimm to you?"

Upon asking that, they all looked to the creatures in question. They had some characteristics with a regular Grimm but not much. They had no masks whatsoever, instead with pale white faces that looked akin to a primitive human, and they had eyes like a human. One could say they had the faces of a Faunus too, if none of their animal features appeared on their faces. Some of the Grimm Apes were different from another, having more or less hair than each other. Ruby swore she could see a Grimm ape farther in the group with shaggy hair, spines coming out of its back, and a wide, flattened, and rotund face. She also thought she saw one with a scar across its face.

As the silence continued between the two groups, Ruby had an idea. Slowly, she took a step forward, the move making Yang quietly protest. Some of the Grimm apes stirred in response, but the leader held out its arm as a signal to hold their position. The leader seemed to be more cautious now. Ruby slowly took a couple more steps and stopped. She took a moment to think, unsure of what to do next. Almost instantly, she had another idea.

"Guys, put your weapons down." She quietly requested.

"W-what?" Blake asked.

"You can't be serious…" Weiss claimed.

"They're not attacking us. We should prove we're not a threat too." Ruby explained, emphasizing her point by deactivating Crescent Rose into its transportable form and storing it onto the back of her waist. Reluctantly, the others followed her example, Blake being the last to sheathe her sword and remount it on her back.

The leader of the Grimm apes blinked and slowly lowered its arm to its side. Ruby couldn't tell if it worked or not, but they seemed to have made some sort of progress. On the inside, Ruby was slightly elated, earning the achievement of somehow negotiating with Grimm… despite these being abnormal. Suddenly, the leader donned a stern expression. Ruby couldn't tell if it was angry or not.

Then came the final and the greatest surprise of the day for teams RWBY and JNPR. What the leader did was something none of them would have ever expected in their lifetimes. The leader… shouted one word. One single command with a powerful voice!

"GOOOOOO~!"

…

…

…

"H-… holy shit…" Yang muttered in disbelief, her eyes full of horror, one of the few feelings she expressed.

With a single swear, she summarized what everyone was thinking. They thought they were dealing with the most abnormal Grimm they have encountered, appearing to look more like the apes they resembled. How was it able to speak? And so clearly? Forget their mission or their bet, this could be the greatest discovery in the history of Remnant! The Grimm were much more than they believed them to be! However, only thoughts of fear and paranoia currently clouded their minds.

Ruby stared with wide eyes, astonished by how this turned out.

Weiss was completely flabbergasted, wanting to believe her ears had deceived her just now.

Even Blake was terrified, her own lower lip trembling.

"T-t-t-th-th-tha-at… G-Gr-Grimm… j-j-j-ju-just–!" Jaune failed to reiterate what happened, stuttering out of pure panic.

"S-spoke…!" Ren finished, a little stutter in his own voice as his composure was starting to fail him.

"Th-that's not… possible!" Pyrrha claimed.

And Nora…

"…That… was… awesome~!"

Well, she usually reacted like that, no matter how unconventional the situation or her response.

Ren stared at her in bewilderment. "…And really scary, too." She quickly mentioned to keep any ill intent away from her.

To their misfortune, they seemed to have tested the Grimm leader's patience. Scowling, the leader jumped from its post and landed perfectly in front of them. Standing up slowly, the leader stood a whole foot above most of them, taller than even Jaune by a few more inches. Its mouth closed in a stern frown and eyes that bore a tranquil fury. The leader's expression was sincerely intimidating, sending chills down the students' spines. If they stayed any longer, they would likely piss it off more, and they did not want to find out how angry this Grimm could get.

"Okay, much scarier now! Still awesome, but mostly scary!" Nora admitted. Now she was really frightened.

"A-alright!" Ruby suddenly complied. "W-we're going! W-we won't do anything funny, I promise!" Despite her truthful claims of them leaving, it did little to calm the leader, who took a step towards them.

Much to their shock, another ape shouted. "GOOOOO~!" This voice was slightly louder, and was a slightly raspy voice. They didn't see which ape shouted but if they listened closer, they would have picked up a hint of elation in the order, as if the shouter took glee in telling them what to do.

"A-are you kidding me?!" Weiss gawked, scared out of her own mind. "Do all of them know how to speak?!"

She got a response, though it wasn't much coherent speech. The apes started pant-hooting once again, their volume increasing. Some of the apes jumped from their perches, joining their leader on the ground, staying a distance behind the leader. Suddenly, while walking back as the Grimm apes pushed forward, Ruby tripped on something she didn't see. She almost fell down the slope of the path but luckily, she stopped herself from actually falling. Getting her bearings, she quickly stood up –

*CLICK* *CRUNCH*

She paused, confused by the sudden sound. She quickly felt her back, finding nothing connected to her waist, behind her cloak. Now she was concerned. She turned around to find Crescent Rose, inactive, laying on the ground, the grass crunched underneath it. Gasping over her weapon's condition, she made to reach for it but, to her heartbreaking distress, Yang grabbed her arm and pulled her way.

"Ruby, we have to go!" She said.

"Yang wait! Crescent Rose is–!"

"There's no TIME!"

"Yang NOOOOOOOOO~~~!"

Ruby cried in despair, the image of the apes becoming more distant along with her beloved creation, as she was forced by her sister to leave with the others.

---

Caesar watched the eight humans run back into the forest. He was honestly surprised that the human race was still alive. Though he hoped that wasn't going to be the case, he already knew that it was.

The moment he could hear the distant pleas of help from his son, Blue Eyes, he organized a search party. It may have taken a moment to get to wherever he was but thankfully, they got there before anything worse could have happened. Though the closest thing to being the worst did happen – his honorary nephew Ash, son to his own friend Rocket, was shot. The moment Rocket saw his son's condition, he went hysterical. If he hadn't stopped him, Rocket could have recklessly attacked.

What shocked him more was the red girl's boldness. She was actually negotiating with him! And she even convinced her comrades to lower their weapons! Caesar would have been moved, were it not for how serious the situation was. He knew in some way it would astonish them if he spoke, and spoke he did. At first they did not immediately leave, until he made it clear that was truly his intention. The red girl seemed distressed over something she dropped. Something large and colored the same shade or red like her clothes.

As he stared in their direction, the image of them blurrier with the growing distance, one of his allies was gazing at the red object. This was Maurice, Caesar's closest friend and even a mentor of sorts. Maurice was a different type of their species. His hair was longer and shaggier, though a rib cage pattern was still present on his chest, only the lines were slimmer. His face was round and wide like an oversized dinner plate, not much of his dark skin was covered by his small white facial mask. He bore no bony plating but from his back grew six long bone spikes, ranging from one to three feet in length. Maurice picked up the red object, analyzing it for a moment, before giving it to Caesar for a look. Upon taking it in his hands, he was surprised by the weight of the object. Whatever it was he wasn't sure, but he couldn't focus on this mere tool at the moment.

"Koba!" Caesar called out, bringing his eyes forward again. Almost immediately, an ape ran up to him. He was similar in height to Caesar and had the same appearance as the other Grimm apes – dark hair and skin, white rib pattern and face mask, bony shoulder plates and elbow protrusions. The ape had a darker hair and complexion than Caesar, but what was more noticeable was a scar that grafted his face and left eye, which was milky white as a result of the physical trauma. His right eye was blue. Koba is another friend of Caesar's, but he is also the colony's commander of their army, and even an advisor to Caesar.

"Follow." Caesar gave Koba his orders with one word. Not needing any explanation, Koba hooted for his own lieutenants, the pair of Grey and Stone, to follow him. The trio quickly sped off in the humans' direction. Luca, a large ape whose armor consisted of only bony plates, was going to follow the humans with Koba as well. However, Caesar placed his arm on Luca's chest to stop him. Luca glanced at his leader in question but received no acknowledgement in return. He opted not to oppose him and stay behind as Caesar wished.

Koba and his troupe disappeared into the forest. Caesar knew they were going to catch up but that was not worried him. Caesar wondered where exactly these humans came from…

---

"Ya know, I didn't think we'd be the guys to pick 'em up."

"Same."

Robin and Thomas were not the most diligent of pilots. Anyone who knew them would confirm that and they wouldn't deny it either. Why they didn't take their job seriously enough, no one really knew. Maybe they were just two men who had dreams, dreams that were crushed from the realities and hardships of life.

So imagine how they felt about driving a prototype of a bullhead variant, something they had no experience with, while they had to transport eight kids (in their eyes, at least, they were kids) from one continent to the next, one of which was supposedly full to the brim with Grimm, to their knowledge. Of course they weren't too thrilled. Then, imagine that they were ordered to take the same bullhead, to pick up the same children, and from the same Grimm infested continent. …Well, they felt the same as before, only a little more displeased.

Now don't misunderstand, they were willing to fulfill their jobs. They had to if they wanted to keep themselves financially afloat. It was simple work, too. They just did not like their jobs overall. Then again, they were not thrill seekers either. All they really wanted in their lives was a better paying job.

"I didn't want to get them again either." Thomas added.

"Same." Robin repeated.

Eventually, the coastline became visible in their line of sight from the cockpit. Gently, they landed the seeker on the beach. The side door to the transport room opened. Thomas stood up from his seat, exited the cockpit and entered the transport room. He took in the view in front of him. The waves crashing onto the sandy beach and the large trees that grew here. It was a serene environment that Thomas enjoyed to see. Although, there was one thing missing…

"The kids aren't here." Thomas informed, turning his head to Robin's direction.

"I can see that from the cockpit, Tom." Said Robin, matter-of-fact.

"We're here on time for once but they're late." Thomas said with distaste. Sometimes he and Robin would be late for a delivery or a pickup but whenever they were on time, the goods turned up late and made them late. What was worse was because of their track records, their superiors wouldn't believe it wasn't their fault. "Those ungrateful little…"

"Hey now, don't go calling kids by some mean names. It makes you look more immature than them." Robin chastised, though he had a playful and nonchalant tone to his voice, sounding that he wasn't very serious.

Thomas narrowed his eyes. "You don't care what I call anyone." He rebuked.

"I don't, but I do care about making fun of you." Robin responded with a smug grin.

"Tch." He grunted in annoyance. Thomas turned his attention back to the outside view. Thankfully, it only took a short moment before the students came into view. He saw them come rushing in at a fast pace. Though curious, he welcomed the fact that they didn't take too long.

"They're here, Rob! Open the ramp!" His copilot responded quickly. Almost immediately, a wide ramp started to slither out underneath Thomas's feet. The ramp was fully unloaded, latching onto the ground and making itself a climbable surface. The students were coming closer, and they started walking up the ramp.

"Well," Thomas decided to greet them. "You young'uns finally made it. And here I thought you all would take your sweet time to – wha- hey!" The yellow haired girl knocked into him, forcefully pushing him to the side. Thomas didn't really know what her or the other's names were, but whatever it was he probably get to know while giving her a piece of his mind for the rude gesture. As the others got into the compartment, yellow-hair was the first to speak up. "Alright, get this thing going!"

"Hey kid, don't you ignore your little 'bump' into me!" Thomas angrily called out to her. He wasn't the type who often started a fight, but an unexplained incident of physical contact would often get on his nerve, irritating him greatly.

"We don't have time!" She refuted. "Get this damn bullhead off the ground now!"

"Why you ignorant little…" Now angrier, Thomas wouldn't have any of what she ordered. He quickly stomped towards her. "I have half a mind to teach you some manners, you stupid – YIPE!"

Before he could say anything else, the girl instantly grabbed his the collar of his shirt with both hands, and brought his face close to hers. The expression he saw on her was instantly intimidating, making her seem like wrath incarnate. If that wasn't enough, he even saw her lilac eyes physically change color into a bright blood red. He even thought that her hair was glowing and smoking at the same time! She spoke in a threatening tone that practically dripped venom.

"Get us into the air right now, or I swear on Dust, I will unload a whole round from my Ember Celica DOWN INTO YOUR THROAT!"

…

Yeah, he wasn't going to risk his throat being torn apart by bullets. Even if he had aura to protect his body, he doubted it would save him from this girl. "R-Rob? A-a-a l-little h-help here, b-buddy?"

Robin was watching everything from the cockpit, having turned his head far back enough to see outside of the cockpit's open doorway. Now that he was called into question, the rage induced girl turned her fiery glare to the second man, along with everyone else's gazes. He gulped, but knew that he had to play this coolly.

"Um… miss…" he started. "… I kind of need my copilot for flying this thing, so… maybe you could hold off on that? Please? You can unload that round into his throat after we get home, if you want."

"Wow, way to care for my life, Robin, you sly twat." Thomas thought sourly.

She glared at Robin for another moment, but her gaze softened ever so slowly. She then closed her eyes. She took in a deep inhale, and breathed out calmly. Her eyes opened again to reveal the original lilac color, but they were wrought with stress.

"Fine. Just get us out of here." She threw Thomas over to Robin, the former scrambling into his pilot seat. With the clicks of a few buttons, the ramp slithered back into its containment, and the sliding door to their roomy compartment automatically closed shut. Robin pulled a lever, the engines heating up could be hear outside. Soon they felt themselves lifting off the ground, the seeker bullhead was now hovering. Finally, the engines let out a burst of energy, and off it flew into the sky. Had any of them stayed longer though, they could have seen three dark colored creatures exiting the thick forest now, racing towards them.

---

"What the hell was that all about?" Thomas grumbled, regaining his composure.

"No idea. Glad she didn't kill you." Robin answered.

"Oh, yeah, you definitely convinced me that you did." He sarcastically scorned.

"Hey, the only truth I told was needing you to fly this thing. I'm not gonna let someone just up an' murder your ass." He retorted.

"Tch. Whatever you say…" Thomas couldn't feel more humiliated. It was peculiar how a bullhead pilot like himself could have any sense of pride but he did, and the source of it all was that yellow haired girl. Thomas turned his head to look out of the cockpit's open entryway, hoping to give a glower at her if he could. But any scornful thought he had was suddenly replaced with confusion.

In the short moment he saw them, the students were in such a desolate mood. Each of them seemed to have experienced something on the three days they were on this land. Thomas didn't know what was bothering them, but it appeared to be serious. He saw the girl with black hair sitting in the left corner. Her arms were hugging her knees close to her chest, her head was held low and her face buried between her knees. The white haired girl had her back against the wall, her left hand holding her head, balled up in a fist and clutching a handful of her hair. Her eyes were wide and scared, staring into nothingness while she took deep but shaky breaths.

One of the only boys, also a blond, was pacing back and forth frantically, muttering something along the lines of "that couldn't have been real," while a red haired girl tried to calm him down, get his mind grounded on reality again. The other boy, also having a black hair with an odd streak of pink, and a short girl with orange hair, seemed to be the only two that were unaffected, or at least it seemed that way. The two were looking to their friends in great worry.

But the worst of them, from what Thomas could tell, were the yellow haired girl and the girl with red and black hair in the center of the transport compartment. From the angle he saw her, the former's back was to him, but he could barely see the side of her face. The smaller girl's face he could not see at all, as she and the yellow haired girl were in a tight embrace. It seemed… sisterly. What was worse was that he could hear deep and loud sobbing coming out of one of them, the red and black haired girl likely. She was tightly clutching onto the taller girl, and her body was shaking with each sob that racked her being. The yellow haired girl was softly stroking her companion's hair. Thomas could faintly hear what they were saying:

"I left her! … I left her…!"

"I know… I'm sorry, Ruby… I'm sorry…"

Thomas wasn't certain what he should have felt, seeing this. Confusion because he didn't understand? Melancholy because they were hurt? Or anger because he still remembered that his pathetic pride was hurt? … At the moment, he felt it would be easier if he forgot everything that happened earlier, and ignore the children's dilemma for now. He turned his back to the control panel in front of him, returning to his duties as a pilot.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked, apparently taking notice of Thomas's befuddled expression.

"… Nothing. Don't worry about it." He quickly answered.

Robin wasn't sure to think of his friend's evasive answer, but he decided to let it slide. He turned back to the view in front of him. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something through the cockpit's window. Turning his head to fully view this spectacle, he could see it clearly… in a manner of speaking. Outside of the bullhead was a shape that had the same form and consistency as the clouds. It was much more darker than the grey storm clouds, almost pitch black, leaving a long trail made of its material behind it, and it was moving as fast as the bullhead. It was like a living creature of cloud. Robin couldn't make heads or tails of what he was seeing.

"What the…? Hey Tom, look at this." Before he could however, the dark cloud moved up faster than the eye could see, and it disappeared behind the bullhead.

"Hmm? Look at what?" Thomas asked. He didn't have time to see anything.

"But… it was just there…" Robin muttered in shock.

*CLUNK*

Just slightly, the vehicle jerked. It felt that the very top of the bullhead was hit by something outside. It was for a quick moment and it didn't happen again. None of the children seem to have noticed, they were too focused on themselves and each other. Robin and Thomas could though, the former being a little more attentive to this.

"What was that?" Robin questioned.

"Probably just turbulence, don't think too hard about it." Thomas dismissed. Robin questionably thought how that could have been the case, since the vehicle jerked once and only once. Then again, he should worry more about piloting the vehicle than possible supernatural forces.

"… Yeah… it's probably that." He slowly agreed, putting the bizarre cloud and the sudden judder in the back of his mind.

---

As ordered by their leader, Caesar, Koba, Grey, and Stone easily followed the humans to their plane, without being caught. But the moment they had caught up to them, they all had entered their contraption and high up into the sky they flew. Now, one could have easily given up hope of chasing their targets down at this moment… but not Koba. Thanks to Grey and the power he withholds, they caught up with the vehicle, once again with ease. Now they were on the flying machine's back, while all of the humans were inside, and Koba's own lieutenant was questioning if they were noticed or not.

Do you think humans saw us? Grey signed to his superior, Koba.

No. Humans would do something if saw us. Koba confidently answered. He was proud of the advantage of secrecy they currently had over the humans right now.

What do we do when plane lands? Stone himself signed in question.

What else? We follow humans… Koba took a moment to think of what to sign, then finished. And find their homes.

What if they find us then? signed Grey.

… We kill humans… and Faunus who see us … Koba grimly answered.

---

Author's Note, 12/17/16:

Well, this was a thing. I feel so cruel for making Ruby lose her Crescent Rose, but I really wanted to write this out. It's kind of like a substitute for when Alexander, Malcolm's son, dropped his art bag in Dawn. If you're wondering what the hell I did to Blake, you'll see next chapter. However, I will say that I made her do this because out of all the guys n' gals of team RWBY and JNPR, I thought that she would be the only one to do what Carver did: shooting the apes, but for a different reason of course. Also, it goes without saying that I made up the Dust Spires. They'll be very important to the story though.

Now… about the apes. What do you think? Did I completely ruin them or did I create something legitimately interesting? In case I wasn't clear with my description, they look like the apes wearing the war paint from Dawn except it's natural coloration like the stripes on a zebra; they're slightly larger and have Grimm features like bone spikes, armor, or both, black skin and black fur. Anyway, they are still Grimm… but they are not Grimm at the same time. You and the RWBY characters will find out later, the story's second genre is mystery for a reason. But I will explain why I chose to make the Apes like this:

In my opinion, I think that one reason that the POTA reboots are so successful is how humane the apes are portrayed. Not just emotionally or mentally, but physically! Their facial expressions are so real and believable, much more than the humans' even though the human actors do an excellent job as well. I thought that if I made the apes full Grimm, having the skull masks and all that, I would take away their expressiveness from this story and that's something I didn't want to do. So in a nutshell, the apes are still physically Grimm, but what they truly are will be revealed later along the plot. But here's one spoiler alert: because of what they are, they will have abilities that are rather… common, let's say, on Remnant. Hint, hint.

And what did you think of the bullhead pilots? I'm not really one for making original characters for a fandom. But hey, don't knock it till you try it. They're not gonna be important to the story… well, maybe they'll be there for plot convenience or comic relief, or this will be their only appearance. I dunno. Also, the whole "seeker bullhead" thing – at first, I thought a regular bullhead would be fine, but I wasn't sure if it was meant for travel between continents. An airship or airbus would take too long to travel, so I came up with this. Was my description good enough, or should I edit that in the future? Also, I like to make original animals and technology for a fandom

And by the way, what names should I give for the Grimm Apes' various species? We already have the Beringel for gorillas, but what about for chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans? I made some names already, but I don't know if they're good enough:

*Hominidon (Grimm Chimpanzee)

*Pygmy Hominidon (Grimm Bonobo)

*Gigantops (Grimm Orangutan)

So should I go with these, or would anyone like to suggest anything else?

So, that's all I got. Either you did or didn't like what I did for the apes but were my reasons for it agreeable? Let me know in a review. Speaking of which, thank you very much to everyone who viewed the story and left a review. Chapter three will be published after my second fanfic is posted. Laters!