Author's note: A lot has happened since I last updated: RWBY Chibi, Shane Newville's Letter, and plenty of other things throughout the fandom and also in my personal life. Despite all of these…comeuppances and possible controversies, I am too much emotionally invested in RWBY to simply up and abandon it right now, especially after Volume Three. If for some farfetched reason I suddenly lose interest or find the show no longer appealing, I can simply stop watching it and find something else. That statement should apply to all haters.

Enough of my soapbox though, I wish to thank all of you that added this story to your Favorite's list, those who are now following, and everyone who has left a review with more than generous feedback. The amount of support and praise has honestly been extremely surprising. Thank you.


Chapter I

The massive airship transport gracefully strode through the skies on its way to its destination. Its Dust-powered propulsions thrusting the transport forward beneath the looming overcast above and the four massive aerodynamic wings traversed along the winds. Approaching the skyport jutting off the ledge of a cliffside, the craft descended and folded its wings as it gracefully pivoted to its side. The airship smoothly interlocked with the pier and unhinged its landing ramp. Amongst the few passengers that disembarked came the in-training Huntresses and Hunters of tomorrow.

"And we're back!" Yang proclaimed and lifted her hands into the air, letting all before bask in the glory that was their arrival. Or at least was the glory till a belching upchuck ruined the moment.
Yang glanced over her shoulder and spotted the only other blond member of their little group hurdled over a nearby trashcan and promptly emptying their lunch out.

"Couldn't hold it in, could ya Vomit Boy?" Yang groaned.

Jaune's only response was a dejected whine as his fingers clung to metal waste bin for some sort of stability. A gentle hand firmly patted against his back while he regained his senses. Tearing his gaze away from the trashcan's contents, Jaune's eyes met the sweet sight of two vivid green eyes laced with concern.

"Are you gonna be okay Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, an amused-yet-caring smile edging its way onto her lips. Jaune slowly eased out of his nauseated state and pulled himself away from the trashcan. His partner's hand remained where it was while he regained the feel of his footing on the firm, motionless platform beneath them.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Jaune managed to cough out groggily. Pyrrha slowly withdrew her hand from his back and allowed him a moment to fully recuperate. With a deep breath, Jaune steeled whatever remained of his lunch inside his stomach and walked forward, his partner following closely beside him.

A few steps later came a figure running to his other side from behind and playfully nudging his ribcage.

"Those dinosaur chicken nuggets upsetting your stomach?" Ruby chimed in teasingly next to him.

"Oh ha ha," Jaune sarcastically laughed, rolling his eyes, "for your information, those little dinosaur chicken nuggets were delicious, thank you very much." This earned a snicker from Ruby and an unseen smile from Pyrrha.

"Should've totally gone with the turkey legs though!" Nora laughed as she strolled up to the three of them with her hands behind her head. Ren, like always, silently trailed a step beside her.

"Oh come on, those nuggets had nothing to do with my motion-sickness!" Jaune argued back and pointed a finger at a beaming Nora.

Ruby decided to take that as her cue to slip away from JNPR and regroup back with her own team standing idly up ahead. With them were several of Weiss's bellhops hauling their bags and suitcases to their dorms. The young silver-eyed leader caught up to the rest of her team.

For a brief moment, Ruby's eyes took in the sight of Beacon Academy: its widespread fields of green; the archways and buttresses conjoined between buildings; the elegance of the Academy's castle-like towers jutting out at the sky; and the majesty that was the CCT Tower and its luminous green glow shining in the sky.

She practically knew all about its history. A very place that inspired awe and the very center of her own dreams of becoming a Huntress. Despite having already seen it and practically lived there for close to a full year now, Beacon's grandeur and splendor never ceased to take her breath away.
Even if the grey overcast clouds added a foreboding atmosphere, Beacon was, as play on as it sounded, a beacon of hope for all.

"Are you sure it was necessary to have them take our suitcases to our room?" Blake's voice interrupted her trail of thoughts.

"Yes, I insist," Weiss replied haughtily and folded her arms, "I refuse to start out our second year hauling around bags."

"Technically the semester starts in two weeks." Ruby pointed out.

"That reminds me," Weiss said and moved her hands to her hips, bearing over at Ruby with scrutinizing suspicion, "why did you want us to return two before the semester started?"

"Yeah, what gives sis? I was out in the middle of an adventure when I got your message." Yang added.

Blake didn't say anything but the interest in her eyes was clear when she tilted her head and focused her gaze on Ruby.

Ruby put on a nervous smile and twiddled her thumbs under the demanding stares she was receiving from everyone. Seeing that the three of them weren't letting up, and the fact that Weiss was still leering down at her, Ruby gathered her thoughts and formulated an answer.

"Because…I thought we all should spend time together before the semester started?" Ruby mewled, her own words evidently questioning themselves as she spoke.

"Ruby's right." came Pyrrha's saving voice from behind them. The four members of RWBY reoriented themselves around to face the four members of JNPR standing behind them. Ruby felt herself let go of the involuntary breath she was holding and listened to Pyrrha's words of wisdom.

"Once the semester starts, all of our classes will be pushed ahead so they don't interfere with the Vytal Festival or the Tournament's Qualifications."

"Yeah!" Ruby piped up.

It was true: the Vytal Festival was only a few months away; the Qualifications even sooner. Despite all of the excitement and anticipation budding in the air, they were still Huntsmen and Huntresses in-training and attending an academy, and thus classes came first and foremost. Much to everyone's dissatisfaction, of course.

"Hmph," Weiss agreed, "well I, for one, think we should unpack before we do anything."

"So you don't want to haul things around but you want to unpack?" Yang pointed out.

"I brought valuables!"

Her mentioning of unpacking cause Jaune's eyes to widen and him frantically search around before turning to the rest of his team.

"Uh g-guys? Where's our luggage?" Jaune asked with apprehension. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora glanced around them to locate their belongings they brought with them but the apparent lack of said items indicated otherwise. Weiss cleared her throat and raised her index finger.

"I had my bellhops take our stuff up to our dorms since we live across from each other." Weiss clarified before the team broke out into a panic. "You're welcome, by the way."

Jaune and Pyrrha let out sighs of relief and Ren gave a small thankful smile to show his appreciation. On the other hand, Weiss's words of assurance elicited quite the opposite reaction from Nora, as apparent as the expression of fearful terror sprawled over her facial features.

"Ooh noooo, my STUFF!" Nora shouted and suddenly clutched her arms around Ren, forcing the air out of his lungs, "If they bump my suitcases too much everything will blow up in their faces! REN! WE HAVE TO SAVE THEM BEFORE THEY EXPLODE!"

Just as everyone was about to blink at Nora's outcry, the Valkyrie girl lifted Ren off the ground and took off, leaving a faint distinctive outline of their bodies where they were a mere second ago. Jaune and Pyrrha harbored nervous expressions while the girls of RWBY were at a lost for reaction.

"Uhh, we'll catch up with you guys later." Jaune whimpered before he and Pyrrha ran past them to catch up with their frantic teammate way ahead of them. The four members of RWBY watched them take off down the path to the courtyard. Only Team JNPR's tenacity and prowess could equal their quirkiness and eccentricity.

"Sooooo, what should we do now?" Ruby wondered, reigning in their attentions.

"Like I said before: I'm all for unpacking our bags back in our dorm before we do anything." Weiss reiterated.

"But that's no fun at alll." Ruby droned and slumped her shoulders.

"Yeah, where's the fun in that?" Yang reaffirmed and plopped her elbow on Ruby's shoulder, "We oughta finish off this summer doing something awesome! Besides, we gotta top off how we started off last semester too."

"I'm…gonna side with Weiss on this one," Blake spoke up, moving next to the heiress to express her point.

"Thank you." Weiss interjected before Blake could continue.

"The trip back here took a bit out of me and…honestly, I'm not really up for an adventure right now."

"Aww Blake, you're no fun." Yang teased with a smile.

Ruby sighed and shook off her sister's arm. There was only one way they could settle this. She already knew the outcome, but for the sake of fairness, it had to be done.

"Alright then…all in favor for spending the afternoon in our dorm doing boring things like unpacking?"

"Me." Weiss said insistently. Blake gave a thumbs up.

"Those in favor of doing something incredibly cool?"

"You already know my answer." Yang proudly proclaimed and shot her a thumbs up. Ruby nodded and internally sighed; just like she expected.

"It appears we are tied." Ruby stated awkwardly. Yang reached over and snatched Ruby in a bear-gripping neck lock. The silver-eyed girl immediately tried to pry her sister's crushing arm away from her neck with tugs and grunts. Yang's attention focused on the two juxtapositioned teammates in front of them.

"Ah don't worry sis, we can go do something while we leave Checkmate here alone in the dorm," Yang reasoned before her mouth formed a mischievous smirk and she waggled her eyebrows, "Or should I say…Monochrome?"

Weiss's eyes turned white from shock and Blake's back went rigid with a noticeable twitch in her eye. The heiress, however, was the first to recover and furiously bawled her hands into fists. Blake on the other hand stood there petrified.

"Yang Xiao Long, how dare you insinuate such a thing!" Weiss snapped, "Implying such a thing between Blake and I would be like implying something along the likes of Enabler."

Yang's face went blank before it was quickly replaced with subtle anger. Without a word, Yang released Ruby from her neck lock, who stumbled around to catch her breath. The blonde took a step forward towards Weiss and glared at her straight in her eyes.

"Not. Even." Yang countered with underlying malice.

Weiss, for her given credit, met Yang's dangerous scowl with her own cold glare. Ruby finally regained her breath and saw what was unfolding between her sister and her best friend. She had to act before things got out of hand. Ruby quickly wedged herself in between the two and attempted to push them apart.

"Whooa whooa, calm down Freezerburn." Ruby found herself coaxing, and realizing her mistake for a choice of words a second too late. Both Weiss and Yang directed their intimidating stares at Ruby, who shriveled up with a timid eep! At least they weren't fighting anymore. Meanwhile, Blake had finally snapped out of her stupor thanks to her Faunus senses picking up something in the atmosphere. Ignoring the feud that was starting to brew in front of her, her eyes darted to the overcast sky above them. If her senses were correct…

"Guys, I think we should-"

A bolt of lightning suddenly split the clouds above and followed immediately by a ground shaking boom of thunder. All four girls were now looking up at the sky covered with grey clouds which were suddenly beginning to rain heavily.

"Huh, thunderstorms weren't in the forecast this morning..." Ruby remarked as she shielded her eyes from the raindrops that began to fall. Gradually, the rainfall started to increase by the second and noiseless lightning flashes lit up the gray sky.

"Welp, Checkmate! You guys win!" Yang conceded and started to speed off to the dorms. The rest of Team RWBY hastily followed suit. Ruby, being the only one, pulled her red hood over her head to keep herself from getting too wet. The other three girls had no such luck and complaints and gripes came from both Weiss and Yang covering their hair. To nobody's surprise, Blake had already passed Yang and quickly took the lead.

Rain continued to pour harder and harder, lightning began to streak throughout the kingdom's sky, and thunder ruptured from the depths of the darkening clouds.
It was looking to be a very fierce storm.


Author's note: I was planning on typing this out much later…but I felt the need to get started sooner. Considering how fast the days are passing and how many people have supported this story just from the Prologue – the PROLOGUE – I felt I should at least give another chapter to satisfy yall in the meantime. Still going to work on my other story though, so hopefully this will hold you guys over.

As much as I would love to delve into constant and epic action, that's not this kind of story. Storytelling-wise. It's going to build up. So sorry to all looking for instant action.

I do hope I nailed the characters' personalities. I value verisimilitude in my fanfics. I think I did an okay job…right?

Just like last time: all insightful critiques, reviews, comments, and flames are welcomed!