Turnabout Hearts - Distance

by EmeraldWings1992

BK 3 - A year has passed since the demise of Organization XIII. Aurora, now a fully fledged Attorney, works cases and helps people, but finds herself missing her friends from the other worlds, especially Riku. As the Keyblade Wielders begin their Mark of Mastery, Aurora has a vision and believes that Riku is in danger. This is the start of her own journey through the worlds.

4. Remnant

A/N: So, not quite sure why, but fanfiction never emailed anyone about the last chapter. Here's hoping it does for this one.

In OTHER news… This is… probably horrible, but I think this is the world I was the most excited for. Heh.

AND IT WAS VOTED NUMBER ONE!

I've had many ideas for this world, and honestly, this one might spark a post KH3 sequel. But, for now, here we go!

Warning: minor spoilers for volume 4 or RWBY, by the way.

…

Chapter Four: Remnant

Aurora hit the ground, hard, and the light surrounding her vanished. She quickly sat up, wincing, and stared at the Star Shard in her hands.

"Take me back!" she demanded. Of course, there was no reaction. Gritting her teeth, she shoved it in her bag and covered her face with her hands.

"Yuffie. Leon. Guys… please be okay," she whispered, before slowly pushing herself up and looking around.

It was night time, and she was in a city. All of the shops were closed, and the streets were mostly empty. Aurora sighed and began walking forward.

After a few streets, she finally found one shop open. It was small, and seemingly empty except for the shop keeper.

"'From Dust Till Dawn'," Aurora read, before entering.

"Hello," she said, smiling warmly at the elderly man behind the counter. She glanced around, noticing that there were all kinds of tubes filled with colored powder. Inside the glass case the man stood behind were different colored crystals. She looked back at the man. "I'm… new in town, and kinda lost. Could you—"

She cut off as the door behind her slammed open. A man in a white jacket and bowler hat came in, followed by other men in black suits, hats, and red glasses.

"Move it, Blondie," the man said, pushing Aurora out of the way with his cane. Aurora shivered slightly at the darkness coming from the man.

The grunts took up position in front of the store, blocking any attempt to escape. One even had the audacity to grab Aurora's arms, keeping her in place.

The man in white stepped up to the shop keeper, ashing his cigar right on the counter. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?"

As the man spoke, one of the grunts leveled a gun to the old man's chest.

"P-please!" the old man said, holding his hands up. "Just take my Munny and leave!"

"Sh-sh, calm down, we're not here for your money," the man in charge said, in an almost soothing voice. He then turned to his grunts. "Grab the dust."

They got to work, doing as they were told and wiping the store out of not just the powder in the containers along the walls, but also the crystals behind the counter.

(Dust?) Aurora thought, keeping a close eye on the gun pointed at the old man. She knew if she tried anything, either she or him would get shot.

Besides, she was very out-numbered, and using magic to fight people… just didn't seem fair.

Just then, one of the men unsheathed a red sword, looking at something in the back.

"Alright kid, put your hands where I can see 'em," he growled.

There was no answer.

"Hey, I said hands in the air!" He stalked into the back, disappearing behind the shelves. "You got a death wish or something!?"

"Yes?" a young, feminine voice suddenly asked.

"I said put your hands in the air. Now!" the man snapped.

"Are you… robbing me?" the girl's voice asked.

"Yes!"

"Ooooh…"

"Hey!"

"YAH!"

The man suddenly flew back into the front, crashing into one of the displays.

"Whoa…" Aurora muttered. The guy in charge looked at one of the other grunts, before motioning into the back with his head.

That man ran towards the girl with a gun. "Freeze!" he yelled.

Something red and black suddenly shot past him and crashed through the window, shattering it. Everyone looked out to see a girl, probably two years younger than Aurora, slowly stand, a mechanical scythe that was bigger than her unfolding itself. The girl wore a black and red dress, stockings, and boots, with a red cape and hood. She had short, black and red hair, and silver eyes that sparkled with challenge as she looked up at the men, swinging her heavy looking scythe to point at them.

"Oh," Aurora breathed. This evened things a bit. And if that girl was using magic… She looked back at the man holding her and smirked.

"What?" he demanded.

"Oh, nothing," Aurora said, before stomping down on the man's foot, feeling a satisfying crunch under her heel. The man yelped and let her go, and Aurora spun on her heel, activated her shield, and punched the guy right in the face, putting all of her momentum, power, and weight behind her left hook, and making sure the edge of the shield hit first. The guy flew to the side, go much further then she expected.

(Huh? The physics on this world is weird. Maybe less gravity?) Aurora thought, before jumping through the window and joining the girl, who glanced at her with a smile.

"Okaaay…" the man in white said. He then looked at his grunts, who were still standing around him, looking at the girls. "Get them!"

The three grunts ran out of the store and towards the two girls.

Aurora ducked under two sword swings before cloaking her shield in a Water spell, focusing her magic so that the water came slightly off her shield, creating a short blade. She surged upwards, inside the man's guard, and slashed at him. She then jumped back.

"Water!" she breathed. A gyser shot upwards, shooting the man into the air and causing him to slam into the man that the other girl sent flying upwards. Both landed, unconscious, in front of the door to the store.

The third one jumped back from the two and began shooting.

"Reflega!" Aurora called as the Water around her shield dispelled, creating a crystal barrier to protect both herself and the girl in red.

The girl jumped up, pointing her scythe at the ground, and shot it, propelling herself higher. (Wait, that thing's also a gun!?) Once high enough in the air, she dove towards the guy, rolling forward like a deadly wheel. She hit the guy, slammed the point of her scythe into the ground to stop herself, and kicked him straight into the air.

Aurora finished him off by pushing herself up, into the air, and forward with an angled Water gyser, and kicking the man right in the stomach, slamming him into his unconscious comrades. The man in white looked down at them, just as sirens could be heard in the distance.

"You were worth every cent. Truly, you were," he muttered sarcastically, before looking up at the girls, pulling the cigar from his mouth. "Well, Red, Blondie, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening," he began, dropping the cigar and putting it out with his cane. "And as much as I'd love to stick around…" He rose the cane, pointing it at the two, "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

A targeting sight popped up on his cane.

(Another gun? Really?) Aurora thought, crouching low. The man shot it, causing the girls to dodge. Aurora rolled to the side, while the girl pointed her scythe at the ground and shot it, propelling herself into the air.

When both looked up, the man was gone.

"There!" Aurora called, pointing to where she spotted him climbing the latter on the side of a building. The Shopkeeper came to the door, looking at the two girls.

"You okay if we go after him?" the one in red asked.

"Uh huh."

Aurora and the girl looked at each other, before taking off after the man, determined to catch him. Rather than taking the ladder, the girl shot herself into the air, while Aurora launched herself up with a Water spell.

"Hey!" the girl yelled, causing the man to stop.

"Persistent…" he grumbled, just as a huge airship rose from over the edge of the building, right in front of him. A light shined over the girls, blinding them, and giving the man enough time to climb into the side that just opened.

"Wait!" Aurora yelled.

"End of the line!" the man yelled with a smirk at the two, holding up a red gem, one of the ones he took from the store. He threw it at the two, then aimed his gun-cane and shot it, causing an explosion.

Aurora covered her face, not having time for a Reflect spell. But the blast never hit.

Looking up as the smoke cleared, she spotted a woman, blond, wearing a business skirt, white blouse, a black and purple cape, and glasses. She was standing in front of Aurora and the other girl, holding a riding crop in the air, a mystical circle of purple light floating in front of her. The circle faded with the smoke.

"Hm," the woman hummed. She adjusted her glasses with her free hand, then slashed the crop in front of her. Dozens of purple lights shot out of it, headed straight for the ship, powerful enough to make it jerk around in the air.

As the ship came back under control, the man in white was gone, replaced by a woman in a red dress, her face hidden by shadow. The blond woman moved her hands once more, and a purple light shot into the sky, this time stopping over the airship. Storm clouds, filled with lightening, appeared. The blond woman slashed her hands down, and sharp icicles rained down on the ship.

The woman in red's hand flashed, and red markings lit up over the long sleeves of her dress. Fire followed her hand, and she shot it at the group of three on the roof.

The woman blocked it, but the ground at her feet exploded. She managed to jump out of the way, and used her abilities - (That's not actual magic. Not in the traditional sense, at least…) – to gather the rubble from the building and shoot it at the ship.

The woman in red used her own abilities to shoot at the rubble, protecting the ship.

The driver, who Aurora could only guess was the man in white from earlier, tipped it to the side, throwing the woman in red off balance and causing the projectiles to just glance off the side. The blond woman tried multiple shots at a time, but they were disintegrated in a flash of orange.

(Time to fight fire with ice!) Aurora thought, before slashing her left hand forward, in front of her.

"Triple Blizzaga!"

Three large chunks of ice shot out of her shield, flying straight at the ship. She quickly followed this spell up with more Ice-based magic.

Following her lead, the girl in the red cape transformed her scythe into a gun and began shooting.

The woman in red used her fire to melt the ice, and block the bullets. She then waved her other hand, and the ground at the trio's feet began to glow.

The blond woman used her ability to move Aurora and the girl out of the way, jumping forward herself, to avoid the explosions. By the time they looked up… the ship was gone.

"You're a huntress," the girl in the red cape said, looking at the blond woman. The woman simply looked at her, not answering. "Can I have your autograph?" the red girl squealed.

…

The girls were taking to the police station and placed in separate interrogation rooms. Aurora gave her statement to the police, then waited, wondering how long they were going to keep her here.

Finally, a man in a suit, with white hair, glasses, and a green scarf walked in, carrying a plate of cookies and a mug.

"I'm sorry for the wait, young lady. I had to replenish my plate of cookies after speaking to your young friend," he said.

"Oh, it's alright. Um… I… don't actually know that other girl," Aurora said.

"And yet, you jumped right in to help her," the man said, putting the plate in front of Aurora and pulling out what looked like a tablet. Aurora eyed the cookies. They were warm. And chocolate chip.

She couldn't help it. She plucked one off the plate and began to nibble on it. Meanwhile the man had brought up a video of Aurora and the girl fighting the men.

"So, Miss. Wright," the man started, sitting and leaning forward, "you're not from around here, are you?"

"W-well, no," Aurora said, swallowing her bite. "I'm new in town, and I stopped in that shop to—"

"No. I mean, you're not of this world. Are you?"

"W-what?"

"Your Aura. It's different. Other worldly. Of course, only those who know what they're looking for can sense it," the man said with a smile. "Besides, that's not Dust you're using," he said, looking back at the video, where Aurora was using Triple Blizzaga. "That's magic. Real magic. Which here is impossible but to a select few."

Aurora hesitated for a moment, before narrowing her eyes slightly at the man. "Who… who are you?" she asked.

"I am Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. But I've seen and heard of many, many more things then you can imagine," the man said with a mysterious smile. Aurora studied the man, not with her eyes, but her other ability. The temperatures around him were fluctuating too much to get a read though, so Aurora risked closing her eyes.

Image after image after image after image invaded her senses. Dozens – no, hundreds – of images super imposed over each other. Aurora's eyes snapped open, and she looked up at the man, who was simply watching her.

"Are you okay, Miss. Wright?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," Aurora muttered, rubbing her head.

"Well, now, I assume you don't use a Keyblade, considering there was no sign of one in this fight—"

(Wait… how does he…?)

"—but do you know how to fight the Heartless?"

"The Heartless…?" Aurora asked, surprised. The man nodded, tapping on his tablet a few times, before bringing up a video.

It was of a large creature, completely black, except for white armor plates covering its head and a few parts of its body. Red lines streaked through these armor plates, and red eyes glowed from under the armor.

"This is a Grimm. A creature of darkness that feeds off of sadness, loneliness, and fear," Ozpin explained. "Recently, mostly found in the Emerald Forests around Beacon Academy, there has been… a new breed of Grimm." He tapped a few more times, and the video changed. It was almost the same creature, but instead of the red lines, they were purple. The creature had one red eye, one yellow, and the Heartless symbol glowed from the forehead of its armored mask.

"Whoa. It's… a Heartless Grimm?" Aurora asked.

"Precisely. I guess it's not surprise. Both the Heartless and Grimm are creatures born of darkness. It shouldn't be hard for the two to merge."

Aurora glanced back up at the man, wondering how he knew all this. Then she thought back to all of the images she had seen in his heart.

(Maybe… reincarnation? Or at the very least, past lives. And if he remembers them… maybe he met that same Keyblade Wielder the old Headmaster from Hogwarts had met…? Well… a past life of his, at least.)

"And they're only around your school?"

"Yes."

"Then there must be… something there. Something in that school that they're attracted to. It could be a weapon like the Keyblade, or something that has a powerful light. But at the same time, if they haven't actually attacked your school, then something's keeping them out," Aurora mused thoughtfully. The man smiled slightly, leaning forward.

"Aurora… how would you like to come to Beacon Academy?" he asked.

"What, as a student?"

"For now. We could use your help with the Heartless Grimm. And you are a brilliant fighter. What do you say?"

Aurora hesitated, looking down at her bag, where the Star Shard was. She had to admit, she was curious about this world, and wanted to help people…

…but Riku was in danger.

(Well… it's not like I can control when I leave and where I go anyway. Besides, it must have bought me here for a reason, right? Maybe Beacon needs me…)

"Well… okay."

…

Ozpin set Aurora up for the night in a hotel and gave her a scroll – a phone like device. It was full of all kinds of documents about the world, in general, and about the different things in the world. Aurora read through them all, thankful she was a fast reader.

Of course, that meant she didn't get any sleep that night, but she was fine with that.

As she was getting ready to go to the Airship Port the next morning, to catch the one that would fly her and the other students to Beacon, her Scroll rang.

"Um, hello?" she answered.

"Miss. Wright. How are you this morning?" Ozpin's voice asked from it.

"Good, sir. Thank you again for the Scroll. It was really useful," she said.

"Good, good. I just want to make sure you have a cover story?"

"Er, yes. I'm from Atlas, and attended Grove Academy. I figured that was the best choice, since it's very small, almost no one transfers out of there, and they emphasize the use of Dust," Aurora explained.

"Good, good. And your Semblance? Have you given any thought to that?"

"Dust manipulation. I can make it do things and have effects that not everyone can. And the dust is threaded into my clothes."

"Very good."

"Uh, Professor," Aurora hesitated, looking at her bag once more. "I feel I should warn you… there might come a time when I have to leave. No warning, nothing. What are you…?"

"Hm… that could be an issue. But, I guess the only choice we have is to say that you transferred back to Grove. Urgent Family business will call you home," Ozpin said.

"Alright. Thank you, Professor."

"Of course. See you at First Year Initiation," the man said before hanging up. Aurora smiled at that, before gathering her things and making her way to the Port.

As soon as she sat down once getting on the ship, she fell asleep.

…

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"

The excitable voice cut into Aurora's slumber. She yawned as she woke up, stretching slightly, before looking over at the source of the voice.

It was the girl in the red hood from the other night, being squeezed to death by a curvy blond.

"Pease stop…" Red groaned, looking slightly nauseous.

"But I'm so proud of you!" Blond said excitedly, letting her go.

"Really, Sis, it was nothing."

"What do you mean? It was incredible!"

"I had help," Red muttered, but her sister wasn't listening.

"Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees!"

Aurora snorted at that. (Talk about an old phrase…)

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay? I don't wanna be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees," Red said, glancing down at her, well… knees.

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?" Blond asked.

"Of course I'm excited… I just… I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything," Red said, looking down. Blond walked over, wrapping an arm around her sister.

"But you are special," she said.

"The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities," a newscast announced. Aurora looked over to see a holographic picture of the man she and Red had faced the other night.

(Well, that's one name to one face…) Aurora thought, standing and stretching her arms above her head.

"If you have any information on his whereabouts, Please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."

On screen, a woman with purple hair appeared.

"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted—" the screen suddenly disappeared. In its place was a holographic image of the woman who had fought alongside Aurora and Red the other night.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!" she said.

"Who's that?" Blond asked.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

(Yay! Another name to a face!) Aurora thought sarcastically.

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

(So being a Huntsman or Huntress is all about protecting the people, huh? If I was from this world…) Aurora thought with a warm smile.

The holographic image disappeared, and most of the students moved to the windows. Aurora knew if she looked out, she'd get vertigo, so she stayed right where she was.

"Ugh… ulp!"

Aurora looked over to see a blond boy, in white armor, trimmed with silver, lurch away from the window, covering his mouth.

The boy got sick right near the blond girl.

"Ew, gross Yang! You got puke on your shoe!"

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" the blond, Yang, chanted, hopping up and down on her clean foot and shaking the one with puke around, trying to get it off. Red quickly moved away.

"Get away get away! Get away from me!" she yelled.

The ship finally landed, letting the students out. The first out was Vomit Boy, who quickly found a trashcan. Yang and Red were ahead of Aurora, who was looking around, taking in the sights.

"Wow…" she breathed. Beacon Academy was a castle. Not like Hogwarts, which was an old castle. This one looked more like the Radiant Garden castle, actually. The tallest tower seemed to be in the center, with a huge, open area that had five green glowing orbs in it. Like a literal beacon.

Because she wasn't looking where she was going, Aurora was nearly beheaded as she walked past Red, who had just whipped out her scythe.

"Whoa!" she gasped, ducking.

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" Red was saying. "I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people. But better."

"Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?" Yang asked, pulling Ruby's hood down over her head.

"But why would I need friends when I have you?" Ruby asked, pulling her hood back up. Aurora smiled sadly.

…

"Come on, Aurora! You need to make some of your own friends!" Edym said as he tried to pry his little sister off his arm so that he could continue playing his guitar with his band.

"But why would I need friends when I have you?" little Aurora asked, looking up at her big brother with big, round eyes. Edym just sighed with a small smile and a shake of his head.

…

(Careful with that sentiment. She might not always be there…) Aurora thought sadly.

"Well… actually, my friends are here," Yang said as four people suddenly showed up. "Gotta go catch up! 'Kay, c'ya, bye!" Yang said, talking at the speed of light as she and her friends disappeared.

(Or… they can do that…) Aurora thought, trying not to laugh.

"Wait! Where are you going? Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? …Do we have dorms? I don't know what I'm doing…" Ruby muttered as she lost her balance.

"Hey, watch—!" Aurora winced as Ruby fell into a pile of luggage, sending it flying. Aurora stepped forward to help the girl in red.

"What are you doing!?" another girl, this one in a white dress with long, white hair pulled into a side ponytail, demanded as Ruby sat up.

"Uh… sorry," Ruby said, looking up at her.

"Sorry?" White demanded. "Do you have any idea of the damage you could've caused?"

"Uh…" Ruby didn't answer, instead, picking up one of the cases and handing it to the girl, as though to placate her.

"Gimme that!" White demanded, snatching it and opening it. "This is Dust, mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry," White continued.

"Uhh…" Ruby muttered. Aurora scowled at how the girl was acting, moving forward.

"What are you, Brain Dead? Dust! Fire, Water, Lightning, energy!" the girl said, pulling out one of the vials, a red one, and shaking it around. The bottle must not have been sealed, because its contents were scattering into the air with each movement. The girl didn't seem to notice.

Ruby looked like she was about to sneeze as Aurora pulled her to her feet.

"Are you even listening to me?" White demanded.

"Hey, how about you back off?" Aurora said, turning to the girl in white.

That's when Ruby sneezed, causing a small explosion. The vial went flying.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" the girl ranted, the three of them covered in soot.

"Well, maybe if you made sure your stuff was fully sealed and weren't shaking it around like an idiot, this wouldn't have happened!" Aurora snapped back.

"I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby said. Aurora looked at her.

"You have nothing to apologize for," the young attorney said.

"Of course she does!" White snapped. "Ugh! The idiocy of it all! What is she even doing here?" She turned on Ruby. "Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Well… I…" Ruby muttered.

"She earned it, just like the rest of us," Aurora snapped.

"Earned it?" White laughed. "This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know." The girl crossed her arms, glaring at the two of them. "We're here to fight monsters! So watch where you're going!"

"Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess!" Ruby snapped.

(Finally!) Aurora thought. Even she was getting tired of watching Ruby let herself get trampled all over by this girl.

"It's Heiress, actually," another voice said. The three turned to see a girl with black hair and a bow walk over, carrying a book in one hand, the vial in the other.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

(Oh yeah! They're the biggest suppliers to Grove Academy…) Aurora thought, before looking back at the girl. (This spoiled brat is next in line for it? Greeeeaaaaat….)

"Finally, some recognition!" Weiss said with a smile, turning to the girl.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners," the girl added, narrowing her eyes slightly at Weiss. Aurora snorted at that.

"What—how dare-! The nerve of-! Ugh!" Weiss snatched her vial from the girl's hand and stalked off.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby called after her. Aurora sighed at that, shaking her head. Ruby sighed. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day…" She suddenly looked up after the girl with black hair. "So what's-?" she cut off when seeing the girl walking away, her nose in her book once more.

"Hey, it's okay," Aurora said with a smile at Ruby. The girl looked over at her, then jumped slightly.

"Wait, you're the one who helped me the other night… right?"

"Bingo," Aurora said with a smile, before offering her hand. "Aurora Wright."

"Ruby Rose," Ruby said, shaking her hand. "Thank for then… and this time, with Weiss," she said.

"No problem. I… know what it's like, being shy."

"Really?" Ruby asked as the two of them walked.

"Yep. I used to be pretty withdrawn myself. Until I decided I wanted to be a De- I mean… Huntress…" (Gotta be careful…)

"Wow, really?"

"Yep."

Just then, someone walked over to them.

"Hey," he said. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby," Ruby said, shaking his hand.

"Aurora," Aurora said with a smile.

Ruby suddenly looked at the guy and pulled her hand back. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

…

The three explored the beautiful grounds of Beacon, while Jaune tried to defend himself.

"All I'm saying it that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!"

"Look, I'm sorry. Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind," Ruby said while Aurora giggled at them.

"Oh yeah, what if I called you Crater-Face?" Jaune asked.

"Hey, that explosion was an accident!" Ruby said.

"How about we just don't do nicknames?" Aurora said with a laugh. The two looked at her, before Jaune pointed at himself.

"Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!"

"Do they?" both Ruby and Aurora asked at the same time, quirking their eyebrows at the boy.

"Th-they will!" Jaune said, looking between the two. "Well, I hope they will…" he added, insecurity showing through. "I mean, my mom always says tha—er, never mind."

"Just be yourself, Jaune. I'm sure you'll find someone," Aurora said with a warm smile at the boy. He smiled weakly back. The three walked a bit further in silence, which quickly grew awkward.

"So… I got this thing!" Ruby suddenly said, whipping out her Scythe, Crescent Rose. Aurora ducked as it swooshed over her head.

"Whoa!" Jaune gasped. "Is that a scythe?" he asked.

"It's also a customizable, high impact velocity sniper rifle," Ruby said proudly.

"Talk about a mouthful!" Aurora laughed, recognizing the terms only because of playing video games.

"A wha…?" Jaune asked.

Ruby cocked it. "It's also a gun."

"Oh," Jaune said. "That's cool!"

"So what've you two got?" Ruby asked. Aurora grinned, activating her shield.

"I've got this," Aurora said.

"Ooo…" Ruby said, studying it.

"It detaches from the wrist band, so I can throw it, and it lets me channel my, er… Dust. And Semblance," she said.

"Coooool!" Ruby cooed, before the girls turned to look at Jaune.

"Oh- us… I got this sword," he said, unsheathing it.

"Oooooh!" Ruby said, studying it.

"And… I've also got a shield!" she said, pulling the sword's sheath from his belt and expanding it into a shield.

"So, what do they do?" Ruby asked, running her hand over the shield, which suddenly started expanding and shrinking rapidly, forcing Jaune to fumble with it, trying to keep from dropping it.

He didn't succeed.

"W-well… t-the shield gets smaller…" he said, picking it up and putting it on his arm once more. "So… when I get tired of carrying it… I can just… put it away," he said.

"But… wouldn't it weigh the same?" Aurora asked. Jaune sighed.

"Yeah… it does," he said, sounding defeated.

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons," Ruby admitted, stroking Crescent Rose. "I guess I did go a little overboard designing it…"

"Wait. You made that?" Jaune asked.

"Of course!" Ruby said brightly. "All students at Signal forge their own weapons."

"That's awesome!" Aurora said brightly.

"Didn't you two make yours?" Ruby asked.

"It's a hand-me-down," Jaune said, looking down at his sword. "My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war…"

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby said brightly. "Well I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah. The classics," Jaune said with a smile, looking like he felt better.

They turned to the other girl. "Aurora?" Ruby asked.

"No. My… boyfriend gave this to me," she said with a small blush, putting a hand to her locket. "When I decided I wanted to fight, too. Though… I'm not sure if he made it or had it made for me…" she trailed off.

"Oooooh! You have a boyfriend?" Ruby asked. Aurora laughed.

"Yep. His name is Riku. He's…. er, back in Atlas," Aurora said, deactivating her shield. "I'm only here because Ozpin offered me the chance after that night with Torchwick."

"Oh," Ruby said with a smile.

The three began walking again. "So, why'd you randomly come up to us back there? In the courtyard?" Ruby asked.

"Eh, why not?" Jaune asked. "My mom always says, 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'"

"Hm. I like that," Aurora said with a smile, getting a grin from Jaune in return.

"Umm…. Hey, where are we going?" Ruby asked. Aurora looked around, noticing the path they were on was totally devoid of students.

"Oh, I dunno. I was following you two," Jaune said.

"Er… same," Aurora added.

"You think there might be a directory?" Jaune asked. Aurora and Ruby giggled. "Maybe a food court? Some sort of recognizable landmark?" The two continued laughing. "Is uh… is that a 'no'?"

"Heh, that's a 'no'," Ruby said.

"Well, let's just retrace our steps back to the front and start from there," Aurora said with a smile, leading the way back. The two nodded, following after her.

Eventually, they found their way to the area where the first year assembly was being held.

"Ruby!" Yang suddenly yelled, catching her attention. "Over here! I saved you a spot!"

"Oh! Hey, I gotta go!" Ruby said. "I'll see you after the ceremony!" she darted off.

"Hey, wait!" Jaune called. Aurora smiled, looping her arm through his.

"Look, I see two spots over there," she said, pointing at to a few seats behind the sisters.

"Well, alright," he said, letting himself be dragged over.

"You!" a familiar voice suddenly caught Aurora's attention. She looked up to see Weiss Schnee standing next to Ruby and Yang. Ruby was in Yang's arms.

"Oh god, it's happening again!" she sobbed.

"Oh great," Aurora grumbled, letting go of Jaune and stalking over. (I REALLY don't like that girl!)

"Wait!" Jaune called, before sighing. "Great. Now where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?" he groaned.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss growled. Yang's eyes grew huge as she looked at her sister.

"Oh my god, you really exploded," she mumbled.

"It was an accident, Ice Queen. Why don't you give her a break?" Aurora said. Weiss turned and glared at her.

"You stay out of this!" she snapped, before turning back to Ruby as Yang put her down. Weiss held out a pamphlet.

"What's this?" Ruby asked.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company Product. Although not mandatory…" her voice became an irritating buzz as she spoke, seeming to go faster and become higher in pitch.

She finally stopped talking.

"Uhhh…" Ruby muttered.

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss demanded.

"Absolutely!" Ruby said. Aurora sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again," Weiss said, shoving the pamphlet into Ruby's hands.

"Look, uh… it sounds like you two just… got off on the wrong foot!" Yang said, trying to smooth things over. "Why don't you just start over and try to be friends, okay?"

Ruby looked at her, then turned to Weiss. "Yeah! Great idea, Sis!" she said, before clearing her throat and holding her hand out. "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby!" she said. "Want to hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!"

"Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!" Weiss replied with a totally fake smile, pointing over her shoulder at… Jaune.

(Whoops. I kinda ditched him…) Aurora thought with a small wince.

"Oh wow, really!?" Ruby gasped, the sarcasm flying straight over her head. Weiss's face fell.

"No."

"Did you… honestly think that would work?" Aurora asked in a soft voice, leaning closer to Yang.

"Eh," the blond shrugged. "Worth a shot?"

Just then, Ozpin walked over to the mic on the raised dais, clearing his throat. "I'll keep this brief," he said. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of people."

Aurora looked around, smiling at the thought. (I probably would have fit right in with these people if I actually came from this world…) she thought, chuckling softly to herself.

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

He walked away, while the girls glanced at each other. Even Weiss seemed a little off-put by that speech.

Goodwitch walked up to the mic.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!" she said, before following after the Headmaster.

"He seemed kind of… off," Yang said.

"Almost like he wasn't even there," Ruby added.

"Maybe… he has a lot on his mind?" Aurora suggested.

"I'm a natural blond, you know!" Jaune suddenly said, having come over, and was standing next to Weiss. The heiress sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

…

The ballroom was swarming with students by the time Aurora got her sleeping bag and entered. She quickly looked around and found Yang and Ruby.

"This spot taken?" she asked Yang, motioning to the spot next to her, on the other side of Ruby. The blond grinned.

"Nope! All yours!" she said. Aurora smiled and set up, before darting to the bathroom to change, happy she bought her sleepwear with her.

Dressed in an oversized, blue long sleeve shirt with a red bull on the front, and black shorts, she returned to the ballroom and put her clothes with her other stuff, before laying back against her pillow.

(This world… this school… it's all so awesome. But then, I can say the same about The Wizarding World… and Radiant Garden… and almost every other world I've been to…) she thought to herself, smiling slightly. (Despite everything… I'm glad I'm getting the chance to travel…)

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang, who had left to change, suddenly said, throwing herself down onto her sleeping bag. Aurora sat up and opened her eyes to see Yang looking between Aurora and Ruby. Aurora laughed at that.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though," Ruby, who was writing in a book, said. Aurora smiled sadly at that.

(Homesick, I guess. I can understand that…) Aurora thought, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"I know I do," Yang said, with a smirk, looking over at the boys. Aurora looked over at them as well, more curious then anything.

Most of them were shirtless, wearing just pajama pants. A few of them were rough housing, while others were flexing and looking over at the girls, trying to get their attention.

Then… there was Jaune. Who was in a pair of footie pajamas. He noticed the girls looking and grinned. "Ew…" Yang mumbled, while Aurora rolled backwards, laughing.

The two sisters began talking about their old school, so Aurora let herself zone out again, pulling the locket off her choker and studying the picture inside.

It was of her and Riku. It was about two years old now, back before Aurora had been kidnapped (the first time) by the Organization. Riku was still wearing the black coat and blindfold in this picture.

(We really need an updated picture…) she thought with a smile, thinking back to the one still hanging in her and Trucy's room back home.

"You know Aurora!" Yang said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "That's plus two friends! That's a two-hundred percent increase!" she was saying.

"I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a 'negative friend'," Ruby said, laying back. "Back to just one."

"There's no such thing as 'negative friends'!" Yang said. "You just made two friends and one enemy!"

Ruby suddenly threw a pillow at Yang, hitting her dead in the face, hard enough to make the girl fall back. Aurora laughed at that, before looking at Ruby.

"Look, it's only the first day," she said. "Remember what Jaune said? Strangers are just… friends we haven't made yet. And like Yang said, you've got me," she said. Yang smiled up at Aurora, mouthing 'thank you.' Aurora smiled with a nod.

Ruby sat up, before suddenly noticing something. Yang and Aurora followed her gaze to a girl – the same one who had put Weiss Schnee in her place after the explosion incident.

"That girl…" Ruby said.

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"Not really…" Ruby admitted.

"She saw what happened this morning," Aurora said. Ruby sighed.

"But she left before I could say anything…" she said.

"Well, now's your chance!" Yang said, getting up and grabbing both Ruby and Aurora's arms, dragging them over.

"Hey, wait! What are you doing?" Ruby demanded, while Aurora just shook her head.

As they got closer, the girl looked up. Yang let go of Aurora's arm and waved at her. "Helloooo!" she… sang.

Ruby yanked her arm out of Yang's grip and turned her back, crossing her arms.

"I believe you three may know each other?" Yang asked. The girl looked at Ruby.

"Aren't you that girl that exploded?" she asked. Aurora turned her snort into a cough.

"Uhh, yeah! My name's Ruby," she said, offering her hand. The girl looked back at her book, and Ruby rubbed her head awkwardly. "But, you can just call me… crater…" she sighed and shook her head. "Actually, you can just call me Ruby…"

"Okay…" the girls said, not looking up from her book. Aurora smiled weakly.

"Maybe we should…" she started, only to realize no one was paying attention to her.

"What are you doing?" Yang hissed.

"I don't know, help me!" Ruby hissed back, before both sisters turned to smile at the girl in the bow again.

"So… what's your name?" Yang asked.

"Blake," the girl said.

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister!" she said.

"And I'm Aurora. I just met these two today," Aurora said, shaking her head at how over-zealous Yang was being.

"I like your bow!" Yang tried.

"Thanks…" Blake was sounding exasperated.

"It goes great with your…" she hesitated, "pajamas!"

"Right…"

"Nice night, don't you think?" Yang tried, yet again. Aurora shook her head at that.

"Yes. It's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book…" Blake tried. Those two didn't seem to get the hint. "That I will continue to read…" Still no luck. "As soon as you leave," she said a little more forcefully.

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause," Yang said. Aurora elbowed her, and Yang stuck her tongue out at her in response.

"What's it about?" Ruby suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Blake asked.

"Your book. Does it have a name?" Ruby clarified.

"Well, it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body," Blake explained.

"Oh yeah… that's real lovely…" Yang said sarcastically.

"I love books," Ruby said. "Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters… They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress."

"Why is that?" Blake asked with a chuckle. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"I'm hoping we all will," Ruby said. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

Aurora's respect for Ruby grew ten-fold.

"That's very ambitions for a child," Blake said. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." There was a lot of sadness in her voice.

(Something must have happened in her past…) Aurora thought sadly.

"Well, that's why we're here… to make it better," Ruby said with a warm smile.

"Oooh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang suddenly yelled, picking Ruby up in a hug.

"Ack!" Ruby cried, struggling. "Cut it out!" she yelled, punching Yang in the face. Aurora's eyes widened, and she moved away from where those two were suddenly fighting.

(Maybe it's a good thing I never had a sister so close to me in age…) she thought.

"Well, Ruby, Yang, Aurora… it's a pleasure to—" Blake tried while they continued wrestling. Ruby suddenly grabbed Yang's foot, holding it at waist height and tickling it.

"What in the world is going on over here!?" someone demanded. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep!?"

That's when the sisters and Aurora realized it was Weiss, and Weiss realized she was speaking to Ruby.

"Oh, not you again!" Aurora, Weiss, and Yang all yelled.

"Shh! Guys, she's right!" Ruby gasped. "People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh, now you're on my side," Weiss snarled.

"I was always on your side!" Ruby snapped.

"What sides!?" Aurora asked, not remembering once where sides had been drawn.

"What's your problem with my sister!?" Yang demanded. "She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss snapped, stomping her foot.

"That's a little harsh!" Aurora cried.

That's when Blake blew out her candle, plunging them in darkness.

…

The next morning came quickly. Aurora made sure she was one of the first in the communal bathroom so there would still be hot water for her shower, before she got dressed and went to breakfast with Yang and Ruby. From there, they made their way to the locker rooms, where they left their equipment before going to the ballroom last night.

As they were finishing getting ready, a tall guy with black hair, wearing green, walked by, a shorter ginger girl in pink following after. "But not 'together' together," the ginger was saying with a giggle.

"Wonder what those two were so worked up about," Ruby said thoughtfully.

"Who knows?" Aurora said with a smile, adjusting her wrist band. It felt weird to not have it last night.

"So!" Yang said, looking at her sister. "You see awfully chipper this morning."

"Heh, yep! No more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff," Ruby said brightly, pulling Crescent Rose from the locker. Aurora stepped back from it, not knowing if or when Ruby was going to activate it. "Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." She hugged it. "That's how I met Aurora, after all!"

"True," Aurora said with a chuckle.

"Well, remember Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation," Yang said. "If you want to grow up, you're going to have to meet new people and learn to work together. Both on, and off the battlefield," Yang said.

"Ugh… you sound like Dad!" Ruby groaned, putting Crescent Rose on her back holster. "Okay, first of all, what does meeting people have to do with fighting? And secondly, I don't need people to help me grow up," Ruby said, crossing her arms. "I drink milk."

Aurora stared at the girl for a second, before realizing she was completely serious, and burst out laughing.

"But what about when we form teams?" Yang asked, shoving Aurora away.

"Uhm, I don't know, I-I'll just be on your and Aurora's team or something…" Ruby said.

"Well… Aurora's all good and fine and all… but maybe you should try being on someone else's team? Yang suggested. Aurora, who had sobered up a few minutes ago, looked at Yang, biting her lip. Ruby stalked over to her.

"My dearest sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me!?" Ruby demanded.

"W-what!? No! Of course I do, I just thought… I don't know, maybe it would help you break out of your shell!" Yang tried.

"I'll meet you guys out there…" Aurora said, suddenly feeling really awkward. She darted after the guy in green and the ginger.

"Oooh! Who are you?" the ginger suddenly asked when noticing how close Aurora was to them.

"Uh…"

"Nora," the guy in green said, sounding exasperated.

"Oh, sorry! I'm Nora! This is Ren!" the girl said. Aurora chuckled.

"It's okay. I'm Aurora. Nice to meet you," she said.

"Likewise!" Nora said. "So are you excited for your first day at Beacon? Oh, I can't wait for initiation!" she suddenly darted over to Ren. "You remember our plan, right?" she hissed, only just loud enough for Aurora to hear. Ren just smiled slightly at the ginger.

"I won't ask," Aurora giggled, walking past them, just as they announced over the loud speakers for all first years to go to Beacon Cliff.

…

The cliff. Was high. Very high.

Aurora felt dizzy standing so close to the edge (even if she stood in the line of students, putting her a few dozen feet away from it).

"For years you have trained to become warriors," Ozpin said. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

(The Emerald Forest!? Isn't that where he said the Heartless Grimm were?) Aurora thought, looking up and catching Ozpin's eye. He nodded ever so slightly, before going back to looking at the line of students.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heart rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion," Goodwitch said. "Each of you will be given teammates… Today."

"What?" Ruby gasped softly.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well," Ozpin said. Ruby made another scared noise. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. The only exception, is Miss. Wright." He turned to look at her, causing everyone else to do the same. "We have an odd number of students this year, so one of our teams will be made up of five students. Miss. Wright will have two partners. She was selected randomly." He explained. Aurora chuckled slightly, waving shyly as everyone turned to look at her.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest," Ozpin said. "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

(I don't know which school was more dangerous. Hogwarts, with sending their students in the forest at NIGHT… or this one!)

Jaune let out a nervous laugh from where he stood at the end of the line, next to Aurora.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene." Ozpin went on to explain the test – finding the abandoned temple and collecting a relic, before making it back to the cliff, as well as how they would be graded.

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah, um, sir—" Jaune began.

"Good! Now, take your positions," Ozpin interrupted him.

Aurora had read about the whole 'landing strategy' part. She crouched low, knowing the stone square she was on would launch her into the air.

She felt vaguely nauseous.

Meanwhile, Jaune was still trying to ask his question.

Weiss was the first to be launched. It then steadily went down the line, one after another. Aurora's stomach dropped at seeing the other students fly into the air.

Meanwhile, it seemed as though Jaune had no clue what a landing strategy was. He didn't even seem to notice the students being catapulted into the air.

"WooHOO!" Yang yelled as she was launched. Ruby smirked at Aurora just before she was shot into the air.

Then it was Aurora's turn.

"I HATE HEIGHTS!" she screamed as she flew through the air. Then she heard Jaune's scream from behind.

(Focus Aurora, focus!) she mentally yelled at herself, twisting around so that she was flying forward head first. She activated her shield.

"WATERGA!" Aurora yelled. A geyser shot out of her shield, streaking forward and creating a path. Aurora flipped forward and landed on the path feet first, riding it over the tree tops. Ahead, she could see Yang shooting forward, riding what seemed to be explosions coming out of her fists, until she disappeared into the trees. Aurora glanced down at her Water path, noticing it was starting to run out, and let it dip forward, letting Aurora enter the trees. She pointed at the ground just as her Waterga spell ran out.

"Water!" she yelled. A geyser shot from the ground, and Aurora jumped from the end of the path she was on, landing on the top and dropping to the ground with it, rolling so as to minimize impact on her ankles and knees.

"Oh, I'm gonna be sick…" she muttered, taking a few deep breaths. She then stood and ran forward through the trees, keeping her senses open.

She could sense the hearts of most of the students, but they seemed pretty far off. Closer was the chilling sensation of darkness.

(The Heartless Grimm. Great. I wonder what's in the school anyway? Why are they attracted there? Or is it this forest? No… that doesn't make sense. Does it?) Aurora thought as she ran, steadily heading north.

Suddenly, she sensed it from behind. She spun on her heel. "Reflega!" she yelled, just as a boar like creature rushed at her. It slammed into her barrier, causing it to shatter and send Aurora flying backwards. Looking up, she noticed that the creature had purple lines streaking through its white armor plates, which covered its head and back, a Heartless symbol on its forehead, one yellow eye, and one red.

It was a Heartless Grimm. A Heartless Boarbatusk, to be exact.

It stomped its foot, snorted, and rushed forward again. Aurora waited until the last minute, then dove to the side, rolling to her feet. The Heartless Boarbatusk slammed into a tree, rattling it and sending leaves raining down over it.

"Firaga!" Aurora yelled. A large blast of fire shot from the spread fingertips of her left hand, hitting the creature right in the face, but all he did was shake his head and rush forward again. Aurora rolled to the side once more, and looked at it, trying thunder and blizzard magic with the same effect.

(Damn… how do I beat this thing!?) she thought, before trying a water spell.

As the geyser hit it from beneath, the beast squealed in pain, and hit the ground, landing on its back. That's when Aurora saw that there was no armor… on its belly.

"Weak spot," she said with a smirk, cloaking her shield with a water spell, creating a blade with it, and rushing forward. She jumped into the air, and came straight down on top of the Heartless Boarbatusk, slamming her left fist, blade point first, into its stomach. It evaporated into black smoke, with a crystal heart floating up from it.

(If all of the Heartless Grimm are that tough… I'm in trouble. I can't beat those things on my own…) Aurora thought, panting slightly. She took a deep breath, stood up straight, and ran forward again.

After a few more minutes, she sensed Yang's heart from ahead. Yang… and the chilling sense of darkness.

"No!" she gasped, running forward harder.

She shot into a clearing in time to hear Yang laugh, skidding to a stop behind her. In front of Yang were two normal Grimms. They looked a lot like bears, actually.

"Geez, you two couldn't hit the broad side of a ba—" she cut off as a strand of her hair drifted down in front of her face. She watched it as it drifted all the way down to the ground.

"You…" she growled. "You MONSTERS!" she screamed, suddenly catching on fire.

"Whoa!" Aurora cried, stumbling back. The enraged girl shot forward, attacking the Grimms. Each punch was accompanied by a small explosion, until she sent one flying back, slamming through the trees. She then turned to the other that had totally ignored Aurora and ran at Yang.

"What, you want some too!?" she yelled. The Grimm drew itself to full height, ready to crush the girl in front of it, when—

It was attacked from behind and collapsed. Blake stood behind it, her weapon in its back.

Yang panted as she came down from the… whatever it was, while Blake sheathed her weapon and smirked at her.

"I could have taken him," Yang said.

"I believe it, after seeing that," Aurora said, walking over to the two girls. They looked at her, and she smiled.

"Looks like we get the team with five!" Yang cheered. Aurora chuckled.

"Ozpin said North, right?" Blake asked. Yang nodded, and the three started that way.

The three girls didn't run into much as they made their way through the trees.

Finally, the made it through the trees to the edge of a cliff, where a crumbling stone building stood.

"Think this is it?" Yang asked. Blake just shot her a look before jumping down. Aurora, on the other hand, groaned.

"Why is it always heights…" she whined, following after.

The three girls walked through the temple, studying the 'relics'.

"Chess pieces?" Blake asked.

(Oh god, not again…) Aurora. Thankfully, these peices were only about the size of the girls' hands.

"Some of them are missing," Yang pointed out.

"We weren't the first ones here then," Aurora said.

"Well, I guess we should pick one," Blake said.

"But… which one?" Aurora asked as the three looked around.

"Hmm…. How about a cute little pony?" Yang called, holding up the White Knight.

"Sure," Blake said, rolling her eyes, but smiling.

"That works," Aurora added with a chuckle at her enthusiasm.

"That wasn't too hard," Yang said as the three met in the middle.

"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find," Blake said.

"The hard part was fighting through the Grimm. I think we were lucky though," Aurora added.

Before they could move, the sound of a scream echoed over the trees.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang gasped. "Blake, Aurora, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, but… how do we find them out here?" Aurora asked.

Blake, meanwhile, was looking up at the sky.

"What should we do?" Yang asked, turning to the other two. Aurora looked over at Blake as well.

Yang continued to try to get the girl's attention, who simply pointed up. Yang and Aurora finally followed her gaze, only to see Ruby… falling… from the sky.

"Heads up!" she screamed.

"Oh geez," Aurora muttered, holding her hand up. (As soon as she's in spell casting distance, I'll cast Aero and-)

The thought cut off as something slammed into Ruby from the side, and she went flying into the trees.

"Uhh…." Aurora muttered.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked.

"I—" Yang started.

The sound of growling and falling trees caught their attention, and a large bear like Grimm stumbled into the clearing, before collapsing.

Nora rolled off of it before standing. "Aww… it's broken," she pouted, studying the beast. Ren appeared behind it, panting.

"Nora?" he said. "Please… don't ever do that again…" before he finished talking Nora was gone, already in the temple and staring at the white castle.

"Oooo!" She snatched it from its pedestal. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" she sang.

"NORA!" Ren yelled.

"Coming Ren!" she giggled with a salute, darting back over to the boy.

"Did she just ride in on a Grimm?" Aurora asked, watching after her.

"I—" Yang started.

More growling and trees falling, from yet another direction, caught their attention, and a red-haired girl came running out of the forest, a HUGE scorpion Grimm chasing her.

She dodged two strikes, and seemed to spot something in the trees.

"Jaune!" she cried.

Just then, Ruby dropped out of one of the trees and landed next to the three very confused girls.

"Ruby?" Yang gasped.

"Yang!" Ruby cheered, and the two went to hug.

"Nora!" the ginger popped up between the two girls.

"ACK!" they gasped, freezing to avoid hugging her. Aurora giggled at them.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake, who had been watching the other ginger, asked.

Yang exploded. Literally.

"I can't take it anymore!" she yelled, her eyes turning red. "Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?"

(One Mississippi…. Two Mississippi…) Aurora mentally counted while Ren limped over to the group.

On cue, Ruby tapped her sister's shoulder. "Um… Yang?" She pointed up, causing the rest of the group to look in that direction.

Weiss was hanging onto the talon top of a huge flying Grimm. Aurora's eyes grew wide when she noticed the Heartless Symbol on the bird's chest, and purple in its mask. Correction, a huge flying Heartless Grimm.

"How could you leave me?!" the heiress cried.

"I said 'jump'!" Ruby yelled.

"She's gonna fall," Blake said.

"She'll be fine," Ruby said.

Weiss's grip slipped.

"She's falling," Ren said.

Aurora sighed. (Okay, I'll cast Aero on HER when she gets close-)

Before she could even finish the thought, Jaune dove from the trees and caught the falling heiress. It would have been romantic…

…if he had a landing strategy.

"AERORA!" Aurora cried. A whirlwind appeared around them, slowing their fall, but Jaune still hit the ground pretty hard, with Weiss landing on top of him.

"My hero," Weiss said, bored, studying her nails.

"My back…" Jaune groaned.

Meanwhile, the Deathstalker was still chasing the red-head. It finally caught up to her and slammed her aside with its claw, throwing her so that she landed directly in front of the group.

"Great! The gang's all here!" Yang said. "Now we can die together!"

"Your optimism is so refreshing," Aurora snarked.

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby said, before running forward.

"Ruby, wait!" both Yang and Aurora yelled. The younger girl didn't listen, propelling herself forward with shots from her scythe. The Deathstalker deflected her blow though, knocking her back.

"D-d-don't worry! Totally fine!" Ruby yelled, before turning to the Deathstalker. She shot it in the face… then ran. It gave chase.

"RUBY!" Yang yelled, running forward. Aurora was right behind her.

That's when the Heartless Nevermore flew overhead, shooting its giant feathers at the ground. One snagged Ruby's cape, trapping her. Yang slid to a stop just before getting impaled, catching Aurora who couldn't stop in time.

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang yelled.

"I'm trying!" Ruby cried.

"She's trapped!" Aurora said.

The Deathstalker rose its tail, ready to strike.

"RUBY!" both Aurora and Yang yelled, before a flash of white suddenly shot past them.

Ice suddenly formed, catching the thing's tail before it could hit Ruby. Weiss stood up straight, and the two had a little chat, before Weiss walked back to the group. Yang shot over to her sister and hugged her tight.

Meanwhile, Aurora looked at Weiss and crossed her arms.

"That was a halfway decent thing you did," she said.

"What's your problem with me?" Weiss snapped, glaring at her.

"I just don't like bullies. And that's all you've done to a kid who just wanted to be your friend." Weiss recoiled slightly at that. "So, Ruby made a mistake, but it was your waving around the Dust that made her sneeze in the first place. And she apologized."

"Me and Ruby… are working things out. I just admitted that I'm a little… difficult. Get off my back, and I'll prove to you that I'm not a bully," Weiss said. Aurora hesitated before smiling.

"Alright then."

"Guys, that thing's not a normal Grimm. And… it's circling back," Jaune said, watching the giant Heartless. "What are we gonna do?"

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying," Weiss said. "Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right," Ruby said. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live. That is an idea I can get behind," Jaune agreed. He and Ruby walked into the temple and grabbed their artifacts.

Aurora was watching the Heartless Nevermore, biting her lip. (I don't feel comfortable leaving a Heartless that big to its own devices… but what choice do we have? I need Sora and Riku. I can't do this on my own…)

The ice holding the Deathstalker's tail began to crack.

"Time we left," Ren said.

"Right!" the others agreed, and the group began to make their way back south, to the cliffs.

The Grimm caught up to them as they got close and entered into some old ruins. The Heartless Nevermore flew overhead and forward, blocking the way and causing the nine to dive behind pillars. It landed on the highest point.

"Well that's great!" Yang sighed.

"I don't think we have a choice but to fight it," Aurora said, readying her shield.

A crash from behind announced the arrival of the Deathstalker.

"Oh man, run!" Jaune yelled, causing all nine of them to rush forward.

"Nora, distract it!" Ren yelled, and the girl did just that, first by drawing the Nevermore's fire, then by shooting back with a grenade launcher type weapon.

Aurora ran forward with the rest of the group, glancing back to see Ren and Blake distract the Deathstalker, and Weiss get Nora out of there.

She turned fully, skidding to a stop, on the bridge. "Firga!" she yelled, shooting large fireballs at the Deathstalker. Pyrrha, at the same time, shot at it with her own weapon. Together, they slowed it down long enough for Ren and Blake to make it to the bridge, before they started running again.

Just then, the Nevermore slammed into the bridge, destroying most of it, separating the group, and trapping Aurora, Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren on the side with the Deathstalker. They tried to hold it off, but their backs were to the drop.

"Ugh!" Blake cried as she was thrown back. Pyrrha darted forward, slashing at it, while Aurora kept up a tirade of Reflect spells, doing all she could to keep them from getting knocked off the edge.

Suddenly, Jaune and Nora appeared, with Nora slamming her hammer – (Wasn't it just a grenade la—oh wait. It's probably both.) – into the thing's face, before blasting it, shooting herself backwards and right into Blake and Aurora, knocking them both off the ledge.

"Ah!" Blake cried.

"No!" Aurora yelled.

Blake suddenly flipped around in the air and threw her weapon, which had a long rope attached, and embedding it into one of the supports. She grabbed Aurora's hand, and the two of them swung through the ruins.

"Can you launch us straight up with your Wind Dust?" she called.

"Yeah, just say when!" Aurora replied, readying herself.

"NOW!"

"AEROGA!" Aurora yelled, and a powerful whirlwind appeared around them, shooting them straight into the air, landing on the Heartless Nevermore's back.

Seeing what Blake had in mind, Aurora cloaked her shield in a Water spell, creating a blade with it. Both ran along its back, slicing and slashing, before jumping off and landing on one of the ruins, coincidentally alongside Ruby, Yang, and Weiss.

"That didn't do anything!" Aurora gasped in surprise.

"It's tougher than it looks!" Blake told the others. Yang narrowed her eyes, watching it fly around them.

"Then let's hit it with everything we've got!" she said, readying her gauntlets.

As it flew towards them, all five got their weapons ready. Ruby, Yang, and Blake shot at it with their various guns, while Weiss and Aurora shot spells, using their Dust/magic.

Despite getting hit with almost everything, the Heartless still flew directly at them. At the last second, it dipped down and destroyed the supports of the ruins they were standing on.

"Not again!" Aurora yelled as the building collapsed under them. The five bounced between the collapsing rubble until they all reached higher, more stable ground.

Aurora found herself on another bridge, standing next to Weiss and Ruby.

"None of this is working!" Weiss said.

Aurora nodded in agreement, panting from the strain of the battle.

"I have a plan!" Ruby suddenly said. "Aurora, you'll have to immobilize it when the time is right. For now, cover me!" she yelled, jumping away. Both girls nodded, turning towards the Heartless Nevermore.

It was out of their reach, circling Yang, until suddenly, it dove at her, mouth wide open.

Yang jumped right in.

"No! Yang!" Aurora yelled.

"Wait, look!" Weiss said, pointing. The blond was holding the Heartless Nevermore's beak open, shooting straight into its throat. Right before it slammed into the cliff, she jumped out, landing near those two.

As the Nevermore landed with its back to the cliff, Ruby appeared near Aurora.

"NOW!" she yelled.

"Right! HASTAGA!" Gold light surrounded Aurora, and she shot forward, darting past Yang who was moving to meet up with the other three. The Nevermore began to spread its wings.

"Oh no you don't! Graviga!" Purple light surrounded it, keeping it grounded until Aurora got close enough. As she jumped into the air, she felt power surge through her, and smirked.

"Deep Freeze!" she yelled, launching her shield, which was glowing icy blue, at the Nevermore's tail. Just as the Gravity spell wore off, and it went to take flight, the shield slammed into the ground just beneath its tail. Ice exploded from it, covering the ground, the Heartless's tail, and even one's of its talons. The shield seemed to bounce off of the cliff behind the Heartless Grimm, and came back to Aurora, who caught it as she landed in a crouch.

Meanwhile, Yang and Blake stretched Blake's rope between two pillars, which Ruby jumped onto. Weiss, using her glyphs, pulled Ruby back, turning the rope into a slingshot.

Ruby rocketed forward as the ice melted. Weiss used her glyphs to create a path straight up the cliff, which Ruby landed on, catching the Nevermore's neck with her scythe.

Between her natural speed, the shooting from her gun, and Weiss's glyphs, Ruby ran up the cliff side, dragging the Heartless by its neck behind her.

As she reached the top, she shot her scythe once more, and in a shower of rose petals, ripped the Nevermore's head off. It's giant body slowly fell, turning to black smoke and releasing a huge crystal heart, while Ruby landed at the top of the cliff.

Weiss, Yang, and Blake walked over to where Aurora was still standing from when she landed earlier, all four staring up at the young girl in red.

"Well," Yang started. "That was a thing."

…

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark." Ozpin, who stood on the stage in the middle of the auditorium, called. The four boys stepped forward. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL," he said, pronouncing the name as Cardinal. "Lead by Cardin Winchester." Clapping followed his announcement.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR," he pronounced it as Juniper. Nora excitedly hugged Ren at this announcement. "Lead by Jaune Arc!"

"Huh?" the boy gasped, while Pyrrha grinned at him. "L-lead by?"

"Congratulations, young man," Ozpin said with a smile at him. Pyrrha punched his shoulder in a friendly manner…. Knocking him over, much to the amusement of the watching students.

"And finally, the only team to have five members, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Aurora Wright, and Yang Xiao Long. The five of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as… Team RWABY," he pronounced it as Ruby. "Lead by Ruby Rose."

Weiss quickly looked over at the girl, who herself looked shocked while the audience clapped. Aurora smiled at that. (Probably for that genius plan of hers when we were fighting the Heartless Nevermore…)

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang suddenly yelled, darting over and trapping Ruby in a hug.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year," Ozpin said with a smile.

When the girls reached their new dorm that night, they got changed… and collapsed into bed.

…

Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Aurora all woke up pretty early and got ready for the day. Aurora couldn't help the small sigh that escaped her as she changed into the school uniform.

(I've already graduated from school… and yet, this is the second one I've enrolled in since! And each had uniforms!) she thought in exasperation. She still wore her choker with the locket while in uniform, but, like most of the other students, was required to leave her weapon, her shield, in her locker.

Once those four were ready… Ruby used a whistle to wake Weiss up, causing her to fall out of bed.

"Goooood morning team RWABY!" Ruby cheered brightly.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Weiss demanded.

"Now that everyone's awake, we can officially begin our first order of business," Ruby said.

"Excuse me?" Weiss asked, standing and brushing herself off.

"Decorating!" Yang said brightly, her arms full of all kinds of stuff.

"What?" Weiss asked.

(Wow she's not a morning person!) Aurora thought in amusement.

"We still have to unpack," Blake said, holding up her suitcase. It popped open, dumping her stuff onto the ground. "And clean…" she added.

"Plus… figure out the bed situation," Aurora added, looking at all five of the beds. They were just kind of… squished into the room.

Weiss kind of glared at them, until Ruby blew her whistle again.

"Alright! Weiss, Blake, Yang, Aurora, and their fearless leader Ruby have begun their first mission!" the girl said excitedly. "Banzai!"

"Banzai!" the rest of the team, minus Weiss, cheered. Weiss simply sighed.

While Yang hung posters, Weiss hung paintings, Blake filled up the book shelves, and Ruby hung (then sliced) the curtains, Aurora focused on trying to arrange the beds.

Finally, she got frustrated and threw them into the middle of the room using a wind spell.

"Yeah, that's not going to work," Weiss said once all five stepped back.

"There's not enough space," Aurora huffed.

"It is a bit cramped," Blake agreed.

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff," Yang said.

"Or we could ditch the beds," Ruby suggested, before gasping. "And replace them with bunk beds!" she added excitedly.

"Um, that sounds incredibly dangerous," Weiss said.

"And super awesome!" Yang cheered.

"It does seem efficient," Blake said.

"And it'd open a lot of space," Aurora pointed out.

"Well, we should put it to a vote," Weiss argued.

"Heh, I think we just did," Ruby said. Blake, Aurora, and Yang all made yes gestures, while Weiss frowned and made a no gesture.

The girls shot forward, quickly constructing the bunk beds, before stepping back.

Two of the beds were suspended from the ceiling with rope; Ruby's was positioned over Weiss's with a sheet around it for privacy, while Aurora's was at the foot of Ruby and Weiss's bunk and perpendicular to theirs. Yang's, on the other hand, was supported by stacks of Blake's books placed between the legs of her bed and the head/foot boards of Blake's bed. The girls stepped back.

"Objective complete!" Ruby said brightly. "Alright, our second order of business is…!" she glanced down at a paper. "Classes." She almost sounded defeated. "Now, we have a few classes together today. At nine, we've gotta be—"

"What!?" Weiss gasped. "Did you say nine o'clock!?"

"Umm…" Ruby looked up at her.

"It's eight fifty-five, you dunce!" With that, she darted out the door. The rest of Team RWABY looked out the door, watching after her, as did Team JNPR, who had the room across from theirs.

"Uh… t-t-t-to class!" Ruby yelled as the others grabbed their stuff and rushed after the heiress. There was a crash from behind, and Aurora looked back to see Team JNPR laying on the floor. They jumped up and followed after.

Somehow, all nine of the first years got to their first class on time and found seats. Aurora was interested to see that this one was all about Grimm.

(I wonder if the teacher will talk about those Heartless Grimm too…) Aurora thought as she sat. Finally, the teacher, a portly man in a red suit, with white hair and a white mustache to match, began.

"Monsters! Demons… Prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names," Professor Port began dramatically. Aurora noticed, almost immediately, that Ruby was asleep. "But I, merely refer to them as prey." He laughed, as though expecting the rest of the class to as well.

Silence met his words, but his outburst did wake Ruby up.

"Uhhh…. And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy," the man said, saving himself. "Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces. And that's where we come in." He paced in front of the students, before stopping near Team RWABY. "Huntsman! Huntresses…" he clicked his tongue with a wink at Yang, who let out a weak 'kill me' chuckle. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves. From what you ask? Why… the very world!"

Silence reigned around the room again, until a kid in the back suddenly cheered, causing everyone to look up at him. He quickly sat back down.

"That is what you are training to become," Professor Port continued. "But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man.

(Wait for it…)

"Me."

(I knew it.)

"When I was a boy…" his voice faded into the background as Ruby began to goof off, drawing Aurora's attention. Weiss, who sat on Ruby's other side, seemed to be getting distracted too, especially when Ruby began to giggle to herself. She showed her team a very… unflattering picture she drew of the professor as he continued his story. Aurora smothered her giggles, as did the rest of the team.

Except Weiss, who was glaring at their team leader.

The professor cleared his throat, causing the girls to look at him. He merely rose an eyebrow at them and continued. Aurora sighed in relief.

(Guess he didn't see the drawing. Good…) she thought.

He finally finished. "The moral of this story? A true huntsman must be honorable." As he spoke, Ruby continued to goof off, clearly bored. Aurora noticed that Weiss was glaring at her the whole time. "A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

"Weiss…?" Aurora muttered, noticing that she looked like she was about to explode.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Professor Port asked.

Weiss's hand shot into the air. "I do, sir!" she said.

"Well then, let's find out," Port said. "Go get your equipment. Don't take too long. We'll be waiting."

The heiress shot out of the room, returning minutes later dressed in her combat skirt, her weapon in hand.

A chill suddenly washed over Aurora as a cage was rolled into the room, rattling and growling.

(Grimm…)

"Gooo Weiss!" Yang cheered as the heiress got into her fighting stance.

"Fight well!" Blake called.

"You got this!" Aurora said.

"Yeah, represent team RWABY!" Ruby called.

"Ruby, I'm trying to focus," Weiss said, looking at the excited team leader. The teams' faces fell.

"Oh, sorry," Ruby said.

"Alright," Professor Port said, holding his own weapon, a double axe-bladed… shot gun? "Let the match, begin!" he brought it down on the lock on the cage, breaking it. Aurora stiffened as the Grimm charged.

It was the same kind as the Heartless Grimm she had faced in the forest before finding Yang and Blake. A Boarbatusk.

Looking at it closer, though, Aurora saw that this one had red on its armor plates, and both eyes were red. There was no Heartless symbol to be seen.

(Thank goodness…)

It charged directly at Weiss, who sliced at it and rolled out of the way, watching it. It slid to a stop and turned to face the young Huntress in training.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port asked.

"Hang in there Weiss!" Ruby cheered.

Both charged at each other again, though this time, the Grimm grabbed Weiss's weapon with its tusks, reducing the fight to a tug-o'-war match. "Bold, new approach. I like it!" Port called.

"Come on Weiss, show it who's boss!" Ruby called. Weiss made the mistake of looking over at her, and the creature yanked her sword from her hand, throwing it back so that it now stood between the sword and the girl. It then slammed the girl aside with its tusks.

"Ooh! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port asked.

"Weiss, look out!" Aurora cried as the boar charged at the girl, who was on her hands and knees. Weiss looked up, then rolled to the side just in time. The Grimm charged past her and slammed into one of the desk fronts. Weiss jumped to her feet and ran to her weapon, sliding as she picked it up.

"Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armor underneath—" Ruby began.

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss yelled, turning to look at the girl. Ruby's face fell.

The Grimm rolled into a ball and charged at Weiss, even faster than before. Using her semblance, Weiss summoned a glyph that acted as a shield. The Grimm rammed into it and was thrown back, landing belly up. Weiss jumped into the air with a flip, kicked off another glyph, and dove, sword point first, at the Grimm, killing it.

Weiss sat on her hands and knees next to it, panting.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Port said. "It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training," he said as she stood, the Grimm fading into black dust next to her. Weiss lowered her weapon. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned reading and stay vigilant. Class dismissed!"

Weiss stalked out of the room, while the rest of Team RWABY looked at each other in worry.

"I'm… going to go after her," Ruby said, jumping up and darting out.

"Well, now what?" Yang asked.

"I want to talk to Professor Port about the reading. I'll meet you later," Aurora said, grabbing her stuff and standing. Professor Port was busy clearing away the mess from the battle as the students left. With nothing better to do, Aurora helped.

"Ah, thank you, Miss. Wright. How did you like today's lesson?" he asked.

"I enjoyed it," Aurora said with a smile. "I actually fought one of those in the Emerald Forest during initiation."

"Ah, so I guess you learned the same lesson Miss. Schnee did then, hm?" he asked.

"About going for its belly? Yeah," Aurora chuckled, remembering how she panicked. She then adopted a thoughtful expression. "Although… the one I fought was a bit different," she said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. That one had purple instead of red markings. And a symbol. Like this," Aurora drew the Heartless symbol on the board. "And one of its eyes were yellow, instead of red."

"Ah, yes. The 'Heartless Grimm', as Ozpin had named them. Did you see any more like that?" Port asked, erasing the symbol.

"Just one. The Nevermore we fought," Aurora said. Port nodded, motioning for the girl to walk with him.

"Yes. They started showing up only about a year or two ago. The first one made it into the school, you know," he explained.

"Wait, really?" Aurora gasped as they walked through the halls. The man nodded.

"Yes. But thanks to a select group of highly trained individuals, the professors, of course, we managed to defeat it," he said proudly.

"Right. Have you seen… any that don't look like Grimm?" she asked as they stepped outside, walking over to one of the railing that allowed for a view over the school grounds. The sun was shining brightly over the school.

"Hmm… no. Now why would you ask that?" the man asked.

"Just curious. Knowledge is power after all… right Professor?" Aurora asked sweetly. The man laughed.

"That it is, my dear girl. If you have any other questions about the Grimm, don't hesitate to ask," he said. Aurora smiled warmly.

"Alright. Thanks, Professor," she said, walking away.

(So, the only Heartless around are those Grimm Heartless. I really can't afford to stay here too long. I need to find Riku and Sora. But… I don't know, something about this just doesn't feel right. Every other world, there was Heartless and whatever was native to that world. Never the Heartless MERGING with the natives from that world. Is there someone behind the scenes, pulling the strings?)

That night, Aurora laid on her bed, using the Lumos spell she learned at Hogwarts to light up her wristband. Around her were books all about Beacon – the myths and legends, history, and, of course, books all about the Grimm. She was trying to see if she could figure out why the Heartless were so attracted to the school.

Yang and Blake were asleep in their beds. Aurora could see a faint light shining from under Ruby's privacy sheets, but she could also hear snoring from that bed too. Weiss's bed was empty.

Just then, the door opened.

"Nox," Aurora hissed, and the light from her wristband vanished.

Aurora quickly pulled her blanket up and over herself and her books, just as a shadow slipped past her bed and pulled the sheet back from Ruby. Through slitted eyes, Aurora could see that she was surrounded by books, the faint light from the flashlight shining down on her pillow.

There was a soft throat clearing, then a snort.

"Weiss! I-I was studying and then I fell asleep. I'm sorry," Ruby started stuttering, before cutting off.

"How do you take your coffee?" Weiss asked.

"Uh, I don't—"

"Answer the question," Weiss snapped.

"Uhh! Cream and five sugars!" Ruby gasped. There was a sigh.

"Don't move."

Aurora heard footsteps move across the room, then the sound of the coffee pot. A moment later, Weiss appeared at Ruby's bedside again.

"Here."

"Um, thanks Weiss," Ruby said.

"Ruby… I think you have what it takes to be a good leader," Weiss said. "Just know, that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have. Good luck studying." There was a pause. "That's wrong, by the way."

Another pause. "Hey Ruby?"

"Uh-huh?" Ruby asked.

"I always wanted bunk beds as a kid," Weiss admitted from the door, just before it closed, presumably so that Weiss could go get ready for bed. Aurora smiled warmly at that, happy the two of them were finally seeing eye to eye.

…

As time went on, Team RWABY grew into a closer, more cohesive fighting team. There were even times where Aurora would forget that she wasn't of this world, especially when joining in on prank wars between the four other girls, playing video games with Ruby and/or Yang, or cramming with Weiss for big tests.

But then there were other times, where crippling anxiety would grip Aurora, and she couldn't tear her thoughts away from Sora and Riku. Especially when her nightmares about the twenty paths began again. She knew time moved differently in different worlds, but she had no way of telling how much time, compared to wherever Riku was now, or even compared to home, that she had spent on Remnant.

To make matters worse, she still couldn't figure out what the Heartless Grimm were after. She tried to ask Ozpin, but even he didn't have any ideas.

Aurora definitelt kept busy, between school work, the different hijinks team RWABY and JNPR would get into, plus her personal investigation.

There were a few times she considered asking her teammates to help, but… after the danger Harry, Ron, and Hermione got into in Hogwarts, she decided against it.

Then the students from the other kingdoms started arriving for the Vytal Festival – a Festival and Tournament that celebrated the ending of the Great War.

It was because of this that Team RWABY found themselves down at the docks one Friday afternoon.

Vale went all out. There were balloons everywhere, and signs being strung between buildings. Aurora smiled.

It was all so… happy.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss said happily as the team looked at one of the signs.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss," Ruby teased. Aurora pulled a face.

"It's kinda weirding me out…" the young attorney complained.

"Now could you not smile?" Weiss demanded. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world!"

"That is pretty cool," Aurora said with a smile.

"Exactly!" Weiss said with a grin at her. "There will be dances, parades, a tournament! Oh the amount of planning and organization that goes into this even is simply breath taking!" Aurora's face fell at that last comment.

Yang sighed, crossing her arms. "You reeeaaally know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring," she said.

"Quiet you," Weiss said, not seeing the grins from Aurora, Ruby, and Blake.

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang asked.

"Ugh, they smell like fish," Ruby whined, covering her nose.

"And oil," Aurora agreed, copying the gesture.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," Weiss said, watching as a ship slowly made its way to port. "And as a representative of Beacon I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom," she continued, turning to the rest of the team.

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake translated.

"Ah! You can't prove that!" Weiss snapped, crossing her arms.

"Whoa," Ruby said as something caught her attention. The others looked over as well, spotting a shop with a shattered window. There was police tape all over it, keeping pedestrians out.

"Let's go check it out," Aurora said, leading the way over. She instantly spotted the detective in charge of the crime scene. "What happened here?" she asked. The man glanced up at her.

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle," he said, walking away.

(Dust shop…? That's the kind of shop Ruby and I were in when Torchwick tried to rob it!) Aurora thought.

"Ugh, that's terrible," Yang said. Aurora, meanwhile, was hovering around the edges of the police tape, her eyes scanning the crime scene for clues to confirm her suspicion.

"They left all the money again," one of the officers called to the detective.

"Hm?" Aurora looked up from where she was studying a little bit of ash. (Okay, that REALLY sounds like what happened that night… if I could get a little closer to investigate…)

She suddenly spotted a cigar, half crushed, just inside the police tape. "Aha!" she gasped softly.

"It just doesn't make a lick o' sense. Who needs that much Dust?" the Detective mused.

"I dunno, ya know what I mean?" the officer said.

"You thinking the uh, White Fang?"

(No… that doesn't make sense. Torchwick isn't Faunus. But he definitely did this…) Aurora's eyes fell back to the cigar.

"Aurora, what are you doing?" Yang asked, walking over to where the girl was crouched. Aurora immediately jumped to her feet.

"Oh, nothing," she said with a nervous giggle.

"Hmph. The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates," Weiss said.

"What's your problem?" Blake demanded, catching both Aurora's and Yang's attention.

"Uh-oh. I smell an argument," Aurora said.

"Really? Because I still smell fish," Yang said, pinching her nose with a wink at Aurora, causing her to laugh.

Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss were still going at it.

"So then they're very misguided!" Blake snapped. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Hmm… Blake's got a point," Ruby said.

"I don't think it was the White Fang," Aurora said, getting all of their attention. She turned to Ruby. "That night we met Ozpin and Goodwitch for the first time, when we stopped Torchwick. Remember what he was smoking?"

"A cigar, right?" Ruby said.

Aurora nodded and pointed to the one she found. "Look."

The team looked over. "Ooooh!" Ruby gasped.

"Plus, he told the Shopkeeper that he didn't want the cash. Just the Dust. This is his MO if I've ever seen it," Aurora explained. The girls stared at her for a moment. "What?"

"You figured all of that out from just a few clues, and you weren't even allowed to go in?" Yang said.

"Well… yeah," Aurora said with a weak smile. "So?"

"That's more than what the Detectives had. You're… really good at that," Ruby said. Aurora let out a nervous laugh.

"My um… cousin is something of a detective. He taught me a few things?" Aurora said. The other four continued to stare at her.

"Okay…" Yang said.

"Well, the police never caught him," Ruby reasoned.

"All of that still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum," Weiss said. "Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"That's not necessarily true," Yang said.

"Yeah, look at Velvet," Aurora argued, talking about the brown-haired bunny faunus who was a class or two ahead of them.

"Hey! Stop that faunus!" a voice echoed from the docks, shattering Aurora's and Yang's argument and causing all five to run back to the railings.

On the dock of one of the ships, a blond guy in a white shirt, red gloves, and jeans, with a yellow tail, was running, chased by two sailors. He jumped up on the rail and smirked at the men.

"Thanks for the ride, guys!" he laughed, jumping down onto the docks and running again. He jumped up onto a lamp post, hanging from it by his tail, with a banana.

"Wow…" Aurora muttered, before the detective and officer from earlier rushed by. Aurora looked back at the Dust shop, noticing it was completely empty, and walked back that way, leaving the rest of Team RWABY to watch monkey boy.

She didn't stay long, only doing a quick sweep. Inside, she found a few strands of red hair, more cigar ash, and a camera that looked like it was blasted by mini-canon shot.

(Definitely Torchwick…) Aurora thought, slipping under the police tape and quickly making her way back to the rest of the team. She saw them running down the street, and ran after them.

"Uuuuuuh, Weiss?" Yang said, just as Aurora turned the corner. Weiss was on her hands and knees on the ground, next to a girl with red hair and shockingly green eyes.

"Ah!" Weiss gasped, shooting to her feet. The girl stayed laying on the ground.

A frown formed on Aurora's face as she looked at the girl. (I sense… light from her. But it's… different. More hollow?)

"Salutations!" the girl said brightly.

"Um… hello," Ruby said.

"Are you… okay?" Yang asked.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking," she said.

The five exchanged looks.

"Do you… wanna get up?" Aurora asked, leaning forward and offering her hand. The girl seemed to think about it for a moment.

"Yes." She suddenly jumped to her feet, not needing help at all, and turned to the girls. All of Team RWABY took a step back from her, and Aurora got a good look at her. She was wearing mostly gray and beige, as well as black and green. She even had a pink bow in her hair.

"My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said.

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"I'm Aurora."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked. Blake, who's arms were crossed, suddenly smacked her and crossed her arms again. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said brightly.

"You already said that," Weiss pointed out.

The gears in her head seemed to stall for a moment. "So I did!" she finally said with a smile.

"Well, sorry for running into you," Weiss said as the five turned away.

"Take care, friend!" Ruby called as she followed the rest of the group.

"She was… weird," Yang commented.

"Oh be nice," Aurora said, jabbing at the blond playfully with her elbow.

"Now, where did that faunus riffraff run off to," Weiss said, looking around.

The group looked forward, only to freeze. Penny was standing right in front of them.

"What did you call me?" she asked.

Weiss looked freaked out as she looked between the odd girl and the direction they just came from.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. I definitely didn't think you heard me," Yang said.

"Told you," Aurora muttered.

"No, not you," Penny said, brushing by her blonds and stopping in front of Ruby. "You!"

"Me!?" Ruby asked, sounding panicked as the girl leaned into her personal space. "I-I don't know, I—what I—um, uh—" she stammered.

"You called me 'friend.' Am I really your friend?" Penny asked.

(Oh god…) Aurora thought. Normally, she'd be all for making new friends, but Penny… gave her a weird vibe. Probably due to the strange sensation of 'hollow' light from her heart.

That's why she found herself shaking her head vigorously along with the rest of Team RWABY behind Penny's back when Ruby looked at them for help.

"Yeah, sure! Why not?" Ruby said. Penny laughed as the rest of Team RWABY face palmed.

"Sen-sational!" she cheered. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like the one in her locket!" Penny said, pointing over her shoulder at Aurora.

(Whoa, de ja—WAIT!) Aurora put her hand to the star locket on her choker, only to find that it had popped open.

"No, wait, he is off limits!" she said, quickly closing the locket again.

"Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby muttered to Weiss. Meanwhile, Yang had shot over to Aurora and was trying to open her locket again.

"You never said anything about a cute boy!" the blond said. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yesh, but… ack! Yang! Stop it!" Aurora cried, blushing and trying to fight her off.

Yang managed to unclip the locket and was looking at the picture. Blake was next to her.

"Ooooh! Look at how young you look," Yang teased.

"He is cute though," Blake said approvingly.

"What's his name?" Yang asked.

"Riku." Aurora snatched the locket back, her face a deep crimson, and clipped it back to her choker, turning to Penny and trying to ignore the snickers from Yang and Blake.

"So, what are you doing in Vale?" she asked, so as to take Yang's and Blake's attention off of her. It worked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament," Penny said.

"Wait… you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny said brightly, saluting her.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress," Blake pointed out.

"It's a 'combat skirt'!" Weiss said, crossing her arms. Ruby darted over next to her.

"Yeah!" she said, her own arms crossed. The two high fived.

(That was strange…)

"Wait a minute…" Weiss suddenly said, walking over to Penny. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed…rapscallion?" she asked, grabbing Penny's shoulders.

"The who?" she asked. Weiss pulled her closer, showing her a badly drawn picture.

"The filthy faunus from the boat!" she said.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake suddenly demanded, her voice louder then Aurora had ever heard it before.

"Huh?" Weiss asked, letting go of Penny and turning to her teammate.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!" Blake yelled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss took an aggressive step towards Blake, forgetting all about Penny. "Would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamppost as a lamppost?" she demanded, motioning to each object.

"Stop it!" Blake yelled.

"Stop what!?" Weiss demanded. "He clearly broke the law. Give him time, he'll probably join up with those other faunus in the White Fang."

Blake growled, her hands clenching into fists. "You ignorant little brat!" she spat, before walking away.

"How dare you talk to me like that!? I'm your teammate!" Weiss yelled, walking after her. Blake stopped, turning on the girl.

"You are a judgmental little girl," Blake snarled.

"What in the world makes you say that?"

"Uh… I think we should probably go," Yang said to Ruby and Aurora.

"Where are we going?" Penny suddenly asked.

(Oh shoot, I forgot she was there…)

The argument continued all the way back to Beacon, and even to the dorm room.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem," Weiss suddenly said from where she sat on her bed.

"That is the problem!" Blake replied from her own bed. Ruby, Aurora, and Yang meanwhile, stood to the side, looking between the two like a tennis match.

Weiss stood. "You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."

"There's no such thing as 'pure evil'! Why do you think they hate humanity so much?" Blake exploded, jumping to her own feet. "It's because of people like Cardin," she started, talking about the bully of the first years, "people like you that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

(Wait…) Realization started to dawn on Aurora as she looked at Blake in a new light. (She knows too much about the motivations behind this supposed 'terrorist' group…)

"People like me?" Weiss demanded.

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" Weiss suddenly demanded, wrenching Aurora's thoughts away from Blake and to the white-haired girl. It was silent for a moment, until Weiss started talking again.

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the faunus?" Weiss said, her voice dangerous. She walked over to the window. "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War. As in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear. Board members? Executed." Her voice started to get thick. "An entire train car full of Dust… stolen." She paused for a moment. "And every day, my father would come home furious," her voice was steady again. "And that would make for a very. Difficult. Childhood."

Ruby walked over to the girl, reaching for her shoulder. "Weiss, I—"

"No!" Weiss spun around, stalking back over to Blake, ignoring Ruby. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang!?" she yelled at her. "It's because they're a bunch of liars! Thieves! And murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake suddenly yelled. Weiss recoiled from her, and the other three girls stared in shock. Blake's face fell as she realized what she just said. "I-I…" She backed up until she ran into her set of bunkbeds, then shot out the door.

"Blake! Wait! Come back!" Ruby yelled after her. Yang and Aurora turned to look at Weiss, who was looking at the ground with a small frown.

She didn't return the rest of the night. Worried and unable to sleep, Aurora sat on her bed, watching the door. An hour or two after the sun rose, Ruby sat up in her own bed with a yawn, and looked around.

"She's still gone," Aurora said softly. Ruby sighed in worry.

…

"She's been gone all weekend," Ruby said as the four remaining members of Team RWABY walked through Vale.

"Blake's a big girl. I'm sure she can handle herself," Weiss said, not sounding worried at all.

"Weiss, come on. She's one of our teammates," Yang said as Aurora grinded her teeth together. She had grown to respect Weiss, even like her, once she declared to become the best teammate Ruby would ever have, but with every word that came out of her mouth this weekend, that was quickly going down the drain.

(I know the White Fang has hurt her and her family, but what reason has Blake given to not trust her before now? Ugh!)

"Is she? We all heard what she said," Weiss replied.

"Weiss," Ruby said in warning.

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't," Yang sighed.

"Either way, she's missing, and we need to find her," Aurora said. "Besides, she's not a bad person."

"And how would you know. She fooled us all!" Weiss snapped.

"Because I can just tell!" Aurora replied. (The light and darkness in her heart are very balanced. There's no way someone with a heart like that is a terrorist.)

"Whatever. A member of the White Fang. Right underneath our noses!" Weiss sighed.

"I just hope she's okay," Ruby said in worry.

Ruby, Yang, and Aurora decided to search the town, with Weiss in tow.

"Blaaaaaake!" Ruby cried.

"Blake!" Aurora yelled.

"Blaaaaake!?" Yang called.

"Blaaaake!? Where are you!?" Ruby tried again.

"Blake!" Yang tried again, just as Ruby turned on the heiress.

"Weiss, you're not helping!" she snapped.

"Oh! You know who might be able to help?" Weiss suddenly said. "The police!"

"Ugh, Weiss…" Ruby growled, crossing her arms.

"It was just an idea!" Weiss snapped.

"Yeah, a bad one," Ruby said. Aurora sighed at that.

"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions," Yang said.

"I think when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right," Weiss said.

"I think you need to cut her some slack. It seems like you're not the only one who had it rough growing up," Aurora said, remembering back to when they first met Blake, and how pessimistically she had said that 'real life isn't like the fairytales.' Weiss shot her a look, before those two followed after the sisters.

"And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today!" a voice suddenly said from behind. The group jumped, turning quickly.

"Ahh! Penny! Where did you come from!?" Ruby cried.

"Hey guys. What are you up to?" the odd girl asked, ignoring Ruby's question.

"Uuuuuh…." Ruby said.

"We're looking for our friend, Blake," Yang said.

"Oooooh! You mean the faunus girl!" Penny said. The four stared at her.

"Wait. How did you know that?" Ruby asked.

"Uh, the cat ears?" Penny said, pointing to the top of her head.

"What cat ears?" Yang asked.

"She wears a… bow…" Aurora trailed off as the four looked at each other, realization dawning on them. "Oh."

"She does like tuna a lot," Ruby suddenly whispered to Yang and Aurora.

"So, where is she?" Penny asked.

"We don't know. She's been missing since Friday," Ruby said.

Penny suddenly gasped, rushing over to Ruby and grabbing her shoulders. "That's terrible! Well don't you worry Ruby, my friend. I won't rest until we find your teammate."

"Uh, that's really nice of you Penny, uh, but we're-we're okay. Really. Right guys?" Ruby said, turning to the team.

"Right…" Aurora said, only for the other two not to answer. "Huh?" she looked over to see those two gone, leaving her and Ruby alone with Penny.

"Guess we're… splitting up…" Aurora muttered.

Ruby sighed, and glanced at Aurora who shrugged. "Well, alright, Penny. Let's get looking," she said. After a bit of searching, Penny began talking again.

"So, Blake is your friend?" she asked.

"Yes, Penny," both Aurora and Ruby said after simultaneous sighs.

"But you're mad at her?" Penny asked.

"Yes! W-well, we're not," Ruby said.

"Weiss is," Aurora added.

"Is she friends with Blake?"

"Well, that's kind of up in the air right now," Ruby admitted.

"But, why?" Penny asked.

"Because Blake might not be who we thought she was," Aurora admitted.

Penny gasped. "Is she a man…?"

"No! No, Penny, she's not—I don't know what she is," Ruby said.

"She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off," Aurora said.

"I don't have a lot of friends," Penny admitted. "But if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."

"Me, too," Ruby said, before they began walking again.

It soon grew dark, and there was still no luck. Aurora sighed.

"This—" she cut off as a blizzard like chill stole over her.

"Aurora?" Ruby asked.

"I…. I have to go check something out. Don't follow me!" she yelled, taking off.

"Aurora, wait!" Ruby called, but the young attorney was already gone.

…

(Not here. Not now!) she thought, recognizing the chill and knowing exactly who she was going to find at the source.

She wasn't disappointed.

The man in the Black Coat stood in the middle of a deserted road, as though waiting for her.

"Forgetting your original mission?" he asked.

"Shut up!" Aurora yelled, activating her shield. The man scoffed. "The people here need help too."

"Hmph. The light, always shinning on the darkness, dispelling it," the man said, shaking his head. "So naive. You, of all people, should know that light begets darkness. Makes it grow stronger, and attracts it. Take Riku, for example."

"Riku?" Aurora gasped, taken off guard. The man chuckled.

"Yes. He is surrounded by light. Friends with a boy like Sora, and close to Kairi, a Princess of Heart… Romantically involved with someone as light as you. Heh. It's no wonder his darkness is so strong, and growing each day. One day soon, it'll consume him once more. Are you sure you're not putting him at risk?" he asked. Aurora bit her lip, her dream springing to mind.

(H-he's right. Light does draw out darkness. But…) A determined frown crossed the girl's face as she placed a hand over her locket.

"Riku is strong. He's overcame his darkness and wields it with more skill then you ever could. He won't be consumed by it again. And I'm going to make sure of it," she said.

"Hmph. Fine. You'll see," the man said.

Before Aurora could reply, there was an explosion from the direction of the docks. She looked over to see black smoke rising into the sky. "No…"

"Hmph. Seems your friends here are in a little trouble of their own…" the man said calmly. Aurora turned back to him, clenching her teeth in anger. "But you have a few of your own things to deal with. It's time to get your priorities straight." He rose his hand, and it flashed with a purple light.

Sirens suddenly went off around the city, and a Heartless Ursa ran into view, charging straight at the two of them.

"These 'Heartless Grimm' are quite fascinating. They're much harder to control… but oh so easy to attract," the man said, before vanishing through a dark portal. Aurora turned to where the Heartless Ursa was bearing down on her, turned, and ran.

(I have to get it out of the city before it causes a panic…) she thought, weaving her way through the streets.

With each explosion from the docks, Aurora's worry grew for the rest of Team RWABY. After her talk with Black Coat, her worry about Riku was even stronger. Despite her words, her recurring nightmare came right to the forefront of her mind.

And now, with the Ursa on her tail, she was scared. It was huge, much bigger than the ones they faced in the Emerald Forest, and much older, showed by the amount of white armor it had, and spikes arching from its back.

It's no wonder the beast followed her all the way out of the city and into the forest.

"Alright… here goes nothing…" Aurora took a deep breath and spun around, only for the Ursa to swing its clawed paw. Aurora only had time to raise her shield. She blocked the strike, but was thrown aside, her left arm throbbing.

"Ugh…" Aurora groaned, pushing herself up. The Ursa charged at her, and Aurora rolled to the side, using an Aerora spell to push it further away. She quickly pushed herself to her feet, just as the Ursa charged once more.

"Grrr… STOPRA!" she yelled. White light shone from her shield, and a clock face of white light appeared under the Ursa, the hands frozen. The Ursa froze mid-paw swing, and Aurora dove forward, cloaking her shield in Water magic. She slashed at it a few times before jumping back, just as the white clock face disappeared, and the Ursa finished its paw swing. The Ursa roared in rage, and rushed forward.

"Stupify!" Aurora yelled. Red light shot from her shield and hit the beast, tossing it backwards. She quickly shot forward and slashed a few more times with her water blade, before jumping back, panting.

The Heartless Ursa stood with a growl, its red and yellow eyes burning as it glared at Aurora. Aurora, for her part, stood up straight.

(It's like my attacks aren't even effecting it that much!) she thought in fear. The Ursa rushed forward, charging at Aurora, who tried to dodge to the side. The Ursa, however, lashed out to the side with its paw, grabbing Aurora, and slamming her into a tree. She cried out in pain and slid down.

That's when she remembered something from Professor Port's class.

…

"When fighting the Creatures of Grimm, a Huntsman or Huntress must calm their mind. If worry and fear are overruling all other thoughts, the Grimm will sense that. And that, in turn, will make the Grimm stronger."

…

(That's it! Between my worry for the team, and Riku… I'm only giving it strength!) Aurora rolled away from another strike, and took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. (Team RWABY is okay. They're strong. They can handle whatever is happening down at the docks. I mean, heck, look at what we managed to do to the Heartless Nevermore!) she told herself with a smile. The Grimm rushed at her again and swung.

"Reflega!" she yelled, before putting her right hand against the inside. "Firaga!" the shield took on a red tint, just before the Ursa's claw slammed down onto it. The shield exploded in a fiery burst, and the Ursa recoiled with a roar of pain.

"Yes!" Aurora cheered, before smirking. "Zero Gravira!" she called. Purple light surrounded the Heartless Ursa, lifting it into the air. Aurora shot forward, cloaking her shield in water magic, and used it to slash at the beast a few times.

Just as the Zero Gravity spell wore off, Aurora stabbed the water blade straight up, into the exposed part of the Heartless Ursa's throat. Dropped by gravity, it fell even deeper onto her blade.

Almost immediately, it began to fade into black smoke, and a large heart floated up from its back. Aurora dropped to her hands and knees, panting hard. Once catching her breath, she reached into her bag for her Scroll, wanting to call team RWABY, but it wasn't there. She glanced around to see the device, shattered into pieces, on the ground near the tree she had been pinned to.

Then she noticed the Star Shard was glowing. With a sigh, she pulled it out, staring at it.

"Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang… sorry guys," she breathed, just as the light enveloped her. "I promise; I will be back." The light shot into the sky, taking Aurora with it.

…

Lea searched the entirety of the castle, but without any luck. Finally, he returned to the Study.

"Where are they? I've turned this castle upside down," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. In the study were just Ienzo and Aeleus, doing their own searching.

"Hey. Are the other two still out cold?" he asked.

"Dilan and Even are conscious again," Aeleus said from where he knelt in front of one of the bookshelves. "But still unstable. They're resting now."

"Gotcha. Well, I guess I'll give the castle grounds a sweep," Lea said, turning to leave.

"Don't. If they were back, we would have found them by now," Aeleus said.

"Hmm. So, do ya think they were blasted off to some other world, or what?" he asked, still holding onto hope.

"I highly doubt it," Ienzo said from where he was pouring over a book at the desk. "When someone who's lost their heart is recompleted, they should return to the place where it happened," he explained. "And if that world is unavailable for whatever reason, a refuge is made for them in the realm between—a world called 'Traverse Town.' They would be sent there." As he spoke, Lea paced around the room, finally stopping in front of the portrait of Xehanort, where it still sat on the floor where Tifa moved it almost a year ago. "Or perhaps—"

"No, look, okay," Lea said, cutting Ienzo off. "The fact is, we're here. We've been recompleted, right? So they should be here too—plain and simple."

"I agree, it is strange," Ienzo mused. Lea let out a sigh, turning to the other two.

"What a drag. Could they not have been recompleted at all?" he asked.

"Well, you see—" Ienzo began.

"Ah, forget it," Lea said, turning to the schematic on the wall that had once been hidden by the painting. "You know what? I'll bring 'em back myself," he decided.

"Huh? How, exactly?" Ienzo asked. Even Aeleus stood and turned to the man, curious. Lea didn't look back at them, still studying the diagram.

"Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?" he asked ironically, before smirking.

…

Jeremy drove his long lost nephew straight to his parents' house, calling his wife, Astrea, who met them there.

As soon as she opened the door, Edym's mother, Gwen… fainted. Thankfully, Edym caught her before she hit the ground, and they quickly moved her inside. When she came to, she threw her arms around him, sobbing. Hank, Edym's father, hugged them as well.

"We thought you were dead! AURORA thought you were dead!" Edym winced at the mention of his baby sister, remembering the last time they had seen each other, he had faded in her arms. "Oh my baby boy! You're home, and you're safe!" Gwen continued to sob.

"Son…" Hank started, pulling away from the hug, but keeping his hand on the young man's back. "How'd you get away from that cult?"

"Wait, 'cult'?" Edym asked, confused. "There was no cult…"

"Oh no… you don't think they managed to brainwash him, do you?" Jeremy asked.

"Wait, what? No… there was no cult! I mean… okay, the Organization was a little like a cult, but… I only joined them because they promised to help me regain my heart and become whole again…"

Silence met his words.

"Didn't… Aurora tell you any of this?" he asked.

"No…" Hank said slowly.

"Oh… wait… the rules," Edym muttered to himself, belatedly remembering them. He then shrugged. "Oh well." With that, he began to tell his parents, aunt, and uncle everything that happened.

Losing his heart, joining the Organization and learning of the existence of other worlds, as well as gaining abilities, the missions, Aurora's capture, then escape, the Organization keeping him in line by threatening her, then finally, his defeat.

"I guess, in the end… our hearts were just waiting for our bodies and souls to return to the Dark Realm to recombine. It's strange, really," Edym laughed. "I can still feel my Sitar and water controlling abilities there. I wonder if they'll always be a part of me?"

More silence met his words as the four adults stared at him.

"Edym… maybe you hit your head or something…" Hank finally said, moving closer to look at his son's head. Edym's face fell.

"You don't believe me? Wait, I'll prove it!" he stood and moved back from the adults. Suddenly, in a burst of bubbles, his Sitar appeared.

"Dance, Water, Dance!" he called, playing a quick riff on the strings. A small water clone, just one, appeared in front of him, playing silently on a water version of the sitar.

All four gasped in surprise, before Edym allowed both clone and Sitar vanish.

"So… where's Aurora?" he finally asked.

"She's in Los Angeles with Phoenix," Jeremy said, his eyes glued to the spot where the water clone had stood.

"Well, actually, the Legal League of Attorneys sent her abroad to study international law," Hank reminded his brother.

"Oh yeah…" Jeremy mused.

"Speaking of Phoenix, he probably knew!" Gwen suddenly exploded, jumping up and stalking over to the phone, picking it up. She punched in a number and put it to her ear.

"Hello, Phoenix. We need to talk."

…

A/N: Yes, I named Phoenix's mother after a Greek Goddess always associated with the god of Justice.

Also, Gwen is a scary mother.

Ugh… I did not expect this to run on as long as it did. I broke 20,000 words. *collapses*