We have a shorty today. Sorry about that, just try to make the most of it.

MISSION 4:

Throat Full Of Glass

Vulnerability exists within

MISSION START

[Music: Divinity Statue (Devil May Cry 3 OST)]

It was a beautiful morning in the city of Vale. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. People greeting each other with a friendly hello as they opened up their shops, ready to provide service for the day. Beacon Academy was no different, as teachers of various majors began organizing their notes for the first day of classes. Of course, not before their morning grind within the teachers' lounge, that is. The students themselves were also preparing for the first day, some of them dropping by the recently open cafeteria for some food, others were just organizing their supplies for their classes. And then we have those who just want a bit more extra time on their beauty sleep. Case in point, Weiss Schnee: The second member of the newly formed RWBY(D). Bright sun aside, the heiress was still sound asleep under the covers of the bed. Nothing could ruin this perfect morning.

TWEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

"GAH!"

[Music abruptly halts]

Nothing until now, that is.

"GOOOOOD MORNING, TEAM RWBY(D)!" Of course Ruby would be crazy enough to pull such a stunt.

"Ruby, what the hell?" Weiss appropriately stated.

That statement went by unnoticed as the perky leader continued without hesitation. "Now that you're awake, we can finally begin our first order of- "

SNORE

… "O…kay? As I was saying, we can finally begin our first order- "

SNORES LOUDER

… "Hmmm…" The young rose stopped to check if the noise would play again. Seeing how it didn't, Ruby continued, "Now that you're awake, we can- "

SNORES REALLY LOUDLY

"Okay, who keeps doing that?" Ruby got her response in the form of three fingers pointing at the occupied sleeping bag. Dante... she thought. The rose menacingly clutched her whistle as she approached the sleeping devil hunter, ready to blow. She was about to play her tweet at point blank until she got thinking. Ruby had used loud noises to force her sister up on certain occasions back at Patch, and most of the time, ended with Yang narrowly missing her face. Dante was no doubt jumpier than her older sibling when it comes to that type of stuff. Pulling that stunt would probably end in

BANG

…Let's just say a broken nose would be the least of her worries.

Instead, she got close to his ear to simply say: "They have breakfast pizza."

"YOU'RE LYING!" It didn't take long for Dante to realize he had just been played. Looking around, he saw Ruby, Blake and Yang in their school attire, while Weiss was still in bed in her night gown. God damn it, he cursed internally. The devil hunter was about to roll back to bed had he not hear Ozpin's voice in his head.

"All of the basic necessities will be covered by the school assuming you uphold your duties as a student."

Double God damn it. The son of Sparda forced himself up just to put on his uniform. Right in the middle of the room. With all of the girls there. The sight of Dante al la natural as he changed did not go unnoticed. Oh, right, girls. Turning around to the embarrassed teammates, he decided to have a bit of fun. "So, you girls enjoyed the show?"

No one said anything, as Ruby decided to quickly change the subject to what she wanted to talk about before. "Ahem, now that we are all awake, we can officially begin our first order of business."

"And that would be…?" Asked the heiress.

"DECORATING!" Answered Yang.

"Unpacking!" Followed Blake, as her luggage popped open with her stuff falling onto the floor. "Cleaning!"

At that point, Ruby was standing on the bed in a heroic fashion, "Then it settled, our first mission as team RWBY(D) has begun…"

TWEEEEET!

"NOW!" And like that, Ruby, Blake and Yang were making the same pose, tilting to the left at a 20-degree angle shouting "BANZAI!" Just about the only two people who didn't get it were Weiss and Dante, who only replied with a casual shrug.

Despite two of the five members were being nothing short of enthusiastic, the settling in part went off without a hitch. Ruby was able to clear out most of the dust bunnies that had occupied the dorm for some time, while Yang and Weiss hanged up some pics on the wall (An Achieve Men poster and a Forever Fall painting respectively). Blake was in the middle of organizing her book collection (which came to a screeching halt just so she could find someplace to put Ninjas of Love). Dante, realizing he was doing a whole lot of nothing, decided to be of some use and open the curtains… using Nevan.

SLASH!

It went as well as you think.

After some time has passed, the team was finally finished with their room (complete with a repaired curtain). There was just one problem…

"Where are you guys gonna sleep?" The devil hunter asked.

RWBY took noticed of the pile of beds taking up space in the center when Blake asked "It is a bit cramped in here."

"We could ditch some of our stuff," suggested Yang.

"Or we could ditch the beds…" Ruby's idea definitely turned some heads. "And replace them with BUNKBEDS!"

As weird as that sounds, everyone couldn't help but agree to the idea. Everyone but Weiss, but she got overruled. So the team got moving on setting up the four beds. Dante was fine where he was, so there was no point adding a fifth. When the dust settled, the surprisingly stable bunkbeds were complete.

[Music: Mission Clear (Devil May Cry 3 OST)]

In a fit of excitement, Ruby yelled, "Mission cleared! Hunter Rank: S!"

[Record scratch]"What are you doing?" asked Dante.

"Sorry, got lost in the moment. Now, our next order is business IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS," One dramatic turnaround and a falling book later, "Classes." This incited a groan from Dante, which Ruby ignored. "Now, we have a few classes together. First off is Grimm Studies at 9 o'clock-"

"Wait," interrupted Weiss. "Did you just say '9 o'clock'?"

"Uh…"

"IT'S 8:50, YOU DUNCE!" Checking their scrolls to see if it was true, everyone was shocked on how much time they wasted on decorating the room alone. In a rush of speed, RWBY(D) burst through the doors to get to their first classes, with JNPR following shortly after.

"Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" The team wished they were late when Professor Peter Port began talking. The fat professor wasn't what you call the most interesting man in the world, and his speeches didn't help, either.

"And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! 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. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." Wink.

Monty Oum, WHY? Groaned Yang as she dug her head deep within her palms.

"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!" Port continued. "That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

JFC, I would literally pay anyone to shoot me. Dante hated people who loved the sound of their own voice more than anything, and Port was no different. Thanks a lot, Arkham. He can only tell things were gonna get worse before they get better.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!" Dante shot up, pretending to look interested as the professor wrapped up his story, mostly because he smelt a demon nearby. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Whatever it takes to shut him up thought Dante. "I'll take that bet!" He stated.

The fat man smiled at the gesture. "Ah, Optimism! One of the things I enjoy seeing in new students. Now, hurry into your combat attire, boy, so you may step forward, and face your opponent!"

Port stepped aside to reveal a metal cage with an agitated Boarbatusk inside, much to the surprise of many. Not wanting to miss this chance, Dante quickly went to the locker rooms to change into the red coat everyone knows him by. With Ebony & Ivory holstered and Rebellion shining brightly on his back, he made his way to the center stage for some fun.

"Go Dante!" Cheered Yang.

"Fight well!" Encouraged Blake, waving a small flag that said RWBY(D).

"Yeah!" Shouted Ruby, "Represent Team RWBY(D)!"

"Break a leg!" Said Weiss, much to Ruby's shock.

"Weiss, how could you say such a thing?"

"You dolt! Don't you know it's bad luck to wish someone 'good luck' in a performance?" Weiss stated as a matter of fact.

Not that I'll need it. After the demon hunter got in his stance, the professor slammed his blunder-axe onto the lock, freeing the Grimm inside.

[Music: Lock and Load (Devil May Cry OST)]

The Boarbatusk leapt out and began charging at Dante, red eyes getting ever closer to its target. Right when the tusks were about to make contact, however, the devil hunter was already on the other side of the arena. "Oh, I'm sorry," Dante said, "Was that for me?" The hog demon grew mad at its missed target, so naturally, it charged head first into the son of Sparda again. And just like last time, he dodged it at the last second. "Missed." Once more, did the black boar got enraged at is failure, only this time, Dante was openly mocking it by waving his coat around like a cape. For the third time, the Boarbatusk tried to ram down its prey, only for Dante to pull his coat away at the last second declaring "Olé!"

"My, my, what an interesting strategy!" Commented Port.

Dante wasn't finish however, as he back stepped to the other side of the arena. "Wow, you are really bad at this, aren't ya?" He began talking. "Tell you what, I'll give you one last chance. And to make things fair, I'll stay right here, in this spot." The devil hunter planted his feet to the ground for emphasis. "What cha say?"

The demon brought into this challenge, as it began curling up into a ball, spin dashing towards Dante's position. "Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port said. "Now what will you do?"

As the boar homed in, Dante stuck out his right hand. All of a sudden, a golden outline of a circle with a pentagram in the center with strange writings along the edge of the ring appeared, shielding the demon hunter at the moment of impact. Not only was the Boarbatusk stunned, but so was the Schnee, who had a front row seat of the action.

He can summon glyphs? She thought.

Dante walked up to the stunned boar, stomach facing upwards, to grab it by the beast's tusks.

"Finish it off, Dante!" Yelled the young leader. But what he did was way out of what people expected.

He forced the Boarbatusk into its ball formation, before bouncing it on his knees like an oversized hacky sack. In fact, that's all what that thing was to him. An oversized hacky sack.

After he had his fill, Dante used Beowulf to slam the beast down to the ground so hard, it uncurled itself from the shock. That gave him enough time to launch Rebellion into the air before kicking it down from the ceiling's height towards the soft belly weak spot.

The demon squealed as its after-life faded away into oblivion. When it remained still, Dante went up to dislodge his sword from the corpse before it faded away into nothing.

"Bravo! Bra-vo!" Applauded Port. "It seems Dante here gave us quite the show, wouldn't you agree class? I'll admit, your actions are stylish, but keep in mind that the most flamboyant methods aren't always the most practical."

The red coated hunter scoffed at his evaluation as he walked out. "Then it looks like we've been doing our jobs differently then, huh?"

"Well, anyways, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay vigilant! Class dismissed!" And with that, the students began to walk out of the classroom in record time. Weiss too, but only so she can quickly catch her teammate for some answers.

"Alright," she demanded, "Explain!"

"Explain what?" Dante asked. "You gotta be more specific than that!"

"During the match, you were able to summon a glyph that knocked that Boarbatusk unconscious." The heiress elaborated.

"So?"

"Glyphs are exclusive only to the Schnee bloodline! So how were you able to use one?"

"Hey, all I know is that some demons can actually use those things," he explained. "So who knows? Maybe your old man's a demon himself or something." The demon hunter said jokingly before walking away. What he failed to notice, however, was a shocked expression pasted on Weiss' face, followed by a deep frown.

"You have no idea how right you are," she said to no one in particular.

"You tried to fight a Sparda?"

"...Yes."

Qrow was able to put up with a lot of shit in his life, but hearing Raven openly admit to provoking a fight with the son of Sparda made him want to deck his sister in the face so hard, he had to imagine that Ozpin and Ironwood were holding him back. "Look, I know you like to pull more reckless stunts than I do, but what you just did was practically a suicide!"

"My death wouldn't have been in vain." Raven attempted to distillate her weakness.

"Bullshit! When will you realize that there are somethings you can't do by yourself?" Qrow stopped himself so he can calm himself with a gulp from his flask. Raven always was the lone wolf of the group, even in situations most inconvenient. But now that the Spardas were walking around cold open, there will be no more I in Team. "You know the saying, 'There is no victory in strength alone'?"

Raven took offence to that last statement "Are you calling me weak?"

"Judging from how shitty you look when I found you... yeah." Now it was his turn to rustle her feathers. "Not only that, but how are you gonna explain this to your 'buddies' back 'home'? You fall off the radar before coming back, people are going to ask questions. And as far as the rest of Remnant is concerned, the Legend of Sparda is just that. A legend. So unless you have hard evidence that the one you fought was his son, then killing you right there will be the nicest thing they'll do to you."

Raven was caught off-guard as her brother explained that possibility. It was true though, only the Branwen twins alongside Ozpin knows of Sparda's confirmed existence, so death at the hands of her own clan was almost possible.

[Music: Sad Ending (Shadow The Hedgehog OST)]

Yet despite this, she chose not to let her image falter. "I already told you, I'm not coming back. So stop trying to convince me."

"I'm not convincing you of anything," Qrow said as he got up. "I'm only stating facts." And just like that, the drunkle went upstairs of the small cabin they are currently residing in at the moment. He lied down on the makeshift bed he made before falling to a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Raven was all alone downstairs, her only company being the dying flames of an oil lantern and her own thoughts, as a light stream of tears escaped her eyes.

MISSION CLEAR

Demon Hunter Rank: S

Welp, I did it. 4 chapters of TDWDTR. Now excuse me, I need to shift gears and get back to writing METAL GEAR RISING: REMNANT.

Raiden: About fucking time.

Jesus, Raiden! How did you get here?

Raiden: You left your door open.

(Knew I forgot something).