A/N: Longest damn chapter I've ever written lol. Over 10k words. Anyways this chapter was really just odd for me to write. I don't know why but it felt a little off to me after I reread it and corrected some things but still... Anyways after this chapter actual battle begins! I cannot wait to begin typing that up!

Anyway; I want to thank all the new follows and reviews! Thanks for keeping an interest in this story! This is only the beginning. I have A LOT more planned for this story and I hope you all stick around to read it. :)

Enjoy!


Hearing those words brought Yang back into her thoughts. About that previous night, and what happened to her village. Instantly the blonde swordswoman felt her body get hot with anger.

"I've been to hell already." Thought Yang darkly.

"You may want to look to your left and right. These people next to you in your current ranks will be your squad mates for the rest of your time in my training grounds!" The man in front shouted out as he continued to pace back and forth.

There was a slight chatter among the recruits as they all glanced around towards their future teammates. Yang and Ruby shared a look and a thin smile. They'd easily be able to get ahead, more so since they were on the same team together.

"I suppose it's time I introduced you all to your drill instructors." The silver haired once again shouted, his voice rang out through the various recruits who were still muttering amongst themselves but they quickly fell quiet at the sound of his voice.

Suddenly he was flanked by three other soldiers who were all armored in the same manner as he; a mix of maroon and silver plate armor and chainmail. All except that one girl who Yang had seen earlier. She still wore her cheery bright smile and her heavy black armor.

"Corporal Terra will be your drill instructor specializing in infantry movement and tactics." He said while pointing towards the small fox girl Yang had seen earlier. This time though, Yang could spot a short sword resting in a weird sheath that was strapped to her left arm upside down.

The fox Faunus girl bowed her head slightly, but still wore her stone faced appearance; not uttering a word.

"Next will be Sergeant Sapphire. Now don't let the sweet name fool you, recruits; this girl here is a hard ass. She will be your drill instructor specializing in one on one combat."

Yang watched the girl known as Sapphire. She looked just like how Yang felt internally; pissed off. Her ocean blue hair and sea green eyes would make any other person doubt that she could look angry, but right now it was the only emotion plastered on her face. The woman was holding a flail in her hand and a shield was strapped to her back. For some odd reason though; Yang felt that she and that girl were similar in some way.

"Next we have a very special guest here; Lieutenant Penny of the famed 1st Legion. She is here to help you all learn how to not get your brain splattered on the ground in your first real encounter. She isn't an instructor but her knowledge will save your helpless hides in the future. So listen to anything she says and treat it like as if it were one of your instructors!" The man said as he finally motioned towards the girl encased in the ebon suit of armor.

Yang was particularly curious about her. She bowed slightly and had on an even wider smile if that were possible as she was admired by many of the recruits due to her extremely intimidating gear.

"Salutations fellow allies and future soldiers! I hope we'll all get along and win many battles together!" Penny cheerfully exclaimed loudly.

This earned the lieutenant a few giggles and weird looks but nonetheless the silver haired man in charge cleared his throat and continued on;

"And lastly there's me; Sergeant Ethan. I will be your head drillmaster and watching over everything you recruits will be doing these next few days." The man now known as Ethan now said.

Everyone remained quiet as the headmaster eyed the formation expectantly.

"Now break off into your squads and I'd suggest you start to get to know one another. Your performances and future selection may depend on it." Ethan yelled out.

Not a moment later, the formation broke off and everyone went into their respective groups. Yang looked towards Ruby and motioned for her to follow the rest of their new squad mates who were forming up a little to their left.

As the two sisters walked up to a semi-circle of people who would be their teammates, Yang quickly glanced around at all their faces. There were ten people including her and Ruby, and a boy with cyan hair and a glaive strapped to his back was talking.

"Alright, since we're all in a group together we'll need a leader. Someone to take charge and lead the pack. I don't know what kind of tasks they'll have us go through, but I think I have the best leadership qualities to be in charge!" The cyan haired boy said with an air of confidence.

Yang shook her head slightly at the sheer amount of arrogance this idiot had, but she said nothing. She'd just let him make an ass out of himself and she'd break off with Ruby and complete whatever tasks they had to do.

Although the blonde haired girl was simply astounded when no one else in the group spoke up at his decision to make himself leader. Yang glanced at Ruby but the girl wore an unreadable expression as she was glancing at the other teams; probably trying to gauge their strengths.

"Well hopefully you all have selected a team leader! Cause this is your first objective; all teams gather around me, form up!" Ethan shouted.

Instantly all the recruits hurried and formed up sloppily around the senior drill master. Shoulder to shoulder and close enough to smell each other's body odor, Yang found herself to be uncomfortable being this close to strangers. But she still had Ruby next to her so the blonde leaned over and whispered to her younger sister;

"You' think we'd be trained to actual represent an Army and learn how to march and stuff, or are they just rushing us to battle?"

Ruby just threw Yang a small smirk at her question.

Of course Yang didn't expect to be trained at the beginning to form up and march, but this training process seemed odd to her. It felt rushed and agitated; nothing like how her uncle had retold his stories of when he was in the Army.

"Will all selected team leaders form up behind me and it's not a suggestion recruits; move your asses!" A female voice screamed out.

The shrill voice shook Yang out of her thoughts and she realized it was in fact the blue haired drill sergeant now speaking, Sapphire.

Quickly twelve people; varying from gender to looks ran and stood behind the blue haired woman looking nervous.

"We're going to do some one on one sparring; starting with your respective group leaders." Sapphire then said in a low voice.

She turned around to face the leaders and scanned through them quickly before setting her eyes on the boy with cyan hair who was the so called leader of Yang and Ruby's team and pointed at him.

"You, name?" Sapphire demanded.

The boy, who had appeared so confident when establishing himself as a leader earlier, now appeared to be stumbling over his words as he attempted to answer the woman.

"I- I'm uh, Neptune." The boy now known as Neptune finally stuttered out.

Sapphire then pointed at a boy with black hair tied in a short ponytail and pink eyes, dressed in a light set of dark green armor that only seemed to cover his vital areas. The rest of his outfit consisted of a brown leather hide, similar to what Yang and Ruby wore.

"What's your name?" Sapphire demanded once again now pointing at the new boy in question.

"Ren, ma'am." Was all the boy said. He had on a relaxed expression and posture as he spoke, the complete opposite of how Neptune looked.

Sapphire clasped her hands together behind her and smiled for the first time. Although to Yang it looked like some kind of sadistic grin.

"Neptune and Ren; you two are going to spar. One on one and show us your skill. Once your opponent admits defeat or I and only I say stop is when you will halt your actions. Disobey and be punished, understood recruits?" Sapphire explained with a slightly more excited voice.

Both boys nodded their heads and unsheathed their weapons, following the drill sergeant to an open space on the field.

"Well gather 'round, the rest of you. Hurry up! Move it!" Ethan then yelled at the rest of them.

Quickly the rest of the recruits formed a wide circle around the two boys who were now facing each other. Only Neptune, Ren and Sapphire stood in the middle of the crowd. Neptune wielded a long glaive with a jagged looking blade at the end of it.

Ren on the other hand had a sword-breaker in his right hand with a trident dagger in his left. To Yang it was a very unusual combination of weapons, but it looked as if the pink eyed boy was extremely defensive based off of his choice of weapons. He also would have to be very calculating. If he were in fact both of those things he'd prove to be a very deadly opponent, although against an opponent like Neptune who would use his weapons reach for an advantage; this would be an interesting fight.

"Begin!"

As soon as the word was shouted Neptune rushed forward towards Ren with his glaive fully extended and thrusted right towards the ebon haired boy. Ren easily saw through the move and parried the attack with his sword-breaker, catching the jagged end from the glaive's blade into the small teeth in his weapon and flicked upwards. This motion threw Neptune off balance as he tried to bring his own weapon back towards himself to recover but Ren was faster. He ducked under the hold of the two weapons and kicked Neptune's feet out from under him while placing his narrow dagger at the boy's throat right when he hit the ground with a soft thud.

It was over in an instant.

The crowd erupted in a quick cheer at the demonstration, and even Yang herself clapped a bit. It indeed was impressive but she analyzed the whole fight. She already had figured out weak points for both of the boys and their weapons.

"Very impressive, Ren. Both of you may step out." Sapphire then said.

Ren helped an agitated Neptune up and they both walked into the circle of recruits, leaving the inside.

"Now let's change it up a bit. Based on that last fight I can tell the leaders aren't as strong as I thought, save for a few like Ren. Anyone in the crowd want to give it a go?" Sapphire asked loudly as she scanned the crowd searching for volunteers.

Yang felt her blood run hot. This is what she needed in fact, a good one on one fight. This would get her mind off of what happened last night and she'd be able to take out some anger at the same time. Sure she'd never sparred with anyone save for Ruby and she was still injured, but she didn't care. She'd try not to kill her opponent.

But just as she was about to raise her hand, Yang spotted in the corner of her eye; Ruby. And just as Yang was about to ask her sister what she was in fact doing, Sapphire took notice first.

"Hm, you then; the small girl. Get in here!"

Ruby quickly looked towards Yang and winked at her, while unsheathing her scythe carefully and walking through the crowd and into the center's opening.

Yang sighed deeply but couldn't help the smile that made its way to her face.

"Damn Ruby had the same feeling as me. Getting all fired up after watching that fight." Yang mused to herself as she kept her eyes on her little sister; now standing in the center of the crowd.

She looked oddly relaxed to Yang as she twirled her weapon distractedly while looking around the crowd of people. Usually she'd be nervous out of her wits being surrounded by so many strangers, but Yang knew when it came to battle she was able to retreat into her own little world and focus solely on fighting whilst blocking every other distraction out. Just like Yang…

Just like their uncle had taught them…

"Any other takers? C'mon don't tell me you're all afraid of this adorable little girl here?" Sapphire jested while still looking around for a volunteer.

Yang was unsure of why no one actually wanted to fight against Ruby. Of course only she really knew how deadly the girl was in fact, but without any knowledge and just looking at her appearance she was just an adorable innocent looking child. Save for the odd and deadly looking scythe she was twirling with ease and precision at the moment.

"I'll fight her."

All eyes turned towards a girl wearing a silver brigandine outfit. Her boots seemed to be plated with silver armor that came up to her knees. The girl had long black hair and pale green eyes, and wore a cocky grin on her face as she made her way towards the middle of the circle.

"Good, now we got a fight, and your names?" Sapphire demanded once more.

The girl with long black hair eyed Ruby coolly before replying. "Melanie."

When Ruby didn't speak up both Sapphire and Melanie took it as a sign of arrogance however.

"Guess this little girl thinks you're not good enough for a name. Anyways, begin!" Sapphire chuckled out before moving back slightly to give the girls space.

Melanie unsheathed a silver rapier and held it elegantly as she waited for Ruby to strike, holding a defensive posture. Although Yang thought it odd that the girl would only use a rapier and nothing in her off hand accompanying the unique blade, but brushed the thoughts aside. Ruby could handle herself and Yang had all the confidence in the world that she'd win easily.

Ruby obviously didn't care either as the small girl smirked and rushed in towards her waiting opponent. She swung her scythe behind herself as she charged forward. Once she was within reach of Melanie's rapier Ruby swung her weapon around towards the girl's left. Melanie however anticipated the surprise attack and hopped backwards to evade the blow, but Ruby pressed on quickly correcting her miss and swinging her scythe back around her own body and towards the right.

With the crowd at her back, Melanie was forced to parry the savage attack and surprisingly she did it with ease. The distinctive sound of two blades meeting filled the air as well as a slight shower of sparks during the brief meeting of weapons. But something gleaming off the bottom of Melanie's boots caught Yang's attention, and it was right when the long ebon haired girl smirked that Yang realized that she did in fact have another weapon.

"Ruby break and roll!" Yang shouted over the crowd who had started cheering for the match.

Luckily Yang saw Ruby breakaway from her and Melanie's weapon lock and roll backwards narrowly avoiding a swift kick from the girl. Once Ruby recovered from the roll her silver eyes lit up at the sight of a long and deadly looking blade protruding from the Melanie's boot; right at the front. If Yang hadn't shouted something Ruby was positive that she would not have been able to deflect the sneaky blow.

"Hm, looks like you have someone looking out for you." Melanie noted looking bored.

Ruby kept her eyes trained on the girl now. She was cocky in her first two attacks but now that she knew the girl was fighting dirty, she'd focus as if she were on a hunt. Blocking out all the sounds of the crowd and the feelings of anger, nervousness, and hesitation in her mind; Ruby was able to reach a unique state of concentration.

The girl held her scythe over her shoulder with the bladed end pointing downwards in her right hand, and slid her left hand behind her and grinned thinly. Yang instantly recognized the stance her sister was in now and chuckled to herself. The odd stance was a trick that Ruby had created some time ago. It appeared as if she was entirely defenseless to a frontal attack, but in all honesty it was the most defensible stance she could use for herself. Combined with the small girl's speed and her other weapon; it was a very deadly combination.

Melanie cocked an eyebrow at the odd posture but shuffled forward towards Ruby. Without warning she jumped forward and slashed her rapier in a wide arc right at Ruby's head. But right when she jumped forward, Ruby lifted and slammed down her scythe on Melanie's rapier with unnatural force snapping the weapon out of the girl's hand as she yelped in surprise. Although Melanie was nothing if not resilient. Still in the arc of her jump she let her weapon fall out of her hand and brought her bladed boot to Ruby's now fully exposed chest with her own wicked smile.

"Checkmate." Yang muttered to herself watching her sister's match intently. Melanie had fallen right into Ruby's trap.

As soon as her boot was about to connect with Ruby's chest, the crimson haired girl whipped her repeater crossbow out with unperceived agility and parried the girl's kick knocking her backwards and off balanced as she hit the ground on her back. Melanie quickly scrambled into a backwards roll but as soon as she stood up; she felt the cool sensation of steel at her neck. Glancing down she spotted Ruby with her crossbow held right at her throat with the girl still grinning at her cockily.

"Match!" Sapphire shouted, thus ending the duel.

Ruby relaxed her weapon and slung it across her back while doing the same with her scythe. While Melanie rubbed her sore wrist from Ruby's vicious scythe attack that had knocked her weapon away earlier. She walked over and picked up the downed blade and sheathed it, walking off and not saying a word. Ruby on the other hand made her way back to Yang receiving applause all the while.

"Well, we have time for maybe one more before I send all your sorry asses to your bunks. Any takers?" Sapphire asked once more, her voice now more of a cheery tone and less of an aggressive one like earlier.

Yang wouldn't let this opportunity pass her up again; she quickly raised her hand, which Sapphire spotted instantly.

"Eager are we, Blondie? Alright come on up." Sapphire spoke.

Yang patted her sister on the back and made her way through the parting crowd and stood confidently in the center of the circle. Her blood was boiling and her nerves were on edge. She was itching to fight someone right now. Especially after watching Ruby decimate her opponent, Yang herself was giddy with adrenaline. She only hoped her opponent would be strong.

"I- I'll go!"

Yang turned towards the obviously fearful voice that spoke up and spotted a familiar looking blonde boy making his way towards the center now.

"Well well well, two blondes? Come on up, boy. What are your names?" The drill sergeant asked.

Yang kept her eyes on the blonde haired guy trying to remember from where she had seen him from. She knew it was recent but she just couldn't place it.

"Jaune." The boy uttered as he now stood face to face with Yang.

Jaune pulled his shield from his back and unsheathed his sword. Once his shield was held up in an extremely flimsy looking defensive posture is when Yang finally remembered from where she had seen him.

"Yang." The blonde swordswoman replied back calmly as she kept her eyes on the shield belonging to Jaune.

The boy gave Yang a slight smile as he waited for the signal to begin. Yang could see his legs quivering in fear as his posture was rigid and nowhere near relaxed or experienced. Just like the time she last saw him, with that shield of his. The same one that bore the symbol of The Order.

"You're from the bar that night." Yang realized as she spoke out.

"Y- Yeah. That was me, ha-ha." Jaune said meekly.

The boy was obviously scared and he knew what Yang was talking about. So he put the two together as well which caused her even more confusion as to why he would want to fight her when he had witnessed firsthand that she was no push over.

"Why do you want to fight me?" Yang asked confusion in her voice.

Jaune seemed to flinch at the question but remained in his loose defensive posture as he kept his eyes on Yang still.

"I- I Guess I want to fight you to prove myself. I failed that night in the bar, a- and what better way to make up for it than to defeat the person who basically rescued me?"

Yang cocked her head to the side as she processed his words. By what he just said it honestly didn't make sense to Yang and quite honestly she didn't care. She knew he was weak but she'd humor the weird kid.

"Whatever you say, Jauney boy." Yang chuckled out.

Sapphire than coughed loudly to get their attention. "You two blondes done flirting or what? Begin!"

Yang shook her head at her drill sergeant's dumb joke but quickly focused on her task at hand. Even though she knew this Jaune fellow was weak, Yang treated each fight seriously and would show no mercy. She'd keep to her strict following that she had adopted.

Yang still had her weapon sheathed, but she wasn't entirely defenseless without it. She still had her steel chain gauntlet equipped on her left hand; all she'd need against Jaune.

The boy looked at her cautiously; "A- Aren't you going to draw your blade?"

Yang just smirked before shaking her head slowly.

But it seemed Jaune wasn't as stupid as Yang thought he'd be. The blonde boy bull rushed her with his shield raised, from which she easily side stepped away. As soon as he passed by her though he swung his long sword out wildly attempting to hit her, but the moment he did; Yang brought her armored gauntlet to block the blade.

The moment his sword glanced off of Yang's gauntlet though, she thought she had broken her hand. As weak skilled Jaune was; he did in fact have a mean swing. But blocking out the pain and taking advantage of the successful parry which earned her multiple gasps from the crowd, she snapped her wrist around his overextended weapon and spun her chain around the blade. Yang hopped backwards away from the boy and dragged his weapon out of his hand doing so.

But Jaune wasn't easily stopped. He charged at Yang with wide surprised eyes as his sword was thrown across the ground behind Yang. Just when he was about to slam into the blonde swordswoman with his shield though she side stepped once again easily and tripped him causing him to slide into the ground painfully. But he slid right next to his sword which he hastily picked back up.

Before Jaune could scramble to his feet with his weapon back in his hand though, Yang was on top of his back with her chain extended and around his neck pulling up on him. She knew it was a duel but something in her mind flicked on…

Just end it…

Take out all your anger; it's just so easy…

All the power is yours…

Kill him…

Yang started seeing red, and her vision started popping at the sides. An all too familiar sensation once again taking hold of her mind; Anger.

But this time it was different, it was as if her nightmares from this morning were now making their way into her head while she was awake. And so she continued to pull up with the chain.

She felt the sickening subtle crushes as she pulled against the boy's windpipe, she felt his soft gurgles for breath, and his feeble attempts to pull the steel chain away from ending his life. Yang felt all of it…

But she relished it. The feeling of power, of total control; it was glorious to her. To hold the absolute right to end someone's life was just so mesmerizing.

But Yang's bloodthirsty thoughts were cut short when she felt someone grab her by the hair and throw her off Jaune with immense force.

Yang fell to the ground on her back and shook her head, but shot up quickly only to meet a deathly silence. The blonde girl looked around at the various faces in the crowd which all looked slightly disgusted and shocked.

"I remember saying to obey my commands if I call a fight, Blondie!" Sapphire growled as she checked on a body on the ground.

It was then that Yang realized that it was her opponent, Jaune. But right when she wondered if she had taken it too far the boy began a coughing fit, holding onto his throat.

He was alive. Of that Yang was slightly relieved at, but just as quickly her thoughts went back to what had just happened. She had completely and utterly lost control to her animalistic instincts. The words, the feelings, it was all so calming. She couldn't resist it and it made everything so easy…

And that scared her.

Not having control of your actions, a terrifying thing. And it scared the hell out of her. What would happen if she fell into those thought while with Ruby? Were her mother's words true in her nightmare? Would she get Ruby killed?

But Sapphires angry tone shook Yang out of her thoughts once again.

"You think you're tough shit there, recruit? Then how about you try me out then, eh?"

Yang raised an eyebrow at the woman. She knew she was trying to taunt Yang into fighting her, but little did her drill sergeant know that Yang herself was an established fighter. She wasn't just not using her weapon to be flashy for the crowd in her fight against Jaune, she was skilled.

And the way Sapphire had said those words slightly pissed Yang off.

Unsheathing her great sword with ease, Yang held her blade in a relaxed stance; holding it over her shoulder with her right hand.

"Bring it, sergeant." Yang growled towards the woman.

She still had to pay her back for grabbing her hair, no one touched the hair. Focused lilac eyes met cold sea green ones as the two women squared off with each other. Yang took notice of the woman's weapon. It was an iron flail with a circular shield in her off hand, an interesting mix.

Then Sergeant Ethan walked into the circle and looked towards the two girls before speaking;

"I will referee this round. This ought to be interesting… Begin!"

Sapphire raced towards Yang and twirled her flail towards Yang's head with speed. The woman moved as quickly as lightning and immediately caused Yang to go on the defensive. Yang barely had time to dodge the deadly blow as she dodged backwards and watched the iron ball of the flail pass through her golden hair just barely missing her face. But Yang dug her boots into the ground once she jumped back and held her large blade out in front of her for the next attack.

Sapphire whirled her weapon around to keep its momentum up and prepared for another swing. She aimed for the same spot; Yang's face, but the blonde girl anticipated as much. As soon as the iron spiked ball closed in on its target, Yang took a deep breath and raised her sword above her head.

With unbridled anger she shot her eyes open and swung her heavy sword down onto the flail. The large great sword smashed through the spiked ball and straight for Sapphire's own head. The blue haired woman quickly brought her shield up to stop the impending swing, but Yang was focused. She curved her blade slightly to the left so that it would cut into the thin iron shield at an angle and with less resistance.

The moment her blade touched the iron barrier, Yang felt her arms vibrate with immense resistance at the savage blow, but she didn't relent. She willed more strength into her swing and felt her blade continue its downwards arc through the woman's shield. Successfully breaking it in half.

And then finally the blade hit the ground with a loud thud.

Yang stared into the eyes of her shocked looking opponent who looked as if she had just seen the most unbelievable thing in the world. Well her and the rest of the crowd, who had fell deathly silent once again at Yang's violent strikes.

The moment Yang brought her sword down and shattered Sapphire's flail the woman quickly brought her shield up to defend against the blade that was still traveling down wards towards her head. But Yang's blade cut through the thin iron shield as well and Sapphire quickly scrambled backwards out of the blade's reach and landed on her back; weaponless and defenseless.

"Well… That's the match." Ethan muttered in shock as he just witnessed one of his drill sergeants get bested by a new recruit in one swing.

Yang on the other hand was extremely disappointed with her opponent's strength yet again, but she wasn't one for gloating. Quickly and effortlessly; Yang sheathed her weapon and walked back into the crowd who fearfully departed as she walked towards Ruby. Once next to her sister Ruby fished her own hand into Yang's and held it reassuringly.

"Okay then, the sun is setting and we will continue our exercises tomorrow… Those huts down by the end of the field are your living areas. I suggest you rest up and be ready to train in the morning after breakfast. Dismissed!" Ethan shouted confidently.

The group of recruits broke off quickly as many of the hopefuls sprinted towards the living areas to claim their own bunks and spots. But Yang and Ruby walked slowly towards their new living space they'd have to share with the strangers. As the two sisters walked hand in hand towards the huts though, Yang risked a glance back towards her downed opponent and spotted her staring back at Yang with a look of hatred in her eyes. It wasn't the first time that someone had stared at her that way, and Yang knew it wouldn't be the last. So she ignored it and resumed her walk, thinking nothing of it for now.

She already had a lot on her mind and the last thing she needed to think about was some petty woman's future attempt at payback. All Yang wanted to do right now was cuddle up with her little sister and clear her mind of the events that took place today. But Yang couldn't shake the feeling as if she were being watched still by someone else and without control of her body she felt where it was coming from.

Looking back up towards the tower from earlier, Yang's eyes strained against the now setting sun and towards the bright white figure standing at the head of the tower. She was positive even through the glare that whoever that girl clad in pristine white armor was; she was currently focused on her.


"So what do you think, Weiss? That Blonde one especially; she seems pretty strong."

Weiss still stood atop of the tower watching the recruits retreat to their huts for the day, but her ice blue eyes were training specifically on a certain blonde recruit. The girl who fought wildly against another recruit then against one of the drill instructors.

And won.

To say that she was pleasantly surprised was an understatement. Weiss had no idea that such a strong individual would enlist within the ranks of Vale. She was too high up to hear what everyone was saying during their sparring exhibition but from how her second fight went with one of the drill sergeants, Weiss guessed that the girl was either extremely cocky or cold to warrant a response like that.

Weiss continued to trail the girl with her eyes, the setting sun contrasting beautifully against the girl's long and unruly golden hair. The white clad General then spotted the girl stop and look up; right towards her.

Weiss felt her eyes widen in surprise. It was as if the blonde swordswoman knew that Weiss was staring right at her. She felt an odd feeling in her stomach then as the two held eye contact from a distance of over a quarter mile. She knew neither could really see each other's faces, but it felt like the blonde girl was staring right into her own soul.

Until she finally turned back around and resumed her walk towards the huts with a smaller girl with crimson hair next to her. It was the same girl that fought before the blonde Weiss remembered; her performance was exemplary as well, and she wondered how the two were connected.

"Whoa, Weiss; you alright?" Blake asked concerned once she spotted her friend seemingly deep in thought.

The question shook the white haired girl out of her inner thoughts about the mysterious blonde haired girl. She now had her eyes on recruiting her into The Order of the White Lion. Gods knew she needed as many strong fighters, and today's short training day revealed a few.

"Yes Blake, I'm fine. Let us retire back to the White Castle for now." Weiss finally said while turning to leave the tower.

Until she heard the sound of loud and quickening footsteps rushing up the wooden steps to meet her.

"General Weiss! Ma'am I have an urgent message for you from the King himself, your father!" A knight clad in white rushed out. The man was sweaty and looked as if he ran all the way from the castle in his full suit of armor, as his short brown hair was matted to his face. He stood at the position of attention and snapped off a quick salute though despite being exhausted.

Weiss was slightly alarmed as to why her father would send a messenger to her right now but she knew it had to be important. She returned the boy's salute and nodded her head to allow him permission to speak.

The boy relaxed slightly before he spoke now;

"The King himself is authorizing the passing of all recruits to be accepted into their respective armies. The graduation ceremony will be held tomorrow and the selection process will be held right after. Haven troops have been spotted at the town of Mountain Glen, and he is requesting that you and your Order personally handle this. You set off tomorrow evening." The boy rushed out before bowing his head and breathing deeply.

Weiss was shocked and slightly terrified. How the hell did Haven troops get by various Vale outposts and basically inside the kingdom walls now? Mountain Glen was only half a day's journey from the actual kingdom.

"Mountain Glen? Are you sure soldier?!" Weiss demanded suddenly, staring holes into the boy's brown eyes.

He seemed to flinch slightly at the outburst but nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am. It is as you heard."

Weiss stormed past the boy and towards the White Castle; if this were indeed true then tomorrow would be the actual day that she would be put to the test. Her first real skirmish, fighting on the battlefield and commanding men and women to their deaths.

Weiss swallowed nervously but heard Blake follow her down the steps, leaving the exhausted knight up on the balcony still.

"Mountain Glen is right up the road from the kingdom." Blake confirmed as they both walked down the steps in a hurried manner.

But Weiss was in her own little world. She was still trying to come to terms with what was about to happen. Sure she knew that she was going to be sent to war soon, but not tomorrow. That kind of put a damper on things, she thought she would have time to prepare herself and nerves, but it was now or never it seemed.

"Let's go Blake; I need to speak to my father." Weiss hissed.

If this was indeed true, there would have to be a war meeting considering the new recruits. And Weiss wanted to make sure she got the best of the best first.


Ruby awoke calmly at the first signs of sunlight. The orange rays penetrated the shoddily made huts that she and the rest of her comrades were occupying at the moment. It was dim and damp in the building and also smelled terrible with how many people were cramped in here but Ruby herself was comfortable.

She was currently wrapped in Yang's grasp as the two of them slept together on a small bunk cuddled up. Her elder sister's golden hair trickled down her own face and tickled her nose. Ruby squirmed out of Yang's embrace and slid away from her; she needed to stretch her body. Reaching her arms up as high as she could and twisting her back the small crimson haired girl felt a lot better than the previous night.

She actually didn't have a nightmare from when she woke up this morning and oddly she felt relaxed currently. Despite the drastic change in environment and company, Ruby knew that as long as she was with Yang that she'd be okay.

But sudden voices alerted the small girl as she froze to hear what was being said. Glancing around the small and still somewhat dark hut, Ruby peered into the darkness searching for the source of the voices but it seemed the rest of the recruits were still asleep themselves. The soft sounds of snores and breathing could still be heard and no bodies were up and about like her.

It was then that Ruby realized that the voices were coming from outside the hut. She steadied her breathing and closed her eyes to listen in on them, but whoever it was talking were keeping their voice under wraps. It was hushed but urgent by the rate at which they spoke.

Without warning the front door of the small hut was slammed open; pouring all of the sun's unforgiving rays into the dark enclosed space causing Ruby to shut her eyes closed.

"Rise and shine, recruits! There's been a drastic change of plans. Get your asses outside dressed and ready to go in five minutes. Move it!"

And just like that, the dim light enveloped the one yet again as the voice retreated back outside. But not before the voice roused up all of the hut's occupants who were now stirring from the sudden intrusion from their slumber.

"W- What the hell was that about?" Yang asked her sister as she rubbed sleep out of her tired eyes.

Ruby had just shrugged before equipping her gear to obey the commands that were just given out. She watched as Yang did the same and together the two of them headed out.

Outside now, Yang, Ruby and the other recruits were jogging to form up in front of their drill sergeants who were also accompanied by six other prominent looking figures though.

"Now before I let you recruits know what's going on; I just want to say congratulations on being the first and most likely only group of people to be admitted into the King's Army after half a day of training." Ethan explained casually.

Various murmurs erupted from the crowd as they tried to piece together what was just said and wonder if it was true or not. But Ethan continued;

"It is as you heard. You all are no longer recruits but in fact privates in the army. Take pleasure in knowing that you passed this small test. Usually the process is not like this but now we have received word that war is encroaching extremely close to the kingdom itself. So this ceremony is now being rushed as we need all the bodies we can get to march out and meet the enemy."

Now the hushed whisper from before turned into an erratic clamoring, but Yang ignored the idiot masses who were now talking amongst themselves about war and battle like the cowards they were. What Yang was interested in was the white clad girl who stood behind the drill sergeants who were next to Sergeant Ethan as he spoke up front of the formation.

"Now behind me as you may have noticed are; Generals Cardin who leads the soldiers of the Wings of Vengeance. General Prryha who leads the Iron Shield. And last but certainly not least General Weiss who heads the famed Order of the White Lion."

Behind the drill sergeants stood a man with a muscular build. He had dark orange hair combed back within a strict military style. His dark gray armor was embellished by a black sword marking right in his breastplate; he also had on a black cape that fluttered slightly behind him in the gentle morning breeze. His massive two handed mace resting in his grasp lazily as he regarded the still shambling recruits in front of him with scorn. Next to him stood a man dressed similarly but he wore a full faced helm that covered up all of his features.

Standing towards the left of him stood a girl dressed in a deep maroon plated set of armor. Her fiery red hair tied into a high ponytail that mirrored her armor almost perfectly, she wore a gray cloak and had a shield strapped to her back. In her main hand however she held a long spear over her shoulder. She wore a neutral expression as she looked towards the recruits. Aside next to her stood a girl with the same uniform but she had short black hair that seemed to cover her left eye.

Lastly all the way to the left stood the girl clad in a pristine white set of armor. Her cloak swaying behind her lazily with her off centered pony tail mimicking it. She wore a troubled expression as she was currently speaking to the ebon clad girl next to her that had kitten ears atop her head.

Yang instantly locked her eyes on the white clad general. General Weiss, the girl she had spotted watching her from afar yesterday evening. Yang knew almost everything there was to know about her from prior lessons and actually held that girl in a high regard. How she relinquished her comfortable lazy life to become a woman who leads and fights on the battlefield, it peaked Yang's interest in the girl.

"You will now all be called off and enlisted into your respective banners serving under one of our generals. Good luck to you all and God speed!" Ethan finished announcing; next to him Sergeant Sapphire stepped forward with a leather bound tome and proceeded to read names and positions out loud.

"Neptune, Wings of Vengeance!"

"Sage, Iron Shield!"

"Melanie, Iron Shield!"

"Vladimir, Wings of Vengeance!"

Yang felt her stomach do a summersault. She blocked out Sapphire's voice for now as she gripped Ruby's hand into her own and hoped that she and her sister would be on the same team. She wouldn't know what she'd do if they weren't. All of this was happening to fast for the blonde haired girl. To suddenly be told that training is over and you're heading to war? Not that Yang was scared, it was just slightly overwhelming, and if she didn't have Ruby there to calm her down; Yang didn't know what she'd do. What if she had another one of her own mental breakdown episodes? But the sound of a familiar name being called off brought Yang back to ground.

"Ruby, Wings of Vengeance!"

Yang glanced down at her sister and smiled at her.

"Ren, Order of the White Lion! Congratulations!"

"Antoine, Iron Shield!"

"Miltiades, Iron Shield!"

"Velvet, Wings of Vengeance!"

"Yang… Order of the White Lion! Hmph."

Yang froze.

She and Ruby wouldn't be together?

"Is there a way to switch who to serve under?" Yang asked loudly over Sapphire's still ongoing name reading.

"No, there is not. Is there a problem?" Ethan asked curiously but also slightly agitated as the process has just been halted.

"Yeah, I- I need to be with my sister." Yang replied back.

Ethan now walked over towards Yang, separating the formation with his armored body as he walked through. His entire demeanor screamed annoyed but Yang didn't let it phase her as she stood there and stared defiantly back into his silver eyes.

"I remember telling you yesterday that there was no guarantee that you'd be together after this training process, did I not?"

Yang flinched inwardly. It was true; he did in fact say that. But Yang didn't care; she had to be with Ruby no matter what.

"Well I'll just switch with someone. Isn't the Order a privilege to be a part of? I'm sure someone would love to-"

"That isn't how it works, girl. Now shut your mouth and calm the hell down." Ethan hissed.

Yang felt all eyes on her at the increasing confrontation between her and the drill master. She could see Ruby looking at her with pleading eyes in her peripheral vision but it was too late. She was falling right back into the usual depths of her emotions.

Yang reached behind her shoulder and wrapped her fingers around the warm handle of Ember; her great sword.

"I don't think you understand, sergeant. I'm going to be together with my sister." Yang whispered menacingly.

It seemed that Ethan picked up on the threatening posture as he wrapped his own hand on his sword at his side.

"I don't think you're about to enjoy what you're getting yourself into, girl."

And the first signs erupted.

Without warning Yang unsheathed her weapon with force, bringing it up and over her head right towards her superior.

But it seems that there was a reason why Ethan was chosen to be the head drill master. He quickly undid his own blade and parried the larger one with ease, causing Yang's sword to glance left. He attempted to hold his blade to her neck to cause the girl to surrender peacefully but Yang had other plans. As she stumbled left from the blow the blonde girl whipped around and slammed her armored left hand into Ethan's face knocking the man onto the ground with the surprise attack.

A large gasp and murmuring could be heard within the now widening formation but Yang was already in the zone. She stepped over the downed man and strutted up towards the white clad General. This caused the other drill sergeants to rush out and cut her off, but Yang didn't care. She'd easily dispatch of them as well.

A sudden flash of black on her right caught Yang's eye though, as she ducked right on time to narrowly miss a savage swing aimed at her neck. Yang attempted to sweep her leg out to trip whoever this new opponent was but they jumped over her low strike and hopped backwards, creating a slight space between the two now.

Yang stood back up and full height and stared at her enemy. It was the same girl standing next to the General Weiss just a moment ago. The girl was dressed in a black leather uniform and wielding a dagger in both of her hands. Her cat Faunus ears were twitching slightly as she bore back into Yang in a relaxed combat posture. Her golden eyes looked calm but with a slight hint of curiosity as she shifted forward.

"Stand back; I will personally be her opponent." The cat Faunus said towards the drill sergeants who were just now unsheathing their weapons and standing ready.

Yang now became extremely aware of her surroundings.

The entire formation had broken and created a large gap around Yang as they watched her with unbelieving eyes, the three Generals still stood where they were with varying expressions on her face, but the white armored one; General Weiss' expression caught Yang's eye.

It was one of disgust.

But as she took her eye off her opponent and just broken one of her own rules of fighting, Yang caught sight of the cat Faunus rush towards her while flicking her dagger right towards her body. Yang swatted the impending blade with her large weapon and took up a defensive stance. The black dressed girl was quicker than herself so Yang decided to play it safer and let her opponent go on the offensive for now.

The girl now wielded a short sword in her main hand and attacked with a flurry of thrusts and slashes. Yang focused her mind on each and every pin point attack the girl unleashed on her. She was able to parry quickly but she noticed the girl was getting closer and closer to bypassing her guard. The blonde swordswoman had to keep walking backwards to create more room for her to effectively use her larger blade defensively, another advantage the ebon haired cat Faunus had. She was extremely fast and adept at using her small weapons.

Yang was being pushed back.

But being so close to the girl and watching her golden eyes stare back into her calmly; Yang was able to figure something out and decided to gamble on her newfound discovery. The girl was only keeping her eyes on Yang's body movements and her weapon would mirror her strikes. So Yang decided to use a body part that the girl would most likely not think to use physically in battle.

As the girl lunged once more and extended her upper torso towards Yang, the blonde released her left grip on her weapon and grabbed the girl's arm. Pulling her closer and now over extending herself, Yang brought her head back and took a deep breath before closing her eyes and willing herself ready for what was about to happen.

She slammed her head into the other girl's own; head butting her. Instantly Yang regretted her decision as her vision was now slightly hazy as she stumbled backwards, but still standing. She shook her dizziness away and refocused back on her opponent. But the cat Faunus girl was on her back on the ground, blood trickling from her forehead, but her golden eyes were still open and now filled with blazing anger.

Yang jumped forward to finish her off before she could think, and it was then; too late, that she realized that there was another opponent on her left side.

Quickly trying to bring her blade down to defend her still airborne body, Yang's last image was that off a silver buckler being slammed right against her head and knocking her out…


General Weiss stood amazed and angry as she watched her body guard and close friend get bested by the blonde swordswoman. She displayed such barbaric tactics during their fight; using her head to bash into Blake's own and knocking her friend down. But when Weiss witnessed the girl attempt to go in for the finishing blow was when she had to step in. She rushed forward and brought her steel buckler up, slamming it against the girl's face right as she was looking over at Weiss while lunging towards a downed Blake.

The impact reverberated through Weiss' armored arm and even caused her to grimace with how hard she had slammed it into the other girl, but she showed no remorse in her actions. That girl was getting way out of line with her actions. She was a loose cannon.

And Weiss herself had hand selected her to join her Order…

She only hoped she didn't make the wrong choice in her decision.

She looked down at the blonde haired girl. She was dirty and unclean. Her weapon lay next to her as she was collapsed on the ground laying on her back unconscious.

Blake proceeded to stand up and wipe the blood from her head while muttering a small thanks to Weiss. But Weiss was still deep in thought. She wanted to know what was this girl's problem was but she had a job to do, and soon. Her and her army would have to march off in a few hours, and she did need all the help she could get. Including from the hot headed blonde. Weiss' heart went out to her regarding her wanting to be with her sister, but Weiss didn't know who it was and didn't have the time to baby soldiers in their own personal demands.

"Take her away to the jails! Let us finish up here, drill sergeants. Proceed with the ceremony!"


You failed to protect Ruby.

I told you, you'd let her die!

Without you, she's bound to perish.

Breaking a promise to your mother… How despicable!

You are no true daughter of mine.

"NO!"

Yang shot up but fell back onto the cold hard ground. Her head was pounding in protest at the sharp movement and she regretted it.

She shut her eyes as she took shallow breaths to rid the constant throbbing and pain away from her head. It almost felt like someone had slammed a shield into her head…

It came back to her.

Right when she was about to finish off that cat Faunus, the shield that knocked her out. Although she did spot the wielder of it.

A white haired General.

Yang sighed, and rubbed her face. Her head was pounding almost as badly as the hangovers she's had before. She could push through it though, and more importantly she had to figure out a way to get Ruby. Which led her to her next problem.

"Where the hell am I?" Yang asked to no one in particular.

In front of her she spotted metal bars closing off a dimly lit hallway in front of her. To the other three sides though were dark gray brick stone walls in the empty cold brick floor.

Jail.

She was in a jail cell.

Guessing that after assaulting a soldier of Vale and even a General's bodyguard probably would warrant this kind of response. But Yang relented, she had to get out of here and find Ruby. Standing up slowly and swaying once she stood up, Yang walked towards the bars and peered around them and down the hallway in search of a guard.

But the sudden sounds of metal hitting solid ground reached her ears. Yang tried to peer further down the hallway but her head couldn't fit through the bars so she waited. The sounds of encroaching footsteps slowed as two feminine voices said something to each other, but Yang still couldn't see who it was.

"Hey hurry up will ya? I got questions I need answered!" Yang bellowed out, hearing her voice echo off the walls.

The footsteps and voices both stopped at the yell, before continuing towards her, getting louder with each weighted step and finally coming into view.

Yang felt her stomach drop at the sight of two girls.

General Weiss and her cat Faunus friend from earlier.

The two walked and stopped in front of Yang's cell regarding her cautiously. She spotted the black clad Faunus reach for one of her daggers and keep her hand on its hilt.

Sighing deeply, Yang ran her hand through her hair before chuckling and moving away from the bars, turning her back to the two girls.

"Here to finish the job?" Yang asked jokingly.

She walked to the other end of the cell, leaned against the wall, and met the two girl's stares while adopting a look of boredom.

"Will you obey my commands if I let you out of here?" Weiss asked, although it almost sounded like a demand to Yang.

The blonde raised an eyebrow at the straightforward demand before replying.

"That depends; will my sister be able to join me?"

Yang watched the young general scowl at her and shake her head at the question.

"Then you know what my answer is."

"Weiss let me just beat some sense into the girl." The cat Faunus growled out.

This caused Yang to smirk though as she now locked eyes with the other girl. Golden orbs now giving off a deadly angry vibe.

"Oh? Think you can actually give it all you got this time, kitty cat?"

Yang watched on confidently as the black haired girl reached for the cell with a key in her hand. The loud click of the cell unlocking echoed off the empty walls. The blonde stood up straight and took up an unarmed combat stance. She was at an extreme disadvantage if the other girl fought with her weapons plus with her still ongoing pounding headache; but Yang was a brawler. She wasn't new to unarmed fighting.

"Blake! Stop this instance; I came here to talk not to fight." Weiss said calmly.

Although now the cell was open and Yang was sure she could rush through but would probably be captured quickly in her state. So she decided to humor the two girls.

"Well, what do you wanna talk about General?"

She watched the white haired off centered ponytailed girl exhale loudly before speaking;

"I'll be honest with you. You're strong, probably stronger than half of the soldiers enlisted in the Army right now. I… I need your strength in this war. I don't know if you know or even care about what's happening with our country and Haven but we aren't doing to good out there." Weiss spoke in a low voice as she kept eye contact with Yang.

"I know all about the horrors of this war, so don't try to lecture me as if I don't know what what's going on out there. I've witnessed it first hand, something I'm sure you haven't had to in your pampered life here in the castle." Yang replied darkly.

She finally broke the staring contest between her and Weiss. She didn't exactly mean to come off as harsh but that remark brought back images from her burned village. Something very real to her.

"I won't pretend to know what you've gone through; but will you fight to ensure that no one else will? To protect villages from being burned, families from being torn apart, our very way of life being eradicated! You're strong and with that strength you could help prevent all this. I personally am leading an assault on troops close to the kingdom tonight. Will you come with me?"

The way Weiss spoke almost made Yang consider the girl's offer. She had a subtle way with words and the blonde almost found herself being washed away with the grandiose way in which she spoke. But suddenly she remembered Ruby.

"And my sister?" Yang asked after a moment of silence.

"I- I can't promise you-"

"Then no deal." Yang interrupted.

Suddenly the girl Weiss called Blake approached her. "You're nothing but a greedy and uncaring bitch."

Yang stood up straight and stalked towards Blake and attempted to push her, but Blake proved to be competent in unarmed combat. The girl grabbed Yang's wrist and pinned her face against the wall.

"And you're hot headed. You don't think, you only act. Like an animal." Blake finished saying as she held Yang's arms behind her back and kept her pinned.

Yang at hearing the words got hot yet again. She felt the blazing wave of anger wash over her still pounding head.

"I don't think? Act like an animal?" Yang asked, but it was a ploy. Once she felt Blake attempt to reply to her question Yang lifted her legs up and planted them against the wall she was being held against and pushed off. This caused her and Blake to hit the ground with Yang landing on top of the girl. She whirled around quickly and grabbed hold of the girl's black hair and prepared to slam her head into the ground.

Until she felt cold steel at her neck.

Yang glanced up into ice blue eyes belonging to Weiss. Her weapon was shaking slightly and the girl looked unsure. This caused Yang to chuckle softly as she let go of Blake's hair.

"You look nervous, General. Never held a blade to someone's neck before?" Yang asked.

She watched Weiss flinch slightly at the question.

No way. Did I hit a nerve?

"A General who's never been in a life or death situation before? And you're supposed to lead me?" The blonde continued.

She watched on as Weiss' eyes seemed to glaze over deep in thought and her grip on her weapon continued to shake ever so slightly but suddenly the grip of her weapon steadied and she looked down into Yang's own eyes with newfound conviction.

"Well at least I will attempt to fight for my country like an adult, instead of making continuous excuses and act like a child."

Yang froze, but suddenly felt a bubbling sensation in her stomach.

She smiled and laughed. Yang couldn't help it, this girl had such a way with words that even though they sounded foolish in nature there was some kind of childish spark to them, a charm that Yang hadn't seen since Ruby was younger.

Now standing up and off of Blake, the two girls stood up and away from each other. Yang looked back into Weiss' eyes. The girl seemed slightly confused at her outburst of laughter but seemed to relax a bit.

Yang decided to humor the girl for now, plus she wanted to get out of this cell and really wanted to smash some heads in without them being from Vale. She still needed to pay back that woman Cinder for what she had done to her.

And still find a way to get Ruby with her.

"Alright, I'll humor you. I'll join you on this little mission of yours and even obey your novice orders, but once we win, we're resuming this conversation."

Yang watched as two pairs of eyes widened in amazement. They obviously didn't think that Yang would have agreed to join them so easily.

But Weiss recovered quickly and resheathed her weapon.

"Good, we set off within the hour. Blake; show her to the Order's armory and get her equipped with her new armor. I'll meet you by the gates."

Yang cracked her knuckles and stretched her body, anxious to get out of the damp cell. The promise of battle was refreshing to Yang. It'd hopefully take her mind off of these past day's problems. That and she was slightly interested in seeing how Weiss commanded over her troops, that and how a large scale battle was. Yang then looked over at Blake and winked at the still slightly annoyed girl.

Weiss turned on her heel to leave but then stopped at the still open jail cell and turned around.

"Oh, and welcome to The Order of the White Lion, Yang."