AN: Okay, hey everyone. Before we begin, I do want to say I am an ardent fan of Snowbird. Qrow and Winter – I just feel it's inevitable, right? So I'll probably put that in when the two finally share screen time. But, given how Qrow and Taiyang didn't really seem to like each other too much in that last shot of season three, I wonder if Qrow liked Summer all those years ago, you know? Eh, I don't know. Just rambling, I guess.

I'm glad everyone liked the Yang segment. It was my favorite part of last chapter, too. Especially the parts with Taiyang. The other members of RWBY show up in the next couple chapters, just to check in with them before we inevitably get them involved in everything.

To Keyslinger Roxas: Nope. I don't have any plans at the moment to use the Keyblade introduced in KH3's trailer, though I do have a plan to use another Keyblade seen in a KH3 trailer. Wink wink.

Anyways, feel free to leave suggestions for fighters to show up in the next round of the tournament. Enjoy!

Chapter 11: 1v1

Sora grinned as he took his first step into the arena, eyes wide with wonder. The arena reminded him of his time with Hercules and Phil, fighting in the Olympus Colosseum to train to become a hero. That was the same reason this arena existed, to help people like Sora become heroes. Then he turned his gaze downward and watched his opponent as they both approached the center of the arena, the crowd letting out anxious murmurs every few minutes. They were hungry for the fights to start, for something to distract from the ever present threat of an attack. Of Xehanort's plans, regardless of whether they knew the culprit or not. Sora shoved those thoughts from his mind, instead opting to concentrate on the fight at hand. It would be nice to let loose and fight in a battle that wasn't life threatening. He didn't expect it to be easy, but it wouldn't be like every fight he'd had in the past few months. "That's an... interesting weapon you have." Sora looked up at the source of the voice. His opponent's half-lidded eyes were fixed on the Keyblade. The Ram Faunus moved his gaze to match Sora's and he cocked his head to the side, asking, "Where did you get it?"

Sora laughed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said, grinning as the announcer rattled off a list of event sponsors. Sora shook his head in amusement when Schnee Corp popped up halfway through.

"I'm sure that's not true," the other boy said, reaching down to unclip a sword from his hip, holding the weapon out to his side in his right hand, arm perpendicular to the ground and his free hand held out the same way. He twisted so his open hand was pointed at Sora. "Remnant's a weird world. Who knows what stories are rooted in truth?"

It was Sora's turn to be transfixed by his opponent's weapon. It was a red and blue saber, shaped in the form of a mechanical wing. It made Sora feel... uneasy. "That's an interesting weapon, too."

"This old thing?" Yoru asked, raising the weapon. He shook it side to side, showing it off to both Sora and the crowd, then let it return to his battle stance again. "It's just an old heirloom, that's all. Nothing special, really."

The Keyblade wielder nodded, willing to give this stranger the benefit of the doubt for now. Something may have felt wrong, but that didn't mean this young man was really connected to Xehanort. Of course, it didn't prove that a connection didn't exist either. Sora decided to trust his Heart, for now, and keep an eye on this kid throughout their battle. "Cool. One of my friends has a weapon his great grandpa used in the Great War. Is it like that?"

"Older," the warrior responded, raising the weapon to level it at Sora. In response, the Keyblade wielder bent his knees and got into a ready stance as well.

"Good luck!" Sora shouted with a grin.

Yoru smirked back. "I doubt I'll need it," he retorted, foot tensing to edge forward as the announcer began the countdown to the duel's beginning Light flashed around the two warriors, a barrier restricting the movement of the two young fighters. "Try to keep up; I'd like a challenge for once."

"Fighters... Begin!"

Sora jumped forward first, blade slashing back and forth before him. Yoru flipped out of his attack's path, flicking his wrist and causing his blade to extend into a whip. He slashed out at Sora as he fell, the weapon cracking as it snapped towards the Keyblade wielder. Sora raised the Keyblade just in time to take the blow. The whip wrapped around the Keyblade, and Sora stumbled forward as Yoru landed and yanked up on the weapon, trying to tear it away.

Sora jumped forward with the next pull, swinging around to yank Yoru towards him midair. Sora aimed his feet straight out towards his opponent, who flailed as they drew near to one another. At the last moment, he twisted midair and unlatched their weapons. Sora slid just past Yoru, slamming into the ground with a heavy thud. The Faunus warrior soared across the arena. He flicked his whip-blade again and it slammed into the ground. He pulled up on the weapon and brought himself to the ground before hitting the barrier.

As soon as he hit the ground, Sora was on him, slashing at the warrior with quick, one handed strikes. Yoru dodged each, just barely moving out of the Keyblade's path. The entire time, Sora noticed, Yoru's off hand remained at the small of his back. Sora didn't know why that bothered him so much, why it looked so familiar, but it did. Sora brought the Keyblade up and then down in a two handed strike, which Yoru let hit his blade so that it slid along the weapon's length and slammed into the ground. "You're pretty fast," Yoru noted, jumping onto Sora's back to use as a leap pad. He flipped midair and lashed out with the length of the whip again.

Sora jumped over the attack and crashed his shoulder into Yoru's chest, eliciting a grunt of pain and annoyance as they crashed into the ground. Sora vaulted off of the ground, shooting straight up and gripping the Keyblade in both hands for a final blow. Yoru snarled on the ground and rolled backwards, out of Sora's path. His weapon drifted up, this time further than before and Sora raised his Keyblade to deflect the incoming blow, Heart skipping a beat from recognition. Yoru's blade was held next to his head, just for a moment, his familiarly shaped jawline curled into a similarly familiar look of angry preparation. The whip came down and Sora flipped out of the way, one hand hitting the ground to handspring him back to this feet.

Sora frowned as he slid to a stop and held the Keyblade out behind him. He couldn't quite tell why, even still, but something was wrong. Did this kid have some connection to Xehanort? Sora deflected the next incoming attack and ran towards Yoru, starting a flurry of traded blows between the two. Sora's Keyblade nicked the Faunus' shoulder after a few minutes and sent him tumbling. Sora readied himself again, both hands on the Keyblade in front of him.

If this kid was connected to Xehanort somehow, Sora knew he couldn't let the old man know he was on to him. Which meant he couldn't hesitate at all. He jumped forward, spinning with his Keyblade to deliver another powerful blow. It collided with Yoru's outstretched blade, crashing through its defense and forcing it into whip form. It wrapped around the Keyblade and Yoru spun around Sora, jamming his foot into the small of the Keyblade warrior's back and beginning to choke him out using the whip. Sora's eyes went wide and he fell to his knees, fingers groping at the weapon as he gasped for air. He reached over his shoulder as his vision began to tunnel and jumped towards the barrier, flipping in the air so that Yoru was between him and the barrier.

"Gagh!" the Faunus screamed, losing his grip on his weapon as the energy in the wall began to travel through his body. Sora fell to the ground before his opponent, panting while Yoru was electrocuted. A few moments later, the barrier went down and the Faunus crashed to the ground. A loud beep followed a moment later.

"Aura out! Wow! Well, that was an impressive battle, wasn't it?" the announcer shouted above the still panting Sora. The Keyblade wielder clutched at his throat, coughing for a moment. "We have our winner, Sora of Vale! What a way to start off our tournament, folks! Pure skill with their weapons. I can't wait to see what else Sora has up his sleeve tomorrow!"

Sora pushed himself to his feet and turned towards the warrior pushing himself to his feet. Without hesitating, he walked over and held his hand out to help him up. "Great fight," he said, forcing his natural, easygoing smile onto his face. The other fighter glanced up at Sora, a flash of anger appearing in his eyes. Still, he took Sora's hand and hefted himself to his feet.

"You as well," Yoru responded, flicking his wrist so his weapon returned to its blade form before clipping it to its belt. He bowed his head slightly to the Keyblade wielder. "Good luck in the Tournament." With that, he turned towards where his teammates waited and walked away.

Sora crossed his arms and watched him walk away silently. He grunted in surprise when a wall of people slammed into his back, sending him stumbling forward. He blushed and smiled as a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders. "Congratulations!" Ruby shouted, hugging him from behind as the others slapped him on the back. When she let go, Sora turned around, flashing a grin that quickly soured into a grimace. Ruby frowned. "What's wrong?"

Sora cast a glance over his shoulder at the other group whispering among one another. "Hopefully nothing," he said, turning back to the group and hefting the Keyblade onto his shoulders. "But I know who I'm following around."

R W B Y

"I still don't get why you didn't just kill him," Mercury said, running a hand through his reddened hair. Emerald's illusions were holding up well, with the young man's eyes changed to a brilliant, fire-like blue and his skin more like Xehanort's usual deep brown than his own pale complexion. His outfit was a similar blazing Mercury shook his head. "I mean, if he's the only one that can fight you -"

"To kill him now would only martyr him to those I must control," the Keyblade Master growled. He brought his hand up and scratched the end of one of his new horns disinterestedly. "Sometimes, one must allow a nuisance to survive in order to build a much greater plan. It's a lesson I only learned through great pain of my own."

"Besides, it's in our plans' interest for them to continue living," Cinder explained, her hand playing with a bun on the top of her head, which was now a golden blonde. She was wearing a blue version of the outfit she'd used during the Vytal tournament, bandages wrapped around her chest a purer white and her jacket and pants matching the blue of her eyes perfectly. Her sword-bow was separated, each blade strapped to one of her hips. She glanced over at Xehanort. "You are on board, correct?"

"Your plan for this place?" the Keyblade master inquired, turning around to lean against the wall. He crossed his arms. "Should you actually need my aid, I will lend it. I doubt you will, however."

"You believe in us?" Emerald asked excitedly.

"Do you doubt my ability to teach?" Xehanort inquired, eyes narrowing dangerously on the girl, who was dressed in violet with lavender hair.

She flinched. "N-no! Not at all!" she shouted, hands waving in front of her. She gestured at Mercury and Cinder. "I mean... no, I don't doubt it. I'm not even feeling this – we'll be fine."

"Is no one else worried they'll stumble into this anyways?" Mercury asked, drawing the attention of the other three.

"You idi -" Emerald began, a knee jerk reaction to anything he said.

"They will," Xehanort admitted with a shrug. "Sora always had a knack for it."

"So does Red," Mercury stated.

"Clever boy," Xehanort said, flashing Mercury a skin crawling grin. Emerald glared at her partner jealously for the praise he was receiving, though a little intrigued by the growth he'd had since their training with Xehanort began. "But it won't matter." He looked over at Cinder. "Your plan has been readied for months, years even. Yes?"

"Events are already in motion," Cinder agreed, turning back to the arena. The second battle had finished – a boy from Haven named Sun had defeated a Huntsman from Atlas. The screen was already moving towards its two warriors. "They cannot hope to stop it now."

"And the next battle is between Agni Bleu of Vacuo and Lie Ren of Vale!" the announcer shouted as Mercury's current appearance flashed on the screen next to the green clad warrior accompanying Ruby and Sora.

"Wow. What are the odds?" Mercury asked, forcing himself to move towards the arena. He cracked his knuckles and grinned over his shoulder. "I'll wipe the floor with him, Gramps."

Xehanort narrowed his eyes at the green robed boy. Yes, what were the odds that he not only fought Sora in the very first battle, but that his companions would fight with Sora's as well? "Fate is already written," Xehanort responded quietly. He glanced over at Cinder. "You wish to check in with your agents? Go, I will watch and alert you if you are needed."

The Fall Maiden glanced over at the man, then nodded in thanks. She turned away from the battle – Mercury would wipe the floor with the boy anyways, so there was no need to watch too closely. She pulled out her Scroll as her heels clacked against the stone. She smirked at the angry face that popped up on the screen. "Taurus – you aren't going to be late, are you?"

R W B Y

Lie Ren calmly drew StormFlower from his hips, twirling them to a ready position in front of him. He had arrived at the center of the arena before his meandering opponent, who moved like he was bored and disinterested in the tournament. Ren knew this likely meant that this 'Agni' likely had some sort of unseen skill, or perhaps an incredibly powerful Semblance that Ren could not easily discern. He widened his stance and readied to dodge to either side at the drop of a hat. It would not do well to be caught unawares, even if he had no idea what was coming.

Agni eventually came to a stop just a few paces from Ren, grabbing one bicep behind his head and stretching the arm to the sky. He yawned, a loud and obnoxious noise. "Ugh," he groaned, letting his hands fall to his orange clad sides. "I get to deal with you, huh? Well, at least I know I'm making it into the next round."

Ren sighed and shook his head. "I think you over estimate your own abilities," he stated. His weapons clacked as he moved them to aim directly at Agni. "And underestimate mine."

Agni grinned and condescendingly said, "Oh, I doubt it." The red head twisted to the side and leaned towards Ren, his left leg straightened out behind him like he was about to run. "I bet you last five minutes. Max, Pinky."

Ren ignored the warrior's attempts to knock him off balance and began studying his stance. He likely dealt with powerful kick attacks. That meant Ren would have to keep the warrior at a distance, something he believed he could do with little trouble using StormFlower's submachine gun capabilities. It would be a battle of attrition, then. Could he take out his opponent's Aura before himself running out of Dust? "Fighters... Begin!"

Ren gasped as an orange blur slammed into his chest, sending him tumbling to the ground. He rolled to his feet, seeing that same orange blur rushing towards him. He raised his weapons, catching an incoming boot on StormFlower's blades. Agni was sneering down at him from the other end of the leg, assured in his victory. Ren shoved upward, flipping to deliver a jack knife kick that crashed against Agni's forearm; he'd blocked the attack.

As Ren rebounded from the block, he brought his other leg around to strike at his opponent's temple. Agni just grinned and brought his arm around, grabbing hold of Ren's leg and bringing him over head to slam into the ground. Ren grunted in pain, the blow taking out a large chunk of his Aura reserves. He opened his eyes and rolled out of the path of an incoming kick, the boot laced with black flames. He didn't get far enough away, though, and the blaze exploded outward to crash into him. Even through his Aura, it burned for a moment and he screamed in pain, writhing until it went out.

"What happened to me underestimating you, Pinky?" Agni mocked as Ren pushed himself to his feet. Agni laughed at Ren's determined scowl, and glanced up at the jumbotron. "Oh, four minutes thirty. Better end this or I lose the bet."

Ren narrowed his eyes and ran towards his opponent, knowing he had to go on the offensive. He slashed down with the weapon in his right hand, firing towards Agni's left with the other to force him into the path of his first weapon's barrel. The red head obliged, jumping to his right. Ren smiled slightly and pulled StormFlower's other trigger, the stream of bullets slamming into Agni and causing the man to flounder for a moment, crashing to the ground and raising his arms to protect himself. "Ah, past five minutes," Agni growled, his bent legs tensing beneath him. Ren's eyes widened when, a half second later, the red head was gone.

He looked around for the red head, only to see an orange blur that was constantly just outside of his visual range. His eyes widened in worry when he noticed that Agni was literally running circles around him, an ever growing wall of black flames behind him. A moment later, that stream hooked a hard left and slammed into Ren, sending him into the wall of fire. He was knocked the other way just a moment later by Agni coming in from behind. This continued for a few moments, with the fiery red head attacking Ren from all sides before he could hit the ground or wall.

Finally, he let Ren hit the ground. The green clad Huntsman tried to push himself to his feet, looking up at the smirking Agni. "Game over," he laughed, raising his hands and swinging them right at Ren, the flames surrounding them flying at Ren and crashing into him. Ren screamed in pain for a moment, the attack continuing until just after his Aura had been depleted.

"Ren!"

"Ren!" Nora screamed, eyes wide with worry as she somehow barreled through the Dust barrier keeping the battle enclosed. A moment later, it went down and Sora and the others sprinted after her. Nora slid to the ground, clutching at her fallen partner's shoulders. Sora gasped when he saw the intense burns lining the warrior's face.

He raised the Keyblade above his head. "Heal!" he shouted, bells chiming loudly as a Curaga began to heal his friend's wounds. He turned angrily towards the smirking Agni, ready to fight him for what he'd done to Ren. He'd gone way too far.

Instead, he was cut off by a large hammer swinging from a young woman's shoulder to slam into Agni, sending him flying away. "You hurt Ren!" she screamed, eyes manic with tears welling up. Sora watched as she ran towards Agni, hammer raised above her. "You went too far!" The hammer slammed into the stone floor, shattering it. There was a huge, terrified gasp from far above. The crowd was growing scared.

Nora raised her head towards the still smirking red head and roared. She quickly transferred her weapon into grenade launcher mode and leveled it at Agni. "Nora!" The young woman was thrown off, her weapon clattering from her hand as a gray figure slammed into her side. Qrow stood above her, one hand clenched around the handle of his scythe at his back. "Don't."

"Um... folks, we're um... We're going to take a short break. Go buy some food or some mementos! The next fight will take place in about an hour or two while the moderators of the rules decide on... things," the announcer shouted above. There was the clacking of boots as Huntsmen approached the six people left in the arena, ready to break up the fight.

"You. Come with us," one said, pointing at Nora angrily. The other walked past her and bent down to grab Magnihild. She pulled up, trying to lift the hammer. She grunted, trying even harder. Again. "Do you need help?"

"You try lifting it!"

R W B Y

"You know, I didn't think she'd go that far for Pinky," Mercury said with a sneer as he sat with his teammates in their assigned room. He leaned back in his chair, and sighed happily. That fight had been even easier than he had thought it would be, like fighting someone standing still. "It went better than even you could have expected, Cin."

"Yes. It appears good luck you were placed into battle with him," Cinder agreed, smiling at Mercury. "You did well." The proud smile became a frown. "Don't call me Cin." Mercury grinned sheepishly and nodded.

"Well, it's about time you got serious about something," Emerald said dryly. Mercury just grinned at her, causing her to blush and scowl. "But you're still an idiot."

"Your eyes say otherwise," the speedster mocked with a shrug.

"Enough," Cinder cut in. Her glare was unamused and locked on both of them. "You can flirt on your own time."

"Flirt?" Emerald asked. She narrowed her eyes on Mercury, whose grin had widened with this response. "With him? The blonde would make a more interesting partner than this lame brain."

"You wound me," Mercury said, gripping his chest and letting his head fall backwards. His voice took on an affected, broken tone. "Why deny your Heart?"

Xehanort scoffed and shook his head in amusement before turning to look at Cinder. "Your plan proceeds well, I hope."

"Adam has procured everything we will need," Cinder explained, deciding to also ignore the hushed, argumentative flirting of her underlings. "His soldiers will be present and ready when the time comes. Our victory at Beacon has only caused the ranks of the White Fang to swell at an unprecedented rate; the world has seen the Huntsmen are weak and if they unable to even help themselves, what use are they to anyone else?"

"Chaos grows on the Remnant," Xehanort noted with a smile.

"Yes," Cinder agreed. She glanced over at the door. "And the outburst of the Valkyrie girl has only fostered the seeds we planted during the Vytal festival. Another Beacon student over reacting in their eyes, attacking an opponent without cause and trying to kill him? Excellent work, Emerald; making it appear as if Lie Ren had not been harmed beyond his Aura levels was excellent team work with Mercury."

"Finally getting recognition, baby?" Mercury mocked the blushing Sustrai. She whirled on him and slapped his shoulders over and over. He only laughed in response, raising one arm defensively to protect his face. "Oh, you know you want me." He growled like a tiger. Emerald flinched and her blush deepened before she began redoubling her assault on her friend. "Ow! That one actually hurt!"

"Yes. My plan is progressing exactly as it should," Cinder stated self confidently. She looked over at the door, wondering what would happen with the Silver Eyed girl's team mates now. "It really is only a matter of time before everything they've built comes crashing down at their feet."

R W B Y

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Qrow snapped at Nora, walking into the medical room and jamming his finger directly at the young woman, who was sitting beside Ren with eyes locked onto his face. The young woman looked up at Qrow from where she sat, hand on top of the unconscious Ren's and her eyes resolute even in the face of Qrow's sizable wrath. Sora thought she looked like that Glynda woman had – exhausted and fighting off the imminent fall of a break down.

"Shh!" the nurse in charge of the medbay, glaring at the angry Huntsman and the kids with him that surrounded her resting ward, hissed angrily. They all glanced over at her, then down at Ren, and silently agreed to do as the woman had suggested.

Qrow sighed and lowered his voice. "What were you thinking?" he asked Nora, his voice quieter though no less angry. He pointed directly at the young woman. "Not only did you jeopardize everyone else's place in the tournament, you terrified everyone in the crowd. This tournament might just be the last chance the Kingdoms have to foster any kind of trust after the shit storm that was the Vytal Festival. If this goes downhill, everyone will stop trusting each other. They'll think one of the other Kingdoms is behind it! It'll be war. Real war, the kind this world has tried to forget for eighty years! Glyn told you about what the Schnee CEO wants to do with Vale, right? Well, he'd get what he wanted."

"He hurt Ren!" Nora protested angrily, her hand clenching tighter around Ren's. She opened her mouth to say something more, but her voice broke. It was another few minutes before she could actually say more. "Ren's Aura was gone and that guy kept attacking him anyways! With that weird black fire, over and over even after the battle should have been called as over! Ren was burned; if Sora hadn't helped him-"

"What are you talking about?" Jaune asked Nora, placing one of his hands on his other arm. He looked concerned for the ginger warrior, like he hadn't even seen the same thing. "He... wasn't hurt at all. Just unconscious."

Sora looked over at the blonde, bewildered. That didn't make any sense. Had he really seen something different? "No. He was burned. Bad," Sora countered, looking around at his friends. It was Jaune, Ruby, and Qrow's turn to look confused. Nora's eyes lit up, tears welling in her eyes as she was given support from the Keyblade wielder. "What are you guys... how didn't you see that?"

"It was on the screen. He was... fine," Ruby said, her voice trailing off. She shook her head and slammed her fist into the arm of the chair she sat in. This was beginning to sound all too familiar to the young Huntress. She looked over at Sora, beginning to doubt herself. "You're sure about this? You really believe he was hurt that badly?"

Sora nodded, eyes darkening. "It was... bad," he said hollowly, remembering the damage that had been done to the young Huntsman. His fists clenched on the arms of the chair he sat in and his gaze fell on Ren. "Really, really bad."

Ruby sighed and shut her eyes. After a couple seconds, she nodded at the Keyblade wielder. "I believe you."

"You can't be serious," Qrow muttered, shaking his head bemusedly. "Ruby, sometimes you have to trust your own eyes above anything else. He was not hurt that bad."

"And sometimes, Qrow, you have to trust your Heart above anything else," Sora told the Huntsmen, his eyes set as strong as his Heart in this matter. He looked over at Ren, brow furrowing. "Besides... why hasn't he woken up yet? If he wasn't hurt, shouldn't he have already woken up?"

Qrow wanted to reply, but he had to admit that had been bugging him, too. He growled and threw his hand across his body. "Fine," he growled. He jammed his index finger at Nora. "But it doesn't matter, because the people in charge are going to want your head. After Yang's outburst last year, regardless of the fact she was tricked, people are going to be going nuts. They'll think every student from Beacon has no self control, so the Vale council is gonna -"

"Then I withdraw!" Nora snapped, bringing her face, tears streaming down her cheeks with eyes puffy and red. She shook her head vigorously, water flying from her face and glittering in the air above Ren's unconscious form. "I wasn't going to be much use, anyways. I... I should be here with Ren."

Sora, Ruby, and Jaune glanced at one another, worried for their friends. "Okay, Nora," Jaune said, walking over and placing his hand on her shoulder. "We'll do you both proud."

Qrow threw his hands up and growled. "Fine. I hope that's enough to placate everyone," he sighed. He pushed off from the wall and crossed his arms. "I'll go tell them you're dropping out and try to get them on our side again. If I even can." He walked over to the door and cast another forlorn glance over his shoulder at the unconscious Lie Ren. His frown deepened for a while as he stared, then he turned away again and left the room.

Everyone else looked over at Nora, who was staring Ren's face sadly. Her shoulders heaved up as she held in a sob for a moment, then lowered one finger to her partner's nose. A single, sad word was uttered: "Boop."

R W B Y

Ruby stared at her opponent, forcing herself to shove thoughts on the last fight and Ren's injuries from her mind. She couldn't do anything to help him right then, and staying in the tournament was the only way to help Beacon. Still, the young woman couldn't help but let her mind wander; from what she remembered, she'd seen Agni and Yoru talking when they'd dragged Nora kicking and screaming away from Ren. She had hoped she didn't get thrown into a fight with one of their other team mates; that would be lousy luck.

But her luck had been good. She was facing a warrior from Atlas instead. He had a whip made from advanced, bendable metals that hit with an intense force; there were channels for different kinds of dust built into spikes that protruded along the length of the weapon, plugged into a revolver group of different types of Dust at the base of the weapon. In typical Atlesian style, he wore all shades of gray and white; it was like a military uniform out of a futuristic sci fi show, complete with a silver, crop length military jacket over a tight, lightly armored white shirt with silver fatigues and gray boots. The weapon? White. There were, granted, a few red accents here or there, like the inside of the jacket's collar or its zippers. Ruby was beginning to wonder if the Schnees also produced most of the Atlesian fashion, too.

"Okay, this fight is, as you all know, the first following the recent... breakdown of Nora Valkyrie. To ensure that does not happen again, we've implemented a few new rules," the announcer explained as Ruby pulled Crescent Rose from her back. "The other members of each team will not be allowed to watch from ring side, instead they will stay in the crowds. Any fighter who behaves as Miss Valkyrie did will be summarily removed from the tournament and be held under watch until further notice. Finally, all warriors not involved in an active battle will have their weapons confiscated to avoid the possibility. Now, for Ruby Rose of Vale versus Asimi Kravgi of Atlas to duke it out!"

"So, you're friends with that crazy girl, then?" the Atlesian soldier asked, his icy blue eyes flashing condescendingly. Ruby let her eyelids fall to convey how unimpressed she was with him. "If you want to talk to someone who isn't off their rocker, we could -"

"Fight!"

Ruby shot forward before he could finish his thought, Crescent Rose whipping around to collide with his side. Asimi grunted in pain as he was thrown to the side, though he landed safely not far away. "I think maybe you should stop talking," Ruby pointed out, firing off Crescent Rose again and delivering a flurry of blows. Asimi managed to dodge the first few blows, but soon found himself thrashing to either side as Ruby's speed caught up with him and her spinning weapon found him. He was tossed away again.

"Fine. I'll let my actions speak for me," he countered, slamming the base of his weapon into his hip. The dust container hissed for a moment, then massive gusts of wind began to channel through the skin of his whip. He raised it above his head and the weapon shot forward, cracking as it snapped suddenly towards the Huntress. Ruby jumped past the attack's range easily, but was surprised when a blast of pure sound slammed into her chest and sent her flying. She brought Crescent Rose down in front of her, its blade digging into the ground until she dragged to a stop.

"And Mister Kravgi reveals his Semblance! Control and amplification of sonic waves; it goes amazingly with his weapon, which generates a massive source of sound every time he uses it!" the announcer screamed. Ruby leveled her gaze on the Atlesian, who held both hands up, appreciating the roaring cheers of the crowd. They wanted her to lose! She narrowed her eyes, deciding that she wouldn't give him the privilege of beating her! Which meant she had to figure out a way around his Semblance; despite her Semblance, she was pretty sure she wasn't faster than the speed of sound.

She looked around at the crowd screaming for the Atlesian, who was still showboating. Either he was too stupid or prideful to use the surrounding noise as a weapon, or he had to use a source of noise close to him. Her eyes drifted for just a moment to the jumbotron; his first blow had dealt a pretty significant blow to her Aura, evening hers out at around fifty percent while his hovered just below twenty from her assault. That meant she only needed one good hit on him to win. Of course, so did he.

Ruby shouldered her weapon, aiming her weapon behind her as she formulated her plan. His weapon's biggest use was that it could keep people at a pretty significant distance, especially combined with his semblance. Unfortunately for him, it didn't have any real defense capabilities. In fact, the wind Dust's only use was to speed up the snap of the whip in order increase the sheer noise generated. Which meant that his greatest strength, in very cliché fashion, was his greatest weakness. He wouldn't expect a direct attack on his weapon. Who would? And once it was out of his hands, so was the battle.

Ruby stared directly into the smirking boy's eyes so he would believe he was her target. She fired Crescent Rose and the Atlesian laughed derisively. "You trying to hit me?" he asked, snapping his weapon forward. The tip cracked loudly, sending a wall of sonic energy down directly in front of him, where he believed Ruby was going to be.

She instead activated her own Semblance, turning into a torpedo of red cloth and flowers. She passed just outside of the sonic attack's radius, her weapon a deadly blur that she brought around directly into the Dust container of the Atlesian whip. She continued rushing away, sliding across the ground as the Dust in the container sparked and ignited violently. There was a deafening explosion a moment later; fire, lightning, ice, and many other types of elements came into being behind Ruby and died out. As she stopped, she twirled Crescent Rose around her body, deactivating it and clipping it to her belt just as the loud beep signaling a win by Aura loss could be heard. "Yeah. Not trying to hit you," she said, glancing over her shoulder at the unconscious Atlesian. "Too bad, though. You have a really cool weapon!"

"Aura out!" the announcer shouted. "What an explosive ending to a fight, huh?" The crowd laughed half heartedly along with the joke.

"Jeez, did they get Yang to do the announcements?" Ruby muttered, glancing up at the announcer's box.

"Anyways, it appears that Miss Rose will move on to the next round! A big round of congratulations for the young woman!" the announcer shouted. There was a quiet roar from the contingent of Valens, even a few from her Mistralite friends somewhere in the crowd. Otherwise, dead silence.

Then she heard the only voices that mattered. "Yeah, Ruby!" Sora shouted from the crowd, his voice chorusing with Jaune and her uncle Qrow's, the intensity of the noise drawing the attention of the entire crowd. "I got three words for you: Great job!"

Ruby looked right at him. "That's two words!" she shouted back, shaking her head. He just held his thumb up at her, eyes shut and a massive grin on his face. She just smiled back at him, then turned around and sighed before offering her hand to the recovering Kravgi.

"Wow," he muttered, taking it and letting her pull him to his feet. He rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't mean to flirt with a girl in front of her boyfriend."

"W-we're n-"

"Then ask him to the dance," the Atlesian suggested with a shrug and a smirk. He collected his whip and shook his head at his loss. Then Kravgi turned to walk away and shot a real smile over his shoulder. "Riveting fight, Rosie. Just do me a favor and win this thing so I don't look bad, okay?"

Ruby smiled at his back. Kravgi wasn't as much of a jerk as he seemed, it turned out. "Don't worry. I plan on it," Ruby responded excitedly.

R W B Y

"Yes!" Weiss whispered, clutching the portable television tight between her hands as Ruby won, looking like an action hero with the placement of the camera and the explosion causing her cape to whip upward. Weiss smiled down at the screen, where she had seen her best friend take out an Atlesian student. She hated to admit that, yes, Ruby was indeed her best friend. It really would ruin their whole dynamic, with Weiss being constantly disappointed and Ruby questing for approval and friendship despite that. But alone? Sure, she'd admit they were best friends.

Then Weiss looked down at the screen again and, despite her attempts to hold it in, laughed. Ruby was blushing and smiling shyly; the camera panned to the crowd and Weiss finally understood why. There was a boy flashing her a grin wider than a river, with one thumb raised. "She's got a crush!" Weiss hissed, laughing quietly at her friend.

"Ugh, and it's on that damn Qrow's pupil," a voice muttered. Weiss flinched exaggeratedly, the portable screen flying upward as Weiss continued cringing. She didn't want her father, who had taken her Scroll because she'd been talking with her... Neptune, to find out she was watching the tournament where her friends from Beacon were fighting. A black gloved hand snapped out, grabbing the portable screen then retracting

Weiss turned around to see at her sister. "Winter! Oh, it's just you," she said, relieved. "When did you get back?"

"You should be more aware of your surroundings," the Atlesian Specialist noted, turning the screen right side up and sitting next to her sister, still in full battle uniform. She smiled down at Weiss. "I don't want Father taking this from you when I went to so much trouble to get it to you."

"You'll go to any lengths to disrespect his authority," Weiss noted, crossing her arms and shooting a sidelong look at her rules loving sister. Weiss knew she had a thing for rules, but Winter... well, Winter almost had a love affair with them, a stark contrast to the man she hated – and focused on – most: Qrow Branwen.

"I respect authority that should be respected," Winter responded. She looked back down at the screen. "I take it you saw Qrow's apprentice in his fight?"

"Of course," Weiss said, hurriedly taking the screen back from her sister. "I counted no less than twelve mistakes."

"Really? I counted fifteen," Winter muttered, always one to one up her sister. "None of them very... Qrow like."

"You really study him a lot," Weiss muttered, causing the elder Schnee to flinch.

Winter turned on her sister, stammering. That entertained Weiss; her sister was rarely ever flustered."Y-You must know your rival better than you even know yourself," Winter hissed. She shook her head. "We must always know how to defeat our rivals."

Weiss nodded. "I know. You've told me a thousand times," Weiss said, growing bored as every single time flashed through her mind. She gestured at the door. "That's why I've been studying Dad."

"Planning on running away, then?" Winter asked, amused. She shook her head at the younger Schnee. "Well, when I decide you are ready, I shall help you, Sister."

"Thank y- When you decide?" Weiss asked indignantly.

Winter looked down at her sister. "Tell me, how much Lien do you have saved right now?" the elder woman asked.

Weiss opened her mouth to respond, but the only sound that came out was, "Errr... Erm... Um..."

"I see. Do you think that's enough to buy a ticket to Vale? Which reminds me, how much does a ticket to Vale cost?" Winter continued, smirking at the young woman. Weiss shut her mouth and glared up at her sister, who laughed. "Indeed. So, tell me about your friend's fight. I was on my way here during the battle."

"Ruby did great. Figured out the best way to beat Kravgi," Weiss pointed out.

"Kravgi... ah, yes," Winter said. She nodded. "That boy dreams of becoming a specialist as well. Too bad he showboats far too much. Given Miss Rose's performance in the Vytal Festival and during its aftermath, I would have been disappointed if she hadn't defeated him. The General was rooting for her as well, even over his own students. Your Headmaster ta—took great interest in Team RWBY, as the General has told me. And the General held Ozpin in quite high regard." Winter looked down at the screen. The battle was between a blonde woman in blue and white with twin swords and a gun wielding Atlesian. The battle was going... poorly for the Atlesian.

"Winter..." Weiss began, drawing her sister's intrigued attention. Weiss was rarely this nervous, with her head hanging worriedly so she only looked at her sister from the tops of her eyes. Weiss sighed and shook her head, knowing it would be pointless to think about it right then. "So... what do you think about that Sora kid?"

Winter smiled softly. "He is far different than I would have expected from one under... Branwen's tutelage," she explained, face souring as she uttered Qrow's name. She began listing off the differences, placing her index finger on the outstretched finger as she moved down the list. "First, he is far too naive – he was congratulatory and open with his opponent. Much like your team mate, Ruby Rose. His style of fighting was... unique, to say the least; large keys and a style of combat that looked as if it were self taught entirely through combat experience. Third, he seemed more interested in playing around than actually fighting. And finally... he's stronger than Qrow. I highly doubt he was actually taught anything by that dusty..." Winter growled and blushed, eyes angry.

"You... don't like Ruby's uncle?" Weiss asked, honestly confused. For Winter, the line splitting the behavior for love and hate was... thin and blurry at its most defined points.

"Obviously," Winter responded, crossing her arms. Steam was basically coming out of her ears as she stared angrily at the wall. Her icy gaze turned to her sister. "Why?"

Weiss cringed and shook her head. "No reason!" she assured nervously. Her sister was one of the few people in her family she liked being around, the only one of her sisters who wasn't a vapid, money obsessed child who decided to take it easy and act as secretaries in the Schnee Corp and its subsidiaries until finding a man. No, Winter understood the hunger, the need to go out and do something great with her own two hands instead of merely watching those things be done. "Winter... thanks."

The Specialist smiled at her sister again. "Of course, Sister. It's my pleasure," she said, reaching out to pull her sister into a hug. "I'm just sorry I couldn't get you a Scroll."

"He'd just find out and take it again," Weiss muttered, shrugging as they separated. She looked down,t hen back up at her sister, one eyebrow raised. "Are you sure you don't like Ruby's uncle?"

Winter's usually snow white face reddened. "And on that note, look," she said, pointing at the portable television. "It's that blonde boy who you say used to flirt poorly with you. Let's watch his fight, Sister."

R W B Y

Sora, Ruby, and Qrow watched Jaune and his opponent enter the arena. Jaune looked more confident than he'd ever felt before, walking tall to the center of the ring with his sword and shield at his sides, his steps fluid and calm. Ruby thought that he looked like a Huntsman, and was proud of her friend. This was televised across all of Remnant – which reminded Ruby, she had to say hi to her sister and dad next after her next fight – so Jaune's father was probably watching. When Jaune won his fight, he'd be showing his family that he'd succeeded where they'd thought he wouldn't.

"I really wish I could stay here and watch," Sora grumbled next to Ruby, pouting in disappointment. He shook his head and cross his arms. "Ugh, no fair. I want to see Jaune beat that guy up."

"Well, you'll get your chance tomorrow," Qrow responded, placing his hand on the Keyblade wielder's shoulder. "If we find out everything that we need to know tonight, that is."

"I know, but..." Sora groaned and glaring down at the arena. He sighed and stood up, looking over at Qrow and frowning sadly. "Okay, fine. Let's go."

"Don't worry, Sora," Ruby told the Keyblade wielder, patting his arm. "I'll tell you how it all goes, frame for frame. It'll be like you were right here watching Jaune kick butt!"

Sora smiled at the girl. "Thanks, Ruby. Be back soon." Sora waved to her before walking off with Qrow to spy on the group that Sora had a bad feeling about. The two walked in tense silence for a while, the memory of their last meeting alone weighing on both men's minds.

Finally, Qrow broke the silence. "So, what are the other worlds like?" Qrow finally asked, glancing over at Sora with earnest wonder in his voice. Sora looked back over at the older Huntsman, eyebrows raised; he hadn't expected Qrow to ask that. "You know, unless you'd rather talk about your thing for my niece."

Sora's eyes widened. "So there's a lot of different types of worlds," he explained, voice higher pitched than he would have liked. He coughed to clear his throat. "Uh, over all there are three Realms they're divided into. Those in the Realm of Light, where Light encompasses everything. The Realm of Twilight, between Light and Dark. And... the Realm of Darkness, filled with destruction and monsters." Sora laughed. "It's funny, I've never been the person who knows the most about this stuff in a room!"

"Sure. And now you're the only one," Qrow muttered, shaking his head at how easily his ally was excited. "Victory by default. Hoo-ray."

"Do you want to know more or not?" Sora asked the Huntsman. Qrow shrugged, then sighed and nodded. "Okay then. Well, like I said, there are a lot of worlds. My friend Simba is from a place where there are only animals; he's a lion. Twilight Town is a lot like Vale, a pretty normal city. My friend Ariel was a mermaid princess who lived underwater and wanted to become human. Her dad, King Triton, didn't like that. Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. And Peter Pan doesn't grow up – he lives in -"

"Neverland," Qrow finished, narrowing his eyes on the Keyblade wielder.

"Yeah... how do... how do you know that?" Sora asked, honestly confused. "Most worlds aren't even aware of the possibility other worlds exist!"

"Sora... there are stories and legends about some of these places," the Huntsman explained, stopping for a moment beside the Keyblade wielder. "Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up. King Triton and his evil sister, Ursula the Sea Witch. These are stories I've heard since I was a little kid." He examined Sora, wondering if the boy was just crazy. Of course, that probably meant Qrow had gone crazy too after everything he'd seen so far.

"Huh," Sora muttered. He shrugged and continued walking on, fingers laced behind his head. Qrow stared at the boy for a moment, then followed the Keyblade wielder. "Maybe someone from Remnant was a Keyblade wielder and spread those stories when they came back. Hm... I wonder what Triton and Ursula were like when they were younger."

Qrow shrugged. "I'll tell you the story another time, maybe," the Huntsman said, placing his left hand in his pocket. "For now...let's talk about your obvious thing for my niece."

Sora looked up angrily and protested. "But you said -"

"I just asked if you'd rather. I didn't say we weren't going to talk about it later," Qrow explained with a victorious smirk. He laughed at Sora's blushing cheeks and how he had begun glaring shyly at the ground. "You know, I had this whole speech lined up for the first person to try and date Ruby. She's pretty naive, so I was going to go full on 'scary dad'; Tai doesn't really look the part, so I just knew it would just fall to me to be all threatening. Oh, so many threats lined up. I would talk about cutting off his toes, burning him alive. Personal favorite was just throwing him weaponless into a group of Grimm if he did anything to try and take advantage of her."

"Well, you're very scary, Qrow," Sora assured, knowing the veteran Huntsman would likely be able to live up to any threat he made. And more, probably. "You can tell me the speech."

Qrow's eyes widened. "Wow, just like that, huh?"

"I don't know. Maybe," Sora said, running his hand up and down his left arm. "I've spent a lot of time with Ruby, but... there's... I don't know. There are people waiting for me, Qrow. I'm going to have to leave Remnant and go home. And there's... I don't know."

Qrow shook his head, realizing now that Sora was really just a kid. "I can't make your choices for you, Sora," the Huntsman explained, his voice both bitter and apologetic. "I do know from being one of the two options for someone that it doesn't look like an easy choice, and it hurts a lot of the people involved the longer it goes on. Not every story has a happy ending. Sora, I don't want Ruby to be like me, so make a decision sooner than later." Qrow looked up and gestured at the wall with his head. "We're here."

Sora nodded dumbly and followed the Huntsman towards the door to Yoru's team's locker room. "Keep an eye out for anyone," The older warrior pulled a small device from his pocket and planted the machine on the ceiling. There was a slight whir as it drilled into the wall and its outer shell disappeared into the shadows. Qrow pulled out another one and walked to the other side of the door, letting it drill in just above the doorway. Then he grabbed a third and placed it carefully into the nearest air vent. "Okay, now for their room. Then we'll be able to hear everything they've got planned... if they have anything planned."

Sora nodded and remained silent, his thoughts locked elsewhere. There was a loud beep that echoed from the arena. "And the winner is Jaune Arc of Vale!"

Sora smiled when he heard that. "Well, obviously."

R W B Y

The rest of the first day had gone by without any more problems. Neptune and the rest of Sun's team mates had made it through to the second round with little difficulty, each of their wins accompanied by huge cheers from the Haven-based crowd. They hadn't heard anything in their surveillance of Yoru and his squad as of yet. They seemed pretty quiet, overall actually.

Right then, it was the middle of the night. Everyone at the school was asleep, waiting for the second day of the tournament to begin. Sora, however, was laying on the roof of the dormitory staring up at the sky. He was silent as he held Kairi's charm above him, considering everything that Qrow had said earlier that day. "Not every story has a happy ending." Sora clutched the charm tighter and let his hand fall to the roof. He'd always wanted to use the Keyblade to make sure everyone got a chance at a happy ending, and he'd succeeded so far. Roxas, Xion, Terra, Ansem the Wise. They all had their lives back now because of Sora; they could all be happy. Why couldn't everyone have a happy ending? Sora shut his eyes. He'd never met Pyrrha, but he knew that she hadn't had a happy ending. But why? Did bad things just happen to people sometimes? Sora didn't want it to be like that. He wanted everyone to have a happy ending, to help them find what they wanted free from the Darkness. He didn't want anyone to get hurt even a little.

And yet, here he was, scared of making a decision because he was scared of hurting someone important to him. He didn't know if either girl thought of him in that way... or if he even thought of them in that way. He remembered thinking about Kairi like that, maybe. But was that just childish infatuation? Did she think of him like that too? And with Ruby, it certainly felt more serious when he thought about it, but was that just because he'd been around her all the time recently? For that matter, did she even think the same of him? Anyways, it wasn't like it would be the end for either girl. They were both mature people, after all, and had both fought off monsters and villains. This would be nothing. But still, Sora was afraid for some reason.

"Ugh, this is awful!" Sora groaned, slamming his palms into his eyes and growling at the sky. "Why does thinking have to be so hard!?"

He opened his eyes and raised his fists to the sky excitedly, the charm in his hand clinking as he did. Thinking. That was his problem. Sora was a Keyblade Master! He's not at his best when he's thinking about a problem, instead it's when he's just charging in without a second consideration and doing what his Heart tells him to do! He clenched his fist and placed it atop his chest, summoning the Keyblade. "Give me strength," he muttered to the weapon, causing it to glow in his fist. He didn't notice, though, as his eyes were shut and he was already asleep.