A/N: Howdy y'all! Here's another chapter, and the next is underway. This one is short, I know.

Warning: Plot? Really just starting to set things up for the next chunk of chapters.

Shout outs:

Phoenix8221: I am really, really happy that you are enjoying this fic, and I always am happy to see a review from you each time. I hope you continue to enjoy what I write, and I am really excited about things having to do with both Cardin and Pyrrha. Next chapter will heavily follow them around. Best wishes, and much love!

"Sisters! Friends! Weiss." Ruby began, gleefully slamming an over decorated, and haphazardly filled binder on the table.

Weiss snapped her attention from her book on weapon stances up to Ruby, puffing up indignantly. "Hey!"

Ruby ignored her tactfully. "Four score, and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

Yang leaned towards Blake after catching a grape in her mouth from Nora. "This ought to be good."

"A dream that one day, the four of us would come together as a team, and have the most fun that anyone has ever had ever!"

Weiss leaned closer to the poor, abused binder, recognizing the barely visible Schnee logo under several pasted on notes. She looked up at Ruby with a judging glare, hissing, "Did you steal my binder?"

Ruby kept up her oddly political facade. "I am not a crook."

Blake tucked her sketchbook into her bag. "What are you talking about?"

Ruby beamed, clearly excited. "I'm talking about kicking the semester off with a bang!"

Yang grinned cheekily, jutting her thumb at herself. "I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!" She looked around. "Eh? Guys? Am I right?"

An awkward silence stretched on among the four girls, finally broken when Nora threw an apple at the blonde with a loud, "Boooooo!"

Yang was caught off guard, the apple hitting her square in the face. She snatched the fruit of of the table and hurled the apple back with a snarl, catching Nora in the shoulder hard. She felt satisfied until she saw the manic grin grow a bit too manic, and Nora somehow produced a pie. Panic filled her, and she began to gesture wildly, shaking her head. The pie could wind up anywhere! It could even fly out the window and hit Professor Goodwitch; she had no desire to have detention until she graduated.

Nora, however, wound her arm back and threw it anyways, the pie hitting Weiss square in the face; it seemed she had excellent aim, regardless of if it was the intended target or not. All was still as Ren sank his face into his hand, Pyrrha covering her mouth in shock, Jaune just sitting there in horror. She had no idea what to do, and so she pointed at Ren, feeling as guilty as she probably looked.

Weiss felt enraged. She looked at Blake's tray and took up the chocolate pudding cup, throwing it in a blind anger at the other table. The aim was far too wide, and it hit Jaune full in the chest. Once again, all was still, like the calm before the storm as Pyrrha reached over and grabbed Nora's strawberry milk, Ruby grabbing Yang's fruit parfait at the same time.

"Neptune!" Sun shouted as he bolted over, seeing the stylish teen step off the boat. "Sage! Scarlet!"

Neptune flashed Sun a winning grin as he hugged the team leader, kissing his wild blonde hair. He listened to the content monkey sounds from his lover, smiling all the while. After they pulled apart, Neptune arched an aqua eyebrow at him. "You snuck aboard that cargo ship, didn't you?"

Sun guiltily looked at the docks. "Well, I mean, I did tell you I was thinking about it."

Scarlet adjusted his white shirt, fixing the binder that lay under it casually. "I told you he would."

Sun stuck his tongue out at him. "Guys," Neptune started, "I am really not wanting a fight. Let's get to Beacon and get settled. Sun's probably still a bit ill from the moon sickness. I mean, it was three days ago, but he never is really good for a week."

Sage nodded, his deep voice a low rumble. "I agree. Get settled and rest up. We have to get ready for the tournament soon."

The other three men groaned and sighed, collecting their bags to start the trip to their new dwellings. Hopefully, they would have a bit of fun before the Vytal Festival was in full swing.

Emerald smoothed out the Haven school uniform top as she looked at her reflection, frowning slightly. Cinder had saved her life, yes, but this whole plan was starting to feel wrong. That Neo girl seemed to be so kind, but something about the mute also terrified her. Mercury was spending more time starting the lynchings, and Cinder was meeting with Roman more and more. She didn't like the idea of killing if it wasn't for the greater good, and she did want to make a difference, but was this really the way?

"My, my. You look ravishing."

Emerald's eyes shifted to see Cinder in the mirror, watching the older woman stalk closer to her. "Good enough to eat, I daresay."

Emerald felt her cheeks flush at the praise. "Thank you, Cinder. You look great too."

Arms wrapped around her body, the familiar warmth pressing against her back, Cinder's lips at her neck. "You are worried again, aren't you?"

Emerald tilted her head to the side as the lips kissed along the collar of her jacket, her hands resting on Cinder's arms. "I just... Is all this really necessary? It seems a bit extreme."

Cinder internally sighed, but tightened her hold on Emerald, the seemingly comforting embrace simply the hold of a predator on it's entranced prey. "I know you don't approve, but yes. We need to be like this, Emerald. How else are we going to topple this system? They only pretend to care about people; you know they cast aside anyone they don't think is worth it."

"We're making a difference, right? We're changing things for the better. That's what you've been telling me."

Cinder casually moved one hand down to Emerald's thigh, then slowly traced upwards, her hand moving under the skirt as the girl whimpered. Such a stupid girl she was. "Yes. We are changing things, Emerald. We are changing things to how they should be."

Emerald braced her hands on the mirror as Cinder stroked her center teasingly, feeling the flush on her cheeks spreading. Cinder had never led her astray, and so far, things were going as promised. She would destroy this corrupt system, and she would help right things. No more starving children, no more pain, or poverty. Things would be fair at last.

A soft moan escaped her as her hips bucked, her weight now slowly being guided to the mirror as Cinder continued her ministrations. Any doubts she had were now the last thing on her mind, pleasure and Cinder's assuring whispers driving them far, far away.

She would make a difference, no matter the cost.

Neptune walked the halls of Beacon curiously, looking at everything all at once. It was so very different from Haven, and he had already heard several students talking about were creatures in unsettling conversations. 'Guess not everyone understands them.' He pondered sadly.

"Hey, Neptune!"

He turned to see Sun rushing towards him, halting to wait. "What's up?"

Sun beamed at him. "I uhh... I wanted to talk to you. Privately. Eee, eee."

Neptune tilted his head curiously. Sun had that tone to the monkey noises that was a bit nervous. This had to be somewhat serious. "I'm listening. Fire away."

"Okay, so, I met this girl." He began, the both of them walking towards the cafeteria. "She's like me. You know."

Neptune smirked. "Another were, eh?"

Sun chirped in agreement. "Yeah, so anyways, she's a really cool person. And I really want to get to know her. And I didn't want to say it in front of Sage and Scarlet, because, you know, they can be so-"

"So Sage and Scarlet about things?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Sun could faintly hear some commotion from the dining hall, but chose to ignore it. "So, I was really hoping to be her friend, and all. Well, really all of them are cool. But I need you to be cool. You can handle that, right?"

Neptune halted in his tracks, giving his lover a cocky grin. "Dude."

"Fair enough." Sun stated. "Oh! This is the place." He assured himself, reaching for the door.

Instead, it flew open as students rushed out, the crowd clearly fleeing from something. The duo peered in and entered, seeing exactly what had caused the mad dash to escape. In the far end was a veritable fortress of tables, team JNPR standing amid them formidably. Before them was team RWBY, looking more than ready to fight. Both teams were covered in variously hued stains; the tell-tale signs of a food fight turned all out war.

Both of them looked at the table fortress as Nora cackled ominously, singing out childishly from the very top, "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

Ruby stepped forwards, a carton of milk in her hand as she defiantly glowered at the other team. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be-" Ruby crushed the carton dramatically in her hand, "-DELICIOUS!"

The other three food-smattered members of her team cheered behind her, all four rushing towards the very unstable looking 'castle'.

"Off with their heads!" Nora declared, team JNPR all hurrying to find make-shift weapons to ward off the invaders.

Glynda was sitting at her desk, relaxing for the first time in who knew how long. Finally, all the papers were graded, all of the rooms were in order, and every student was actually behaving.

Or so she had thought.

An entire group of teens wearing far too much of their lunches bolted past her office, giggling about a food fight going on. Glynda closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath in through her nose, bracing her hands on the arms of her chair as her irritation steadily rose in her chest. She had a very good idea of who could possibly be behind the latest disaster.

"If I have to fix that damn lunch room one more time..." She growled as she rose to her feet, stalking towards the cafeteria with an infuriated purpose.

Students that she passed could feel the waves of controlled anger rolling off of her, giving the deputy headmistress a very wide birth. Glynda gripped her riding crop as the memories of her team starting many a food fight filled her mind, the stern expression of Professor Heart as they were forced to clean it all up without using their semblances making her huff. Was this how the other woman felt as she constantly tried to keep up with the wrecking ball GLAZ turned out to be?

She stormed into the hall and past two boys to see it utterly destroyed; it looked almost identical to one of her team's own rampages. With a very furious flourish of her crop, the room's contents began to shudder and shift, the food melting away to nothing. Tables lifted from the floor, chunks of concrete returned to the walls, and where the hell had that swordfish even come from? On second thought, Glynda decided that she really didn't want to know.

The last table shuffled back into place as the ceiling finished repairing, Glynda taking another slow breath in through her nose as she once again righted herself. The seven students before her sheepishly shuffled as the stains on their uniforms vanished. "Children," she began, trying to keep calm, "please do not play with your food." She had been just as bad once, but things had changed; life had made her colder.

Yang burst through the roof violently, crashing to the floor along with a heap of rubble. Glynda growled in frustration, but Ozpin moved behind her. "Let it go." He urged.

She turned to him, frowning. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

He lift his coffee casually, inclining his head. "And they will be, but right now, they're still children." He watched the two teams laughing and smiling. "So, why not let them play the part?"

He turned, taking a sip before speaking once more, his tone edged with the bitterness of regret. "After all, it isn't a role they'll have forever."

Glynda watched his walk away, wilting slightly as she looked back to the children before her. She could feel the pain and sorrow burning her heart slowly. "Don't I know it..." She whispered to no one in a melancholy voice, then walking back out.

Blake had a high chance to die before year four from riots, and the others would risk their lives on every mission they would be sent on. How could she tear away what little they had left of childhood from them? They should smile now, while they still could, before the endless parade of funerals began.