Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.

"Nothing," I said. "There's practically nothing useful on Dust teleportation." I was in the library at Beacon. Fortunately it was kept open for those students who stayed for the break. Some had long term projects they were working on while others just enjoyed the quiet space to read in. I was working on one of the computers, pursuing my personal project. With virtually no success. Everything I'd found so far was from fiction.

"Having a hard time?" a mocking voice came from behind me. I put my head on the keyboard and sighed.

"Conrad, I thought you were going home. Why are you bothering me?"

"I was bored."

"Well go be bored somewhere else, I'm trying to get something done here."

"Teleportation?" he read over my shoulder. "Why would you be interested in that? You can already do it."

"Thank you, I hadn't noticed. I'm trying to figure out if there's another way to do it."

"Why would you care?"

"I'd explain, but then I'd have to kill you. Actually, killing you might be a good idea anyways. It would get you out of my hair."

"You couldn't kill me if your life depended on it."

"First off, yes I could. Second, it's called sarcasm, Black. Look it up."

"Fine, you want to be all cranky nerd, go ahead. Only freaks like you would care about that sort of thing anyways."

"Actually, that gives me an idea, thanks Conrad. You can go now." I altered the settings on my search and tried again. This time I got something. A research paper from a couple decades ago, authored by...Evan Byss? I did a quick check. Yep. That was Dr. Byss, and judging by the date, this may have been his college thesis. Great. Those things are dense.

"Now what are you looking at?"

"Conrad, if you're going to read over my shoulder, I'm going to punch you. Go away."

"Fine, fussy pants." Fussy pants? That was a new one.

I started reading. Well, skimming. Hey, you try reading a college thesis! If it's possible to bore someone to death, a college thesis should be your weapon of choice. I quickly realized that this was a theoretical paper examining the possibilities of certain mixtures of Dust when applied to various aspects of theoretical physics, including teleportation. Interesting, but nothing substantial. Just theoretical work. I looked the various requirements predicted for teleportion and reeled back a bit. The estimates called for literally tons of the stuff, and that was just for moving one person. It also predicted a significant increase in cost for greater distances. Odd. My Semblance isn't affected by distance. Traveling across Vale is just as easy as traveling across the room, provided I get the distances right in my head.

Strange. Either this was raw theoretical work operating on incomplete information or Dust teleportation just doesn't work the same way my teleportation does. Possibly both. I sighed. I would have to think about this later, right now my mind was a bit fried. I closed down the computer and rose, heading for the exit. I was still staying in the dorm, keeping the place clean(ish).

I sat down on my bed, considering what I had learned. It would make sense if the tech was nervous, perhaps he'd just accidentally revealed some company secret project or something. Well, it didn't affect me all that much. I'd keep an eye out though. My scroll went off in my pocket. I'd decided to swap out the ringtone, opting for This Will Be the Day instead of Red Like Roses Part Two. I checked the screen. A text from Ruby? I opened it up.

Hey Kevin. We're back in Vale for a while. See you 'round.

-Ruby

Weird. Ruby wasn't usually that subdued, even in texts. That wasn't a good sign. Subdued Ruby is scary. Something was wrong. I put my scroll away and put my shoes back on.

I arrived at the house Ruby and Weiss shared. I was half surprised that I still remembered where to find it, but then again, I had lived there for a while. I walked up to the front door and knocked. No answer. I knocked again.

There was a muffled "Just a second!" and then the door opened.

"Kevin." Weiss glared at me.

"Hi Weiss. Is Ruby alright?"

"Why do you ask?"

"She sent me a text. Without any exclamation points."

"Come in." She turned and walked back into the house.

I followed. She took a right hand turn, entering the living room. Ruby was on the couch. She looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, her face streaked with tears. "Hey Kevin," she rasped weakly.

"Ruby, are you okay?" I'd never seen her like this before. Weiss went to sit next to her, wrapping her arm around the younger woman.

"I-I'm fine," Ruby sniffled, her voice cracking. She went back to sobbing.

I turned to Weiss. "What happened?"

"We were on a mission to kill a group of Grimm."

That made sense, the Grimm have been more active of late. "What's the matter, you annihilated them, didn't you?"

"There was a Behemoth with them. Less than five miles from Vale."

Oh. I stared stupidly at Weiss for a minute. A Behemoth? Those things weren't just rare, they were practically unheard of! The only reason I even knew what they were was because Coco had briefly mentioned them, putting them in the category of Grimm that were best avoided, even by fully trained Hunters. Physically, they resemble a rhinoceros from Earth, but with the tusks of a hippopotamus and the tail of a snake. They also tend to be very, very, very big.

"What happened?"

"Yang happened. She took it down."

"Is she alive?"

"Yes, but it was close. She's in Vale General Hospital now."

"Will she make it?"

"The doctors aren't sure. They told us to leave while they worked on her."

"Odds of survival?"

"Fifty-fifty, maybe slightly worse."

Whoa. No wonder Ruby was a mess. I made my way over to the other side of the couch, sitting down next to Ruby. "Ruby, it's going to be fine. This is Yang we're talking about. She's too tough to die on us."

"I know," Ruby sobbed. "But it hurt her so badly!"

"You know what she'd say right now, don't you?" I asked. "'I'm not dead yet, so don't cry about me.'" I spoke in my best Yang impression.

Ruby just started crying harder. Weiss glared at me over her back. I took the hint. "I'm going to go check on Yang. Call if you need me." I slipped out of the house, feeling utterly useless. I pulled out my scroll, getting the address for Vale General. I started walking.

The Grimm threat was getting worse. Much worse. If an elite team like RWBY could run into trouble then all of Vale was in danger. And a Behemoth! You don't find those things anywhere near Vale! At the very closest, they occasionally enter Mountain Glenn, but to be close enough to actually pose a threat to Vale? That was a new development, and not a pleasant one.

I kept walking. Something was throwing this world off, or at least this part of it. I hadn't heard of any problems with Grimm in any of the other Kingdoms. Well, any more than normal. But Vale was in ever increasing danger. Grimm were growing in strength and number, and now rarer, more powerful varieties were appearing. If the situation kept getting worse, I doubted the defenses would hold for much longer. The question remained though, what was causing this? What could be causing this? No one had an answer.

I glanced up. I had arrived at the hospital. I pushed through the doors and walked up to the receptionist's desk. "Hi, my name's Kevin Malder, I'm a student at Beacon. I'm here to see a Yang Xiao Long. I'm a friend of both her and her sister."

The receptionist checked through her records for a moment before looking up. "I'm sorry, but miss Xiao Long is undergoing surgery at the moment."

"Alright, thank you," I sighed. "Do you know if she's going to be alright?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Thank you." I shook my head. This couldn't be real. I moved over to a chair and sat down. Yang could not be in the hospital. That was like saying a hurricane was in the hospital. It didn't make sense.

I sighed again. I've always prided myself on the ability to accept reality. This was possible, and it was real. And there was nothing I could do about it. I slowly rose and drifted over to the small card shop the hospital had. I picked up one of the many Get Well cards for Yang, making sure to find one with a particularly awful pun. I signed it and sealed it in the envelope before giving it to the receptionist. I hoped Yang would get to read the card.

I exited the building thoroughly unsettled. I took a moment to calm myself before activating my Semblance, reappearing at Beacon. I stopped by the armory, picking up Molnair and Talon. Then I went looking for an opponent.

I found Conrad harassing a bat Faunus who I didn't know. The Faunus was obviously ignoring Conrad, but his ears kept twitching in annoyance.

"Conrad, leave the Faunus alone," I said. "You and I are going to settle something."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"You're going to grab your weapons and meet me in the arena. Now." I deliberately focused on my smoldering frustrated anger, taking advantage of his Semblance. Telempathy can be a double edged sword at times. "Go."

He did as I said, probably believing he'd finally gotten to me. Let him believe what he wanted.

"You didn't have to do that," the bat Faunus said.

"It's fine. I needed someone to beat up anyways and he's going to make an excellent punching bag."

The Faunus looked at me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I've been better, but right now I need to blow off some steam."

"Do you want me to referee?"

"That's probably a good idea. Thanks." I extended a hand to him. "Kevin, leader of Team MRLD. First year student."

"Ardun." He shook it. "Member of Team DARK. Second year student."

"Wow, Ozpin must have had a hard time with that one."

"He probably spent half an hour trying to find something else to call us before giving up."

"Probably. Want a ride to the arena?"

"A ride?"

"Unless you're prone to nausea, I can teleport us both there."

"You're about to go into a duel, shouldn't you save your Aura?"

"Against Conrad? Please. I'm good. You want that ride or not?"

"I think I'll pass. Thank you for the offer though."

"Suit yourself," I said, activating my Semblance.

Conrad arrived shortly after Ardun did. He grinned as he entered the arena, his buzzsaw gloves beginning to spin.

I performed the familiar wrist flick that activated Molnair's blade, then repeated the process with Talon. A month ago at Rebecca's suggestion I'd made a modification to Talon that allowed my to extend the spike and lock it in place, allowing me to safely use it against human opponents. I now had a blade on one arm and an eighteen inch steel spike on the other.

"Ardun will be the referee." I pointed at the bat Faunus. "First to red loses." I pointed to the big screen which displayed our Aura's. Conrad's was a full green. Mine was at about ninety five percent thanks to all the teleporting I'd done today. "Let's go."

"With pleasure," he said, grinning viciously. He dashed forward. Despite his small size, he was strong, and very fast. But MRLD wasn't the number one team in our year for nothing. He swung at me, buzzsaws whirring. I dodged. He was fast, but he had nothing on Rebecca. I spun to the side, stabbing at him with Talon. The strike didn't do much damage, but it did annoy him. I jumped back, his saws slicing nothing but air. I lunged forward again, bringing Molnair in with a powerful thrust. He managed to evade the point, but the edge still sliced into his Aura. I then spun into a kick, connecting solidly with his lower back, throwing him across the arena.

"Get up," I snarled. "We're not done yet." His Aura was still at about seventy five percent, not even yellow yet. He got to his feet.

"You're dead, Malder!" He charged at me again. I didn't even bother using my weapons, instead meeting his charge with another kick, this time to the chest. He staggered back as I swept forwards, striking with both weapons before bouncing back. His aura was dropping fast. He lashed out in another wild swing. I caught his attack on Talon. Sparks flew from his saw as it tried and failed to cut through the hardened steel of Talon's spike. I stabbed again with Molnair, striking his stomach. He swung with his other hand, but I ducked under the spinning blade and performed a high speed leg sweep, knocking to the ground.

I jumped back again, glancing at the screen. My Aura had gone down a bit, mostly from the Aura I was using for my attacks, but Conrad's was just barely in the yellow. One more strike would put him in the red. I aimed at him with my machine guns and pulled the trigger.

"And Kevin of Team MRLD is the winner!" Ardun announced. His voice sounded far away though, as if he was in another room. I marched over to Conrad.

"You see now why I don't strike back? Why I don't attack you when you bother me?" I demanded, my temper getting the better of me. "I'm not afraid of you, Conrad. I'm afraid of me, of what I might do. So I'm giving you a warning. Leave both me and my team alone. Or next time the fight doesn't stop until someone's Aura hits zero." I turned and walked away, ignoring the weak threats he shouted back at me. I glanced up at Ardun who had a rather alarmed look on his face. "Thank you for refereeing," I said before activating my Semblance, leaving the arena and most of my anger behind.

END OF SEMESTER ONE

A/N: Well, that was...dramatic. Kevin's hard to tick off, but he has a very nasty temper.

To the anonymous guest, if we are interpreting sentience as the ability to feel, then I think Penny qualifies. We've seen her concerned, surprised, happy, and a few other emotions. For all intents and purposes, Penny is a human who just happens to be made of metal.

I'm going to take a break from this story for a bit, but I'll be back fairly soon. Keep an eye out for the second semester.