*Adam, OOH Ruby, Jenkins, Melody and Hector have just gotten done repairing the security room. All of them having a look of relief on their faces. Except for Hector.*
Adam: Good God Melody, your kids ANNIHILATED this place.
OOH Ruby: I don't remember Alicia being THIS rambunctious.
Jenkins: Well, all the kids ARE Kitsune. We're known for being, playful.
Melody: Yeah, playful.
Hector: Oh, is that what you call it?
"Alrighty Jaune, here ya go." Yang said, tossing the book Jaune, knocking the poor lad to the floor.
"Oof!" Jaune grunted as he hit the ground.
"Yang, would ya NOT throw the book at Jaune next time?" Tronmaster asked, causing Yang to chuckle nervously.
"Anyway, I think it's time for Jaune to read, right?" Raven asked, Alicia nodding.
"Alrighty, let's go." Jaune said, opening the book.
[No P.O.V.]
"Guess we're back to no narration from a character." Penny said.
"Hey, it helps if we get into a sudden action sequence." Summer said, making Penny nod in response.
Ruby and Weiss stood side by side in the elevator to the headmasters office, it was the morning after the dance and the two were slightly nervous.
"Considering what happened the night before, I don't blame you two for being nervous." winter said.
It didn't help that Ruby was shaking so much when she got on the elevator she accidentally pressed four other buttons on the elevator, followed by Yang deciding to slap the rest of them to delay them even longer.
"So, that explains the complaints of the elevator malfunctioning." Glynda said, glaring at Yang.
"See! I told you!" Ruby cried out.
"Really Yang?" Summer asked, facepalming.
"So... How did you enjoy our dance last night?" Ruby asked nervously.
This caused Weiss to jump slightly, "I-I rather enjoyed it Ruby, minus the infiltrator." Weiss said.
"Ah, teenage love..." Alicia sighed.
Ruby patted Weiss on the back, "Hey, at least your record isn't as bad as mine, oh for three right now." Ruby joked.
"Hey, at least you can joke about what happened." Qrow said, chuckling.
"Yeah, no one found it funny." Ruby deadpanned.
"I suppose that's true, but I can't believe I missed the Scan so narrowly." Weiss sighed.
"Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades." Tronmaster said.
"Amen." Qrow added, nodding.
"At least we learned about that Virus." Shiva said, "I hope everyone has figured out a way to deal with it."
"Still, at least we know the enemy has someone tech savvy on their side." Alexander said, "This means Atlas could be vulnerable to attack... In fact I'm amazed the NG hasn't attempted any cyber attacks yet."
"It could still be possible." Weiss said, "They might already have some kind of stealth virus that's awaiting remote activation."
"Weiss, leave the doom and gloom to Blake." Penny said.
"Weiss..." Shiva stressed, "Leave the doom and gloom to Blake."
"Hey look, an echo." Jaune said with a chuckle.
It was then the elevator dinged one last time and opened to reveal Ozpin's office occupied by Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood. "Sorry we took so long." Ruby apologized, "Someone accidentally hit all the buttons in the elevator on the way up here."
"It wasn't anyone on our team." Weiss lied, she really couldn't bring herself to throw one of her crushes under the bus for something as trivial as this.
"Aww, how sweet of you Weissy." Yang said, winking, "But, you're not exactly my type."
"Tell that to all the Freezerburn shippers." Tronmaster said, chuckling.
"Thank you for coming Ruby, Weiss, how are you two feeling?" Ozpin asked.
"Just hunky dory, thanks." Weiss said, rolling her eyes.
"Okay I guess, I'd feel better if my bad guy count wasn't oh for three." Ruby admitted, "And that's not counting all that's happened with the NG."
"I'd feel better if I hadn't flubbed my attempt to figure out who the Intruder was." Weiss said glumly.
"Hey, sometimes shit happens." Tronmaster said, "Like, for instance, in the main timeline, Raven has Weiss captured, and plans to ransom her back to her 'father.'" Tronmaster finished, practically spitting that last word.
"Never, would I EVER go back to that bastard." Weiss growled.
"Ruby, Weiss." General Ironwood said, "I fell it is appropriate to let you know, that I think what you did last night was exactly what being huntsmen is all about. You recognized a threat and took action, and you did the very best you could. I'm sure your mother is proud of you Ruby and that the same can be said between you and your sister Weiss."
"At least James gave you two some praise." Summer said, smiling.
"Even if it does have the shittiest phrasing?" Tronmaster asked.
"Now the general here has already informed us of the events that... transpired last night." Ozpin said, "But now that you've rested we were wondering if you had anything to add." Ozpin asked.
"Was anyone else with her, did she look familiar to you two?" Glynda asked.
"Well, it's Cinder, so, yeah." Ruby said.
"Not really I'm afraid." Weiss said, "But she definitely isn't a member of the NEO Galbadians, as evidenced by her attacking NG soldiers."
"Yes, I'm currently in the process of scanning over my troops as of this moment in regards to the latter." Ironwood said.
"She attacked with glass most likely, though with her clothes lighting up with each attack I suspect it's more likely that she had weaved Dust into her clothes." Weiss said.
"Embedding dust into clothing is an age old technique, it could have been anyone." Ironwood said.
"Unless that person happens to have stolen half of the Fall Maiden's powers." Qrow spat.
"But, we didn't know that it was Cinder at the time." Glynda added.
"Wait, you think this girl's connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ruby asked.
"Seriously, how could I not see that Cinder was evil?" Ruby asked.
"Don't worry about it mom." Alicia said, "You'll feel better once we get to the break."
"It's possible, but we still lack the required evidence to link the two together." Ozpin said.
"Actually, I think I remember her saying something about a hideout or something in the southeast, just outside the kingdoms." Ruby said.
"Except, she didn't say anything, did she?" Qrow asked.
"Not a single word." Ruby sighed.
Weiss resisted the urge to facepalm, "Well she said it was more like an operation than a hideout." Weiss added, attempting to make the story slightly more believable.
"Certainty would've helped my case out." Ruby said.
"Interesting." Ozpin said. "Thank you for your cooperation you two, why don't you go spend some time with your team, you have a big day ahead of you."
"Yep, our first official mission!" Ruby squealed.
"Yes, one that was restricted to at least a second-year team." Glynda scolded.
The moment the two members of Team RWBY entered their dorm Yang and Blake were on them in a heartbeat, wanting to know what happened, which the duo explained.
"That probably could have gone just a bit smoother." Blake said, "At least it went better than it would have been with Ruby going alone."
"Hey!" Ruby pouted.
"Really feeling the love Blake." Ruby pouted, much like her other.
"Don't worry about it too much Ruby." Weiss said, giving the red reaper a peck on the lips.
"Thanks snowcone." Ruby said, smiling.
"I'm sure everything will be alright. Oh I know what will cheer you up Ruby!" Yang said happily walking over to a table.
"I know what's coming up." Blake groaned, Raiden chirping in response, reminding everyone of his presence.
"What's that?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know yet, Dad sent it to us, I thought we could open it together." Yang said holding up a small tube.
"Oh something from home!" Ruby squealed then sped over to Yang and wrapped her legs around Yang and tried to reach for the tube, flailing her arms in a desperate attempt to reach it.
'Too cute.' Weiss thought with a blush.
This lasted for a second until Yang gave the tube a shake and something fell out, a small cylinder of fur, the tube suddenly jumped, then a second time, then it popped out into the form of a familiar small brown a white Corgi. The four pf them leaned in to inspect the dog, with the GF's appearing and leaning in as well, the little Corgi barked twice.
"ZWEI!" Ruby and Yang both cheered, jumping up.
"And here we go." Blake sighed.
"YOU SENT YOUR FUCKING DOG IN THE MAIL?!" Glynda shouted, causing the three Faunus to cover their ears.
This resulted in screams from the Huntresses in training, two of joy, two of shock.
"Ow..." Sun groaned.
"Jesus Christ, that was so loud I could hear it from here." Jenkins said over the intercom.
"Oh Jenkins, you'll live. A little tinnitus never hurt anyone." Tronmaster said.
"Zwei!" Ruby cheered suddenly before picking up the Corgi and coddling it.
"He sent a dog?" Blake asked.
"In the mail?" Weiss asked.
"Oh yeah, Tai does this kind of stuff repeatedly. Ifrit said.
"Dammit all Tai." Summer, Raven and Qrow sighed, facepalming.
"Wow." Alicia said, finally regaining her bearings.
"Aww... he's so cute~" Shiva cooed as she tickled the Corgi's belly.
"Are you telling me, that this mangy, drooling, mutt, is going to be wive us foweva, oh yes he is." Weiss said as she began to play with Zwei.
"And now, the Corgi claims another victim thanks to his cuteness." Yang said.
"And thus the Corgi has claimed another victim to his cuteness." Alexander said.
"Please keep it away from my belongings." Blake said flatly from Ruby's bed.
"Jeez Blake, why so nervous?" Nora asked.
"Well, for one thing, she's a cat Faunus, and while not all cat Faunus has an aversion to dogs, Aunt Blake being an ex-White Fang member probably hasn't given her a good opinion on dogs." Alicia explained, Blake nodding in response.
Then the intercom came on, "Will all first year student please report to the amphitheater." the intercom announced.
"Huh, I just realized something." Tronmaster said.
"What is it babe?" Alicia asked.
"It's been five years since the 'Red' trailer for RWBY first premiered." Tronmaster replied, some tears rolling down his face.
"Huh?" Ruby asked.
"The first trailer for RWBY. Your show, came out five years ago today." Alicia replied.
"Wow, five years." Yang breathed, "That's a long time."
"Well we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week." Weiss said as Ruby put Zwei down, Zwei quickly ran below where Bake was at.
"Get that demon canine away from me." Blake said, now looking at Raiden with suspicion.
"Look there's a letter." Yang said pulling out a piece of paper, "Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of, enclosed is all the food you should need, love you both, Taiyang." Yang read as Zwei ran over.
"How exactly are you suppose to fit a whole bunch of dog food into-" Neptune said, before Jaune continued to read.
Yang tipped the tube over and cans of dog food fell out on top of Zwei forming a small pile, "What's he supposed to do with that?" Weiss asked, Yang shook the tube once again and a can opener fell out.
Looking at Sun, Neptune, Glynda, Penny, Winter,and team JNPR, all of their faces had an expression of pure, unadulterated shock plastered on them.
"Wh-what? HOW?!" Penny said, utterly dumbfounded.
"Good old fashion Xiao Long ingenuity." Tai said proudly, Yang adopting the same expression.
"I call it breaking every known law of physics." Jaune said before continuing to read.
"Welp that settles it, come on everybody, Zwei will be here when we get back." Yang said as she left, Weiss cooed Zwei a bit more as she left, Blake jumped off the table trying not to be near Zwei.
'You really don't like dogs, do you?" Pyrrha asked Blake, who nodded.
Ruby however stayed behind, not wanting to leave Zwei behind, and then she got an idea that caused Alexander to groan.
"What's Ruby's ingenious plan?" Sun asked.
"Oh, shit." Ruby mumbled.
Ruby's ingenious plan... was to hide Zwei in her Beacon issued Backpack.
"Uh, pardon?" Tai and Qrow asked at the same time.
She arrived in the amphitheater and placed her backpack among others, making sure her name was tagged onto hers.
"Wow..." Neptune said.
"I just, I just don't..." Glynda sighed.
"Quiet, quiet please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Glynda said as Professor Ozpin stepped into the middle of the stage.
"Fortunately, I have some water." Tronmaster said, holding out a jug of water.
"Is this a long one?" Jaune asked, Tronmaster nodding in response. Jaune took the jug.
"Today we stand together, united. Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, Vale. Four kingdoms of Remnant." Ozpin said looking around the crowd, "On this day nearly eighty years ago, the largest war ever recorded in history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of fear, and oppression. A war that was about much more than what borders pushed where of who traded with who, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self expression. And as you are well aware that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny named their children after one of the core aspects of art itself, color. It was their way of setting it straight that not only they refused to tolerate this oppression, but neither the generations to come, and it is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity, through diversity. As I said today we stand together, united, but there's still a bond that cannot exist without effort, which is why today when the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses fight to uphold it. As first year students you'll be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission, some of you may be taken outside of the Kingdom for several days, others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."
After reading that monster of a paragraph, Jaune took a massive gulp of his water.
"Well, at least this was better than his speech at the start of the year." Winter said.
"Jeez, this is better than his year starting speech." Ifrit grumbled.
"I don't think this is a speech he wrote." Shiva said.
"Yeah, this one seemed more... practiced." Diablos said, "As if this speech is mandatory."
"It is, I can confirm it." Glynda said.
"I secretly think that Ozpin might be a bit of a sick bastard." Ren said, shocking everyone.
"This is perfect, all we have to do is shadow a huntsman working in the southeast." Ruby said excitedly.
"Yeah we'll follow him around by day and give him the slip the slip by night." Yang said.
"Really?" All of team STRQ asked team RWBY, who all looked away sheepishly.
"Let's check search and destroy." Weiss said as they went over to the message board.
"Here we go, quadrant five needs Grimm cleared out." Ruby said as she examined the board.
"Mountain Glenn." Ruby sighed.
"Well it's in the southeast." Blake said.
"Sounds perfect." Yang said as Ruby signed them up for the mission, only to be denied because it was unavailable to first years.
"You ended up going anyway, didn't you?" Winter asked.
"Yep." Weiss replied sheepishly.
"Really?" Diablos asked, "Come on, we can go toe to toe with the NG, why aren't we getting special exceptions!?"
"Again, we are just first years." Blake said, making Diablos sigh.
"Wonderful." Weiss said sarcastically.
"Any other idea's?" Blake asked.
"We mail ourselves there." Ruby said dramatically.
"Guess those are the Xiao Long genes coming into play." Summer sighed.
"Yep." Tai said proudly.
"Normally I'd say that would be impossible..." Alexander said, "But Tai managed to cram a dog into a tube..."
"Remind me to ask what that's all about." Shiva said.
"What IS the reason behind that anyway?" Weiss asked as Raiden chirped again, catching a berry that Alicia had.
"Well that's one option." Ozpin said walking up, not hearing the GF's due to them keeping hidden from those without a GF, "Unfortunately we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first year students, it seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact I have the sneaking suspicion that the four of you will make your way there no matter what job you choose." Ozpin said.
"What makes you say that?" Ruby asked attempting to be subtle.
"Yeah, he was on to us." Yang said.
"No duh." Ruby added.
"I'm still curious as to how all found yourselves at the docks last semester, I'm interested to know how you really learned about a hideout in the southeast, and I certainly wonder why, witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals at a dance club some time ago." Ozpin said.
"Wait, I wasn't anywhere near Junior's club that night." Ruby said, placing her hand on her chin.
"And, I didn't see anyone besides Yang and I when the Paladin was chasing Blake and Sun." Neptune added.
"What's your game, Oz?" Qrow asked.
No one could find the words to answer... Especially that last one.
"I don't remember The Paladin being anywhere near Juniors... At least not while people were outside." Ifrit said.
"And Ruby never used her Semblance near his place." Alexander stated, "Back when Yang leveled the place."
"I won't get mad at you for that Yang." Summer said, "But drinking BEFORE you graduate? Yeah, your ass is grounded young lady. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes ma." Yang said, dejected.
"I don't know if I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for, so how about this, instead of waiting for you to break the rules, why don't we just bend them. Besides, I'd say the Guardian Force's with you and Team JNPR allow you some... Special Privileges." Ozpin said as he accessed his scroll to allowthe team to take the mission.
"Clever work Oz." Qrow said, grinning.
"Dear Oum, I'm getting a migraine thanks to that man." Glynda said, rubbing her temples.
"Thank you!" Diablos shouted.
"I am SO lucky no one could hear me or see me." Diablos said sheepishly.
"Yeah, except us." Blake said.
"We won't let you down, thank you professor." Ruby said.
"Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far. But you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory." Ozpin said as he walked off, then leaned back, "Good luck."
"Yeah, our mission was great." Ruby said, "Except we were with Doctor Oobleck."
"Wait, you were with Barty?" Raven asked, as she began to laugh, "Out of everyone at Beacon, I miss that crazed coffee addict the most."
"That wasn't exactly uplifting." Yang said.
"But it's the truth." Blake said.
"It's gonna be tough but I know we can do it." Ruby said.
"That's the right attitude to have Ruby." Tai said, praising his youngest daughter.
"You guys are already at a level most Garden Student's are granted the privilege to become full SeeD mercenaries." Ifrit said as he smirked.
"You, aren't incorrect." Shiva admitted.
"Hey Team CFVY is back." A student said running ahead of us, Blake ran up to Velvet.
"Velvet, are you alright?" Blake asked.
"I'm fine I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me." Velvet said.
"I just noticed, Velvet's blushing, isn't she?" Ruby asked.
"Huh? Oh, she's right." Pyrrha responded.
"Let me guess, there's a ship involving miss Scarlatina and mister Daichi, isn't there?" Glynda asked Tronmaster and Alicia, both nodding in response.
"Your mission was supposed to end a week ago. What happened?" Weiss asked.
"Nothing happened, it was just, there were just so many." Velvet said, "Oh but don't worry you first years are just shadowing huntsmen."
"Right." Yang said.
"I still can't believe that Ozpin just let you guys go." Winter said.
"Hey, we stopped the White Fang, didn't we?" Weiss asked.
"True." Winter admitted.
"I should go, be safe okay." Velvet said and left.
"We can do this, we've never backed down before and we're not going to start now." Ruby said.
"Right." Blake said.
"Besides it won't only be us, we'll be fighting alongside a genuine huntsman!" Ruby cheered.
"Except it's Doctor Oobleck who we're with." Yang said, Raven still laughing.
"Yeah!" Yang cheered.
All that cheered drained away as soon as they learned who they were shadowing, "Why hello young girls, who's ready to fight for their lives?" Dr. Oobleck asked.
"Professor Oobleck?" Weiss asked.
"Oh, shit." Weiss cursed.
"Yes I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary team seeing as you have opted to shadow a huntsman on what is now officially a reconnaissance mission, I can assure you we will not be establishing a single base of operations rather we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp at any defensible locations we may stumble upon, I factored all our essentials myself plotted the air course and readied the airship. AND, it's Doctor Oobleck." Oobleck ranted, "Now according to my schedule we are already three minutes behind schedule."
"Dear Oum, and I thought Ruby was hyper." Penny said.
"Hey!" Ruby shouted in protest.
"Whatever is in that thermos I gotta get me some of that." Diablos said.
"No, no you don't." Glynda, Summer, Tai and Qrow said in tandem.
"No, no you don't."
"Who said that?" Neptune asked.
At that moment a cloud of white petals filled the air, blinding the group for a moment as Summer pulled Ruby and Yang into a hug, "Good luck on your mission you two." Summer said kissing both girls on the forehead, "You're heading to Mountain Glenn, and there are a lot of Grimm there so please be careful."
"Well, it's better than dealing with mutated Grimm." Tronmaster said.
"Doctor Merlot?" Glynda asked.
"Yep." Tronmaster replied.
"We'll be fine mom." Ruby said, "Don't worry, the GF's won't give the Grimm an easy time, heck we could probably keep them out full time... Oh wait..."
"Smooth babe." Weiss said sarcastically.
Mist Dragon appeared smiling, "Don't worry, Barty's already aware of us, you can thank me for that." Mist Dragon said.
"Any bets on how Barty reacted?" Tai asked.
"He was probably ecstatic." Qrow replied.
"Four minutes!" Oobleck shouted from the bullhead.
"Isn't he strict to his schedule." Mist Dragon deadpanned.
"Y-you don't, you don't know the half of it!" Raven said, her laughter finally dying down.
Slate grumbled as he walked up to the broken wall that served as the Mountain Glenn entrance.
"Great, back with the racist jackass." Pyrrha said.
"Yeah, I think it's accepted that we all hate Slate." Ren said.
"How the hell can I kill off the murder urge when there aren't any Grimm around?" Slate growled as he loaded his gunblade, "Well, at least the Stealth Ops got information about the White Fang here... I'm sure a few deaths of them here could easily be pinned on the Grimm, I just gotta kill the ones in small groups."
"Slate licked his lips, "Time to get started."
"Ooh, can you start by killing Adam?" Yang asked, "And better yet, yourself?"
"I hope he ends up getting killed off at some point." Jaune said as the book closed.
"Well, that was fun." Qrow said.
"We're nearing the end of the volume!" Ruby cheered.
*Adam, OOH Ruby, Jenkins, Melody and Hector were busy watching a set of Scooby-Doo DVDs. When a holographic message appeared on the screen.*
Hey guys, I apologize for not getting this, or any of my stories out recently. Life stuff, plus, I've been playing Fire Emblem Awakening lately. And enjoying it. So, no new chapter of Reading RGF this week. And, by the time this gets out, it will be a bit belated, but happy five year anniversary RWBY! And Monty, wherever you are, we love you, and we miss you.