"Greetings, students. I suppose you're wondering why I have gathered you all here. Recently, there has been a discovery regarding the outlying lands of our kingdom."

Ozpin had finally managed to gather the entire student body into the main hall and was simply buying time for everyone else. He was giving a speech, with Glynda and several other professors by his side.

"This new information has opened up several opportunities for missions in the villages nearby for first years, fourth years and everything in between."

Team RWBY was standing at the back of the group of people. Ruby cleared her throat and gestured towards the door. "Guys, let's go. I don't want to just sit around and wait here too long." Her team nodded in agreement, then slowly began to back out of the room. Withing moments, they were standing outside. Once they were sure no one had noticed them, they darted around the side of the building and headed towards the courtyard.

Ruby stopped near a fountain and pulled out her scroll. "Okay, I'm calling our weapons." She pointed her scroll towards the grass and pushed a sequence of buttons. A few seconds passed, then one locker firmly planted itself in the ground in front of them. The door opened and revealed their weapons. They quickly armed themselves, the Ruby faced her teammates. "Alright, let's go make sure nobody decided to skip out on Professor Ozpin's speech."

"Right."

The group quickly made their way towards the dorms and split up upon arriving. "Just poke your heads in any closed doors to make sure they're empty." After a few minutes of searching, Ruby motioned for everyone to come close to her and they gathered around her. "Okay, I don't see anyone here. Let's go meet up with my Dad and Uncle Qrow."

The walked away from the dorms and towards the room that held the group of hunters. Along the way, they kept their eyes open to look for any students they might see on their way.

Weiss walked forward slightly and grabbed Ruby's hand. "Hey, are you okay? You seem really stressed out."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just… this is my plan. If something goes wrong, it would be because of me. I've never had to make a plan for something like this before."

"You heard Ozpin. It wouldn't be your fault."

"I remember, but… that doesn't really make me feel better."

Weiss grabbed Ruby's hand in her own and squeezed slightly. "Just relax. Nothing bad has happened yet and even if something bad does happen, we have quite a few huntsman and huntresses here that are more than capable of containing a situation like this."

The younger girl sighed. "I guess you're right."

The look of worry didn't leave Ruby's face and Weiss noticed. "I think I know something that will make you feel better."

"And what's that?"

"If we make it through this, I will..." The heiress turned around and looked at Yang as Blake and a small blush appeared on her face. She leaned forward and whispered in Ruby's ear quiet enough that the other two girls couldn't hear.

Ruby's eyes widened and she turned a shade of red that rivaled her cape. "W-Wha… you… y-you mean..."

Weiss smiled and leaned back and stared straight ahead to avoid making eye contact with Ruby. "You heard me."

Ruby smiled and kissed Weiss on the cheek. "That did make me feel better."

Yang jogged forward and threw her arms around the couple. "Hey, what're you two talking about?"

"N-Nothing! Don't worry about it."

The blonde raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to Weiss. "Is that right?"

Weiss shook out of Yang's hold. "Yes."

Yang laughed. "Say what you want, but the red on your faces says otherwise."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Yang, just drop it, okay?"

"Alright, alright, I get it."

They walked forward for a few more seconds before Yang noticed Blake lagging behind the rest of the group. "Hey, you guys keep going. I'll catch up in a second. She turned around and walked over to her. "Hey, you okay?"

Blake nodded slowly, but her eyes constantly darted from side to side. "I'm fine. I'm just… listening."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm keeping an ear out for anything that sounds out of place, but my bow is giving me trouble." The faunus' eyes trailed upwards as she wiggled her cat ears beneathe her black bow. "It muffles all of the sound. It's almost like a constant scratching in my head whenever the bow moves. Normally, it doesn't bother me, but it's annoying today, considering everything we need to be ready for."

Yang threw her arm around her and tugged on the bow playfully. "Why don't you just take it off? It's just us here. Everyone else is at that assembly in the main hall."

Blake hung her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on. You look better without the bow, anyway."

"… What?"

"N-Nevermind." Yang withdrew her arm from Blake and dropped it to her side as a light shade of red covered her face. "Let's just… catch up with Ruby and Weiss." She grabbed Blake's hand and began to pull her in the direction of the other half of their team.

As Ozpin was giving his speech, Glynda's scroll began to go off. She stepped to the side and held it up to her ear. "James?"

"Glynda, it's time. I am about to start the training exercise and investigate my soldiers."

"Very well. I will inform the others." She put her scroll away and stepped towards Ozpin. He leaned away from the microphone so Glynda's voice wouldn't be heard by the students. "What is it?"

"Professor Ozpin, the mission is now underway."

The headmaster nodded. "Understood."

The blonde woman stepped back until she was next to the other professors. She leaned over to professor Oobleck and whispered in his ear. The green-haired man nodded, then quickly, but quietly, walked off the small stage.

Ozpin returned to his microphone and leaned down. "As I was saying, at the end of the day, we will assign missions to each team. Second-year teams will have the top priority, as they have enough experience to embark on a mission on their own, but still have opportunities to learn many things."

A student towards the back of the room raised his hand. Ozpin noticed and acknowledged him. "Yes?"

"What kind of discovery would open up so many missions? What was found?"

The headmaster sipped his coffee, then cleared his throat. "That… is something I can't quite discuss yet. It is currently under Atlas investigation, which is why there have been so many soldiers on campus as of late. Rest assured, it is nothing dangerous."

Ozpin's eyes scanned the crowd for Team RWBY. Upon noticing their absence, he took another sip of coffee and continued his speech. "Now, on to what types of missions have opened up..."

"Hey, dad."

Taiyang turned around to see Team RWBY walking towards him and Qrow. "Hey, girls. What are you doing here?"

"We managed to slip out of Ozpin's speech early and checked the dorms for students. We didn't find anyone, so we decided to head over here until things kick off."

Taiyang scratched the back of his head and yawned. "Well, we actually just got a call from Ironwood. He said he is about to start his little 'training exercise'."

"Oh, so I guess we got here just in time, then."

The blonde man nodded. "Looks that way."

The team sat down on some nearby benches and breathed slowly. The silence that had slowly built was broken by Yang. "So, what are we waiting for?"

Qrow grunted out a reply as he stretched. "We're waiting for James to give us the signal. Everything is on him right now, since he has the Mistrae right in front of him. I just wish he would hurry up."

Taiyang rolled his eyes. "Come on, Qrow. You know it's not easy to just randomly decide which one is the Grimm. He mentioned that it could even be two."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just tired of sitting around doing nothing."

"Well, if you think we c-" The blonde man was interrupted by his scroll ringing. He held it up to his ear and answered. "Hey, we were starting to wonder if y-"

"NOW!"

"… What?"

The next thing they heard was several gunshots near Ironwood's location. Taiyang stood up and put his scroll on speaker. "James, what's going on!"

"Just get over here! I can't ho-" The call went silent.

"James? James! Talk to me!" Taiyang looked at his scroll as the words 'Call Lost' flashed over and over again. He placed his scroll in his pocket and ran towards the room's exit. "Let's go!"

Qrow took a swig from his flask, then quickly followed the blonde man. "Well, it's about time. Come on, girls."

Team RWBY stood up and nodded. The quickly chased after the two huntsmen, but Ruby turned and stopped Yang. She looked back towards Weiss and Blake who were giving her curious glances. "You two go on ahead. I'll catch up before you know it."

The pair then turned and exited the room as Ruby faced her sister. "Ruby, what are you doing?"

"Yang, go back to the main hall and get the other professors. We might need them."

"What? No! I can help you guys fight!"

She attempted to make her way past Ruby, but the younger girl stopped her. "Listen, you're in no condition to fight. You're still in bad shape from the fight in that city. I know you're struggling with everything going on with you. I know you're in pain, I see it every day. Please… stay out of this."

"Ruby, that's ridiculous! I refuse to stay here while the rest of you are out there, fighting to defend the entire school!"

Tears began to form in the corners of Ruby's eyes. "Yang, I don't want to ask this of you. I want you out there with all of us. It feels wrong to fight with the team and have you not be there, but it's better this way. Your aura isn't completely healed yet. It wouldn't be safe."

"Ruby, I ca-"

Ruby placed her hands on her sister's shoulders, closed her eyes and hung her head. "Yang… please… for me."

The blonde's expression softened and she pulled out of her sister's grasp. "… Fine. But if you guys get into trouble out there, I'm coming to help."

"Thank you." Ruby hugged her sister, then ran towards the sounds of combat.

Yang stood in the empty room and looked at her hands. "I'm so useless… They need me out there and I can't even do anything to help them. Who am I kidding, after my daily training I can barely even walk." She formed a fist and punched a nearby wall, which created a small hole as the sound echoed throughout the room. "Damn it!"

She composed herself quickly and took a deep breath. "I guess I should listen to Ruby and go tell the other teachers." She made her way towards the opposite end of the room that her team had exited through, then glanced one last time towards the exit. "You guys better stay safe." She then ran through the entrance and headed toward the main hall.

The two huntsman and the remaining members of Team RWBY had run out of the building and were now standing in an open field. In the distance, they could see small explosions and, what appeared to be, the entire team of soldiers attacking Ironwood, who seemed to be fighting a losing battle.

Ruby gripped her weapon as it transformed into its scythe form. "What's going on over there?! Why is the whole army attacking him?!"

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Qrow grabbed his sword and ran towards the fight, followed quickly by the rest of the group.

As they got closer, they realized just how dire the situation was. Ironwood had been fighting the force of his entire fleet and was currently surrounded. Qrow jumped high into the air and landed beside him. He transformed his sword into its scythe form, then made several quick slashes at the group of soldiers. The sudden act of aggression caused them to back off slightly. "James, what happened here?"

"All of them..."

Qrow looked at the general. The left half of his body was bleeding in several spots and he was definitely approaching his limit. "What do you mean?"

"They were all Grimm."

"… What?" Qrow quickly dodged a strike from one of the Mistrae and swung his scythe, aiming for the Grimm's neck. The creature's head flew high into the air and landed right next to Ironwood. "How are they all Grimm? I thought it was only one or two?"

"I don't know. I to-" The general was cut off as another Grimm came in for an attack – one that Qrow didn't notice. The Grimm, which was disguised as a soldier, changed into its original form and lunged directly towards Ironwood's neck. However, before anyone could react, the creature let out a shriek of pain and fell to the ground. Qrow studied the body as it disappeared and a wide, short blade was stuck in the ground where it landed. Attached to the blade was a long, narrow handle and the entire weapon seemed to radiate heat.

Qrow looked at the weapon and smirked. "I was wondering when you were going to jump in here with us, Tai."

Taiyang pulled his weapon out of the ground and threw it over his shoulders. "It's not my fault you're faster than me. If you wouldn't have just ran up here as fast as you could then we would have been able to surprise a few more of them."

The dark-haired hunter chuckled. " You took off before I did. You're just slow. Looks like your age is getting to you."

The three men looked at the large group of Mistrae in front of them. They weren't attacking. After a few seconds, the "soldiers" slowly backed away until they were standing in a line. They smirked and raised their guns.

Taiyang stood in front of Qrow and Ironwood. The soldiers fired, but didn't hit their target. The blonde man stabbed his polearm into the ground and a large, yellow circle appeared in front of the group of hunters. The bullets sped forward and hit the circle, then ricocheted back towards the Grimm.

Taiyang grunted and crouched down. Qrow held out his hand and helped the blonde man up. "Thanks. It's been awhile since I've done that."

The sound of guns clicking pulled the trio's attention towards the group of Mistrae.

"They're getting ready to fire again!"

Shots rang out, but once again, missed their mark. "Dad, be more careful."

Taiyang looked up and saw Ruby staring back at him with a smile. "You picked the perfect time to jump in."

"Well, don't thank me, that was all Weiss."

The heiress was staring at the group of Grimm while a light blue barrier sat in front of her. "I'm just glad we got here in time."

Qrow looked around and noticed that one of their group was missing. "Hey, where'd Yang go? She was just with us."

"She went to let the other teachers know what we were doing. I asked her to."

"What? Why?"

"I don't want her getting hurt. Last time we fought these things..." Ruby shook her head. "I just don't want something bad to happen to her."

"Well, I can't argue with you there. I would rather her not get hurt, either."

The group looked ahead as the group of soldiers snarled at the hunters. Weiss backed up until she was standing next to Ruby. She then looked at Taiyang. "So, how did this happen? Why are they all Grimm? HOW are they all Grimm?"

"That's a question for the general." Taiyang turned to Ironwood. "James?"

The general shook his head. "I don't know. I didn't exactly have a chance to ask them."

Qrow gripped his weapon tightly and strode forward to the front of the group. "Well, here's our chance." He stabbed the handle of his scythe into the ground and locked eyes with a Mistrae in the middle of the group of Grimm. "What are you doing here?"

The Grimm growled and walked forward slightly. It bared it's teeth, then slowly morphed into Qrow. "What are you doing here?"

The hunter glared. "Don't mock me. I'm askin' you a question, you bastard."

"Don't mock me. I'm askin' you a question, you bastard."

Qrow pulled his scythe out of the ground. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way."

The creature's eyes glowed a bright red. "That's a bad way to get information."

The hunter's eyes widened in shock. "So, you can talk."

The Grimm said nothing.

"How did you manage to turn into an entire military?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't worry about that." A grin worked its way onto the creature's face.

"What are you talking about?"

"We've been here for plenty of time. What makes you think we are only in the military?"

Qrow's face fell. "Ruby, take your team and get to the main hall!"

"Got it!"

Ruby, Blake, and Weiss started to run back towards the school, but as they did so, several Grimm began to raise their weapons. Before they could fire, Taiyang jumped in front of the girls and blocked any attack that threatened to hit them. "You're gonna have to try harder than that." He glanced back and watched the three members of Team RWBY until they disappeared behind the large doors that led inside the school.

Qrow, Taiyang, and Ironwood stood side by side and glared at the Mistrae in front of them. "So, you guys ready?"

The three hunters readied themselves and took their fighting stances as the Grimm lunged. "Bring it on."

Ruby, Blake, and Weiss sprinted through the halls of the school. They turned down one of the many hallways and arrived at a large set of doors which led to the main hall. Blake listened closely, then caught her teammate's attention. "Guys, stop."

"Why?"

The faunus held up her hand. "Listen."

They craned their necks towards the main hall and heard Ozpin continuing his speech as if nothing had happened. Blake let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "I think we're good for now. It sounds like everything is going alright in there."

"Good." Ruby walked forward and gently pushed open the doors.

The students were still there, listening to the speech. Ozpin noticed the four girls enter and simply nodded in their direction. He then turned behind him and said something to Glynda that no one else could hear. The woman then nodded and walked off stage and out of the room.

Ruby started to walk towards the stage, but was stopped by Yang. "Ruby, what are you doing here? What happened to Dad and Qrow?"

"They're fine for now. We came to talk to the other teachers."

"Did something happen?"

"Uh… yeah. Where did professor Goodwitch go?"

Yang pointed towards one of the room's many exits. "She's been in and out of that door a few times. It leads into her office."

"Well, we need to talk to her."

Yang began walking towards the door and gestured for her teammates to follow her. "Alright, come on." They made their way over to the door and opened it. It opened as if there was a force pulling it from the other side.

As the door opened, Glynda Goodwitch stared at the team surprisingly. "Oh, what are you girls doing here?"

Ruby stepped forward. "We need to talk to you, professor."

"About what, exactly?"

Ruby and the rest of her team stepped over the threshold that separated the room from the main hall and shut the door. "The Grimm mentioned that they might be more of them then we thought. And some of them could be in the main hall. My dad sent us over here to let you know."

Glynda's eyes widened. "The Mistrae, they… said this themselves?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah."

"That is very troubling. I will inform Ozpin. You need to get back to your father."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ruby, Blake, and Weiss turned and started to make their way back to the other three hunters currently fighting the Mistrae. When they were out of sight, Glynda turned to Yang. "Yang, why didn't you go with them?"

The blonde hung her head. "Ruby asked me to stay here since my aura isn't up to par yet."

"I see. That is understandable and, probably, the best course of action." Glynda stepped back into the main hall. "Feel free to wait in my office , or the main hall if you wish."

"Thank you, Professor."

The blonde woman smiled. "You're welcome." She shut the door and walked back up onto the stage. She looked at the faces of the students in front of her. Her mind filled with thoughts of how some of them, somehow, could actually be Mistrae, and there was no way to tell without causing mass panic.

She breathed deeply and closed her eyes. "This isn't good."

Hey, guys, I'm still alive! The story isn't dead either! I know I've been away for a while, so let me give you guys an explanation.

The week after I posted the previous chapter in this story, I ended up leaving town for three days. Sadly, that meant I couldn't write. It sucked, but I thought, "This isn't the end of the world, I'll just post the next chapter the next week." THEN, that week came and I still hadn't written anything.

I got hit super hard by Life for these past three or so weeks. so my writing has been suffering. I know you guys have been waiting for the next chapter, and I'm sorry I made you all wait. I hope you didn't lose your interest in the story.

I also apologize if the chapter is somewhat... lackluster. It was written over a three-week period since I was having trouble finding time to write. Honestly, I'll probably come back and refine it at some point, but you guys have waited long enough. I think it turned out alright, though.

Anyway, I now have all of my issues sorted out, so I should be able to post regularly until this story is finished. That is, if League of Legends doesn't suck me back in. Pre-Season is coming up, after all...

Well, that's all from me. Sorry that you guys had to wait so long. I hope you liked this chapter and I'll see y'all in the next one!

:D