"It's like there's no end to these damn things!"

"What's wrong? Are you gettin' tired, old man?"

Qrow, Taiyang, and Ironwood were still fighting the group of Mistrae. It had been a while since Team RWBY had left to go talk to the other teachers. The hunters were outnumbered and the battle was beginning to take its toll on them.

Taiyang turned to Qrow and jumped close to him, striking down an attacking Grimm in the process. "Hey, you're just as old as I am, you know."

The dark-haired man chuckled. "Well, at least you're keeping up. It's good to see that the teaching life hasn't made you lose your step."

"Just because I'm a teacher doesn't mean I forgot how to fight."

Ironwood stepped between the two hunters. "Save your banter until after we've dealt with these things." He raised his gun and shot two quickly approaching Mistrae.

There were countless Grimm in front of them. The hunters looked on and readied their weapons. Qrow then leaned over to the two hunters and his voice fell to a whisper. "Honestly… I'm not sure just how long we can keep this up. After all, there's only three of u-"

The hunter was cut off as a group of Mistrae charged at them. They turned to fight, but as they took their battle stances, a spiral of fire appeared in front of them and engulfed the approaching Grimm. The trio turned away from the immense heat and shielded their faces.

After a few seconds, they heard footsteps behind them. They quickly spun around, ready to fight, but were relieved as they saw familiar, spiky, green hair, which belonged to a tall man holding a thermos. "Well, it appears that you three could use some assistance."

"Guys, hurry up! We need to get back out there!"

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were making their way back to the battle between the Mistrae. When they were about halfway there, Blake stopped. "Guys… you go on ahead. I'm going to head back to the main hall."

"Why?"

Blake grabbed her arm nervously. "I don't want to leave Yang by herself. If there are Mistrae back there, I want to make sure she's safe."

"There are plenty of teachers back there if things get bad. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I know, but…" The faunus sighed and a blush crept onto her face. "I just want to be there myself."

Ruby shook her head. "Okay… When you find her, stay with her. When everything has calmed down, come ge-" Ruby was cut off as a loud boom came from the direction of the main hall.

The girls started to run in that direction, when another boom came from the direction of Taiyang, Qrow and Ironwood. The three girls stared at each other with horrified expressions. They quickly composed themselves, then split up. Ruby and Weiss headed towards the direction of the three huntsmen, while Blake ran towards the main hall.

Blake made use of her semblance as best she could, using the clones to propel her forward whenever possible. Less than a minute passed and she could see the entrance to the main hall. As she approached the doors and opened them, her face fell.

The room was completely destroyed. It was empty and there were scorch marks, piles of rubble and craters littered throughout the room. Blake walked into the area and her eyes began to wander around the room. "… What happened in here?" Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something. Yang.

She darted around the room and looked for the blonde. She had no idea where anyone else was, or if the others were doing alright. Right now, she was focused on finding her partner. After a few moments, the sounds movement behind her drew Blake's attention.

Standing before her was a shocked, beaten, blonde girl with tears in her eyes. "… B-Blake..."

The faunus' eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "… Yang?"

"Blake… I- I don't..."

The dark-haired girl ran over to her partner and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Yang, what happened? Are you hurt?"

Yang shook her head. "I'm okay. They were disguised as the students… The Mistrae."

"I Know." Blake took another glance around the area. "What happened? Where are the teachers?"

The blonde looked around the room with a shocked expression on her face. "I don't know. I was in Goodwitch's office when it started. When I came out here, everyone was gone."

Blake sighed. "Okay, well, let's go find them." She grabbed Yang's hand and began to pull her toward the entrance of the room.

As they reached the doors, Yang spoke up. "Wait, where are the others?"

"They're-" Suddenly a thought popped into Blake's head. "It's extremely doubtful… but I need to make sure that this is really Yang." She took a breath, then spoke. "Ruby and Weiss are fighting with Taiyang, Qrow, Ironwood… and Zwei."

Yang smiled. "That's good. I'm glad they're okay."

The faunus nodded. "You and me both. Zwei was looking a little worse for wear, but his semblance is keeping him in check."

"Well, let's hope that he can pull through. If the other's are there with him, he should be alright."

Blake's eyes widened and she turned around to face away from Yang. "Yeah… I think he'll be okay." She quickly gripped her weapon and spun around, striking at Yang."

The blonde jumped backward. "What are you doing?"

Blake's gaze narrowed. "The real Yang would know that Zwei is a dog."

Blake stared into the eyes of her partner as they slowly turned red. "Damn it. I guess this can't be helped." The imposter walked forward and readied its copy of Ember Celica. "You could have made this a whole lot easier."

"Where. Is. My. Partner."

Her question was met with a smirk. "What are you talking about? I'm right here."

The faunus' gaze narrowed. "I guess I'll just force the answer out of you." She then raised Gambol Shroud and charged forward.

"Dad!"

Taiyang turned to see Ruby and Weiss running up to them. "Ruby, where's Blake?"

The two girls ran up to the blonde man. "She went back to the main hall. When we were heading back this way, we heard an explosion in that direction. Blake went that way when we came back here. We heard an explosion here, too. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, for now. The explosion you heard was probably Ironwood. He wiped out a good chunk of those things a minute ago with a pretty big attack."

The conversation was cut short as several howls rang out through the area. Ruby looked in front of her and noticed that several Mistrae had reverted back to their normal form. "They changed?"

"Yeah. They also haven't been fighting as hard as they were before." Taiyang pointed behind his back with his thumb. "Once Oobleck showed up they started to back off a little bit. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one."

Ruby looked at the green-haired man behind Taiyang. "Oobleck? I didn't know he was here."

"Yeah he showed up when you gi-" The hunter was interrupted as a Mistrae lunged at him. Taiyang quickly ducked, then threw an elbow into the creatures stomach while it was overhead, which caused the Grimm to howl in pain. It landed hard on the ground, at which point taiyang picked it up by its long tail and spun it around his head, before throwing it back into another group of Mistrae.

Ruby and Weiss were dumbfounded. "Did you just…" Ruby shook her head. "Nevermind. Where do you need us?"

The blonde man shrugged. "I'm not sure we do need you, actually. The fact that they're backing off a little has me relieved but concerned at the same time. Things aren't dire at the moment, soI think you two should go meet back up with Blake and find Yang."

Ruby rolled her eyes and sighed. "So… back into the school… again."

Taiyang chuckled and ruffled Ruby's hair. "Well, look at it this way. You're huntresses defending your school from attack. You've been training for something like this. You have a mission and it is up to you to carry it out."

Weiss nodded. "Ruby, he's right. Let's go."

"Right." She looked back at her father once more, who simply smiled. "Be safe, Dad." With that said, she and Weiss made their way back towards the school. As they reached the entrance, Ruby glanced one last time at the group of people fighting outside, then headed into the school.

The pair sprinted through the school until they reached the main hall. Upon reaching the open doors which led inside the room, they stopped. Ruby's mouth fell open and she brought her hand up as she took in a sharp breath of air. "Oh my god..."

Slowly, they walked into the room and took everything in. Ruby stepped into the middle of the room and looked around, then turned to Weiss. "We need to find Blake and Yang. Now."

"Ruby, we have no idea where they could be."

"Weiss, there were teachers here; professional hunters and huntresses. If they're gone, what do you think happened to Blake and Yang?! Yang can't even fight right now!" Ruby walked over to a pile of debris and started to rummage through it.

Weiss walked over to her and placed an arm on her shoulder. "Ruby, what are you doing?"

Ruby looked up at her with tears in her eyes. "Yang could be under here! Or Blake! What if there's another student buried under here?!"

"Ruby… the room is empty. If anyone was…" Weiss took a deep breath before she continued. " If anyone was… dead… there would be, you know, bodies around. There wouldn't be only buried ones." The heiress grabbed Ruby's hands in her own. "Besides, if they're alive, they could be somewhere else and they could be in trouble. It would be better to look for them elsewhere, first."

Ruby sighed and stood up. "… I guess you're right. I just…" Ruby shook her head and wiped her eyes. "Let's just go find them."

The older girl helped Ruby up, the looked toward the main entrance of the school. "Where should we start?"

"We could start at the entrance and go from there, or check the dorms. Blake was here. If things got bad, she might have taken Yang to our room."

"Well, I would say we could split up and check both areas, but I don't think that would be a very good idea right now."

Weiss nodded. "I have to agree."

"I guess we should check the dorms first."

The heiress gestured in front of her. "Alright, lead the way."

Yang sat up slowly. The first thing that she noticed was that she had an awful headache. She raised a hand and rubbed the back of her head, but felt something wet. She brought her hand in front of her face and slowly opened her eyes. "What the hell..." Her hand was covered in blood. She looked at her other hand and noticed it was clean, for the most part. She then raised her other hand and touched the back of her head, then brought it forward. Blood again. "Crap… that's not good."

The blonde slowly stood up and took in her surroundings. The room she was in was in shambles. "Whoa… what happened here? The last thing I remember was being in Goodwitch's office. Then..." Her eyes widened as several memories came flooding back to her. She studied the room closely and quickly realized she was still in the office.

She made her way to the door and attempted to push it open, but was met with resistance. It was if something was on the other side of the door, keeping it shut. She planted her feet firmly on the ground and braced herself. With a strong push, the door comes open.

After Yang stepped out of Goodwitch's office, she walked down a short hallway and immediately noticed the state of the main hall. "Holy hell…"

As she walked further into the room, Yang heard movement behind her. She quickly spun around and took her fighting stance, though she wasn't sure how she would do in combat at the moment. All thoughts of fighting quickly subsided as she looked on in front of her. "… Blake?"

The faunus approached her slowly. "Yang? What are you doing here? What happened?"

Yang shook her head. "I don't know. The last thing I remember is an explosion, then I woke up in Goodwitch's office with a pretty big wound on the back of my head. Speaking of which..." Yang turned around and pulled her hair to the side. "How bad is it?"

Blake looked at the wound and shrugged. "It's not too bad. Your aura should heal it."

"I don't know about that..."

"What do you mean?"

"You know my aura has been on the fritz ever since I fought that Mistrae."

"Right…" Blake walked closer to Yang and began to examine her head again. "It will be alright. It's not severe. It looks like you just took a bad hit."

Yang sighed. "Well, that's something, I guess. So, what are you doing here? Where's Weiss and Ruby?"

"They are helping Taiyang and the others fight."

"Still? We need to get out there! We need to go help!" Yang started to walk in the direction of her sister, but Blake stopped her.

The faunus pulled her closer in order to keep her from pulling away. "You can't go out there. You're in no condition to fight."

The blonde rolled her eyes and groaned. "You sound just like Ruby."

"Look, go up to the dorm room and stay safe. I will go back to Weiss and Ruby and help them. If, somehow, you find out anything at all, come tell us, but be careful about it."

Yang hung her head, then turned towards the dorms. "Fine. If something happens to any of you, come tell me."

Blake nodded, then ran towards the group fighting outside, while Yang trudged to Team RWBY's dorm. As she walked down on of the many halls throughout the schools, she kept her eyes and ears open, ready to fight at a moments notice.

A few minutes passed and she made it to the dorm without any problems. She reached a hand out to open the door, but stopped herself when she heard voices on the other side. She leaned forward, pressed an ear to the door, and listened.

"They're not here. What now?"

"Obviously, we should go look somewhere else."

"Yeah, you're right. But I want to go check on everyone else real quick. I know Dad can handle himself, but he said the Mistrae were acting weird. I want to make sure everything is still going alright. Besides, if things are okay, maybe he can help look for Yang."

"Good point. Let's go."

Yang opened the door and poked her head around the side of it. "You won't have to look very far."

Ruby's eyes widened as she ran over to her sister. "Yang!" She threw her arms around her sister's neck and hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She then pulled back and noticed a small amount of blood on her arms. "Are you bleeding?"

Yang nodded. "Yeah, I took a pretty nasty hit, I guess. I woke up in Goodwitch's office and had a pretty big gash on my head. I ran into Blake earlier and she took a look at it and said that it wasn't that bad."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "You ran into Blake?"

"Yup."

"What did she say?"

"She said you two were fighting outside with everybody. She told me to come up to the dorm."

Ruby looked at Weiss with a concerned expression. "Weiss, do you think..."

The heiress shrugged. "It is possible."

"What are you two talking about?"

Ruby sighed and turned to her sister. "We told Blake to stay with you whenever she found you. Did she say anything else?"

The blonde shook her head. "Not really. She just told me to come up here and then she headed to where you guys were at."

"That doesn't sound good. It's possible that she forgot what Ruby told her. We were interrupted shortly after that, but it's also unlikely. I would say that you could be a Grimm and you're simply lying to us, but judging by the blood on you, I'm going to assume you're telling the truth."

"Of course I'm telling the truth. I'm just as likely one of those things as you two are."

Ruby crossed her arms. "To be fiar, how do you know we aren't one of the Mistrae?"

Yang smiled. "I heard you talking about Dad before I walked in here. I don't think a Grimm would be too worried about things like that."

Weiss stepped forward. "Still, it is rather irresponsible of you to think that way." Weiss made a small cut on her arm with her sword, then looked at Ruby.

The younger girl rolled her eyes, then pulled a small knife out of her boot and made a cut on her arm. "There."

"You guys didn't need to do that."

Weiss shook her head. "It's better to be safe than sorry." Weiss looked at the two sisters in front of her. "The next time I see you, I WILL ask you to prove you're not a Grimm and I will do the same. If I do not act that way, then whoever you see is NOT me. Do you two understand?"

Ruby stepped forward. "Of course we do, but… you make it sound like you're leaving."

The heiress nodded. "That's because I am. There could be a Mistrae disguised as Blake out there, currently heading for your dad and the others. She could feed them false information about our situation and lure them into a trap. I need to make sure that doesn't happen."

Ruby firmly gripped Crescent Rose. "Then I'm coming with you."

"I know you want to do that, but Yang is still in no condition to fight. Someone needs to stay here and protect her, just in case something happens."

Ruby walked closer to Weiss. "But what if something happens to you out there? If the Blake out there really is a Mistrae, you would be in trouble, too."

"That's correct. But someone needs to get back out there and Yang can't stay here by herself."

Yang stepped forward. "it's fine, you guys, just go. I'll be alright on my own. I'll just stay up here."

"No. That won't work. Whichever Blake is out there knows where you're at. If that was a Grimm, someone needs to be here in case she comes back, and you can't really come out on the battle field in your state. You and Ruby stay here."

The scythe-wielder pulled Weiss into a tight embrace. "If you don't come back, I'm gonna be mad."

Weiss smiled. "Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it. Once I make sure our situation is understood by everyone, I'll come straight back here."

Ruby cradled the back of Weiss' head and pulled her into a passionate, but short kiss. She stared intensely into Weiss' eyes. "Be safe."

The heiress nodded. "You, as well." She then walked towards the dorm room's door and opened it, then stepped outside and looked one last time at the pair in the room, before shutting the door and making her way to Taiyang and the others.

Blake shot up quickly. Someone was shaking her and she had no idea who it was. The last thing that she remembered was being punched by a Grimm, so she was ready to fight. She jumped up and went to grab Gambol Shroud, only to find it missing.

The next thing she felt was a presence behind her and a pair of hands on her shoulders. "Blake, calm down."

The faunus' ears twitched as she registered the voice and spun around. "… Nora?"

"Yeah..." The redhead grabbed her arm nervously. "You were out of it for a while. How do you feel?"

Blake craned her neck, which caused it to pop several times. "I feel like I fought a Beringel without a weapon."

"That figures. Everyone here is in pretty bad shape." Nora turned around to face a large group of people behind her. "The teachers all made us come in here when those… things attacked."

Blake took in her surroundings. They were in a large room with a low ceiling and several support beams were littered throughout the area. The floor appeared to be made out of some refined stone, but it had a thick layer of dust covering it. "Where are we?"

"It's under the main hall. Apparently, it's a secret room that acts like a bunker."

The faunus rubbed her forehead. "What happened to me, anyway? The last thing I remember is being punched by… Where's Yang? Is she here? Is she okay?"

Nora shook her head. "I don't know. No one saw her when everything started happening."

Blake sighed. "Well, that's not the news I was hoping for. Anyway, how did you find me?"

The faunus suddenly heard another voice behind her. "I saw you outside."

As she turned around, Blake realized who was talking. "Ren?"

"You were unconscious. I thought I saw Yang walking away from you, but it turned out to be one of those things, whatever they are. Once it saw me, it ran towards the back of the school. I brought you back here. I would have brought your weapon, too, but it was missing."

"Thank you." Blake stretched her shoulders and groaned. "Where are the teachers?"

"We… don't know. Once everyone pulls their self together, we're gonna go back out there." Nora leaned against a wall and slid down it until she was sitting down. "So, what are those things, anyway?" The redhead turned to the faunus in front of her. "Blake, do you have any idea?"

Blake sighed, sat down next to Nora and took a deep breath. "Listen closely… This might take a while."

Well, it looks like my whole 'stay on schedule' plan kinda fell through. I'm sorry about that, you guys. Honestly, I'm not sure I'll be able to upload as consistently as I have before. At least, not for awhile. But rest assured that nor more than two weeks will pass between chapters. Sometimes, it won't even be that long. I'll upload weekly when I can, but I'm not gonna make any promises just yet.

Now, I also apologize for any grammatical issues in this chapter. I don't have the time to edit it right now, so sorry about that.

So, my apologies aside, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you in the next one.

:D