3.28 Year 3 Finale Pt. 1

Sunday passed more or less without incident. Given their upcoming mission they decided to take the afternoon off and instead use the time to ensure they were well prepared for whatever they might find. For Jaune this meant checking and rechecking his armor and weapons. As a gift from Nora he brought along his stockpile of high powered dust rounds for his Bracer in addition to a fair amount of standard ammunition. He doubted that the under layer would struggle to keep him warm, but even so he prepared a coat with spare food and water in his travel pack.

Before he went to sleep that night he couldn't help but chuckle. His partner decided to add back the sleeves to her under armor in anticipation of some rather cold climates. He was wise enough not to tease her if for no other reason everybody else would probably gang up on as the only other warm person present… at least outside of his sister.

Of course she would most likely just pull up a chair and watch as he got tickled to death… being the mischievous creature she was anyway.

Regardless…

He knew that everybody needed to be awake at 3 am and get to the bullhead station by no later than 3:30. Ensuring that everybody woke up on time proved to be a less challenging affair than he anticipated given the various means of alarms used.

For one the scent of freshly cooked pancakes would be let loose throughout their shared rooms along with the production of coffee through automated brewers.

Briefly it was considered that a similar game with Tuna would be used to ensure Blake awakened on time, however a caffeine-high Nora was decided to be all that could be tolerated at that early hour.

It was a long flight to Atlas, and their orders would not truly be known until their flight sat down. Given the transit time it was basically decided that most of the group would sleep while in the air if at all possible.

That more or less was the plan at present… or at least when he laid down to get some rest. Unfortunately it seems the plan had to change and at this point he might be revising it to simply stay awake through the night and just crash once he found his seat.

Pyrrha as it turned out was having one of her moments… No nothing major like accidently activating her semblance sending anything with a magnetic pull every which way. Something which had only happened a time or two.

No this was much more tame… though it was also infinitely more difficult to escape from. At least in the Knight's case.

With her arms locked and tense around his torso she seemed to keep a lid on how much he could move throughout the night, when she seemed to bring her legs up to his hips and lock them down, he was convinced she was either having a nightmare, a really weird dream, or was the worst sleep-wrestler he had ever encountered.

*** Dream land ***

The Spartan found herself yet again in a match with her father. Without her semblance or her excellent education with weapons or hand to hand scenarios this was a much more even contest than anybody likely had the foresight to guess.

She was extremely flexible, possessed of a level of stamina nearly unheard of in the Mistral tourney scene and though she could not say she was as physically strong as her dad, she was hardly a weakling.

Even so… Technically this was not a competition, this was a lesson. Her dad was highly thought of in the art of Mistrali Grappling, and decided if his daughter was going to be taught how, he would be the one to do it.

Pyrrha just never expected to learn it so fast! In fact the last few rounds he didn't even really fight back! Yet she just could not get him on his back! This was her chance to beat her teacher and she would not let it pass by! Even if she had to play dirty to do it!

*** Jaune ***

Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!

When Pyrrha started happily humming to herself and exerting pressure to flip him onto his stomach he couldn't help but think she was doing something wrong. As such he more or less just tried to whether the storm until either the dream passed or ran its course.

Though when she started to contort awkwardly, essentially testing his own ability to stretch. He wouldn't help but wonder if he would live that long….

Ok Jaune its time to move… Pyrrha clearly wants the bed to herself tonight.

***Dreaming happily ***

He is making his move!

After several minutes of stalling and trying to tire her, dad finally tried to pry away and escape her clutches! It nearly worked too… nearly.

You will have to try harder than that!

*** Back to Jaune again ***

"Seriously Pyrrha! C'mon I need to pee!" Jaune grumbled trying to break away from her unnaturally stout iron grip.

Gripping her wrists he started to exert more force, not wanting to hurt her but really needing to get to the rest room.

Finally with a grunt her arms gave away, he was free!

"Finally!" He stated relieved moving his legs towards the bed's edge starting to stand.

"Was really starting to get worried therrrreeeeEE- P-P-P-Pyrrha! What is- Waaggh!"

In seconds he was mid air floating back towards the bed.

*** Happily dreaming away ***

With a stroke of brilliance the Spartan decided not to try and outmuscle the bigger individual and simply take advantage of natural leverage. No sooner did he start to stand and thereby extend his center of gravity did she grip him again and suplex him back to the mat! More points for her! This was almost too easy!

It wasn't long into it however that the ref called the match and she had to let him up again. Oh well, she got him down once she could do it again!

*** Back to the world ***

Pyrrha seemed to hum once again happily once his back hit the bed and he was once again semi immobilized. He was beginning to wonder if he would have to take drastic measures to free himself… until with a kiss on his back she let go and allowed him up mumbling:

"Ha! gotcha!"

She seems pleased with herself….

Not waiting around to see what would happen this time he quickly zoomed to empty his bladder, or to fully understand why she let go.

"Yeesh Pyrrha is like a woman possessed! Note to self- never hint that she can't wrestle at all in any manner ever!"

Thankful to be back in bed very ready for whatever rest he would find that night he no sooner laid down, then once again the oddly eager and horrendously happy Spartan reengaged those grappling techniques and joyfully ( if eagerly ) resumed their match.

"Oh you have got to be… Kidding… Pyrrhaaa!"

Thus started an epic encounter where there was no winner, at least not for anybody trying to sleep.

*** After Nora's wakeup call ***

"Jeeze Jaune… you look like you half dead. You sleep ok?" Kate asked with a wink handing him a cup of coffee. Barely getting it in his hand as he plopped right into a seat next to Ren and Nora.

"Ugh… I am not sure if I slept… somebody was a … you know I don't know what to describe it as." He grumbled barely noticing the hot coffee was practically still boiling as he tiredly gulped it down. Unwilling to use the term 'gorilla' in a way that would guarantee it gets brought up again.

Heeding the alarm the RWBY door opened to find their sister team slowly utterly whatever profanities or curses came to mind.

"Mornings." Yang stated.

"Are" Ruby added.

"EVIL!" They all agreed in unison.

Falling more than sitting down it took a good cup or two before they were even remotely conscious.

"It is so early it is practically still night! Whoever invented early mornings should be shot." The brawler mused grumpily.

Barely able to keep her eyes open Yang looked around before speaking through a yawn "Where is your team's redhead? If I gotta get up so does she."

Jaune might have answered her, despite not really having the best idea of what to speak. Thankfully his partner took away the need for that.

Bursting out of the JNPR sleeping area Pyrrha happily hummed her way towards the group, dancing the whole way.

Sitting down next to her boyfriend she energetically declared "I slept GREAT! I feel like I had a full night's sleep! How about you all!"

Neither thought or motion was possible for anybody in the group for several seconds, nobody seemed to have any idea how Pyrrha could sit there eyes closed yet happily hum to herself as she drank her offered beverage.

"Although I had to admit I had the Weirdest dream!"

Nobody had the energy or the wherewithal to interrupt as the Spartan began…

"I was in training again learning how to grapple! My dad was teaching me but this time I managed to beat him! I never was able to get him when I was younger, but in this dream I did! Oh It was so much fun he couldn't do anything!"

Ever the clever one Kate just switched her field of vision between her twin and good friend several times before piecing a couple things together.

"I think I know why you didn't sleep well Jaune…"

Pyrrha finally opened her eyes only to blink them innocently a few times. "I am sure I have no idea what you are talking about."

Before anybody could press the Spartan in either direction A backup alarm blasted off shocking the group to the point they nearly toppled to the ground advised them it was probably time to get moving.

Right… gotta arrive before 3:30… get there first, pass out second.

"Might as well head out… we haven't been late yet and we shouldn't be late to our final." Jaune forced himself to say wiliest simultaneously resisting the lure from the comfortable chair.

Grumblings, mumbling various cursing and in the case of Pyrrha happily stating "Great idea!" followed him, none the less they threw on their coats, shouldered their bags and went on their way.

With only the walkway guiding lamps to guide and with most of their eyes still closed it was difficult to tell where exactly they were going. Resembling a mass of zombies except for the Redhead at the lead they barely reached the bullhead station in time, to find Professor Arc waiting for them.

"You folks are cutting it close. But at least you are on time. Quick everybody get on board, we need to get airborne soon." She instructed impatiently.

Moving with more purpose than before they climbed up the short stairwell into the cabin. It seems their 4 year representatives -team CFVY- had already arrived. Velvet even took the time to wave at her friends… Coco and the rest of them seemed to be sleeping. Accompanying them was Winter Schnee. Seems she was going to be their combat commander once they arrived.

Quickly getting their luggage secured Jaune found a spot towards the back and buckled in.

"We have a tight schedule to keep people, find a seat buckle in and lets go. If we need to move mid flight we can." Mom dictated before ducking in to check on the pilot.

Within moments the gang had found their places and the plane lurched forward and was airborne heading towards their destination. Spinning in a circular manner the plane climbed until it oriented in northern direction.

Even the sound of the plane roaring to life didn't cause any commotion visibly seen on the Beacon Grounds. Jaune seemingly watched the tower until it went out of vision, a popular task it seems. The instructor was doing likewise before she spoke again.

"Well, now that we are in the air and en route we have a long time to wait. As we discussed privately we will land in Atlas in the morning. Get some rest but behave, remember you are all advanced classmen, I expect all teams here to act like it. We are all representing Beacon from this point on, I expect you all to be on your best behavior. Remember this is not a field trip this is a Huntsman assignment and an important one at that. Keep yourself hydrated and sleep plenty so we can arrive well rested. Odds are good once we land we will be deployed within the hour. I doubt we will have time for meals once we are grounded." Professor Arc advised before settling down to try and rest herself.

Jaune leaned his chair back slightly and deliberated pulled a blanket over his head trying to shut out whatever light he could. Not that there was much to be found but it wouldn't be long before the sun came up and he knew, he needed some sleep. Before long it was announced they would be able to get some lunch mid flight in a few hours. Not wanting to wait the Knight got as comfortable as he could once the pilot turned off the speaker.

It did not take him long before he felt himself start to drift off to sleep… however he both heard and felt a presence lift up the blanket and move her arms around his torso in a somewhat cuddly manner.

"Cold… *Yawwn*" she mused finding a comfy spot on his shoulder "I'm sleepy." An adorable Spartan declared.

As if she had an on/off switch she somehow seemed to get to sleep before he did too. Not that he minded just… he was really tired.

"You have to be kidding me…" the Knight groaned before moving an arm around her.

Oh well at least… at least I can sleep now.

If her highness doesn't try to toss me out this window anyway…

So it was that soon, they were once again resting, only this time it benefitted both of them.

***Later the following morning***

Nearly everybody from the group slept rather soundly the majority of the time they were in flight. A few awoke to enjoy a lunch. Most slumbered for a good while only to mingle until an hour or so prior to touchdown. At which point most everybody seemed interested in getting a hearty meal eaten, not really knowing when they will have another opportunity.

To their credit the group didn't seem nervous or fazed in the slightest with the task ahead of them. Ruby was the notable exception. His sister team seemed oddly eager for the next adventure and RWBY's first real assignment as an advanced class member. The Reaper however just seemed nervous.

Jaune couldn't blame her, he knew the point of this mission was to search for her mother's team and just about everybody dear to her heart was a part of it. But she still ate her food, and seemed alert when Mom got everybody's attention at the front of the plane.

"Alright everybody focus up here." She snapped her fingers a time or two, as expected whatever conversations were going on came to a halt as they turned their focus towards the Veteran Huntress.

"Thank you. We are about an hour from setting down. We have received word where our teams will be expected to search. Once the plane sets down we will set out."

Ruby rose her hand and asked "How exactly are we going to search? Can you give us some details?"

Mom nodded politely and said "The 3 schools involved will be required to search a specific fan of ground. Primarily we are going to be searching a valley. We get the start of it, another school, Atlas the center with Mistral academy supplying the 2 squads to search the back end towards the territories edge. Once we land a map will be sent to your scrolls."

The Reaper nodded before taking another gulp from her drink.

"Are we going to be given more information on what this team was doing at the facility Ma'am?" Coco inquired.

Mom crossed her arms and thought about it for a moment "Ms. Adel I cannot give you more facts that what has already been shared. They were deployed some time ago and only recently were they able to attempt their objective. Atlas leadership has long suspected that the White Fang held some presence in this valley but has lacked the ability to do a detailed search. Something always held it back, either from politician pressure or outside forces. However with the attack on Vale enough interest has been placed on it where we have been dispatched here. The team in question is overdue to check in and the best chance to complete our objective is to search all the locations completely and thoroughly. It is not normal to deploy more than a single team on a mission, there are 7 teams being deployed with 6 full Huntsmen involved here. That alone should be telling about the importance of our task."

"So there is some risk of encountering Fang forces in the field?" Coco voiced calmly.

Mom nodded "Yes, that's is why each group is being assisted with a full Huntsman. Winter Schnee will be going with you, myself with the third year teams." Winter nodded at being mentioned but maintained a professional focus on the speaker.

Professor Arc waited a few moments before continuing.

"Once we land we will head north to the Altmus-Seabridge junction, that will be our landmark for anybody who experiences scroll failure or who gets lost. Once at the bridge Ms. Schnee's group will head North-East with myself taking the remaining students due north. Both directions should yield a single mine entrance. It will be up to the Overseer of each group to determine where and how each location will be searched."

Looking to his right the Knight saw an openly confused look on Weiss, deciding to speak up Jaune asked "What is the Altmus-Seabridge Ma'am?"

Mom shrugged and stated "It is a fault line between the Atlas continent and the ocean. When the tides run low, which incidentally is this time of year, it can be seen for miles leading off into the ocean. It is a national landmark of Atlas and something that cannot be missed. Hence why we are using it as a point of interest in this task."

Weiss nodded as if agreeing with the answer given.

Mom looked around at the assembled students one more time before checking her scroll.

"Alright people. Get yourself mission ready we are going to land in half an hour. If you have any further questions once we set off they will be answered to the best that we can."

Taking a collective breath Jaune shared a moment with his partner. A friendly smile and a reassuring pressure from the others hand kept each other uplifted.

"Let's get our gear on." He stated.

Pyrrha nodded pulling both her and his cases down from the storage compartment.

With space limiting how many people could be changing at a time Jaune could only share a curious glance at his mother down the way. As if reminding himself of the previous mission his team took part in he couldn't help but wonder at several questions.

'What was STRQ doing there?'

'They have been there awhile… why deploy now?'

'What was Summer doing in a White Fang facility for so long that was just recently found?'

He didn't believe he would receive an answer to those questions. He might ask his mother directly once they are on foot, but he couldn't help but think one of them might be something they really need to know. They still didn't know what to expect. Sure the Headmaster didn't exactly know what they would find, and as such nobody wanted to spread inaccurate Intel. Still… it seemed like something he would want to know.

*** Boots on the ground ***

Mission anxiety was something each person seemed to be dealing with to their own standards. It didn't matter how many times he put on his armor or weapons, when he did he would feel his nerves flare up. All the time, every time, it was something he was trying to learn how to deal with. However hard he tried to fight against his nature, at some point all he could do was face them and move on.

He wasn't sure if it was because of the mission or because Coco genuinely was trying to set a good example for her underclass friends. It couldn't be denied however that the friendly and quirky team leader was replaced with a rather cold faced squad captain. Even the ever friendly Velvet seemed more businesslike.

Once they set down Mom's prediction turned out to be accurate. They had deployment orders within moments of the transport coming to a halt. The path was not all that difficult to follow, Atlas was in the northern area of the world but it was much more temperate compared to the territory the Knight called home. As such they continued onward as per the mission plan until they reached a turn off. The group shared a quick goodbye with Coco's team once they reached the northern fork in the road.

"See you all back at Beacon! Take care of yourself Velvet!" Ruby shouted with a wave. Various other's might have joined in.

The Bunny Faunus replied with a silent wave paired with a brief smile before focusing up and following along at the party rear.

"Ok Hunters, let's get a move on." Mom ordered from the head of the pack once CFVY was out of sight.

With a slight smile Jaune took a deep breath and continued onward.

It was a bit of a shock to him seeing his mother in her battle gear. Her armor was every bit as well made as his own and actually seemed even heavier than what was made for him. Upon consideration he realized of course that he naturally used a shield, his mother did not. Which is probably why Mom's armor, while similar to his own seemed more intimidating than either his or his partners suits. Covering much more of her body seemingly making up for the lack of protection a shield would offer.

It was a refreshing thing however, having a full Huntress with them. Her naturally calm demeanor and quiet confidence was a reassuring force to all students involved. At this point however he had been around her plenty to know when she was not quite as collected as she was letting on. Aside from his twin sister, he doubted if anybody else picked up on that.

It was well known that she valued the lives of her students and took personal responsibility for their well being in as many ways as possible. She did not know what they would find, but she knew that at least 3 of her students were likely to be found with a 4th at least a possibility.

There was a lesson in command here that was not lost on the Knight. She was feeling anxious, she was not completely calm. Yet if she let any of those emotions be seen her students would pick up on that, and their own nerves would be thus magnified. Something that was obvious in hindsight, but like always hindsight is 20/20. She could do nothing about either of those emotions at present, as such gave no heed to them.

Looking away from mom he shared a brief look with his partner to his immediate right. Pyrrha just returned a proud smile at him, eager for whatever was to come and a chance to grow as a Huntress. One might envy her innocence but, well that is part of what made Pyrrha, Pyrrha.

Her armor thus far had succeeded in keeping her warm, and she happily kept pace with her partner while watching the surrounding territory for anything slightly out of place.

His twin naturally wore her intricate robe with her weapons holstered, keeping her bracer in crossbow mode for anything that surprised the bunch.

Virtually everybody seemed to wear what he expected them too with the exception of Weiss. She was still wearing a dress much to his disbelief, but actually had something on underneath it this time. Sword carried via a sheath at the hip, it was somewhat more practical than before. Possibly even more shocking she didn't wear high heeled shoes. Heeled boots gave her several inches in height yet was also infinitely more practical than her previous choice of footwear.

It still struck him a bit odd that nobody besides himself and his partner wore armor or any type of protective padding. But to each their own. He had to admit the stuff is really expensive. Yang might be willing to wear armor but it isn't like she had the funding to order a quality set. Weiss while perfectly capable of paying for armor wouldn't be suited for one due to her fighting style. No arguments there anyway. Still… even if it was something as basic as an extra vest it seemed to him the added protection would be well worth it.

More than that he had seen everybody else wear what they had previously, though they took special care to include additional ammunition. Taking no chances at running out in a crucial moment. At least their preparation was to be lauded.

"Professor! I found something over here!"

Jaune banished that line of thinking promptly and switched his bracer to canon mode while turning behind and to the left. Nora was off to the side testing a bush with her foot.

What… did you find a bunny or a snake?

"What did you find Ms. Valkyrie?" Mom asked professionally.

"HA!" Nora declared after grabbing the shrubbery and giving a tug.

Even from his spot several dozen yards away Jaune couldn't help but gasp. She literally found a hole in the ground, not to big on appearance yet easily large enough for an adult to walk around in. Even walking towards it he could barely distinguish it from the rocky terrain it was set in.

"Is this the mine we were searching for professor?" He asked reaching his teammate looking downwards.

His mother seemed unsure what to think and pulled out her scroll as if checking something.

RWBY joined up nearby to gawk into the discovery.

"How did you see this Nora? It's completely pitch black in there." Weiss asked rhetorically tossing a light stick in. It seemed to bounce down and down steps until finally coming to a rest several stories into the earth.

"I don't like this." Jaune mumbled to himself ominously.

This is not a mine, there is no track, there are no lights, there are no holsters for torches. What this is I do not know but this isn't actually our target. At least I highly doubt it we haven't traveled nearly far enough.

"The map confirms this is not our target… we are still several miles off from our objective." Professor Arc advised seemingly unsure what to think hands on her hips in thought.

"I will check in with the others… give me a minute." She declared before moving off slightly, far enough to have a private discussion.

Jaune watched her go unsure what the decision would be while seemingly his sister team wanted to talk about it openly.

"I don't see what the problem is. We are here to search some hole in the ground. This here is a hole, I say search it." Yang declared.

Weiss shook her head and sighed "Yang this area of Atlas is really, really old. Who knows what this is? It certainly doesn't look like a mine, it might be an abandoned military base, a shelter from who knows when or anything else. If we search every 'hole' in this valley we might as well just setup a permanent camp, there is more than enough such structures to keep us busy for the next 10 years."

"Well it all needs to be searched at some point, I don't see a point in arguing about it when we could be trying to do it." The Brawler asserted with an exaggerated shrug.

Blake lowered herself to her haunches feeling around the entryway as if looking for something.

"Something interesting Blakey?" Yang asked neutrally.

Blake just shook her head and continued to search with her hands.

His own team looked at him as if seeking his opinion, deciding just to shake his head as if he didn't know what to think.

"It isn't our call. Remember this is a test and it is up to leadership if we go in or not. Just keep our focus and let's do our jobs." Ruby stated diplomatically.

Jaune smiled and agreed "There is no right or wrong way of thinking here. All we can do is our best."

"Weiss." Blake said.

When she received an inquiring nod Blake continued "Luminescent Dust, do you have any on you?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow in confusion and reached for her pack " A bit… that isn't a mixture I carry much of, it isn't used in many formula."

"I know that… so does the White Fang." She replied accepting the small vial of near invisible material.

Yang and Ruby shared a confused look before looking on intrigued.

Blake ran her fingers along the stone edge of the entry hole several times before nodding and sprinkling the dust lightly around it.

Mom rejoined the gathering advising "Command left the decision up to me, frankly I say to move on and get to our objective… Ms. Belladonna what are you doing?"

In reply Blake lit a match and dropped it onto the Dust covered stone and lowered her ears flat to her head as if feeling nervous before saying "Testing something."

The group seemed to either gasp or take a sharp breath.

The dust lit up into a very pretty flash of light illuminating a small area for a limited time. In its wake however the White Fang symbol came into view glowing a sinister red. It was not the uh… traditional Fang emblem however. The emblem, while representative and circular was not uniform. The Colors of Red and black transposed cutting the image in half in a straight diagonal line. As if recognizing what it meant Blake pressed down on the symbol confidently. As if to justify her actions a torch came up from the ground.

"I believe we have found what we were suppose to look for." She declared giving off a stoic determined look to her.

Mom seemed to take a few seconds considering before drawing her weapon and pushing a few buttons on her scroll.

"I believe I have made a decision. Take something to drink while I report to command… we are going inside."

With a determined grimace the Group shared a domino of glances before Jaune moved his scroll to comlink mode and moved a reticule over his eye. Faunus might be able to see in the dark but he certainly couldn't. Without knowing what they would find inside then Huntsmen in training seemed to steel themselves before following The Matriarch into the dark below.

***Inside the Cave***

The keyword for the situation was, mum. Tensions ran high, if for no other reason nerves were starting to escalate. It was difficult to see, the air was stagnant and not pleasant at all breath. More than anything else nobody liked feeling trapped under the earth.

The first thing the Matriarch ordered upon entering the cave was for their scrolls to record their path so it was something they could used if they had to backtrack. Beyond that the only other command was:

"No talking, nobody knows what we are talking into here. Move silently as you can, keep light to a minimum and do not speak unless you absolutely must."

Nobody questioned the command, even if people wondered why it seemed rather simple. If this was a mine… or a cave, or whatever. Sounds tend to carry a good bit. No point in alerting everybody who might be listening that unwanted guests have arrived.

At the start most of them kept their weapons up and searching for anything that looked even remotely funny. Pyrrha, Blake, Weiss, and Ren all seemed intent on nearly professionally clearing every room or section they came across. After about an hour into the cave that type of enthusiasm had ran its course. They had come across no signs of life, no proof that anything was even here outside of the Fang emblem at the entryway. But let's face it, that could very easily have been an old mark from days long past. The place could have been abandoned for a dozen years or more and there was barely anyway to tell for sure if this was the real deal or an otherwise big waste of time.

At least… until they came upon another emblem hidden at the supposed end of the cave.

Breaking her own rule mom asked "What do you know about those markings Ms. Belladonna?"

Working her fingers over another wall face Blake answered "It has been used by the Fang to showcase places of importance for longer than I've been involved in the organization. Various markings identified what a Fang member could expect to find. Be it a friendly place to rest, a place to avoid, a place that is under Fang protection so on."

When she began to spread a small portion out on the rock Mom asked "What did the mark at the entrance tell you?"

Keeping her voice down she answered "Safehouse."

Blake continued to work while the Knight voiced just loud enough for his partner to hear "I don't know what makes this location very safehousey. It's just been a cave thus far. A plain boring dull cave."

Pyrrha seemed to nod but otherwise didn't respond.

Maybe that what Hespith meant… about Blake knowing what to look for now. Why wouldn't she just say she knew? Maybe she just doesn't know the exact symbol or… uh oh.

Blake concluded her work and once again lit a match to ignite the dust. Like before another symbol seemed to come into vision, yet this time the Cat-Girl hesitated with pressing it.

Whereas the first image paid homage to the original White Fang symbol… this just seemed like a sinister warning. The typical Wolf head was once again displayed, however dominating the emblem now as a purple… clawed fist was the best way it could be described. A humanoid hand was shown wrist up with the fist extending downwards. However it was hardly the hand of a man. It was elongated with claws the likes of which would not be seen on a Beowulf, Ursa or any other Grimm they could name.

Finally with a shake of her head Blake pressed down on the emblem, and once again the way forward presented itself. A section of rock creaked open letting a rush of air out raising up to allow entry.

'Not sure if I want to go in there…' Jaune thought solemnly, nearly voicing it but keeping it to himself.

"What does this symbol mean Blake?" Yang asked curiously.

Blake just shook her head as she continued to study the emblem "I … I don't… I don't know. I have never seen anything like that before."

With an air of command about her mom stepped through the exposed tunnel "Our objective has not changed, we keep going. Keep your wits about you Hunters."

With a deep breath, Jaune was the first to cross the threshold after her.

"Jeeze…" He said under his breath.

Looking around after clearing the door, things got a bit less claustrophobic. Gone was the enclosed cave like walkway. This area was well lit, though what was doing the lighting he couldn't say for sure. However that wasn't really all that dominated the view.

Where the previous walkway was enclosed and rather grim looking, this was a single stone passage over a seemingly endless valley under the mountain. Various similar passages honeycombed the background as far as the eye could see. Despite the rather awe inspiring view, they kept pushing forward, granted in a much more careful manner.

Only wide enough for a singular individual to walk through at a time without any rails to assist to either side it was a long, long way down for anybody to fall.

"Ma'am at what point do we decide this is too big for just ourselves to handle?" Ruby asked out loud carefully following the Knight across. Keeping her voice down but feeling the need to speak regardless.

In reply the professor made a hand gesture for everybody to gather once they had reached the other side.

Once safely across the bridge Mom spoke up "As hard as it is to say this Ms. Rose, I have to answer that until I am sure that it is too big for us to handle, it will be our responsibility. This is the reality of being a Huntress. There is not always a road to follow, no easy path to lead you to your target. There are times one must hunt it, seek it out and find your own way. We do not always have the luxury of bringing overwhelming force to bear. Understand?"

Everybody nodded in understanding… until they realized that the Reaper wasn't paying attention anymore. The girl in question at first merely walked slowly away, then upon identifying what she was seeing committed at a quick jog. First around the corner down, then continued through a doorway until she was very much so out of sight.

"Ruby where are you-?" Yang started objecting following after her.

"Ms. Rose what …are you?" Mom began following her along, then seemed to understand as she rounded the corner.

The room seemed to be like a dome. Several doors were visible as entry points to the chamber. Even tile like floor panels were proof that this was no simple rock cavern. It was neither empty nor a mirror of the hundreds of feet of rock they had passed previously. It was obvious that something happened here. Great gashes, trenches and otherwise wall damage took place all over the room. In some locations even crater like impact points were present, rubble of all sizes littered the area.

"What happened here?" Jaune pondered out loud.

Coming to his side Kate voiced "A fight of some kind… Where did the cookie monster get off too?"

Leaving the question unanswered the remaining students seemed to spread out among the room.

"Ruby!" Mom called out from the center of the chamber.

"Here! Over here!" Looking genuinely upset Mom moved at a quick walk towards the voice, finding her without any real difficulty kneeling down near a door off to the side.

Jaune and company followed quickly reaching the professor just as she saw the student in question.

"Ruby Rose don't you do that again!" She chastised.

Ruby looked up at her holding something in her hands. "I'm sorry professor but… I found something."

Letting go of some of the anger she carried the Matriarch walked up to her to kneel down. Doing a double take when she was finally able to look at the item in question.

The Brawler beat her too it.

"Qrow's cape? What… how did that come to be here?"

Indeed… it had seen better days, and seemed to be holding together by a single thread… was Qrow's trademarked red cloak. Won from the Matriarch herself and worn as a trophy.

"I guess this proves it… STRQ was here." Pyrrha stated simply.

"My cape…" Mom said wistfully, before she continued with a shake of her head "Ruby this is not the hallways of Beacon you do not run off alone again when on assignment. Am I clear on that?"

Ruby sniffed and nodded still kneeling down clutching the red garment "Yes… I'm sorry Professor I just saw this and… I didn't think."

With a deep breath Mom relented and stated "I need to check in with command now that we have some confirmation that STRQ was here. Give me a moment."

JNPR seemed to gather around its leader while members of RWBY moved forward to help settle down Ruby's visibly frayed nerves.

"Think she will be ok?" Nora asked.

Kate and Ren nodded while Jaune replied "She will be fine. This I just personal for her."

Kate gave him a nudge with her elbow and asked "I can't figure this room out."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha inquired inquisitively.

Tapping her foot Kate just shook her head "I don't know. This was setup as some type of joint room where several junction together… but there are centralized junctions. I really do not like it at all. It is like a puzzle without corners. Something is missing I don't like it."

Jaune just nodded. Regardless of if there was any White Fang people on hand or not, the situation continually alarmed him. Thus far they had exactly one way to go. One path to walk at a time. That meant of course, that if any enemy personnel was on hand they would know the layout of the area far better than any Beacon student. Not to mention any other passages or pathways hidden to the naked eye.

"Like we are on a train track and we don't know where it leads." He commented.

Mom walked over after putting her scroll away and declared "Well we need to keep going, more teams will be deployed to this area to assist. We should get a move on."

Nodding respectfully JNPR followed her onwards to the exit on the near side.

"Let's go everybody." Mom declared.

Ruby finally put on a forced smile and stood up making a step towards her teacher. However an audible *click* sounded through the room once her weight made contact with one of the room tiles.

"Uh… what was that?" The Reaper asked nervously.

Blake's ears went to high alert and made the sure steps towards her team leader shouting "Ruby move!"

Ruby tried to push down to move away, sadly she was slightly too slow. The floor opened up below her abruptly.

"WAAHH!" Ruby tried frantically reaching an arm out.

"Ruby grab on!"

"Rubes!"

Ruby caught Yang's arm just in the nick of time, but was left dangling in mid air.

Below the floor a tunnel made itself known, blocks along the corner continued to upturn sending rubble and rocks tumbling down various slides or passages under the floor.

"To the other side Run!" Jaune barked out sprinting forwards avoiding tiles flipping up vertically best he could. His team followed across the chamber barely getting to the other side when they spared a look back at their sister team.

Mom and the remainder of RWBY leapt towards the beleaguered sisters and jammed her sword in the rock wall.

"Blake!" She yelled out extending an open hand.

The Cat-Girl was mid leap but made a mirror image and adjusted her trajectory, reaching out a hand she caught hold of the Matriarch and fired Gambol Shroud down towards her partner in its line mode.

More and more of the floor opened to drop Yang and her sister further down. Weiss missed the Brawlers hand but managed to catch her backpack and desperately claw at the line from Blake.

"Ooof! AGH!" She grunted out.

Had the group been supplied the time needed to organize a thought they probably would have been able to claw or scrape their way out of that hole. Unfortunately a hissing sound soon made itself known rather ominously with doors slamming shut all around the chamber.

"I don't like that sound." Mom stated still anchored to the wall.

Within seconds her face went pale as a familiar green gas started to get pumped into the room. Both to her left and her right the noxious vapor was slowly but surely making its way into the chamber.

"What do we do Professor!" Yang asked sliding further and further away in Weiss' grip.

"Quick! Losing my grip here!" She advertised.

Looking towards her sons team she ordered "You all get out of this room hurry!"

"But!" He objected.

"That is an order! If you cannot work your way out then work your way down and link up with us as soon as you can." She commanded having no time to debate this.

The green vapors were beginning to get a bit more steady and started to work its way towards the group.

"GO now you do not want to get trapped with this poison! Go! Move!" Finally drawn to action he hustled his team out the far end opposite their entry point right around the time the situation turned worse.

"Woah!" Jaune called out as yet another hole in the floor made itself known. Sadly that one either went unnoticed by the team or it was simply better placed, it swallowed all 5 of the students. They were soon sliding their way down a shaft to where, nobody knew.

"Professor!" Weiss called out visibly struggling but refusing to let go of her teammates.

Deciding she would rather take her chances against wherever the track lead her too that get caught in the poison cloud, she made a decision.

"Everybody stick together best we can… I am going to let us go in 3…. 2…. 1…"

On queue she pulled her weapon out of the wall, and with a yelp fell into the darkness.

***The Reaper***

Being already in the air and a few feet from the slide she could do nothing but steel herself as the Professor pulled her weapon out of the rock initiating the trip.

Determined to remain alert to her surroundings she speed into the unknown.

"Ruby hang on!"

Looking up she realized that she and her sister were still gripping Qrow's cloak.

"Ruby! Yang!" She heard a shout off to the side.

"WEISS!?" She screamed.

It's difficult to see given how quickly she was moving, but she caught glimpses through the rock when she was able. Seemingly at random the path would shift, opening up different compartments to move into. By luck or by determination Yang was able to kick and push various objects to keep on the same path as her sister.

Weiss was not so lucky. Narrowly avoiding a dangerous collision with a stone statue the Heiress was sent skidding down another direction.

"Weiss!"

When the passage seemed to both straighten out and go vertically Ruby looked up. Yang was still there, but she couldn't see anybody else.

The ground came rushing up to greet her landing somewhat awkwardly but safely on her feet.

"RUBY MOVE!" Yang implored from above.

The Reaper rolled to the side a fraction of a second before Yang thundered downwards landing in a stance as if expecting an ambush.

"Rubes you ok!?" The Brawler demanded looking over at her.

"Fine! I'm fine!" She asserted standing up to dust herself off.

"Did you see what happened to Blake or any of the others?"

Yang shook her head "Weiss tried to hang on but something jolted her loose. I couldn't see Ms. Arc or any of the others. Jaune and his team also ended up in one of those slides."

Ruby looked up the slide before declaring "Well I don't think we could climb our way back up… I guess all way can do is try to figure out where we are and link up with the others."

Yang was about to nod her agreement… however a rock passage began to open and lift.

"Uh oh." She declared fully arming her gauntlets.

Ruby spun with her to face the doorway getting Crescent Rose lined up to fire a shot.

Soft footsteps echoed through the room, one after the other. Then another and another until those moving came clear into view. The light of the room showcasing two friendly figures that nobody really expected to see at this point.

"Uncle Qrow!"

"Dad!?"

They shouted out beginning to walk forwards.

As Qrow looked up towards his nieces Yang was brought to a halt picking up something seemed wrong.

"Ruby!"

"Uncle Qrow your ok!" She continued to move forwards eagerly.

"RUBY STOP!"

The anger in the call finally got through to the Reaper, skidding to a halt a dozen or so steps from the newcomers. As one Tai and Qrow seemed to point towards the girl and finally open their eyes.

Feeling a ghastly chill, unwilling to think of the consequences of what she was seeing, Ruby could only say "Oh no… no no no…"

Never wanting to see this firsthand familiar with how it was described before. The mad inhuman pink glow found within chilled the sisters to their very souls.

"Ruby get back here!" Yang shouted cocking her weapons.

With a familiar giggle the two Hunters walked forward. One reaching back for his weapon, the other taking up a familiar fighting stance.

"Uncle! Uncle Qrow! Please!" Ruby entreated from her sisters side unwilling moving her weapon into a ready stance.

Sadly, to no avail.

*End Part 1*

A/N

Thank you again for reading! Feel free to leave some feedback as to your thoughts. Always eager for whatever feedback you can provide be it through review or any other method of communication.

Hopefully the next chapter will be ready soon! Ideally it won't be another 3 week delay but uh… we will see.

Enjoy your holidays! The story is getting near the end of the third year ( duh ) and as such the story is getting near 75% completed. I hope those of you who enjoyed the story continue too as we press forward.

As ever I will see you next time.

-Sean