Copyright disclaimer: RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth, The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo, Pokemon belongs to Game Freak, any other franchises mentioned or included in this work belong to their respective owners (not me). All I own are my OC's (Aris, Perci, Raylo, Takashi, and Loretta), the cover (made it myself via Google Slides), and this story itself.

BGM: Message From The Goddess - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Out of her slumber, Yang Xiao Long stirs. "Blake," she whispers. "You awake."

"I am now," Blake moans groggily.

"Why do you think he asked us about becoming a Huntress?" Yang asks. "Like...what was he trying to say?"

"Maybe he was just curious," says Blake.

"Ya think?"

"...No."

Yang sighs. "Weiss? Aris? Either of you awake?"

"Of course I'm awake!" Weiss says. "You two are talking."

Aris wakes up with a yawn. "Is it morning yet?"

"When I said I wanted to honor my family's name," Weiss says, "I meant it. But, not the way you'd think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Ever since he took control, the business has operated in a...moral grey area."

"Understatement of the century," Aris deadpans.

"I know," Weiss agrees. "And that's why I feel the need to set things right. If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our family name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it."

Weiss lays back down, allowing Aris to embrace her.

"All my life," Blake says, "I fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner...his name was Adam. He was more of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be...not perfect for everyone. I joined Beacon because I knew Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave Beacon...what will I..? How can I undo so many years of hate?"

"I know you'll figure it out," Yang assures her. "You're not the type who backs down from a challenge, Blake."

"Yes I am!" Blake says. "I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran. When I realized my best friend and mentor had become a demented monster, I ran! It's even in my Semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself. An empty copy that takes the hit while I run away."

"At least you three have something that drives you," Yang sighs. "I've always just kind of went with the flow. And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But, how long can I really do that for? I want to be a Huntress, but not really a hero. I just want adventure. I want a life where I don't know what the next day has in store. And that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that." She turns over. "I'm not like Ruby. She's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said. Ever since she was a kid, she dreamed about being a storybook hero. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything in return. Even before she could fight, she knew that being a Huntress was her destiny. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today."

"She's still a kid," Weiss says.

"Only by two years," Aris points out. "Technically, we're all still kids."

"Not anymore," Yang says. "I mean, look where we are. In the middle of a war zone and armed to the teeth with sniper-scythes, shotgun-gauntlets, katanas, Dust rapiers, Pokemon, and darkness-sealing Goddess-forged swords."

"It's the life we chose," Blake says.

"It's a job," Weiss buts in. "We all had this romanticized vision of being Huntresses-or in Aris's case, a Huntsman-in our head. But, at the end of the day, it's a job to protect people. And our own wants and desires must always come second."

End BGM

A couple of hours later...

Weiss is sleeping peacefully, albeit alone as Aris is covering the next shift of night watch.

The Heiress stirs, realizing that something is missing. Pikachu is no longer in her arms. The Electric type isn't with Aris, either; there's no sign of the Pokemon anywhere near the sleeping Hylian. "Pikachu?" Weiss whispers. "Where are you?"

Weiss gets up and starts creeping outside. She manages to not wake anyone up and begins searching for Pikachu.

She sees the Electric type examining some weeds that are growing through the cracks in the old streets. "Pikachu!" Weiss says in a hushed whisper. "There you are!"

"Pika!" coos the Electric type as she bounds over to Weiss and jumps into her arms.

A voice from the distance. "What was that?"

BGM: Save Room - Resident Evil 2

Weiss grabs Pikachu and ducks behind a pile of rubble. She peeks out and sees...two White Fang soldiers. "I thought I heard something," one of them says.

"Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base," says the other one. "This place creeps me out."

As the White Fang soldiers walk away, Weiss and Pikachu begin sneaking after them. They dart into doorways and behind piles of rubble to avoid being seen should the White Fang grunts turn around.

The grunts both round a street corner. Weiss hunkers down behind a building, holding Pikachu up so that the Electric type can be her eyes. "Did they go yet?" Weiss whispers. "One noise means yes, two means no."

"Pika," the Electric mouse Pokemon whispers.

Weiss sets Pikachu on the ground. "This is it," she says. She takes out her Scroll to dial her teammates. The call fails to go through, as the signal is low in the area. "Dammit," Weiss silently curses. She turns to Pikachu. "Come on. We have to get the others.

End BGM

As Weiss and Pikachu walk out onto an empty road, the ground under them begins to crumble.

The asphalt gives way. A sinkhole. Weiss clings to the edge with one hand and holds Pikachu by her tail in the other. She dropped Myrtenaster before falling in; the rapier sits on the edge of the sinkhole.

Weiss hurls Pikachu to safety as she begins slipping. "Go!" she cries. "Get the others!"

The Heiress loses her grip and falls into the darkness.

Weiss lands on her rear end, gasping for air as the wind has been knocked out of her lungs as a result of the long fall.

She seems to have landed on top of some sort of roof. The terrain is perfectly flat. She looks up and takes in her surroundings.

It's an underground city of sorts, but no lights are on. This place is abandoned, just like Mountain Glenn above.

Behind her, a door opens. Weiss shoots to her feet. "Freeze!" exclaims a White Fang soldier.

"Where did she come from?" says the soldier's companion.

Weiss backs away, only to find that she is teetering on the edge of a rather tall underground building. The White Fang soldiers advance slowly, as if Weiss is still armed. "You're a long way from home, girl," one of the soldiers jeers.

The other soldier runs forward and grabs Weiss's arm. "Hey!" she exclaims. "Get your hands off me!"

She delivers a decent punch, only to be countered and smacked across the face. She falls to the floor, panting.

"The boss is gonna want to see this one," says the other White Fang grunt. He slams a boot into her face, knocking Weiss unconscious.

Meanwhile, back at camp...

Aris stands up from his post, stretching his arms and yawning. "Hey, Weiss," he says tiredly as he walks back towards his sleeping bag. "It's your-"

He notices something. Weiss is missing, and so is Pikachu. "Weiss?"

"Guys?" Aris says, worriedly raising his voice to wake everyone. "Where'd Weiss go?"

Blake, Ruby, and Yang get up. Oobleck descends a barely standing flight of stairs and enters the room. "What?"

A small yellow figure bounds into the room with another figure-a black and white one-at its side. Pikachu and Zwei.

"Zwei?" says Yang.

"Pikachu!" Aris says.

Ruby stands up and yawns. "What's happening?"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu exclaims, hopping up and down as she points to the doorway.

"Uh huh..." Aris says, listening.

"Chu! Pika pika! Pikachu!"

"What's going on?" Blake yawns as she rises to her feet.

"Grab your weapons," Oobleck instructs. "Miss Schnee may be in trouble."

Back underground...

Weiss comes to her senses. She's being dragged through the underground cavern. A bunch of other White Fang grunts are doing random tasks throughout the area. One is piloting an Atlesian Paladin and moving large crates as another grunt directs his actions. Another two grunts are loading strange, wired objects onto...train cars?

The two grunts that are dragging Weiss stop moving. "Hey, boss!" one of them calls. "We found something you might wanna see!"

The voice of Roman Torchwick responds from a distance. "Is it good or bad, Perry, because let me tell ya, I've had a rough day."

"Uh, it's a certain Heiress?" says one of the grunts.

Torchwick emerges from the train car ahead. "That would be bad."

On the surface...

"Her rapier!" Aris exclaims, running over and picking up Myrtenaster.

"Oh no..." Blake breathes, panicking.

"I think she fell down this hole," Ruby says.

"Fell?!" exclaims Doctor Oobleck, dashing up beside Ruby and staring down the sinkhole in the ground.

"Down there," Ruby says, pointing into the sinkhole.

"Oh my," says Oobleck. "Of course...of course! Of course, of course!"

"What is it, Doc?!" Aris says. "And hurry it up, because I'm worried sick!"

"How could I be so stupid?!" the Doctor exclaims.

"Doc, what's wrong?" Yang says.

"Mountain Glenn!" Oobleck exclaims. "An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people, commuting to the city, Vale proper. They developed a subway system to the inner city. Grimm attacks increase! Population is in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into metro tunnels and what do they find?! The Southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep, dark caves!"

"Doc, what are you going on about?!" Aris cries. "And what does this have to do with finding Weiss?"

Oobleck places his hands on Aris's shoulders. "My boy, we're not just looking for an underground crime network, underground meaning working in the shadows. We're looking for an underground crime network, underground meaning literally beneath the ground!"

"They've been working in caves?" says Ruby.

"No, no," says the Doctor. "Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt expansion. It worked for a short period of time thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new city into the main kingdom. Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale has to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the very beginning. As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last fleeting attempt to survive. They took refuge beneath the city, in the massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway system. And they cut themselves off from the surface."

"An underground village?" says Yang.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Oobleck answers. "A safe haven of sorts. Until..." His tone changes to somber, melancholy. "...an explosion opened the mouth of an adjacent cavern...one filled with subterranean Grimm. After that...the kingdom of Vale officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the worlds largest tomb."

Aris sighs. "If Weiss is down there...she needs our help."