Big Issues

This may be a little late in the story to create the timeline but its better late than never. It doesn't really help that the timeline on the RWBY Wiki doesn't help too much as there have never been much in the way of definitive dates within RWBY as a whole. So, I've created a timeline myself based on the time that has been shown.

Beacon Academy begins their first semester in the spring and runs into the summer. I'm assuming that they have a summer vacation that may last a few weeks where students are able to return home or stay on campus. Schooling begins again and runs into the last fall where there will be another break and the school year will end a very short semester where the vast majority of practical testing as well as paper testing are done along with several short missions. A small break will separate the end of the final semester with the beginning of the new school year in the spring.

To put this into context, Blake's birthday is January 19th. In this timeline, I'm assuming that she passed the exams to attend Beacon when she was 17 but had her birthday pass before the school year started. Keep in mind that RT only gave them their birthdays a while after the series had started and simplified things by saying they start at 17. Likewise, Weiss' birthday is May 15th and would have celebrated it in the middle of the first semester. Yang's birthday is July 28th and would have had her birthday not long into the second semester while Ruby's birthday, October 31st, would be during the break between the second and third semesters.

So yeah, Blake is the oldest while Yang is the youngest of the older three girls. Ruby is obviously two years younger than they are, nearly three years younger than Blake.

Field Trips

"They were here." James Ironwood says as he paced in front of Ozpin's desk. The owner of the desk sat stoically behind it. "Ozpin, they were here!" The General growls out, nearly yelling as he slammed a fist onto the metal surface of the desk. Ozpin bowing his head and running his hands through his grey messy hair.

"We are very much aware of that. Thank you, James." Glynda snaps back at the man.

"Fantastic, you're aware." He was being sarcastic as he waved his hands in front of himself, almost mockingly though Goodwitch kept her arms crossed under her bust as she stared the man down and Ozpin transitioned to holding his head with a pair of fingers from each hand.

"Now are we going to do something about it or are we going to stay the course?" He was no longer close to yelling but still far louder and hostile than needed, including pointing his gloved fingers at the blonde. Ozpin finally lowered his hands and looked up at his colleagues and employee. "And continue to ignore what is right in front of us?" Now he pointed down at the floor for emphasis.

Perhaps he stopped being quite so hostile due to Glynda holding her Disciplinarian in hand and has been known to use it for less on others. Or it was the series of beeps coming from the elevator that drew everyone's attention from their argument.

"Come in." Ozpin says as he stands up from behind his desk and folds his hands across his stomach, idly noting that he had to reach further than he was used to.

"Ah! Sorry it took so long." A young voice calls out from the elevator as she walks into the room. "Someone accidentally hit all the buttons on the elevator on the way up here." Ruby tries to explain as she looks at the two Headmasters and Deputy Headmistress. A silent stare from next to her gave the young girl a warning to not blame the older but shorter girl next to her. "It wasn't me." Ruby tries to assure the adults while completely ignoring Talon standing next to her.

"Thank you for coming Ruby, Talon. How are you feeling?" Ozpin begins the conversation casually to put the youngest in the room at ease. The older one settling back, making sure that she stayed away from the General.

"Okay, I guess." Ruby answers. "I'd feel better if my bad guy record wasn't oh for three." She chuckles a bit at her attempt to lighten the mood. Talon did crack a smile at the comment.

The other three occupants of the room weren't so easily impressed as they stared silently at her, seemingly forgetting that there was a fifth person among them.

Ruby rubs the back of her head as she rambles meekly. Okay so that's the tone we're going for. Got it…"

"Ruby," James starts as he walks towards the girl and places his ungloved hand on her shoulder. "I feel it's appropriate to let you know that what you did last night is exactly what being a Huntress is all about." He clenches his other hand before extending two fingers to point at the girl. "You recognized a threat, you took action, and did the very best you could."

"Thank you, sir."

"That goes for both of you." James adds as he gives a respectful nod to Talon who only stared back at him dispassionately.

Ozpin takes the moment to break the tension a bit between the Vacuoan and Atlesian. "Now, the General here has already told us about the events that, transpired last night." He waved a hand for the last bit before continuing. "But now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add."

"Was anyone else with her?" Glynda chimes into the conversation. "Did she look familiar to you at all?"

Ruby looks to the side as she thinks. "I…" She sighs. "I don't know. She was wearing a mask, and she never said anything to me, but I know she fought with glass. I don't think that was her semblance though. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked." She finishes by looking at her questioners. Beside her, Talon gave a curt nod of agreement.

Glynda turned pensive as she looks to the floor as she speaks. "Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby."

"Embedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique. It could have been anyone." James explains as he turns to face Ozpin's desk.

"Wait." Ruby's voice drew attention back to herself. "You think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" She asks with her hands up by her sides.

The three adults looked to each other before focusing on Ozpin. "It's possible." The man admits. Talon gave Ruby an appreciative gaze. A moment of silence in the conversation was broken by the shifting gears overhead. "But we still lack the required evidence to link the two together." Ironwood turns to look at the man who levels a soft glare at him, as if for challenging his authority within his own kingdom.

"Actually, I-I think I remember her saying something about a hideout or something… in the southeast." Ruby adds. "Just outside the kingdom." She even throws a thumb over her shoulder as she smiles.

Talon raises an eyebrow at the girl. 'I guess your investigations did give you a lead.' She thinks to herself as she glances at the Headmaster to see him giving a smile, one that she knew well as one that was pleased from something exceeding expectations yet planned for.

"Interesting." He speaks. Funny how such a single word could say so much while saying so little. Yet that was all it took for Talon to be convinced that the man knew far more than he was often willing to admit, likely knowing that team RWBY had been conducting their own investigation.

"I thought you said the intruder never- "Glynda says.

"Thank you for your cooperation Ruby, Talon." Ozpin cuts off the blonde before she could pry further. "Why don't you go spend some time with your teams? You have a big day ahead of you." He ignored the woman staring at him.

To Talon, this was simply more confirmation of her suspicions. But she gave a polite nod.

"Anytime." Ruby seemed to be riding a confidence high as she turned her back with a wave, her steps having a bounce to them.

"And Miss Rose, please try and be discreet about this matter." Ozpin asks, drawing her attention back to himself and the other adults.

Ruby nods, her confidence waning already. "Yes sir."

It wasn't hard for Talon to notice that he only called out the young team leader. But it was once the elevator doors closed once more, did she finally speak. "Need anything else?"

"I noticed that you didn't disagree with Miss Rose about operations in the southeast." Oz smiles at her.

Talon crosses her arms. "And you know more about what's going on than you're willing to say." She didn't deny the slight accusation.

"I'm aware that you and your team have been investigating things on your own. Have you found anything?" Ironwood asks.

A slight glare of annoyance was leveled at the man. "Nothing too much. There isn't much of a pattern concerning the Dust robberies or why the schools were attacked like they were but Itazura thinks there wasn't supposed to be. The whole thing seems cooked up to divide attentions."

Glynda's eyes went wide at that revelation. Though she was mostly uninvolved with the investigations and so this idea was new to her. "Explain if you can."

"You know Itazura is great at planning things out?" She asks and received stares in response. "She's also good with pranks and knows that certain things require a good distraction or even a few to get things just right for the big event."

She began to walk along the windows and admiring the view that this office had of the school and city beyond, "Those Dust shop robberies? They make the police focus on them. No idea why only the Dust is being stolen while all of the other goods in the stores and the Lien, are untouched.

The chemical attack on the schools to make us gain weight? Yet another distraction with the added possibility of hindering our combat abilities. Four whole schools of Huntsmen and Huntresses and the next generation worried about their figures and pouring resources into trying to counter it rather than tracking down where it came from.

The little fox thinks that there will be more distractions. Things that will be made to cause fear in the general populace of the kingdoms." She stops and faces the adults once more. "No idea how much or exactly where these attacks might happen but Itazura thinks that the Vytal Tournament will be the big event with nearly everyone on Remnant watching. If something big were to happen there… all of Remnant will feel it."

"I see." Ozpin sits down and steeples his fingers while Glynda grips her riding crop hard enough to turn her knuckles white. James' left hand was clenched hard enough to shake as he grits his teeth.

"So, we know nothing?" The General growls.

Talon looked unimpressed as his restrained anger. "We know some things, Jimmy. We know that whoever is behind all of this, they will be targeting places at times for maximum effect to undermine security of the Kingdom."

"And without the feeling of security, fear will take its place and draw out the Grimm." Glynda finishes.

"That is something we can't afford." Ozpin adds as he was very concerned about that scenario. "Tell me, do you have any ideas as to deal with these threats?" As experienced as he was, he was open to other points of view.

Talon turned back to the window to look at the impressive view. "Well… since that infiltrator was in the communication room of the CCT, we think that she may have been trying to hack into the system. From what I saw when I was there, she was too confident and satisfied, so I think if that was the case that she had finished what she had set out to do."

"But my security experts have yet to find anything out of the ordinary within the CCT systems." Ironwood informs her.

"Did you find the little mole that Itazura had uploaded into the system yet? No?" Talon smiles as the adult's eyes went wide. "If someone knows the system well enough, they can hide in it or bypass the security in it. You're just lucky that Itazura is only looking for things that are unusual and acting wrong. I doubt whatever the infiltrator did will be so kind."

Ironwood stomped towards the short girl who watched him impassively. "Do you have any idea what you could be doing with something like that?" His gloved hand was pointing at the center of her chest as if it were a gun.

"I could think of a few things." She pushes his hand away. "Personally, I would order for some snacks to be delivered to my team's room. We're getting tired of the rationed meals." She spared the General a glance to see him seething at her words. "As for what Itazura could do… a few minor tweaks last year to security and there were showers full of syrup."

Glynda couldn't stop the small snort of laughter as she recalled the memory of the incident. James had called her and Ozpin when he was still covered in the sweet, sticky fluid. Ozpin, for his part, simply smiled while keeping his hands up to hide it from the other male in the room.

"But we have a job here to help with the security." Talon continues. "You've trusted my team with that and more, in case you forgot."

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" Ironwood wasn't taking to being talked down to very well.

"Maybe, maybe not." Talon grins as she clasps her hands behind her back "But at least we have a head start on trying to find out what our infiltrator was up to. So, you better get your tech-heads working on updating your systems."

"Why you- "

"James! That's enough." Ozpin commands and effectively snaps the man out of his anger.

"But she- "

"She's right and you know it." Glynda walks over to stand by the much shorter woman. "And you're acting like a child." She adds, shutting down any retorts he may have been about to say.

"We do not know what is happening to its fullest extent but we are more knowledgeable than we were this morning." Ozpin emphasizes with a tap of his cane as he stands up once again. "For now, if what team DAIT believes is true, we should begin looking at sites that would be targeted and monitor them more closely."

"Shouldn't you mean guard, Oz?" Ironwood questions.

"No." His answer was firm. "If we send guards to those areas, our enemies will notice and change their plans accordingly. If we wish to know what they are planning, we must be able to identify who we are dealing with first."

"But my men could help."

"Your men also stand out with their armor and weapons. You sending them out might as well be a flare to reveal your intentions." Glynda dismantles the General's idea.

"She is correct, James." Ozpin affirms and watches as he reluctantly accepts the reality. "However, we could find ways for your men to be stationed in areas close to any location of interest so they may be able to respond quickly should anything happen. Will that be acceptable?"

James takes a few moments before nodding. "Very well, I'll begin working on what's needed for our security systems and prepare alternate patrols."

"So… I'm guessing I'm done here?"

"Yes Miss Eaglewing, you may leave." Glynda assures the girl who saunters her way to the elevator.

James leans against the window and looks over the school grounds rather than at his allies. "Well, there we have it, we'll send as many troops as we can into the southeast. Find out exactly what's going on and eliminate any forces that stand in our way."

His words only served to agitate the blonde woman as her arms flailed in anger. "Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado?" She took a few angry stomps towards the man while swinging her weapon in a way that would have had half of the student population running scared. The fact that the target of her anger and frustration didn't show the slightest bit of fear or remorse only served to fuel her emotions. "You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring dicks!"

"Glynda!" Ozpin raises his voice from his chair as well as his left hand, effectively ending the current argument from devolving into something unproductive.

The large woman crosses her arms under her ample bust as she pointedly looks away from the General. "Well, he does." Neither man even attempted to correct her

"She's right." Ozpin begins as his chair turns around to face the pair. "As much as I too would love to end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this goes beyond Vale, beyond Beacon." He pats his stomach for emphasis, as if they needed to be reminded about their own growing frames. "And if this truly is part of some master plan for which we know not the final move, we mustn't be so bold. Nor can we risk the spread of panic."

Ironwood squeezed a fist tight before pushing away from the glass, walking towards the man in the chair as Goodwitch watched. "I have served you faithfully for years. He begins before pointing a finger at the Headmaster. "But if you are telling me that your plan is to hold the defenses and wait- "

Oz snaps to his feet and points back at he General, his voice firmer than it had been all day. "It is not! You're a General, James." He straitens up and holds his hands behind his back now that he had his attention. "So, tell me, when you prepare for war, which do you send in first? The flag-bearer or the scouts?"

The man slumped in defeat as he knew that he was outmatched and he was in allied but not his own territory. "Very well, I see your point."

"Thank you, James." Goodwitch pats the man on the shoulder as he passes by. He pauses and gives her a curt nod before leaving by way of the elevator.

"That was a risky move." Weiss comments as she crosses her arms over her now modest chest.

Blake was sitting on the Heiress' bed looks to her leader. "No, I think you handled it well." She counters her teammate.

"I hope so." Ruby mutters quietly despite Yang standing beside her with a supportive hand on her shoulder and a confident smile. Telling her team about what happened to her last night after she left the dance was easy enough, though Weiss did have a few choice words about her damaging her dress but offered to pay for the garment to be repaired and cleaned. Regaling them with her explaining things to the Headmasters had led to these current responses.

"Any idea why Talon had to stay behind?" Yang asks out of curiosity.

Ruby shrugs her sisters hand off as she turned to face her. "I dunno, maybe to talk to her separately, I guess. She didn't say anything while I was there."

"I'm sure everything will be alright Ruby." Yang pats her shoulder once more. "Oh! I know what will cheer you up!" The girls' tone snapped from comforting to excited like a switch before she walked across the room to the desk where a carboard tube sat upright.

"What is it?"

"I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us." She holds the tube out casually. "I thought we could open it together."

For Weiss, the scene reminded her of her younger years when her siblings would receive gifts, before they learned that they were meant to help curry favor with their father, and she'd open the gifts with Winter to share. Her brother Whitley usually had his own, smaller gift.

For Blake, it was another stab to her spirit. Another reminder of her abandonment of her family. How her last words to her parents were those of anger and disappointment. How it had been years since she had last spoken to them. How it had been months since she could bring herself to look at the picture of her family in her scroll.

"Oh! Something from home!" Ruby squeals before briefly using her semblance to cling to Yang's back using her legs while reaching with her arms. It did help that both girls had plenty of padding to assist with maintaining their position and it was a testament to their strength that Yang barely budged with her sisters added weight while Ruby could hold herself in such a precarious position with only her legs, unable to hook her feet together.

Yang gave the tube a shake with her outstretched arm that kept the gift from Ruby, and something dark brown fell from the tube. Something that was molded to match the inside of the tube itself.

Whatever it was, it landed on the floor with a thunk. Then it began to wriggle, the four girls leaning in closer to see what was happening better. Then it seemed to quickly inflate itself into the proper size and form of a corgi with dark brown/grey fur on its back and head and a white chin and belly. Yang was clearly amused by the whole thing but not surprised. Ruby was excited. Weiss was obviously confused at how the dog had done such a thing. And Blake… showed fear as soon as she saw the dog.

"Arf arf!"

Their reactions were immediate to the simple greeting from the dog. Yang threw her hands in the air in excitement, a big grin on her face. Ruby had leapt into the air with joy. Weiss, had leaned back and brought her arms and a leg up in front of herself to defend herself. Blake had leapt in the air with her arms trying to push the dog away while also trying to show her 'claws' with a hiss.

"Zwei!" Ruby cheers before bringing her pet up for a hug that he did not object to.

"He sent a dog?" Blake asks, now hiding behind Weiss, hoping to use the wider girl as a shield.

"In the mail?" Weiss finishes the question incredulously.

Yang stood by her sister with the tube tucked under an arm as she watched Ruby giggle from Zwei giving her kisses. "Oh, he does stuff like this all the time." She dismisses with a little wave of her hands.

"Your father or your dog?" Blake questions from her new hiding place of Ruby's bed. Either the ropes holding the bed to the ceiling were fastened better than they would imply at a glance or the cat girl was very smooth when she leapt to the 'safety' of the high ground as it did not swing.

"Stop it!" Ruby laughs as she continues to cuddle the corgi who in turn continued to bath her in kisses. "I've missed you!"

Weiss leans towards the younger sister, specifically staring at the pet in her arms. "Are you telling me that this mangy," Zwei rolls his head back to look her in the eyes, upside-down at first before rolling over for a better position. "Drooling, mutt… is going to wive with us forevah?" Any heat the normally icy girl had in her tone faded as she devolved into baby talk with a wide smile of her own. "Oh yes he is, yes he is!"

She reaches out a finger at first to touch his fur. "Oh, isn't he adorable!" One finger on the fur wasn't enough as she soon was scratching Zwei behind the ears, the corgi loving every second of the attention.

"Please keep it away from my belongings." Blake begs, causing Yang to look up to see that the faunus had retreated further back on the bed as far as she could go.

"Will all first-year students please report to the amphitheater?" Professor Goodwitch's voice comes through the public announcement system. Causing all four girls to look towards the ceiling while Zwei simply perked his head up as the distraction had stopped him from being the center of attention.

"Well, we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week." Weiss comments as she watches the corgi roll himself from Ruby's arms and land neatly on his feet before he ran over towards her bed to investigate Blake on the top bunk. The cat in question had risen to her feet as best she could in the cramped space so close to the ceiling, her recent growth making it harder to stay as low as she'd like but she took a long step towards the foot of the bed where it hung lower and thus easier for her to move. Still, her focus was keeping the dog in her sights so she could stay away from him better.

"Look, there's a letter." Yang says as she reaches into the tube that was just wide enough for her gauntlets to fit inside – in their collapsed form. "'Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days. So, I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang.'" She reads off.

As if that was his cue because he heard Yang say his name, the dog ran over to sit at her feet and expecting some loving. Instead, he found himself buried under a small avalanche of cans of dog food that had poured from the tube when the blonde turned it over.

"What is he supposed to do with that?" Weiss asks as she gestures to the pile of cans that Zwei had managed to get his head out of in time for a can opener to fall out and bounce off his head.

None of them seemed to question how both the dog and so many cans had managed to fit inside such a small tube. Yang and Ruby didn't even so much as blink at the whole thing.

"Well, that settles it. C'mon girls, Zwei will be here when we get back." Yang says cheerfully and with full confidence that the dog could look after himself. She walks out the door.

Weiss was the next to begin following her but nearly stopped to get in a few more scratches and words with the pet. "Oh, I'll miss you so much. We're going to be best friends, I can't wait to see you again!"

Yet while the Heiress was descending into baby talk again, Blake used her as a distraction as she leapt from the bed to the desk – where upon landing a small crack was heard- before jumping for the door to avoid the dog. And causing the lamp on the desk to fall over from her impact.

Ruby took one last long look at the dog as he turned to her as she was the last in the room. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Looks like you're going to be having some fun." An amused voice comments from a wall as team RWBY walks out of their dorm.

"Hey Denko!" Ruby greets the boy, pulling at the straps of a large backpack on her back.

"Yeah! We're finally about to go on our first big mission!" Yang was excited, giving him a light punch to the shoulder as he leaned against the wall.

"First big mission? Could have fooled me." Denko jokes as her returned the physical greeting to the brawler.

"What makes you say that?" Weiss asks, unsure how the upperclassman knew of their activities.

Denko says nothing but crosses his arms with a knowing smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"We weren't exactly quiet with that fight against Torchwick." Blake admits as she remembers how many cars had crashed thanks to the Paladin running on the highway… that she knew about. Yang recalled how many vehicles that had been momentarily airborne that she had to dodge with Bumblebee and Neptune during that chase.

"Got everything you need?" Denko changes the subject slightly, his point made already.

"Yep. Got our new clothes and all." Yang replies and undoes the bottom button of her jacket to show that she was wearing something tight across the upper half of her stomach that nearly matched her skin tone. She turned a bit to show him that the tight garment reached to her back where it descended into her shorts with a curve in the cloth to show that it wrapped around to her front again. Simply put, it was designed to not interfere with the aesthetic of her huntress outfit and thus allowed her lower stomach and upper breasts and plenty of leg yet holding her tightly in place where her gains were centered the most, her belly.

A glance at Blake showed that she was wearing a similar restraint under her shorts and leggings that was focused on keeping her lower half tightened, specifically in the back where her shorts were tight enough to show that there were belts or straps of some sort to reinforce it. The black fabric covered her belly and matched well with her vest.

Weiss' was much harder to notice unless one saw that her legs were no longer bare under her combat skirt but now wore tight leggings that matched her dress, fading from white to light blue where it ended inside her wedge-heeled boots. No doubt that is covered more underneath her dress.

Much was the same for Ruby, though her corset looked to be more supportive than it used to be when it was more about the design over function. Her stockings showed a small line just below her knees where a similar supportive garment must have ended and continued up and under her skirt and blouse.

The changes to their wardrobes were slight enough that they'd be missed if you weren't looking for them or didn't know how they normally dressed for their field work. But they seemed to do their jobs as intended as none of the girls had as much bounce as they used to before donning their additions.

"I see. How are they working out for you?" Denko was curious, though he watched as Yang rebuttoned her jacket, noting that she sucked her stomach in a bit out of habit. Letting it out didn't strain the jacket at all, so it was probably good for a while. He even took notice that Ruby's corset could be adjusted to accommodate for her growth as needed as there were a trio of pleating on either side of it that could be undone.

"The Spinning Wheel does excellent work as always." Weiss proudly proclaims. "They've been the ones to make all of the adjustments to our clothes since the whole… Issue, began. And they've never failed to leave us without complaints. Even these new girdles and body gloves have been working wonders on our forms."

"Yeah, easy to clean, looks good, wicks away sweat and dries fast. They know their stuff." Yang adds.

"And they don't make you hot just wearing them either." Blake puts in her own two lien.

"Comfy too." Ruby says with a smile, though it seemed almost strained as she adjusted the backpack again.

Denko laughs. "I'll take your word on it. At least you can take care of yourselves." A chime drew his attention to his scroll from which he read a short text message. "I'd talk more but I gotta go meet with my team. Good luck with your mission. Kick some ass if you can."

The team watched as the older blonde walked away with a wave. "Was he here just to see us off?" Blake asks but only received a trio of soft shoulders shrugging as an answer.

"Quiet. Quiet please." Professor Goodwitch calls out through the microphone on stage with Headmaster Ozpin next to her. The amphitheater was full of students, many of which were in their school uniforms, or lack of in the case of the Vacuo students, and separated by school affiliation within the chamber. "Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words with you before we begin."

Ozpin stood tall behind the microphone, his cane in hand but supporting none of his weight. Glynda walked to the side where she waited until he was finished.

"Today we stand together, united." His right hand clenched into a fist in front of him. "Mistral." He glances at the sea of students in their mostly black uniforms. "Atlas." A drift of white and grey like snow. "Vacuo." Their lack of uniform made them stand out with their variety of colors and styles. "Vale." The students he knew well in their own uniforms, spotting two particular teams ready in their gear.

"The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed and oppression. A war that was much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom. But about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression.

And as you are all well aware, that was something that many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself. Color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it was a trend that held to this very day.

We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity. Through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it.

As first-year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress, on a mission." Several holographic screens began to pop up along the walls of the room displaying a variety of missions from simple wall patrol duty, to assisting law enforcement, to clearing Grimm in different areas around the kingdom.

"Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you chose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

Ozpin leaves the stage as the assembled students applaud his speech, more than a few teams already in motion to select missions of their own.

"This is perfect!" Ruby was almost getting too excited. "All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the Southeast."

Yang steps forward with a raised fist. "Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip at night." She waves her left hand for emphasis.

"Let's check 'Search and Destroy'." Weiss suggests as she gestures towards the nearest screen with those sorts of missions.

It didn't take them long to find what they wanted. "Here we go. Quadrant five needs Grimm cleared out." Ruby announces proudly.

"Well, it's in the Southeast." Blake was accepting but a little lackluster.

Yang was all smiles though. "Sounds perfect."

That was all Ruby needed to hear before she selected the mission and began to input their information to claim it.

MISSION UNAVAILABLE TO FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

Needless to say, they weren't thrilled to see that message come up. It also raised the question as to why that mission was being offered to first year students when it wasn't available to them in the first place.

"Wonderful." Weiss was being sarcastic.

"Any other ideas?" Blake asks Ruby while Yang crosses her arms in frustration.

"We mail ourselves there." Ruby was quick to suggest, the idea showing her age and general immaturity when she wasn't fighting.

"Well, that's one option." Ozpin comments as he walks along from behind the holographic screen while looking at his own large black scroll. "Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first year students." He explains before adopting a knowing smile and his tone shifted in turn. "It seems that particular region is popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that four of you will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

He didn't miss the glares sent to Ruby by her team, the leader with an embarrassed grin while rubbing the back of her head. "Whatever makes you say that?" She tries to deflect.

The smile remained but his tone went from almost playful to taking a slight edge to it. "I'm still curious as to how you all found yourselves at the docks last semester. I'm interested in how you really learned about a "hideout" in the Southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals near a dance club some time ago."

"Um…. Uh, well…" Ruby tries to think of something while looking at anything that wasn't the man talking to her.

"I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for." He was back to being playful again before turning to have an edge once more. "So how about this, instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them?" He offers before making a few taps on his scroll and moments later the mission was selected for Team RWBY, to their delightment.

"We won't let you down. Thank you, Professor." Ruby was grateful.

"Do not thank me for this." All humor was gone and replaced with seriousness. "Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand, the things that await you outside the protection of the kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times. And do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission. And he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory."

The girls lost any joy from taking the mission and began to give each other worried looks, the reality of the situation truly dawning on them all.

"Good luck." Ozpin adds before walking off.

"You sure you know what you're doing Oz?" A voice calls the older man out from a nearby corner that also happened to be clear of students.

"I've had my experience with things like this before." He responds as he clears the turn to see Denko and the rest of Team DAIT watching him, the blonde leaning on the wall.

"And with mixed results." The boy hits the nail on the head as he looks at the cane bearer. "Stuff like this is always a gamble."

"I thought taking such risks was your idea of fun anyway?"

"They can be. Doesn't always work out in our favor though." Denko shrugs as the girls behind him stand tall… such as they could considering that Denko was shorter than most boys in the school and they were shorter than him.

"And how do you plan to increase their odds?" Ozpin was curious.

"I know that you won't let us join them. More people going in there will only draw more attention and you'll demoralize RWBY t the same time." Itazura chips in her opinion.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't take something like that into account?" Ozpin asks with a smile.

"Not really, but you're the boss of all Huntsmen around here." Talon comments with her arms crossed under her chest.

"I'm glad that I have your respect, Miss Eaglewing, certainly more than you showed James this morning." He was amused but understanding when she dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand.

Four pairs of eyes were watching the Headmaster, eyes that have seen more than they should- in his opinion- at their young ages. Yet they wanted to be ones to help end the cycle of pain, if not lessen the pain at the very least.

"You'll be their back-up if needed as well as extraction team should their Huntsman deems it is needed." Ozpin informs them. "You'll have a mission to do but I'm sure you wouldn't mind something to keep yourselves occupied while waiting for the call."

A few taps on his black scroll and the students scrolls beeped from the incoming message, Anya getting hers out first and reading the profile. "That sounds easy enough." She shrugs and leads the team out towards the Bullheads waiting to take teams out to various locations of the city, kingdom, and beyond.

Team Ruby left the amphitheater and were walking outside. The fresh air was nice, the sun warm on their faces, their mood… not so cheery.

"That wasn't exactly uplifting." Yang comments.

"But it's the truth." Blake says.

"It's gonna be tough but I know we can do it." Ruby tried to regain her positivity. Some of that was lost when a fellow Beacon student shoved her out of the way, not even sparing her a glance. She was slightly grateful of her larger size keeping her from being knocked to the ground as she likely would have if she were at her normal weight.

"Hey! Team CFVY is back!" The boy shouts as he runs by pointing at the second-year team.

Up ahead, the team consisting of Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarlatina, and Yatsuhashi Daichi walked away from the Bullhead landing pads, with a slump in their shoulders and the distinct lack of pride indicative of a mission gone wrong.

Blake ran up to her fellow Faunus. "Velvet, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Velvet assures Blake, glancing to the side as Weiss stood next to her teammate. "I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me." The big man himself walked by as she said that.

"Your mission was supposed to end a week ago." Weiss says, her voice full of concern for the girl and her team. Ruby walked up to stand by the Heiress, Yang not far behind her sister. "What happened?"

"N-nothing happened." Velvet shakes her head before she looked down to the ground. "It was just, there were just so many."

Team RWBY spared each other concerned looks as they had heard what CFVY was capable of combined with the words from Ozpin rang in their heads.

"Oh, but don't worry. You first years are just shadowing Huntsmen so you should be fine." The rabbit girl tries to assure the younger team.

"Riiiiiight." Yang drawls, not really buying the sudden attitude shift.

"I should go. Be safe, okay?" Velvet gives them a wave before walking after her team.

Once more, Weiss and Blake shared concern with a glance. "We can do this." Ruby tries to encourage her team, holding up a finger and waving it. "We've never backed down before and we're not going to start now."

"Right." Blake nods as she agrees. She was the one to push the most for the team to get into this mess in the first place.

"Besides, it won't only be us out there. We'll be fighting alongside a genuine Huntsman!" Her excitement was drowning out their fears again, reminding them all about what they wanted to do.

"Why hello girls!" Doctor Oobleck greets them near a Bullhead. The man was out of his normally disheveled teaching garb and now wore a brown great coat, khaki safari shirt, dark green pants, brown boots, and a pith helmet on his head. He was also carrying a large brown backpack. "Who's ready to fight for their lives?"

Seeing the hyperactive teacher looking… professional for once was enough to be a shock to their systems but the fact that it was Oobleck- the history teacher- leading them in the first place really shook them up as they were expecting someone far different. Thus, each of the girls had their own state of shock on their faces and in their body language at seeing the man greet them.

"Lower Cairn is gone then?" Coco nods in response to Professor Goodwitch's question. The team had already been sent too late to do much more than kill the few Grimm that were still hanging around and finishing off a few buildings that were already in ruins. A Goliath had been in the area and lead the attack on the settlement and the few defenders and Huntsmen available couldn't deal with the massive creature or take out too many of its smaller kin before being overwhelmed.

The team's report included the attempted rescue of a family that had managed to hide in a small cave but the Goliath had used its bulk to collapse the cave onto the last survivors before turning its back on the Huntsmen team. Clearly it had only come here to kill the townspeople and ignored everything and everyone else.

Glynda nods a few times solemnly, it was a fact of life that life outside the main kingdoms would be harsh and could end at any moment. That never stopped some adventurous souls from trying. Some succeeded in finding a place that could be well defended enough, others… not so much. Lower Cairn was just the latest known example. Another reminder of why they train and fight against the Grimm.

"Very well, your team is dismissed until classes resume next week. If you need any help, you just need to ask."

AN: Not much in the way of action in this chapter, at all. Just people standing around and talking... good times. Enough RvB references. We got some introductions out of the way, RWBY have revealed their additions to their wardrobes, Lower Cairn has been destroyed, DAIT has a mission that you aren't privy to yet. But the chapter had run on long enough and we can get to the action next time.

As for my feelings about some of the latest reviews... let's just say that I shouldn't HAVE to explain that the weight gain is the result of a terrorist plot meant to undermine the schools. Some terrorists will burst in with guns, others planting bombs, this time its by tainting the water and leading them to a slower downfall. This is especially bad in a world where negative emotions act as a flare for creatures that just want to destroy sentient life and will stop at nothing to do so. Kinda sad that some reviewers complain about this in the first place, one admitted that they hadn't even read a word of the story before going on a tirade in the reviews, thus lacking all context that had to be explained. As for the guest who brought up the show ,600 pound life, never watched it and never planned for anyone in this story to be that big anyway.

I don't know how many of you may have been in any terrorist attacks or those that could have been. For me, when I was still in high school we had more than six bomb threats in a single year. My current job, when I was still at the old plant, had at least three while I was there. These things are serious but do not try to put people down for trying to deal with the stress of being in those situations, let alone those who are or have been victims. If they chose to try to make the best of their situation, let them, no matter what the effects are on them physically or mentally. They are at least trying rather than giving into the terrorists and letting them win.

As for those who leave a good review, thank you. For those who keep reading this but don't give a review, still get a thank you.

Constructive criticism is welcome, if you're here to flame... move on as you probably don't have anything new to say. I'm looking for ways to improve my writing or minimize getting details wrong.