AN: Sorry it's been so long. I had finals, then Spring Break, so I've been busy with tests and hanging out with my family. Anyways, enjoy, and please review.

Chapter 4: Dust to Dust

Sora let one of his eyes drift open as his dreams suddenly went black. The air outside of the main cabin of the airship was chilly, though it would be freezing if it weren't for the heaters running off of red dust. The black air of the night was pitch, with only the lights of the approaching Vale and the twinkling stars providing any light. Sora glanced around with his left eye then shut it, slowly opening the other. Nothing strange was going on with the airship – Sora held in a snort of surprise and struggled to remain still as he saw the sleeping form of Ruby across the way, close enough that their fingers could touch but far enough that they were not.

Instead, he slowly pushed himself to his feet and tried to calm the flush in his cheeks. Why am I blushing like this? The Keyblade wielder asked himself, turning from where Ruby was cuddling Crescent Rose. Sora turned his gaze on Vale, the lights of the city casting an impressive silhouette even in the dark of night. Sora frowned and shook his head. No, that wasn't right; the sky behind the towers was turning a shade of purple as a golden orb began to rise behind it. Daybreak on this side of Remnant.

As the sun slowly made its way over the edge of the world, Sora caught sight of smoking spires. Swarms of creatures flew around the shimmering, emerald towers like insects building their hive. Sora wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a Dragon's wings flaring up at the top of the tallest building, where most of the flying Grimm were congregating. "That's the giant Grimm?" Sora asked himself, mind flashing back to the tale his friends had told him as well as to the rumors he had heard around Patch. Cinder had freed it through the careful application of her plan – of Xehanort's plan, Sora reminded himself. The young Keyblade wielder shook his head in disappointment – it was one of Xehanort's more clichéd plans, unleashing a huge creature of Darkness on an unsuspecting world. Did the guy have any other ideas?

"Attention passengers," a feminine and robotic voice announced over the speakers. Sora didn't turn to listen, instead crouching to softly shake Ruby awake. "Attention passengers, this is a routine alert. Do not panic."

"Fimorminms, Yang," Ruby grumbled, slapping at Sora's hands. She rolled to her other side, Crescent Rose still clutched to her chest like a doll. Sora shook her again, lifting her by her shoulders and causing her head to bob wildly in every direction.

"Ruby, wake up," Sora shouted, now shaking her from side to side. "Ruby!"

"Whoa, whoa whoa whoa!" Ruby said, each statement of surprise coinciding with a sudden change in direction. Ruby's voice began to shake in time with her shoulders. "I – am – a – wake!"

Sora grinned sheepishly and let her go. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Sorry," he said, his cheeks tinged red. He stood up and held out his hand.

"Well, I hope you had a reason," Ruby groaned, reaching out to grasp Sora's hand and pull herself to her feet. She fluidly clipped her weapon to her belt as she rolled from her heels to the balls of her feet. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow while glaring at Sora. "I did say five more minutes."

Sora just pointed up as the message restarted. "Attention passengers. Attention passengers, this is a routine alert. Do not panic. We are currently nearing former Beacon Academy airspace. Due to recent events, the Vale High Council has suggested that all incoming flights take extra precautions. All passengers, please enter the main cabin of the ship and remain calm. This has been a Dragonfly Air, Schnee Corp subsidiary, security message."

"Does Weiss' family own everything?" Ruby muttered in awe, counting the different companies she'd seen under her the banner of her partner's family-run company on her fingers. She let her hand fall and scoffed, somewhat impressed. "Almost, I guess." She looked up at Sora and gestured towards the door inside down the balcony. "We better get going."

Sora frowned and looked past Ruby, glaring at the clouds of Grimm that they were so worried would attack. He had been told that the Heartless hunt down Keyblade wielders by honing in on the Keyblade. Creatures of Darkness were instinctively drawn to the Weapons of Light and their masters in attempts to snuff them out. Sora clutched at his forehead, slamming his palm into his eye over and over. Think, he urged inwardly. Why hadn't the Heartless followed him there? Sure, he'd shut the Door to Darkness with King Mickey's help and that had made sure the numbers of the Heartless wouldn't increase as they tried to escape into the Realm of Light, and the Keyblade wielder and his friends had gone about exterminating them while trying to defeat Xehanort, making considerable headway. Could they have been made quiet with the defeat of Xehanort and the temporary return of Kingdom Hearts? Were they hunting his friends down on other worlds, keeping the other masters of the Keyblade from finding him?

"You okay?" Ruby asked, a slightly perturbed glare on her face.

Sora laughed, realizing he must have looked insane just slamming his hand into his head and glaring off into the night. "Just worried about something," Sora explained; he nodded towards the door and smiled assuringly. "You're right, we should probably head inside like they asked. Hopefully I'm wrong and there's nothing to worry about." He turned and walked towards the door with Ruby.

"What are you worried about?" Ruby asked from his left as they entered the main cabin. He held the door open for her to enter before him. "Thanks. Look, I'm sure nothing will happen, okay?"

"Sora's worried?" Jaune asked nervously. "Well, that's reason enough to start worrying ourselves."

"I'm not 'worried,'" Sora said, making air quotes. His shoulders bobbed up and down in a noncommital shrug. "More like... cautious."

"Usually I would be happier that I am not the only one who wants to act carefully," Ren said as Nora danced around him humming something about pancakes, "but when one as strong as you is worried, I would find it reason enough to be disturbed."

"I'm not worried!" Sora assured them. He shook his head and sighed.

"Then what are you really?" Jaune asked. Nora jumped behind him, still singing about pancakes.

"I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop," Sora explained, raising his left hand and letting it fall to his side. "Honestly, everything has been pretty calm since I've met you guys."

"Calm?" Jaune asked dryly. He glanced at Ren. "Sure."

"Yeah, you've only become a shooting star, gotten in a huge fight with Ruby's scary – yet disturbingly cool – uncle, destroyed about a bajillion Grimm, and gotten us passage from Patch to Vale by stopping a mugging. That's a calm week?" Nora pointed out in a sing-song. She stopped and laughed, leaning on Ren's shoulder happily. "I can't wait to see what a crazy week looks like!"

"Nora..." Ren groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He glanced out from beneath his fingers, the closest thing to a smile that Sora had seen on his face so far. "Though I must admit that I am intrigued as well."

"Sure," Jaune half-heartedly agreed. He rubbed his shoulder where Sora's Keyblade had hit him during their first training session, knowing that any week Sora considered normal or crazy would be a little much for even the most skilled of the Huntsmen. "Mayb -"

"Attention passengers. Attention passengers, please remain calm," the ship's robotic announcer interjected, causing everyone in the group to glance instinctively upward. "The Creatures of Grimm are currently on trajectory to intercept this vessel. The High Council of Vale has been contacted and they urge all aboard to remain calm. We will be landing at the edge of the Kingdom to await the intervention of Huntsmen from the city. This has been a Dragonfly Air, a Schnee Corp. Subsidiary, security message."

The ship lurched as its descent began to accelerate, throwing most in the cabin off balance and causing some scared shrieks. Sora and the others glanced between each other exasperatedly. "You were talking about a calm week?" Ruby asked, already pulling her weapon from her back.

"If only," Sora sighed, turning around and unlocking the exit with the Keyblade. He hefted the weapon onto his shoulder and shoved the door open before turning back to Ruby. "Ladies first?"

"Gee, thanks," she muttered dryly as she passed Sora.

A moment later: "Attention passengers. Attention passengers, please remain calm. There are currently five children outside attacking the Grimm. Again, please remain calm."

R W B Y

Sora watched as Ruby jumped off of the airship's balcony, more than a little disturbed. "I thought that we were – waiting for..." he froze and grunted in surprise as the rest of the Huntsmen followed suit and jumped from the ship with whoops of joy. "Well, that's... something." He shrugged and decided to follow suit, flipping over the railing and letting the Keyblade trail behind him.

Sora grinned as the wind began to whip through his hair, enjoying the feeling of the wild, adrenaline fueling ride he was now going through. Sure he was here to stop the Grimm from attacking, but why not have fun doing it? Nora whooped as she stood atop her hammer and fired, speeding her descent. She exemplified that idea. Sora even thought that he heard a mildly enthusiastic "Yay," come from Ren to further support his thoughts.

Oddly enough, the one who was most serious at this point was Ruby, her usual excitement either gone completely or expertly hidden. She held her scythe out behind her in one hand, the crimson weapon slicing through the air as she fell. Crimson Rose was overextended, causing the blade to form a 'J' with the handle so that the entire weapon looked like a hook. The similarity only became more evident when Ruby caught herself on the neck of a Griffon and spun onto its back. With a tug of her weapon to the side, she forced the creature to begin its descent. Sora angled his body and soon landed on the Grimm's back behind Ruby. The creature jostled off balance when he collided, but Sora was able to guide it back onto course. "You aren't going to just go the shooting star route again?" Ruby asked.

Sora laughed. "If you really want me to," Sora joked, "but you'll be buying me clothes and a tent again."

"Eh, maybe not then," Ruby said, yanking the disobedient monster back onto course. A young Nevermore made its way towards them and Ruby pointed towards it. "Keep us from getting killed."

"Aye aye!" Sora responded, shooting a salute at the Huntress. He then aimed his Keyblade at the incoming enemy. "Fire!" The concussive blast of fire exploded from the tip of the Kingdom Key, rushing at the incoming Grimm. The monster shrieked in rage and tried to spin around the attack, but Sora applied slight pressure to the attack and it curved midair to collide with the Grimm. The resulting heat of the explosion seared away the creature's feathers and fur, and the force caused the rest of it to disintegrate into black Dust. He quickly turned his attention to the next attacking Grimm, a Griffon much younger than the one that Sora and Ruby were riding on. An explosion of ice flew from his Keyblade, freezing it solid and sending it plummeting to the ground.

"Hey, this is just like during our first test!" Nora shouted. Sora turned around and almost felt bad for the Grimm she had landed on, the Nevermore being directed by Jaune and Ren's blades while she fired her Dust grenades out around the battlefield. "Remember? Remember, Ren? Ruby and Weiss jumped in from that Nevermore?"

"I remember," Jaune volunteered, grimacing. "Weiss landed on me, after all."

"Only because you jumped out of a tree," Ren pointed out, earning a stunted growl from his team's leader.

"You jumped off of a Grimm?" Sora asked Ruby. "Without a plan for landing?"

"You turned into a shooting star!" Ruby retorted. She pulled up on her scythe to slow their descent as they approached the ground, though this attempt to prevent their premature deaths resulted instead in slicing the head of the Griffon clean off. "That's... not good."

"What's not – oh," Sora said, turning back to her and noticing the wound trailing Dust in front of them. The Keyblade wielder sighed and grabbed Ruby's wrist. "Do you trust me?"

"Do I?—AAAAH!" Ruby screamed as Sora jumped off of the decaying Grimm with outstretched arms. "Let me go!"

"You want to fall?" Sora asked, stretching his arms out and gritting his teeth.

"At least then I could control my fall!" Ruby shouted, squirming. "Maybe survive the landing!"

"If you'd stop moving, you'd notice we're gliding," Sora responded, lazily drifting towards the top of the treeline. Ruby stopped fidgeting from her place gliding at Sora's side. He was right – somehow he'd managed to slow their descent and started angling their path into a circle around the trees near the coast.

"This is..."

"Fun, right!?" Sora said, grinning over at her. The Keyblade wielder laughed at her stunned face and glanced down at a pack of Beowolves. "Ready to drop?"

Ruby looked down and nodded, letting go of Sora's hand and dropping down on the Grimm. Sora grinned widely and stopped gliding, following her down and readying the Keyblade behind him. He plummeted towards the ground and crashed in the middle of the pack, slamming his sword into the ground. Dirt and stone exploded in every direction, sending Grimm flying through the air and crashing into the trees. "Best. Jump. Ever!" he shouted gleefully, raising his Keyblade and screaming a spell. "Thunder!" He laughed joyfully as the lightning crashed into the ground around him, taking out some of the Grimm. Sora jumped to the side and cut the claw off of a Beowolf that got too close as he spun to stand back to back with Ruby.

"Can we talk about how you decided to not use that," Ruby began, twirling Crescent Rose over her head and slicing cleanly through the jaw of a rampaging Ursa, "you didn't use that when you crashed here?"

"Er -" Sora mumbled, guarding Ruby from a Boarbatusk's blow as she finished her kill of the Ursa. He brought the Keyblade around in a counter and the Grimm faded into Dust. "I... forgot I could glide?"

Ruby shrieked angrily and slammed the blade of her scythe into the ground. "What!?" she snapped at the Keyblade wielder, who jumped over her as her sniper pushed her back towards him. He cast a Sparkga on the projectile, causing crystals of Light to form a cone around the bullet. As they collided with the Grimm, the Light exploded violently, tearing away chunks of the monsters' flesh. The Keyblade wielder landed next to the rifle and charged up a Firaga beside the muzzle, the spell torn from the Keyblade as the Dust bullet was fired off and exploding to destroy another group of Grimm.

"Use your lightning on Nora!" Ruby shouted, rolling her weapon around her neck, cutting a Grimm in two as she did so, and then firing off another shot as the weapon rested on her shoulders. Sora turned to ask what she meant, but the force of the gun firing had already forced her away and into another round of dizzying attacks against the Grimm.

"Okay," Sora mumbled, looking up and quickly aiming the Kingdom Key at the red head falling from the sky. It sounded crazy to Sora, but he trusted Ruby. "Thunder!" The yellow lightning flew from the end of his weapon, arcing through the air. He was stunned when the Huntress grinned maniacally at the energy and reached out for it with her hammer. The air crackled and roared when the energy collided with Nora's Magnihild, causing a huge explosion of light around her and obscuring her.

Only for her to be revealed moments later as she dropped from the smoky remains of the explosion, screaming, "Waaahoooo!" She crashed into the ground, slamming her weapon into its grenade launcher form and fired the huge weapon over Sora's shoulder. The Keyblade wielder froze, stunned by the power that had flown directly over his shoulder, and slowly turned to see what the explosion had destroyed. To his surprise, behind him was the decaying form of a half blown apart Deathstalker. "Just going to stand there? Let's have fun!" Sora turned back and laughed in disbelief – she was riding atop an Ursa Major, her weapon forcing the creature to collide with its kin and destroying the weaker Grimm.

"Wow, she's..."

"Nora," Ren said from beside Sora, his voice slightly more emotional than usual. The Keyblade wielder shot a grin at the ninja, who immediately blushed. "Only one like her."

"Sure," Sora said, raising his weapon above his head. "Reflect!" Ren nearly jumped in surprise as an Ursa's claw collided with the Reflega, in a path that would have ended with his head. "You seem distracted, is all."

Ren's eyes narrowed and as soon as the wall dropped, he flipped through the air and over the Ursa's claw. There was a green glint of steel, and the Grimm's head was on the forest floor. From there, he grabbed a spine on the creature's back and flipped it over his body, throwing it into another Grimm and impaling them on its bony protrusions. Dust bullets flew after the corpse, flying through its Dust dispersing body and mowing down the Grimm behind it. He then delivered a sharp flip kick to the head of an incoming Boarbatusk, looping his feet around one of its tusks and bringing it around like a whip to impale another Ursa on its tusks. Sora raised his Keyblade behind him as he stared at Ren's display, leisurely blocking the tail of a Deathstalker that snapped down at his neck. "Cool," Sora said as the Huntsmen brought his guns down and the bullets shattered a young Beowolf's mask and killed it. Sora grinned and summoned a lance of light to the tip of his Keyblade. "My turn."

He let the light fly from the tip of his Kingdom Key, the glittering stream of energy colliding with an Alpha Beowolf and cutting right through it to leave a shining hole in its chest. The creature stood still as stone for a moment, as if it were unsure that it had died. It only took a moment for that to change as every molecule of the monster's body was suddenly charged with Light energy. Every part of the creature suddenly exploded, burning with enough energy to destroy a thousand Heartless. The energy of the explosion contained no force. It didn't blow anything or anyone away. It only sent Light in every direction, purifying what was infested by the Darkness of the Grimm. When the light finally faded and Ren was able to see again, all of the Grimm around them were gone. No corpses, no black Dust, just... gone. "Awww... Teddy," Nora whined. The Ursa she'd been riding hadn't survived either.

Sora grinned and hefted the Keyblade up to rest across his shoulders triumphantly. "That was... cool," Ren pointed out quietly.

"Sora!" Ruby's voice shouted, causing Sora to turn just in time to be grabbed by the shoulders by a Griffon. He was torn form the ground by the Grimm, and he began to think of his way out of things. Those plans, however, were quickly undone when the Griffon seemed to hit an invisible wall, sending Sora and Grimm ricocheting off of the surface and plummeting towards the ground. It hit and rolled, letting the Keyblade wielder go to roll across the ground and stumble to his feet.

"Who did that?" Sora asked, summoning his Keyblade back to his hand and glancing around in confusion. He deflected an incoming Beowolf's attack and knocked it back. It was smacked downwards as it flew through the air, shattering against the ground. Black Dust began to rise from its corpse, forming a cloud of inky blackness above it.

"Why am I not surprised you children are at the center of events beyond you yet again?" a stern voice asked. Sora turned nervously towards the source of the voice, raising his Keyblade defensively. The source of the voice was a stern looking blonde woman. She held her weapon, a black riding crop, in one hand against her hip. There was a wispy, purple and black cloak trailing from her white, form fitting blouse, the sleeves of which laid loose until her forearm at which point they tightened and frilled again at her wrists. A black cinch was buttoned tight around her waist, melting into a similarly colored skirt. Beneath her skirt were a black tights and black, knee high boots with gold heels. "And a new one. Why am I not surprised?" The woman glanced between Sora and Ruby, who was glancing away nervously. Sora looked over at Jaune, who was nearly shivering in half-fear half-respect. The woman's eyes focused on Sora's weapon and her eyes behind her glasses narrowed to dangerous looking slits.

"I take it this Ozpin guy warned you about the Keyblade, too," Sora groaned, gripping the weapon with white knuckles. He was not in the mood to nearly lose to a highly trained huntsmen who probably knew Qrow and could maybe beat him in a fight. The woman took a threatening step towards Sora, who groaned and angled the Keyblade defensively again.

"Wait, Ms. Goodwitch!" Ruby cried as the riding crop snapped upwards, sending the Keyblade flying from Sora's hand. An angry look from the woman cowed Ruby momentarily. "He's traveling with us!"

Sora summoned the Keyblade back to his hand, causing Goodwitch's eyes to widen in surprise and fear. "Why wouldn't Qrow tell me that?" she asked, slapping the crop to the side and sending Sora crashing into a tree. She raised the crop again, then froze as a small beeping noise came from her hip. She raised a finger at Sora and pulled her Scroll out to examine her new message. "'Sorry this is so late, Glyn. I was...' Tipsy? Only tipsy? Dammit, Qrow, you're always DRUNK! Ugh... 'tipsy. Ruby's got a boyfriend -'"

"I –!" Sora snapped in surprise.

"'- with a huge key for a sword. He's not the one behind all this. He's not clever or... asshole enough for it. Probably best if you don't kill him. Seeya later.'" Glynda Goodwitch stared at the Scroll angrily as she finished reading the message aloud. Her Scroll quivered in front of her and she looked ready to snap it in two with her bare hand.

"Well, I guess that the CCT is back up," Jaune remarked, trying to defuse the tension. Goodwitch looked like she was about to set fire to the communication tool in her hand and use it to cook Ruby's uncle alive when she found him.

"I'm going to kill him," Ms. Goodwitch finally remarked, not moving her gaze from the screen of her Scroll. "I am going to murder that stupid drunkard."

"He is my uncle you know," Ruby remarked lamely.

"Apologies, Ruby," the blonde woman muttered, quietly putting her Scroll away.

"Where are your pockets?" Sora wondered aloud, not letting the Keyblade in his hands fall while he stared nervously at the Huntress who was still casting stern, disapproving glares in every direction. Sora turned to Ruby. "Where did she put her Scroll?"

"I doubt we have time for this," the blonde woman sighed, ignoring Sora's remarks. She swept her riding crop across her body and stopped suddenly at her left shoulder. Sora tensed, expecting another surprisingly powerful telekinetic blow to send him flying. Instead, he noticed an Ursa tumble over the woman's head and crash through a tree trunk. "You should pay attention when on a battlefield, children. Or have you already forgotten your lessons from Beacon?" The woman turned on one heel and the riding crop and her arm snapped to the side, creating an echoing crack and snapping the Ursa's neck. Glynda looked over her shoulder at the kids. "We will talk after this is over."

Goodwitch turned away and lifted the shattered remains of the tree trunk to use as projectiles, then tossed a worried glance over her shoulder again, as if remembering someone's words. "Good work so far," she told the group, a quiet and sad smile on her face. "Ozpin would be proud."

R W B Y

"I am glad to see you are all well," Glynda remarked, her legs crossed while she examined a tablet-sized Scroll, moving through dossier after dossier. She glanced up through the rims of her glasses at the five kids. Her eyes focused on Ruby and a small smile came to the woman's face. "Though if it were up to me, you would be sent home with a pat on the back... and a slap on the wrist. Taiyang has been calling everyone he knows, trying to find you. Your father is... worried. We all are worried. For all of you."

"Why? We're only fighting against someone who destroyed our entire school, drove the entire world to near collapse, and woke up a Grimm so big it could eat Signal Academy." Ruby remarked, torn between sadness and excitement. "This is everything we've been training for, Ms. Goodwitch."

"No. Simply put, it is not. You were barely into your second year of studies when the Vytal Festival was attacked and... And everything that happened," Glynda snapped, slamming her scroll shut and glaring at the young woman in red. Goodwitch's gaze was daggers coming from heavy, angry eyes. It was at that moment that Sora noticed her eyes had deep, purple circles beneath them and looked like they had spent all of their tears along the way. "Do I see the future of Huntsmen when I watch you four? Yes. Even you, Jaune, at this point are exceedingly skilled. I have seen what is coming, and... the future is a dream at this moment. You are not ready to defeat a Mai- a monster like this one, not yet."

"I think they are," Sora pointedly replied, drawing an irksome glare from the woman and confused, but thankful stares from the Huntsmen-in-Training.

"Now, forgive me... Sora, if I don't care what you think," she growled.

"I know you're worried about them, but that's no reason to get angry with me," Sora retorted, tugging at the crash webbing seat belt and slamming his fists onto his knees. "I know more than a few monsters. They're terrible, and they like to destroy as much light as they can. They want to destroy or take as much as they can. The Light chooses who can fight the Darkness, and they rise up to the challenge. These four, my friends, they'll be up to the challenge no matter what. Their hearts are strong, and they'll figure it out if they need to."

"And you're with them all the way, I suppose? Another child waging the wars of men and women who have trained for decades? Yes, that sounds"

"Who beat Uncle Qrow!" Ruby snapped, causing the blonde woman to uncross her legs and lean forward in surprise.

"He what?"

"He beat Uncle Qrow in a fight," Ruby said again, calmer this time. "I never thought I'd be happy to say someone beat the snot out of him -"

"I wouldn't go that far," Ren muttered. Sora sheepishly shrugged in agreement as he remembered more than a few bruises Ruby's uncle had given him.

"- and apparently destroyed hundreds of Grimm along the way, too. I believe in him just as much as he believes in me – in all of us."

Glynda Goodwitch was silent for a moment, examining the faces of each of the other passengers in turn. She noted the conviction, the intense courage in their eyes. Their desire to fight and change the world. "What about the rest of your team, Miss Rose? Team RWBY, that is."

Ruby's eyes drifted down. "If they wanted to help, they'd be here," she muttered, scowling at the floor. She shifted uncomfortably. "Weiss let her dad take her to the other side of the world, Blake ditched us before the Dragonflies even took off, and Yang... She won't do anything for anyone right now."

"You are their leader. They will follow you," Goodwitch muttered. "Just give it time." She turned to Jaune, Ren, and Nora. "And how are you dealing with the loss of Miss Nikos?"

Ren and Nora glanced at Jaune, who was staring angrily at the ground. The entire room dropped a degree or two as Jaune continued to stare silently. Finally, he piped up. "We're dealing with it."

Goodwitch raised a single eyebrow, but did not remark on how he had responded. "Well, I suppose I can't stop you. Beacon Academy is closed; I'm not your teacher anymore. Besides that, Ozpin was always willing to bend rules for you."

"What... time...s?" Ruby asked, waiting for some sign that the woman didn't know what she was talking about. Goodwitch merely raised an amused eyebrow. "All of them, then."

"I never approved or understood, but he always seemed to know what was best, know a way to get the right people into the right trouble," Glynda responded knowingly. "He trusted you in a way and for reasons that he never revealed, to either Qrow or to myself. Qrow believes you can be trusted to protect yourselves, and that you are bound to be thrown into this war regardless of what we do. I believe Ozpin thought that as well."

"So you're going to let us go?" Sora asked over the droning of the engines.

"It depends," Glynda said, causing Sora to tense in worry. Her presence was powerful and commanding, especially in the small hold of the Bullhead.

"On... what?" Sora asked.

"On how powerful Qrow says you are, a request he has yet to answer. Damn drunkard and his f-" Glynda muttered.

"That drunkard is my uncle," Ruby grumbled pointedly.

"Filthy habits," Glynda corrected, looking a little flustered. "Sorry, Miss Rose, but Qrow takes very little seriously. He's a tad overzealous when it comes to shirking his duties."

"Hehe... Point," Ruby admitted sheepishly. She shrugged and sighed, letting her shoulders fall. It was quiet for a while. "What's going to happen to Beacon?"

"The Council isn't telling anyone. They moved the CCT's main spire from the school over to a temporary location, at least until a new, permanent location can be decided upon," the professor explained, pulling open her Scroll again and entering a file. "James – General Ironwood, that is – is trying to get Atlas to aid in the extermination of the Grimm and the repairs of the city. He is achieving little in the manner of success, as Weiss' father is petitioning their council to cut their losses. He is very persuasive, but the General has thus far kept the Council from agreeing to his plan of using huge Dust reserves to eliminate the Kingdom's central city and, thereby, the Dragon Grimm."

"He'd kill everyone there!?" Sora asked, snapping forward and – impressively – causing his crash webbing to fray. "But – But there are so many people! Innocent people!"

"He's only thinking of his own people instead," Glynda admitted with a sad frown. She looked up from her Scroll. "He would sacrifice anything – everything for his family and his company. Usually he and Ironwood would be allied in that respect, though James is more willing to see the good of the world when it is obvious. To destroy an entire Kingdom would bring catastrophic fear and rage into this world. It is likely that, if there are any in existence, other primordial Grimm would awaken upon the destruction of Vale's populous, the momentary rage, anguish, and fear would be so great... Ozpin referred to the likely event as the Opening, though to what I would not know."

Sora grew quiet. "Opening..." he muttered to himself.

"Do you know something about this?" Goodwitch asked. She unhooked her webbing as the Bullhead landed in Vale's capital city, then advanced towards Sora. Her hand slammed against the bulkhead by his head and he held in a flinch. "The Opening that Ozpin spoke of – what is it?"

"Th –" Sora sighed when King Mickey's words ran through his head again. Whether or not this Opening really did refer to the Door to Darkness, Sora wasn't sure and neither could he reveal the Door's existence to those on Remnant. "I don't know, and guessing wouldn't help anything either. Master Yen Sid always says, 'Do not let your actions exceed your vision.'"

"Wise words," Goodwitch remarked, relenting and backing away from Sora. She turned towards the exit of the Bullhead and gestured with one hand. "In the meantime, I assume you five are in need of supplies, hm?"

Ruby, Ren, Jaune, and Nora glanced over at Sora, then back at Goodwitch. "We're broke," they chorused.

"And I am in debt," Sora said, putting his hands in his pockets and grinning. "Almost... a thousand Lien now?"

"That's... impressive," Goodwitch muttered. She crossed her arms and looked out of the Bullhead. "I believe Junior Xiong has been branching out into the Criminal Underworld since Roman Torchwick's death. I believe you are familiar with him, Ruby, or at least your sister is. Vale's High Council is more than willing to pay for someone to put an early stop to his advance. And this will make for an excellent test of your abilities."

"Oh, we're going to go and wreck up the bear guy's club?" Nora asked, remembering one of Yang's favorite stories to tell. "Dibs on the one in white!"

R W B Y

"So this is the dance club that Junior owns?" Sora asked, glancing around the empty, dark room. "Not a lot of music or light or... oh, it's supposed to be an ambush, isn't it?"

"Safe bet," Jaune remarked dryly, drawing his weapon and extending his shield. "Nora'll take the swan princess, Ren and I will handle crowd control. That leaves... the one in red and Junior, if I'm remembering Yang's story right. What do you think, Ruby?"

"Good plan as any. I'll take the one who thinks she can get away with my color palette! Sora, you take Junior."

"Cool. What's he look like?" Sora asked, crossing his arms and looking around the darkness.

"That'd be me," someone said as the lights flashed on. Sora glanced up at the source of the voice as the lights came back on, revealing an army of men in black suits with red ties and black sunglasses and hats. Above them, on a stage, stood a man dressed similarly, with a white shirt and black vest. He didn't wear sunglasses, though, and had a grin beneath his shaggy beard. He was a giant of a man, standing nearly the same height as a pair of speakers nearby. There was a black and red bludgeoning bat resting on one of his shoulders. "So, I heard Goldilocks was out of commission, but here's little sister Red ready to carry on just like the bimbo."

"You wanna repeat that?" Ruby growled, her silver eyes flashing dangerously. She placed a hand behind her and pulled out Crescent Rose. With a complex flourish, she twirled the weapon around her body, slowly extending the blade of the scythe and letting the red blur slam into the ground of the dimly lit dance club. Junior laughed, though it wasn't as cocky as his voice had been moments earlier. "You know, the last guy to call me Red got eaten by a Grimm."

"Ah, Roman. He always was too stupid to quit while he was ahead," Junior remarked. He sighed contentedly. "Memories." The man glared down at the kids. "So, Vale Council is sending kids to do their dirty work now? And here I thought we could just play nice – I keep the criminals in line, they keep out of my way. Peace."

"That seems a little farsighted from what Yang told me about you," Ruby retorted. She glanced over at Sora, who nodded and summoned the Keyblade back to his hand. The entire room was silent for a while.

Then Junior began to laugh. "What... is that?" he asked, clutching at his gut. Sora glared at him in annoyance, lifting the Keyblade onto his shoulder and placing his other hand on his hip. Junior continued laughing. "You're gonna fight my boys with a toy? Wow, that's a good one. I needed a good laugh, you know, thanks."

"Oh, I think I'm going to enjoy this more than I should," Sora remarked, letting the Keyblade fall to his side to grip it with both hands. "I'm not the only one, right?"

"He insulted my sister even when she was nice enough to not burn his nasty club down," Ruby said. She lifted her weapon and readied it, placing the firing end behind her so she could fly towards the woman dressed like a red bird. "Only I can point out that she overdoes... everything!"

"Then let's go, like we planned," Jaune said. He looked over at Sora, then at all of the others. "Go!"

Sora grinned and jumped with all of his might, flying through the air and landing in front of the owner of the club. The man immediately stopped laughing. "That's... impressive," he muttered, lifting his bat up with both hands. "I think... Boys, get 'em all!"

Sora ducked beneath the incoming strike of the bat, lashing out with his fist. Junior stumbled backwards with an "Oomph," then set his feet and brought his bat down heavily to crush Sora. The Keyblade wielder merely rolled to the side and grinned as he came up, raising his Keyblade and twisting it before him. The tip of the Kingdom Key glowed for a moment, then a Blizzara shot from it. The criminal was faster than he looked, though, and batted the spell away with his weapon. "So, you've got an ice semblance. You don't look the usual part, Keyboy."

Sora jumped and twisted over the next attack, the edge of the bat skirting against his hood before he landed and brought the Keyblade across his body. Junior used his bat to slam the Keyblade into the ground, causing some of the glowing tiles to shatter. "I just got that fixed!" Junior snapped, slamming his forehead into Sora's head. The Keyblade wielder stumbled backwards, but his head quickly cleared. He raised his Keyblade and deflected another blow from Junior, messily.

"Ugh. Okay, I'm done holding back," Sora said. He waited for another blow from Junior, then raised his Keyblade and punched the incoming attack with the basket of his weapon. Sora's arm didn't bend at all, causing Junior's eyes to widen in surprise. The criminal pushed harder, trying to gain ground. He failed, and Sora straightened his arm, which sent Junior flying back into his speakers. Sora advanced on the criminal, rolling his shoulder and stretching. "Now, let's see how this place looks after a dance."

With that, Sora raised the Keyblade in front of his body and gestured with his other hand for the club owner to come and get him. Junior did just that, growling in rage and rushing towards the Keyblade Wielder with his bat. Sora laughed and jumped past the flurry of strikes to deliver a heavy blow to Junior's side. The criminal grunted in pain and stumbled sideways, where his face was met with a Keyblade strike. Junior flipped in the air and crashed on his back, with a heavy thud. His bat collided with his gut and he groaned as the air left his lungs again. Sora raised his weapon above his head and smiled down at the worried Junior. "Gather," Sora commanded with a simple grin. A sphere of energy erupted into being above Junior, and the entire room began to shudder around them. Soon, however, Junior's men and the huge speakers around the room began to drag slowly across the floor, gathering speed until they collided above Junior.

"FOOOORE!" Nora screamed. Sora turned in confusion and threw himself to the ground as the white dressed twin flew through the air with a heart shaped imprint on her forehead.

"Coming through!" a tornado of red and black screamed above Sora as he tried to stand up, the force of the attack causing him to crash to the ground. Ruby stopped twirling and another red and black dressed girl crashed into the sphere of metal and goons. Ruby turned to Sora and held out her free hand, which he gladly took to stand up.

"This is going to hurt, isn't it?" Junior asked as the group assembled around him.

"Probably," Sora replied with a smile. He let go of the energy above Junior, and the Magnega slowly disappeared.

"Mommy," Junior whined. Then there was a loud thud as the debris all crashed down on top of him.

"That. Was. Amazing!" Nora screamed excitedly, grinning as a light behind her sparked and fell from the ceiling. Electricity arced from the debris and ran through the electric proof hammer wielder. "Eeeee! That tickled, Ren!"

"I didn't... oh, never mind," the green clad ninja muttered as he turned with the others towards the exit.

"Oh, I know that," Nora assured, doing little to calm Ren's blushing.

Sora laughed along with the others and continued with them. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, surveying the carnage around them, only to see a large red projectile flying at them. "Reflect!" he snarled, casting a white wall around himself and his friends.

"What are you -" Jaune began, only to stare as the bazooka shot pang-ed off of the Reflega and back at its sender.

"Bad move?" Junior shouted, his voice cracking in fear.

"I'd say probably," Sora agreed, casting a Firaga after the attack, the fire ball absorbing the shot and infusing the pile of goons and party supplies atop Junior. The resulting explosion sent all of the criminals flying, crashing into the walls. Various colored sheens ran across their skins annd they slid down to the floors, unconscious. Junior crawled over towards the group in pain, then fell on his face. "No – that was definitely a bad move."

Sora turned to the others. "So dinner's on me, this time," he said with a grin.

R W B Y

"Wow, I guess I didn't realize that there were this many kinds of Dust," Sora muttered, looking around the Dust shop at all the different types.

"You really didn't have to pay us back, you know," Ruby told him, looking up from the weapons catalog she'd found in the back of the shop. She flipped to the next page and looked back down. "The payment from taking Junior down will keep us in the green for a while, and besides, what are friends for?"

"For paying back," Sora replied with a grin. He walked down the aisle of colors. "Red. Yellow. Blue. Green. Purple. White... Geez. What is this stuff?"

"Jeez, the stuff you don't know." Ruby shrugged. She read the last page of the catalog and shut it before putting it beneath her arm. She grunted. "No one really knows, actually. Dad's stories always said, 'From Dust rose Humanity, to Dust they shall return.' Dust is the source of almost everything. Seriously, how is it you don't know this stuff?"

"I haven't been in school for... three years almost?" he replied, standing up and considering that. "And it just didn't seem important. I was too interested in helping my friends out. Kairi was new to the island after Xehanort killed her family and tossed her from her home... island and she washed up on our shores."

"Oh. I... that's terrible," Ruby muttered. Then she sighed and placed the weapon catalog back on the rack. She cleared her throat and changed the topic. "No school in three years, though? Well, I guess between that and living on some secluded island, this all explains how you don't know anything about what's going on right now."

Sora decided to go with it. "Yeah, probably," he said, sure this would explain away any other questions from now on. He froze as he filled a vial of red Dust. "Hm... I... I don't think I've even seen my mom or dad in that long. Heh, they must be worried. Okay, first thing I do when I get back to the islands, I'm going to see them. Not fair to let them worry." He grimaced when he saw Ruby's downtrodden face. "But I have to be away from home, so I think they'll understand. And I think if you give it time, your dad will get that, too."

"Thanks," Ruby muttered, blushing.

Sora returned to filling his vials of different colors of Dust, and they were quiet for a long while as Sora collected the Blue and Yellow Dusts. "So what are your team mates like?" he asked when he walked over to the White Dust.

"Hm?" Ruby asked, pulling down her headphones. "Sorry."

"Oh, um... what are your team mates like? I heard that Goodwitch lady mention them a few times," Sora said. He put the stopper in the vial and placed it in the carrier. "You've been pretty quiet about them, even when Miss Goodwitch asked you."

"They all abandoned the fight," Ruby muttered. She crossed her arms and growled at the ground. "They all abandoned me."

"I'm sure they didn't want to," Sora suggested to calm her down. "Who are they?"

Ruby sighed. "Do I have to?" she inquired.

"I told you all about my friends," Sora pointed out. "So... Yes. Definitely."

Ruby glared at him. "Ugh. Fine," she said, kicking the ground. "Weiss is the Heiress of the Schnee Dust Corporation."

"So she owns everything and a half?" Sora asked.

Ruby snickered. "Good way of putting it," she said. She watched Sora fill up more colors of Dust. "You know how you said Riku was... cold, smart, and angry? Imagine pretty much that. Not to say she wasn't nice, she was just stuck up. She wanted to prove herself to her father and her crazy strong sister, Winter. She didn't really always know how to have fun, but she was learning. Then there's Blake. She was... quiet. Whenever she said something, it was important. Blake hated when things weren't right, and would stick up for any lost cause if it was the right thing to do. She really liked tuna and was sometimes almost as fun as my sis."

"Yang?"

"Yang. She hasn't been herself since everything happened," Ruby said. "Bad jokes with almost as bad a temper. She's fiery."

"Sounds fun," Sora grinned.

"Yeah, but... I actually mean fiery. Like on fire. Ever meet her, don't get her angry," Ruby explained, causing the Keyblade wielder to pall. Ruby laughed at his worried face. "Don't worry, she's usually just a lot of fun. I'm not one for parties, but if you are she plans great ones. Even I have fun at them occasionally."

"You're fun," Sora protested. "And we're fast friends, aren't we?"

"Thanks, and yeah, we are I guess," Ruby explained. "But I'm usually not good with new people."

"You're good with me," Sora remarked. He froze and looked up at her as he filled his last vial with White Dust. "That came out... wrong."

"It's fine," Ruby laughed it off. She glanced down at Sora's selection. "Why only those colors?"

"Um..?" Sora began, rubbing the back of his head. "Let's call it a hunch from my fight with your uncle. If I'm right, you'll see what I mean. It's pretty cool."

"What happens?" Ruby asked.

Sora gripped the container of Dusts more tightly. "Oh, let's let that be a surprise," he said before turning to the cashier. Over his shoulder: "It'll be worth the wait."

R W B Y

Xehanort watched, silently grinning, as his three companions fought to defend him. The lead woman, Cinder, had potential. She was capable of great feats of strength and power, behaving like a fire mage of great knowledge. That was not magic, however. It seemed that the denizens of the Remnant had no knowledge of the Magical arts, instead controlling a primordial energy source known as Dust. She, however, was capable of certain magics of her own. Wind, Frost, Fire, and Lightning bent to her will; though she tried to hide her magic, it was plain as day to one such as Xehanort. Additionally, Darkness radiated through Cinder as she fought the creatures of Darkness, beings that the people of the Remnant called the Grimm.

These creatures were powerful, having very nearly destroyed both Humanity and the animalistic Faunus many times since their creation. Much like the Heartless, they sought to annihilate all in their path and were even attracted by the Darkness in one's heart. Fear, anguish. But they lacked the true power of the Heartless – infection. Whereas the Heartless could steal the Hearts of their victims to create more of their number, the Grimm were... something else entirely. They possibly were created, or maybe born. Regardless of which, Xehanort was sure they could be controlled. With enough Darkness, most anything could.

Cinder jumped backwards, flipping into a handspring then landing on her feet. Using her inborn skills, she crafted weapons from the earth and cut through the chest of the attacking beast, causing it to disintegrate.

"Interesting," Xehanort murmured as the Black Dust drifted upwards from its corpse. Darkness radiated from the rising cloud, drifting away in the wind to be taken elsewhere. The energy of the Dust was intense, filling the Keyblade Master's perception with a sense of familiarity. The Grimm's energy tasted almost exactly like that of the Heartless. Closer to those Xehanort had created while he owned Terra's body – the Emblem Heartless. More and more it seemed that the Grimm were a similar, manufactured facsimile of the Heartless rather than a natural life form. "Very interesting."

Cinder jumped back and raised her arm, sending a stream of glass shards at one of the Grimm, allowing Emerald to jump over it, wrapping her kurasigama around its throat and easily decapitating the creature before throwing its decaying head into one of its kin. The distracted creature was itself killed by a powerful kick from Mercury, blasting a hole in its chest that the boy sailed through. He delivered a spinning kick to the skull of a boar like creature next, slamming its face into the ground and allowing an arrow from Cinder's weapon to pierce its skull.

"Impressive," Xehanort told the group, walking forward and drawing their attention. "Now leave this one to me." There was a flash of Darkness in his hand, and his twisted Keyblade appeared from the shadows. He raised it lazily towards a shattered Ursa, the creature missing both of its hind legs.

"Yes, take the easy one," Mercury grumbled.

"If you had needed my help, you would have deserved to die," Xehanort responded, bringing the weapon close to the Grimm's throat and channeling his Darkness. The monster shuddered, slamming its remaining claws into the ground on either side of the Keyblade Master. Xehanort merely smirked, not even feeling the urge to flinch.

"Bend to my will, creature. Your Darkness is nothing next to mine," Xehanort coldly told the Grimm. He let his Keyblade pierce the creature's flesh; instead of killing the Grimm, the Key entered a pool of Darkness on its flesh. "You have no Heart. Interesting! Darkness more pure than my Emblem Heartless!But your power is not on the same level. Obey." The pool of shadows pulsed and the Grimm shrieked in pain again. Then its claws fell to the ground and it shakily bowed to the Keyblade Master.

"Are you..?" Mercury asked, terror running through his voice.

"Well, that was easier than I had hoped. Weak creatures... but with the right touches..." Xehanort smiled evilly and let the pool of Darkness disappear. The Grimm cried out in pain once more, and fell apart. Xehanort pulled a vial from his belt and collected the dissipating Dust before it could float away. "This shows promise. Perhaps I can make a better creature." Xehanort surged to his feet and closed the vial. "We're losing time, Children. Take me to this... 'Haven.' Time is of the essence."

"When you look twenty minutes from the Grave, sure," Mercury chuckled. Xehanort cast a cold glare in the boy's direction. Mercury smirked, torn between fear and his desire to thrash against authority. Finally: "Whatever. I'm bored – got places to see, people to go."

"Idiot," Emerald muttered as she shoved past Mercury. Eventually, he turned and chased after the green haired woman, the fear more obvious on his shoulders as the woman's gaze left him.

Xehanort snorted to himself. The boy was infatuated with the girl. That would be a useful tool when the time came. He returned his attention to the Black Dust in its vial, watching the material writhe, each speck trying to rise through the others. "Most interesting..."