Before anything else, I own nothing but the original characters, and content therein related to them. RWBY is owned by RT, and any mentioned creator's work belongs to them, and them alone. Rest in peace Monty, your vision lives on in us all.

Author's note: Volume 5 is going to to be a sort of two part special. With how everything has been set up, dragging what is in effect a week or so's amount of time over nearly 9 chapters, is ridiculous, especially when most of it's fighting. This aint DBZ, I ain't taking half a season for a hero to power up.

VOLUME 5

Ruby Rose had been in the living room reading a local weapons catalog, while waiting for dinner, only to peek over her magazine, and burst into tears of joy. The instant the front door opened, Ruby was already moving, tackling her sister and partner with a hug, crying into her sibling's jacket. It had been a long half year without Yang and Weiss. Siniy and Halcyone smiled at the scene, before they were each given a hug from the Red Reaper.

Clayton came around the corner to see why Ruby was crying, only to spot his former teammates. "Siniy… Halc." He said, before chuckling as he approached the squatting bear and the smuggler. "I missed you crazy fucks. Where have you been?" Clayton asked, as he and Siniy shared the manliest of handshakes, before breaking it off to bro hug the much smaller Halcyone.

"Went with Yang to find her mom, and her mom was able to get us to Qrow, and that led us to Ruby, and well, we knew she'd be with you." Halcyone said.

Siniy chuckled as he sat down on the floor, giving his head some room. "I had to travel to Atlas and bust Weiss out of her own place. Her dad was keeping her locked up if you'd believe it. We had to smuggle ourselves out of the kingdom, and then there was a crash, and Weiss got kidnapped for a few hours, but eh, it all worked out." Siniy said, before sniffing the air. "Who is cooking?"

With the sisters reunited, and all of the teams nearly whole the gang sat down for dinner, explaining what had happened over the course of their separation.

"And so I push the door open, and there he is. Jacques looks over, and of course notices me immediately, then I take my cap off, and everyone just shits themselves for a second, when they sees I'm a faunus. I walk over, trying to get to Weiss, and he asks if he knows me. So I shake hands with him, bullshit around for maybe 20 seconds, and then he asks why I was at the charity. So I basically say; to ask if I can marry your daughter." Siniy said, as his friends started laughing, all but Weiss, who had her head down in embarrassment.

"Wow Weiss, marriage already? It's only been a year." Yang said, poking fun at her friend.

"Oh hush you." Weiss said, as she picked at her noodles.

"So Yang, can I see the augmentations?!" Ruby asked, slightly bouncing up and down on her floor cushion. Yang rolled her eyes before standing up.

"Ok but none of the dangerous stuff." Though she kept her cybernetics uncovered, Yang knew what Ruby really meant. Yang popped out the knuckle studs, the right forearm shotgun, as her legs below the knee converted into "ostrich feet" as she called them, the toes elongating to create a springboard of sorts. "Weaponized and optimized. I could probably outrun you little sis." Yang said with a smirk.

"Is that a challenge?" Ruby asked with a grin.

Yang faked a thoughtful look. "Na, but I could still beat you in an arm wrestle." She grinned looking at Nora.

"Wanna bet?!" Nora asked from across the table, resting her arm on the surface in challenge.

"Oh you are so on." Yang responded with vigor, as she sat down and planted her mechanical elbow into the table, locking hands with the ginger. The two struggled back and forth for a period of over a minute before Yang grew a shit eating grin. "Hey Ruby, want to see some of the dangerous stuff?" Yang asked before a short high pitched rumbling came from Yang's arm. A second later the three micro rocket motors fired, and the limb was unlocked from it's end cap, punching Nora in the face and sending the prosthetic arm flying into the wall. Everyone looked down at Nora, then over at Yang.

"Can all of them do that?" Jaune asked. Yang just smirked as her left hand fell off, then she looked down, realizing she couldn't put them back on without at least one hand.

"That's so weird… Cool but weird." Pyrrha said.

Everyone had finished what was in their bowls, or in Siniy's case the entire pot intended for seconds, and Jaune was taking the dishes back to the sink with Pyrrha. "I feel like I'm going to be sick." Jaune said, carrying the ceramics as Pyrrha lifted the pot with her semblance.

"Easy Vomit Boy." Yang teased.

"Nickname throwbacks, great…" Jaune trailed off as he disappeared. Weiss chuckled at the nickname, and Nora noticed Weiss uncharacteristic giggling.

"The Ice Queen seems to like it." She said with a smirk. Clayton tried to hold back his laughter while Halcyone and Ruby openly cackled at the girl.

"I so did not miss you people." Weiss said with a good natured eye role.

"Man she does like the nicknames. What went and warmed your heart?" Clayton asked. Weiss just avoided eye contact with everyone then looked up at Siniy with a smile.

"Ooooooh, I see what's going on here." Yang said, wiggling her eyebrows, causing Weiss to round on her.

"For your information, Xiao Long we have done nothing of the sort… yet." Weiss muttered in Cyrillic, Siniy looked down at her, his eyebrows shooting up.

"To think we used to be a bunch of stupid kids worried about grades." Halcyone said, before downing her tea in one gulp, smacking her tongue to the roof of her mouth at the taste, not liking it at all.

"Shit, we're still a bunch of stupid kids." Clayton said.

"Forever may we be young." Siniy said, raising his glass of tea.

"So say we all." Halcyone said, as Jaune and Pyrrha came back, the spartan carrying a bottle of Sake. Clayton, Ruby and Yang all looked between each other.

"Shots?" Yang asked, excited to test if she was no longer a liteweight.

"That may not be the best idea." Ren said.

"Oh please, the liver and kidney replacement basically prevents her from getting drunk." Halcyone said.

"Who says I can't still try?" Yang's smirk was near face splitting.

"Not to cut thing's short, but we have to bring the new guys up to speed." Rot said, as he Qrow, and Oscar came into the dining room. There was a small swapping of information. Comparing notes as it were. Ensuring everyone was on the same page. The only discrepancy in information was that the Team RNNJRS portion of the group didn't know about Qrow and Raven being able to turn into, well… Crows and Ravens.

"I thought that was a joke." Clayton said, rubbing his neck.

"Yeah, it sounds a little ridiculous on paper." Yang said.

Ozpin, using Oscar's body, chuckled. "I thought it was rather humorous at the time, they could have chosen the ability to take any animal's form and instead chose corvids they were named after."

Siniy shrugged. "Transformation magic, quite impressive turning them into animagus." He said.

"How did I not notice that for almost 18 years? I mean… You travel all over the world, are always covered in dust, have a thing for nuts and sunflower seeds… And all the feathers I'd find outside in the spring when you came home." Ruby listed off her uncle's abnormalities.

"Holy crap, and I thought I've been going insane all my life, constantly seeing black birds watching me and shit, but it was just you and Raven… Man, I should have made some sort of connection… Or at least thought it was her pet or something." Yang said, rubbing her temples.

"So what now, we just go to Raven's camp, raise Hell and grab the maiden?" Clayton asked.

"That is a question better left for tomorrow. Get some rest. You will need your strength." Ozpin said, as all of the people in the room stood up to retire for the night… All save for Rot.

"Ozpin…" Rot said, crossing one leg over the other, coughing into his fist. "We need to talk."

Once everyone was clearly out of earshot, Ozpin sat down across from the blind man.

"Mr. Schrodinger, I assure you, what Salem did to you was not supposed to happen. You were a casualty of a battle that was never supposed to be fought." Ozpin said. Rot shook his head.

"I'm not complaining about being disabled…" Rot took a second to breathe. "I might very well be one of the last people alive on the planet who has silver eyes. Ruby is going to need me to train her as best I can, but there is no guarantee I would be the most suitable teacher for her… I didn't learn how the rest of the warriors at Argentina's Forge did, it will be strenuous for her… And to add to that… I'm dying." Ozpin looked up at the old man, and then down at the floor.

"How far along is the cancer?" Ozpin asked.

"Terminal, capital T. Not even the gods would be able to save me. I can prolong the time I have by avoiding using my semblance, or inversely using my semblance to jump forward in time where I'll be needed, but it's not a sure fire solution" Rot said.

"You will have to be careful then, exposure like that is degrading to the soul as well as the body." Ozpin said.

Rot just sighed. "I know… I know… It seems like only yesterday I was skipping class to hang out in Vale." Rot chuckled.

"Only for you to still be attentive and taking notes from your desk…" Ozpin smirked.

"The ultimate Dichotomy."

Due to a strained amount of bedrooms, as Qrow hadn't thought 5 extra people would be staying at the rental house, sleeping arrangements were compressed. It wasn't altogether an issue. Ruby was the first to give up her room to her sister and Halcyon, preferring to sleep with Clayton as it was. Pyrrha said she'd bunk with Jaune, giving him a knowing look all the while. This left Weiss and Siniy in the spare room. Though slightly cramped, what with the giant occupying a quarter of the floor space, it was still very homie.

It was quite… Too quiet. Much like any Mistralian building the walls were horribly thin. Yet there was hardly a peep from any of the rooms. Weiss was half expecting to be kept up all night by the three noisy teams... However, Clayton was snoring gently as Ruby cuddled his arm, Yang and Halcyone were conked out after all the fighting they did during the day, Ren and Nora actually kept to a regimented sleep schedule, and Jaune and Pyrrha… Well they were on the other side of the house so Weiss had no clue if they were sleeping or if they were sparring like they used to at Beacon.

Turning onto her side, Weiss looked up at the shutters, the moonlight piercing through them to dimly illuminate the room. Following the light rays, she found herself looking at Siniy, who looked to be peacefully asleep on his back. Weiss grumbled. He had his huge canvas tarp folded over, laid out on the floor like a mat, and was covered in his jacket and the thick wool blanket he had.

She didn't actually know if he was wearing pajamas, since he'd gone to sleep before she even entered the room. She'd heard he had a bathrobe back at Beacon, but assumed he lost it. Then again, almost everyone in the house only had about two sets of clothes because of the time spent on the road. Even her. Weiss was sleeping in her panties and an oversized tee-shirt she borrowed from Clayton. Suddenly Weiss felt cold. Her own blanket was rather thin and the house was drafty being so high in the mountains. Or at least that's what she rationalized.

Pulling her pillow and blanket off the twin bed, Weiss swung her feet over the side, and gently touched a single bare toe to the floor. "It actually is cold." She thought, as she left her bed. Hesitantly Weiss approached Siniy. She wanted to cuddle with him… And maybe get a peek at those muscles she hadn't seen displayed since her time at Beacon… It was fine right, she'd taken a nap with him before, how was this any different. They'd made out before, what was the big deal?

Kneeling down beside him, Weiss gently lifted his blanket and coat off of his chest, and was met by the same set of scars, soft hair, and that little layer of fat he had on his torso. As best she could, Weiss crawled up beside him, and clung to him, her small form pressing into his side, as his body heat radiated onto her like a furnace. Being only 5 foot 2, her head was able to comfortably rest on his shoulder, while her feet hardly went past his upper thigh. And speaking of his legs, she felt he had sweatpants on. With her curiosity about his sleepwear sated, and in a position of relative comfort, (Though the floor was quite hard even through the makeshift bed roll,) Weiss let out a content sigh, as she attempted to pull their covers back over them, before she felt the giant stirring.

Siniy opened his eyes slowly, and flexed his arm as he felt weight on it. Looking down he saw a flow of white hair that wasn't his own. "Weiss?" He asked. In response the girl looked up at him. "Are you alright?" Siniy half propped himself up on his unoccupied arm.

"I was cold." Weiss said quietly.

Siniy sighed. "Here… Wouldn't want to crush you in your sleep." In one smooth motion, Siniy scooped up Weiss with the arm she was resting on, and rolled her onto his chest. When Siniy rolled her onto him she half pushed herself up in surprise. Red in the face at being lifted so easily, Weiss sat up on his stomach before hesitantly, she came to rest against his body. "Weiss." He muttered in Cyrillic.

"I've never… Never cuddled with anyone before…" Weiss looked away from him, her self consciousness creeping into the back of her head. "I know I come off as cold, and mean sometimes… But…" Weiss cut herself off as she felt Siniy's hand brush her thigh.

"Weiss… You are perfect…" Weiss felt his large hands roam up over her back, before fully embracing her like a weighted blanket, his fuzzy arms keeping her warm through the cold mountain night. Looking up at Siniy, Weiss felt a sudden satisfaction with the idea of being held in her sleep, especially if it was by someone as warm as her giant man.

Early the next morning, Clayton and Ruby were sitting together out on the cliffside yard. Yang and Halcyone came outside, and joined them. There didn't need to be word's spoken, it was a peaceful morning. The sunrise was enough to occupy the mind at such an hour. "2 creams and 5 sugars?" Weiss asked, holding Coffee out for Ruby, having a tray of drinks for everyone.

"Yes. Nice Weiss is back... Kinda surprised you remembered how I like my coffee." Ruby said, taking the warm drink. Clayton took his own black pressed coffee, and nodded at his girlfriend's partner. Yang and Halcyone each took their mugs, and clinked them together.

"So, I see Siniy didn't crush you in his sleep." Yang said, with a snicker.

"Or split you in half with The North Pole." Halcyone said, practically wheezing as she tried not to laugh. Weiss turned a bright red, and tapped Halcyone's head with the empty tray.

"Quiet you… I… We... We only cuddled." Weiss said, looking at Clayton and Ruby. The Crimson Couple just looked at each other and snorted at how bad Weiss was at lying.

"Speaking of the big guy, is he up yet?" Clayton asked, wishing to know the whereabouts of his teammate.

"In the kitchen making breakfast for everyone. Something from his culture." Weiss said, as she sat down, interested to know what new breakfast foods the Cyrillic people could have created.

"I just can't believe we're in Mistral." Yang said with a yawn.

"That's what you can't believe?" Ruby asked her sister.

"Ok, having cyberware, magic, evil overlords, all hard to believe, but yeah. All of us just… Ending up here." Yang said.

Weiss looked at her feet. "I wasn't sure I'd ever see you all again."

Ruby and Clayton looked over to her, and the young man among them chuckled. "I think deep down I knew we'd come together again… Just didn't expect it to be so soon."

Halcyone blew a raspberry at her leader's sentimental comment. "I was expecting you guy's to come crawling home after a week." She teased, earning a chuckle from the group.

"I wish Blake and Pale were here." Yang said before sighing.

Clayton shifted his attention to her. "Honestly, I can't say those two should be anywhere near each other right now, even if it was with us… Assuming either of them are alive." He muttered.

"Don't say that…" Yang drew everyone's eye, her left arm shaking. "Don't… Don't remind me of what Pale tried to do… What he's probably already done." Yang pulled her legs to her chest. "I lost enough of the friends I made at Beacon… Don't make me believe one of my friends turned into a monster, and don't make me believe I lost my partner too." Halcyone rubbed Yang's organic shoulder, and hugged her.

"Hey, Blake's a smart girl. If Pale was trying to kill her, she'd run. She'd live. She might have even gone home. If she's back in Menagerie, ain't no way a human is going to be able to kill her there. And Pale… He's screwed in the head, but he's a good man… He wouldn't try to kill Blake again, not after what they both did to save you." Halcyone said. Yang sniffed, and leaned into her girlfriend, hoping to god she was right.

About an hour later, Rot appeared in front of Ruby as she was walking to the kitchen. "Oh, Mr. Schrodinger, I'm sorry I didn't see you there." Ruby apologized, before he took her hand, and reappeared with her in the Dojo. Instantly doubling over, Ruby dry heaved. Thankfully she had nothing in her stomach other than coffee or she would have thrown up from the experience of teleporting. "I don't feel so good." She said.

"Teleportation is like that." Rot said, as he sat down cross legged. "Come, sit." Rot said.

Looking confused, Ruby sat all the same. "Is this some sort of surprise training?" She asked.

Rot nodded to her. "We are setting out to capture the spring maiden soon. Though I have no doubt we will be sufficient, neutralizing her magic will do us wonders." Rot explained. Thinking back to Beacon, Ruby remembered how Rot was able to make fire disappear and pull Cinder out of the air. "Close your eyes." Rot instructed, and as told, Ruby closed her eye's. "I can not teach you everything I know. Most of what I learned I did through trial and error, taking risks, losing people… And I don't want to see that happen to you, because I made a promise… So I'm going to teach you how to manipulate magic." Rot said, before he drew a deep breath, and through her eyelids, Ruby could feel the lights flicker, then go off. "Even without our eyes, we remain exceptionally powerful, so long as you understand where that power comes from. Silver eyed warriors is an understatement… We are gods among men. What few of us are left at least. Turning that dragon to stone was only one facet of magic, flickering the lights is a parlor trick, and draining Cinder of her power and semblance was only one skill… And that's a skill I'm going to teach you." Rot said.

Ruby listened intently to every word. "To begin… How are you feeling?" Rot asked, and before the words could leave her mouth, Rot cut her off. "Don't answer… I want you to ask yourself the question, how are you feeling? Confused, tired, stressed, nervous for the fight ahead? If so, get rid of that, it does you no good. Instead, you must feel confident." Ruby raised an eyebrow despite having her eyes closed, and just shrugged. "Confidence, in yourself, in your team… Without confidence, you do not have presence, without presence you can not exert your will onto the world around you, making you unable to perform even the most basic of magics, and if you can not perform magic you can not stop it, so you must leave no room for doubt..." Ruby shrugged again. Rot's line of reasoning made sense, to enforce your will onto someone else required you be actually willing to do it in the first place.

"Secondly, when you use your semblance, how do you activate it?" Rot asked. Ruby had to think again. Petal Burst wasn't something she ever really needed to think about using. She usually just "wanted to go faster," though... When she's began to perform the more complicated act of splitting her matter into it's more basic forms, Ruby did usually have to envision herself turning into mostly gas and flakes of herself.

"I... I usually have to think of becoming a cloud. Sort of see it happen in my head." Ruby said, earning a hum from Rot.

"Visualization. A good 80 or so percent of semblances require this method. Visualization, then execution. The same can be said for magic in most forms. This is good. You're already almost halfway there as far as training's concerned." Rot said.

Ruby slightly opened one eye. "Um... Not to interrupt, but... If all it takes to do magic is visualization, and willpower, and I was born with the capacity for magic because of my eyes, how come I've never... I don't know... Accidentally cast a fireball as a kid while playing "magic" or something?" Ruby asked.

Rot chuckled. "I asked the same question when I first started learning about the all this too. So as a counter question... As a kid, did you know how fire worked?"

Ruby closed her eye again. "Fair point... So magic is... Three basics. Willpower, visualization, and understanding?" She asked.

"More or less." Rot shrugged. " Not just any idiot can have silver eyes or a lost soul crammed into them and actually use magic. Of the few people that can perform magic, most young children lack the knowledge of how the world works to manipulate it even if they have the will and the ability to form the mental image needed. Most older adults, lack the willpower to apply magic even if they have the knowledge, and the mental image, and for people who aren't used to using a semblance or an aura proficiently, they lack the ability to visualize... And it's for this reason that Maiden magic when not presented with a clear target host, reincarnates into a young adult with an active aura and... At least that's my theory on it. But that's what makes you the perfect age to start training. You're old enough to know most of the science needed to understand the world, you're young enough that you've got the willpower required, and you're versed enough in using your aura and semblance that applying everything should be a breeze." Rot paused for a moment.

"So. When you open your eyes, you will have suppressed my own magic, and turned the lights back on." Rot said. Screwing her eye's shut tighter in concentration, Ruby tried to think of a switch flicking, only she couldn't feel the light hit her eyelids. "You're being too simple about it. The light's were already turned on, I cut their power, what would you need to do to get them back on?" Rot asked. And as if the very light she was trying to turn back on appeared over her head, Ruby understood where the disconnect was. Thinking about a circuit, a flow of energy, she visualized a little black smudge blocking everything, and wiped it away with a rag like it was nothing. Feeling the lights turn back on, Ruby opened her eyes, and looked around. She'd just performed a feat of magic… Or was it technically anti-magic?

"Good job Ruby… Your mother would be proud to see you surpass her." Ruby looked at Rot once more, and felt her lip tremble.

"You… Knew my mother?" Ruby asked.

Rot sighed. "I did… That time has since passed… Now…" The lights shut off again. "Turn the lights back on." Rot demanded.

"If I turn them on, will you tell me how you knew her?" Ruby asked, as she closed her eyes. She heard Rot exhale forcefully.

"Kid... It's best not to dwell on such things..." Rot said. Ruby tried to visualize a rag wiping away a black smudge again. Only this time she couldn't get rid of it all.

"I just want to know what happened to her. She left one day when I was young and never came home." Ruby said, trying to rub away the black spot. Rot hummed.

"We... Look, Ruby, I shouldn't be the one to tell you what happened to your mother." Rot said, as Ruby threw the mental rag at the black spot.

"Why not? She's been gone for over 10 years... I know she's dead..." Ruby said, before trying to wipe away the conceptual black smudge with her hand outstretched.

"Because she made me promise not to tell you about what happened." Rot said.

"I still want to know." Ruby said, scrunching her eyes closed, trying to remove that black spot keeping the lights off.

"It's not my place." Rot said, as he stood up.

"Then who'd place is it?" Ruby said, growing angry at Rot for withholding the knowledge she sought.

"Even if I pointed you to who would know, you won't like what you'll hear." Rot said, trying to reason with Ruby.

"As if not knowing is any better?!" Ruby asked in frustration, practically smacking the black spot she envisioned, causing it to disappear. In that same second, the lights came on, only to flicker, before the bulbs blew out, raining glass around the room. Ruby opened her eyes and looked around, seeing the small amount of damage she'd caused. Rot looked down at her with his eyeless sockets.

"All I can tell you, is that your mother fought for us all valiantly... The lessons over. If you face the spring maiden, you should know how to disable her now, and if not, you'll figure it out." Rot said, before he walked past Ruby, the fallen glass crunching under his boots. At the door Rot stopped, and turned to look over his shoulder. "There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed... Take that lesson to heart if nothing else... And maybe you'll avoid your mother's fate."

Jaune and Pyrrha were just now stirring from their sleep. Pyrrha was still snuggled up against Jaune, her hair flowing out behind her, covering Jaune's hand as he rubbed her backside while waking up. His memory from the night before was a little hazy, but whatever sleep he got left him well rested.

Raising her head, Pyrrha smiled down at Jaune. "Good morning."

He looked up at her and returned the warm smile. "Morning, beautiful." Jaune said, before Pyrrha craned her neck and adjusted her body to kiss him. Seeing the rays of sunlight breaking through the shutters and curtains, she broke the kiss and sighed.

"Do you think we missed breakfast?" She asked, planting a kiss on Jaune's nose. Jaune groaned, as he knew the next words out of Pyrrha's mouth were going to be related to coffee. "Maybe we can get some leftover coffee?" She suggested.

Suddenly there was a harsh banging on the door. "Come on you lazy fucks, get up… Leo called, we're going after the maiden early." The voice on the other side of the door was Halcyone's.

Jaune looked at the door, then up at Pyrrha before giving his response. "Yeah… Uh, be right there." Jaune said, as Pyrrha groaned and pushed herself up from under the sheets.

"Yeah, we're coming." She said, sounding slightly irritated. Jaune just laid his head back as Pyrrha got out of bead and prepared for a shower like a zombie as she always did in the morning. Sitting up, and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Jaune got half dressed, and went to find them some coffee. Returning to the room a short time later, Jaune found Pyrrha had gone back to sleep on her stomach after her shower. Setting the two warm drinks on the nightstand, Jaune gently rubbed her shoulders. For all of Pyrrha's amazing skill, and commitment to being the greatest huntress she could be, it was both funny, and adorable to Jaune in retrospect, that prior to getting coffee between the hours of 6 and 10 on a weekday, Pyrrha was the laziest person he'd ever met.

"They had coffee." Jaune said, holding the steaming mug up for her. Taking the drink, Pyrrha whipped her wet hair back, and sipped on the bitter and caffeinated drink, smiling contently as Jaune rubbed between her shoulder blades.

"I really don't want to fight another maiden..." Pyrrha said.

"That's why everyone's coming with us, Pyrrha." Jaune said, before laying down on his back beside his girlfriend.

"Still." She muttered, taking another sip.

"Guess I need to take a shower too." Jaune said as he sat up.

"I promise I won't drink your coffee." Pyrrha said, as Jaune rolled his eyes and got out of bed. Propping herself up on her arm, Pyrrha watched Jaune go into the bathroom, and she smiled, wishing every morning could be like this one.

"Oh, come on! I woke you cunts up an hour ago!" Halcyone said from the open door, seeing the still naked and in bed Pyrrha.

Pyrrha sighed. "Well, not not exactly like this morning." She muttered.

Before the gang was set to head out, Qrow stood out on the front pavilion overlooking the mountains. "It's a shame I can't see the sunlight anymore." Qrow nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Rot's voice from behind him. "I'm sure this Kingdom's a beautiful as I remember it in my youth."

"Jeez, Rot, trying to give me a heart attack?" Qrow asked, holding a hand to his chest.

Rot smirked, the hole in the side of his cheek turning the look into more of a twisted smile, before he became serious again. "Were you able to find any of those hunters you knew?" Rot asked.

Qrow shook his head. "None of 'em. It's like most skipped town, or disappeared, and the dime a dozen hunters are all out in the furthur ends of the kingdom on missions."

Rot grunted. "I don't like that."

"Yeah well not even my luck is bad enough for what you're thinking to be true." Qrow said.

"It's not bad luck I'm worried about, it's the capability of our enemies." Rot said. "You don't know Salem like I do. For all the rare or unique people you can find willing to fight for Oz, Salem can find one or two that can match them all. Tyrian comes to mind."

"And yet you beat him to a pulp, and Clayton shot his tail off." Qrow said, not particularly worried about the mad man.

"True, but there are worse than him." Rot said.

A few hours later, the group of heroes, young and old, entered Haven academy's main hall. Leonardo Lionheart was there, above them at the top of the central stairs. "Why hello… Thank you for coming… There um… Seems to be more of you than last we met." Leo said.

Qrow shrugged. "Eh, you know what they say, the more the merrier. So what did the counsel say? Are they willing to draft a small army up?" Qrow asked, only for Leo to hesitate and notice there was a problem.

"Why did you bring your weapons?" The lion faunus asked.

Clayton and Siniy looked at each other. Call it instinct, but anyone who was afraid of someone with a gun strapped to their back was paranoid, or up to no good. "What? Leo, we're huntsmen, we take our weapons everywhere. Have you been drinking?" Qrow asked, knowing the old professor wasn't one to keep his liquor well. The conversation faded into the background, as Yang heard something, off to her right, and Siniy's nose perked up, having caught a familiar scent.

"Mom?" Yang asked. And without warning, Qrow drew Harbinger, and fired at the bird sitting on the banister.

"Holy crap." Clayton muttered.

"They are magic." Nora said to herself, as Raven transformed from bird to human in a puff of smoke, now standing beside Leo.

"That was insulting. If you're going to shoot me, shoot me." Raven said to her brother.

"What are you doing here?" Qrow asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Raven said, walking down the stairs and taking off her bone mask. "You've been scheming little brother. Planning to attack your own sister."

Qrow turned to Leo, anger present in his tone. "Leo, what have you done?" The man couldn't speak, as Raven spoke for him.

"Leo, made a choice… The smart choice… You all on the other hand." Raven said, trailing off.

Qrow spoke out again. "You have the spring maiden, we can work together, and beat Salem." Qrow's attempt at reasoning was wasted. Raven had made up her mind.

"All that time spent spying for Ozpin, and you still have no idea what you're dealing with? She is a god compared to us… There is no beating Salem." Raven lamented.

"You're wrong…" Ruby spoke up from the back of the group. "You're wrong… There are no gods… There are no deities… There's just evil people, and good people that stand in between them and the innocent… If you help us, whatever power Salem has won't matter. We've got strength in numbers and more than enough minds put together to stop her… If you join us, that's one less obstacle between us and her… Please… Don't be on the wrong side of the fence in the end game." Ruby said, pleading with Raven to put aside her foolish sentiments of survival and power.

Raven sneered at the girl. "You sound just like your mother." And with that, Raven cut open a portal to Vernal, where Cinder lay waiting to attack. Opening up with a fireball, the red orb of heat soared through the air, and nearly struck Ruby, only for Clayton to shove his girlfriend out of the way, and use his semblance to eat the hit as best he could. Looking up, the gorilla faunus saw his attacker walk out of the portal. Cinder, followed by Mercury, Emerald and Vernal.

"Hello boys and girls." The young maiden said, as she stood in line with her accomplices.

Pyrrha felt a sting in her abdomen where the woman in front of her had pierced her with a glass arrow, and she sneered at the Cinder. "You…" Pyrrha said, pulling out her kopis, now known as "Freedom or Death" painted a deep crimson like her hair. Seeing their friend draw her weapon, everyone else pulled out their own, and the air was punctuated when Clayton racked a fire dust shell into Kingslayer's chamber.

"Wait a minute everybody calm down." Qrow said, holding his hands out, realizing how hasty he might have been to aggravate Raven given the company she apparently kept, only to be interrupted when the entrance door opened up behind them. In walked a man of an imposing 8 foot stature. Rot had a feeling of who was there, and sighed, as he put on his hat and disappeared.

"The White Fang is preparing demolition of the school. No one's getting in, and no one's getting out." Hazel said.

"This was all just a trap?" Weiss asked, looking at Raven. Siniy grunted, as he lifted Two Theaters, and deployed the axe, the multitool ready to crack some heads.

"It would seem so." Ren added, calming himself for the fight ahead.

Qrow looked between Hazel and his sister. "Raven, how long have you been with them?" He asked, looking between the enemies before them.

Cinder stepped forward with a smirk. "Aww, don't feel bad. Raven was a recent addition to the team. Lionheart on the other hand. Well, let's just say entrance into the Vytal Festival was so much easier with official school transcripts." Lionheart looked down at his own feet in shame, as Qrow gazed up at him. It was him the entire time. Every set back, every slip. Lionheart had given up information of Ozpin's plans for years, and now, all the huntsmen and huntresses he couldn't find… They were ratted out by the cowardly lion, and Rot's fears were proved right. "And now here you all are, seeking answers, only to find your own demise."

Siniy was the first to speak up. "You were the one responsible for Beacon's fall…" He said, stepping forward to address Cinder. "You were the one that tore me away from Weiss…" Siniy dropped his weapon, the axe head digging into the floor. "The one who took from me, the only home I've had since I was a child…" Cinder was nearly compelled to step back a pace. The sheer size of this man was imposing, but she was not afraid. He might have been strong, but her maiden power made her stronger. "You, who took from me, my friends… My second family…" He stopped about 7 feet from her. "Everything I could call my own…" He tilted his head to the side, and cracked his neck with several long and deep pops. "And you have the guts to show your face to me?" Cinder wasn't sure what kind of response he was looking for, it must have been a rhetorical question. Siniy then took a deep breath. "I forgive you... Walk away while you can." The giant said, before turning away from her.

As he left, Cinder felt more confused than anything, until she heard Pyrrha speak. "Well I don't." There was the crack of a gunshot, and as fast as she could, the fall maiden raised her hand up, creating a sword to block the bullet with, as the spartan charged at her. Swinging the glass to parry the incoming strike, Cinder, pushed Pyrrha off of her.

Siniy huffed. "I suppose I shall fight the man in green." He said, as Weiss joined him.

Jaune rushed forward to help his partner, and all hell broke loose from there. Clayton and Ruby charged in to take on Emerald, their weapons of death raised. As Yang and Halcyone shared a smirk and started walking towards Mercury. This left Nora and Ren to tend to Vernal, as Qrow rushed towards his sister, and Oscar simply went to confront Lionheart.

With the two giants in the room prepared to square off, Hazel was the first to speak. "I don't wish to fight you." He said, as Siniy strapped his helmet tighter to his head.

"You should have considered that before locking the door… I want to stop the White Fang from killing us all." Siniy said, pulling his weapon out of the floor.

"I can't let you do that." Hazel responded.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at him. "Who said you were going to let us?" She asked.

Hazel hummed at the girl's tone. "So be it." He said. There was a flash of moment, and the smaller giant between the two punched the larger square in the gut, causing him to double over, only for the bear man to chuckle.

"Weiss, show him the thing." Siniy said. With a determined look, Weiss drove her rapier into the ground, and began to summon the Arma Gigis, the 20 foot suit of robotic armor clawing it's way out of the ground to stand behind the 10 foot bear man. "Willing to reconsider letting us go?" Siniy asked, as he got back up, and lunged at Hazel, as the gigis joined him.

Meanwhile Pyrrha and Jaune were double teaming Cinder, matching her blade for blade. Only Jaune was falling behind. As the less skilled combatant of the three, he had to make up for his sluggish movements with tricks, and a little bit of applied dust. When there was a gap in his attack, he put Croccea Mors into it's shield, collapsed it, then pulled a dust cartridge off of his belt, and inserted it into the pommel of his sword. Pressing the trigger on Crocea Mors' grip, the edges of the shield extended slightly, forming a two hand worthy great sword. Clacking the trigger again activated the dust cartage within, the groove on either side of the flat of the blade lit up a bright red, as the powdered fire dust was vented through the sword, making it grow hot, fire streaming from the edge. Charging back in, Jaune brought his blade down onto Cinder's and when she raised her own to evade the strike, sparks flew, as the two hot swords collided momentarily. Pyrrha came back in with a shield throw, forcing Cinder to duck away, allowing the two sword and shield users to stand side by side. "A fire sword?" Pyrrha asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jaune shrugged before speaking. "If you can't beat 'em." Pyrrha rolled her eyes with a smile, and the two pressed forward.

Ruby was sent flying by a throw from Clayton, allowing her to close in on Emerald, who opened up with her twin revolving carbines. Slashing at Emerald for only a second, Ruby backflipped over her incoming boyfriend, who shoulder checked Emerald into the marble statue behind her. Had Emerald not used her semblance on him to make him think she ran to his left, she'd have been sprayed with a 40 foot plume of lit fire dust. Rushing back in, she was met by a sweeping attack from Ruby, who'd circled around them with her speed. Reacting quickly, she jumped out of the way, then rolled to avoid two more gouts of shotgun propelled flame. "Stand still!" Clayton shouted.

Halcyone was swinging away like a madwoman wherever she could find a gap that wouldn't hit Yang, as the golden handed cyborg popped her knuckle studs out to increase the force of her strikes, no matter how few that landed. Mercury, being a predominantly kick-based fighter, had Yang beat. She was still terrible at fighting people who could use their feet well, and it was biting her in the ass not having Halcyone give her more kick related enemies during their training. Yang drove her right fist forward only for Mercury to spin kick her attack away. But that was fine. Using the opening that Mercury had given her, She plunged her left fist into his back, knocking him over. The grey haired boy spun back to his feet, and sent shots Yang's way, all of which she let build her semblance. "You're pissin' me off." Yang said through gritted teeth.

Over with Weiss and Siniy, the Arma Gigas had outlived it's usefulness, as it was destroyed by a haymaker from Hazel, leaving the two giants to slug it out, and for Weiss to help from the sidelines. Probing around Hazel, she sent glyph projectiles at him when there were openings, which only seemed to annoy him. Going in close for a melee attack, Weiss prepared to strike him in the back, only for the man in green to swiftly turn and grab her around the neck, slamming her into the floor, following up with a kick that sent her tumbling across the room into a pillar, breaking her aura. Weiss clutched at her side, struggling for air, and in retaliation for the attack on her, Siniy grappled with Hazel again, trying to crush his hands.

Cinder, seeing the perfect opportunity to eliminate one of the enemy's from the fight, used her maiden powers to suppress the two shield hero wannabes with a continuous blast of fire, forcing them to bunker down for a moment. Then with her free hand, cloaked in her red dress, Cinder made a spear hover in the air, and launched it at the Schnee as she got back up, striking the girl in white in the back.

Siniy heard Weiss's pained cry from his place across the room, and with his fists locked firmly around Hazel's own, he turned to see a spear of glass shoot through her, which came out the other side, ripping through her body, disappearing after a second, causing a red stain to begin forming on her dress. Siniy looked back at Hazel, and headbutted him with his steel helmet, then punting him in the groin, forcing the smaller of the two giants to back off, before Siniy turned to face Cinder. The bear man pulled off his helmet, kit belt, jacket, and shirt , then planted a booted foot into the floor, cracking the wood, and let out a building shaking roar. All movement stopped, as people needed to cover their ears to protect against the 130 decibels of the roar, and Cinder felt her heart skip a beat as the sound physically hit her, the noise resonating in her chest. She'd never faced Siniy before, never seen him get really angry, and if this was the hulking monster that Roman had spoken of, she was sorely unprepared to face him.

To be continued...