AN: Hey everyone, I have the next chapter here. Thank you for all the support this series has gotten here and on Tv Tropes. Like I said, we check in on all four heroines of Team RWBY. However, it is near the end when things get intense. This is the start of important battles in this series. Hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a review with your comments and questions, and have a nice day.

Chapter 36 – Courtesy Call

Ruby.

On the track field at Clockwork Academy, Scathach watched as Sakamoto had completed a lap. She marked down the time as Oryou followed the Hero of Restoration, hoovering the air. However, the Shadow Lancer saw a lagging behind Ruby, "This is a bit slower than your average." Scathach informed the red hooded girl, "And even slower than yesterday's time."

"I-I'm sorry," Ruby responded but was not looking up towards the professor.

Scathach then sighed, "Take some time to catch your breath. You can run again later today." She said with Ruby nodding, then walking away to sit on a bench.

As Ruby sat down, she pulled the red hood over her head. In the distance, Anastasia saw her teammate's sorrow. However, the grand duchess' empathy turned to rage as she heard some snickering, "Poor Ruby," Anastasia turned around to see a sarcastic Bradamante, "She looks so depressed."

"What is your problem?" Anastasia glared at the now peeved paladin, "Why do you want to her suffer."

"Hey, I was suffering more when Astolfo died." Bradamante responded in resentment, "I don't know what happened to her in the last couple of days, but it is nothing compared to what I went through when I lost my best friend." She then had a smirk, returning to her sarcasm, "You know what, why don't I remind her how painful that loss was for me. It might give her some perspective to cheer her up." Bradamante said before trying to walk past Anastasia, but the grand duchess stood in her way.

"If you intend to only make her feel worse." Anastasia responded as a dark shadow loomed behind her, "Viy will freeze and shatter you."

Bradamante gritted her teeth as she clenched her fist, "Tsk, you only got the jump on me before." She said before turning around and walking away, "I will not make the same mistake again." Anastasia remained glaring until the shadow of Viy faded. The grand duchess then turned back to Ruby, her eyes returning to sorrow.

Ruby sighed as she looked down, the words of Charlemagne echoed in her head, "I always try my best." She softly said to herself, "But is that enough to call myself someone who saves people." She said as she cupped her hands, "I mean, I didn't save Ast-"

"Arf!" Ruby heard the bark of her pet corgi. She turned to her right see Zwei panting with a lovable smile on his face. The red hooded girl slightly smiled as she picked up the corgi, hugging him close.

"Hey," Ruby then looked up to see Sakamoto and Oryou in front of her, both of which had finished their laps, "Mind if we sit next to you?"

"Oh, sure," Ruby said as she moved over, letting him sit down. She then looked up to Oryou, who reminded hoovering. As well, the Hero's dragon's mouth was slightly salivating at the sight of Zwei, "Uh?" Ruby said as she held her corgi tighter.

"Oryou, I already told you about that one," Sakamoto said with Oryou sighing. He then turned back to Ruby, "You've seemed a bit depressed lately."

"I, uh, have had a lot on my mind." Ruby responded as she looked down a Zwei, petting him as she spoke, but then looked back to Sakamoto, "Hey, did you always think you wanted to be a hero?"

"Me?" Sakamoto responded, then looked up, "I never thought myself a hero, but I just don't want anyone to be slain." He said before having a slight chuckle, "I've always just done what I've done for the sake of others. Yet, most people just call me weird or creepy for having such an impossible dream."

"I don't think that's weird," Ruby responded as she turned to him, but then glanced back down, "But, people die every day from Grimm? You can't save everyone…no matter how hard you try."

"True, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try your best to make that dream still achievable." Sakamoto said with Ruby looking back in confusion, "My dream is not a goal for the now, but the future." He said as Ruby's eyes widened in awe, "This world is cruel to everyone, but that doesn't mean it can't change to a world where everyone can live a happy life. I just need to keep fighting until I make that dream come true."

"But," Ruby hesitantly asked, "What if you die before that dream happens?" She said with Oryou glaring at her.

However, Sakamoto calmed down his mount. He gave Oryou a soft smile before turning to Ruby, "If that does happen, I would hold no regrets in my life." He said with Ruby looking back in confusion, "As I said, I've always just done what I've done for sake of others. That fact doesn't change in my death, and my dream will still always be alive." He then winked as he smiled at Ruby, "So long as there are still Heroes who have the same dream as me, I know it will come true one day." Ruby realized before Sakamoto got up, "Well, Oryou and I need to get lunch. We'll be seeing you around."

"Oh, okay," Ruby said Sakamoto started to walk away, Oryou hoovering behind, "And…Thank you!" She called out with Sakamoto did not break his stride, but he did look back with the tip of his hat. Ruby smiled back, but then noticed Oryou glaring back at her with jealous eyes. Ruby then quickly broke eye contact as Zwei was still lovably panting.

Anastasia then walked over, "Ruby, are you okay?" She asked in slight worry, "He didn't do anything to upset you?"

"N-no, not at all," Ruby said as she got up, letting Zwei onto the ground, "He actually gave me some good perspective."

"Perspective?" Anastasia responded, her hesitancy remaining, "About what?"

"About remembering why I wanted to be a huntress in the first place," Ruby responded before looking back to her teammate, "To save everyone, like in fairy tales." The red hooded girl said with a smile, "And no matter the hardships and trials that take place, a fairy tale always has a happy ending."

Anastasia slightly gasped, but then smiled, "Yeah, your right." She said with a slight giggle, "Come on, Medusa and Atalanta should be done with their classes as well." She said with Ruby nodding, Zwei leading the way as they walked down the halls. The grand duchess then noticed her teammate's walk, one which was straight and determined. Anastasia did not say a word, but still smiled at her friend's reaffirmed resolve.

Weiss.

In a training arena abord the airship, Weiss wielded her two gun-swords as rushed towards Musashi. However, the white heiress' swings were easily dodged by the swordswoman, "Calm down, you may be swinging twice as much as her before, but each one is predictable when you're this frustrated. You will never hit me." Musashi spoke as she evaded every slash, then smirked, "I can say that without depth perception."

However, she noticed the blades glowing white as a small glyph formed on them. Suddenly, the gun-swords were encased in ice, gaining a sudden extra inch. Despite the growth, Musashi still dodged with a backwards jump, "Even tricks like that are not going to fool anyone." She said with Weiss gritting her teeth.

"Okay, then I'll keep practicing." Weiss responded as she reposed her weapons, "We'll keep going until I've mastered this technique."

Musashi sighed, "I hope soon because I'm getting hungry." She said before looking to her left, seeing Adam and Nobu clashing blades. The Grimm Archer spawned one of her rifles and fired, but the White Fang swordsman blocked with his sheath, causing him to smirk. "Wow, when that guy said reinforced, he meant it," Musashi commented as Weiss rushed in, going for a cross slash. However, the swordswoman backflipped with a left kick, knocking both gun-swords out of Weiss' hand. Musashi landed on her feet right before the blades stuck into the ground, then turned back to the white heiress, "Look, you should slow down."

"I'm fine," Weiss scoffed off before turning around, walking towards her weapons, "I just need to keep training and-" However, Musashi dashed passed her. The swordswoman retrieved the two gun-swords and rushed Weiss, holding the blades to her neck in an X-shaped pattern.

"Training is only beneficial in the right mindset." Musashi said a serious voice, while Weiss gritted her teeth, "You may not be mopping anymore, but you still have not gotten over your sister's death." She said as Weiss gasped. A moment of silence fell between the two before the swordswoman pulled the blades away from the throat, "Sorry, I'm not the best person you should talk to."

"If you expect me to call my family, forget it." Weiss responded, crossing her arms, "I know any conversation with them will only make me angrier at their reaction." She said before slightly looking down, "None of them would know how I feel right now."

"Well, what about your team?" Musashi offered, "I think I remember hearing that two of them are sisters."

"They're both busy right now," Weiss said as Musashi handed back the gun-swords.

"We always make time for our friends." Musashi said with a smile as Weiss took back her weapons, "Take five while I get the dummy swords. I can show you a few more of my moves." She said before walking away.

Weiss sighed as she holstered her weapons at her sides. She then looked down, reaching into her pocket, and pulling out her scroll.

Blake.

Jumping from tree to tree, Blake and the Malachite twins were scanning the area, "Really, they have another base in this forest?" Melanie asked the black cat faunus, "It didn't end so well for the last one."

"It's not that it's another base," Blake answered, "It's that one base is moving to another location that passes through the Forever Fall Forest."

"Still," Miltia commented, "Wouldn't this be like walking through a murder scene?"

"More like walking through your own tracks in the snow," Blake answered, "Enough time has passed that no law or military officers are in the area anymore. The intel said that some White Fang factions are heading towards Mountain Glenn. However, I have a feeling the White Fang Killer found this information as well." She then stopped to look back at the twins, "We need to find him first before he can cause another massacre."

"Okay, we get it." Melanie responded before Blake's scroll rang, "…Maybe silence that for now." The white twin said as she crossed her arms.

Blake took out her scroll and was about to send the message to voicemail. However, she saw that it was from her blond brawler partner, "Yang?" She answered.

"Oh, that's blondie, right?" Miltia asked with Melanie nodding.

"Is everything okay?" Blake asked as she ignored the twins.

"Blake," Yang spoke with slight fear in her voice at the answer, "What happened to The Club?" She said with the black cat faunus gasping, "Junior's dead!?" She asked while knowing the answer. While Blake's breathing becoming heavy, "Please, say something."

"Y-yang," Blake trembled in speaking, "Something showed up and attacked. I don't know what it was, but it was not like anything I have seen before."

"You saw it?" Yang noticed as Blake had a line of sweat run down her face, "Did you fight it, what happened? Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine now, I'm just out with friends going for a walk." Blake lied as the twins looked at her with half-open eyes.

"What about Achilles?" Yang asked, but noticed Blake slightly gasp, "He is there with you, is he?"

"N-no, he and I had a falling out. We broke up." Blake answered, "Please, I cannot take any more questions."

"I know you are lying to me!" Yang said with the black cat faunus telling her partner's eyes just went red, "What are you doing, and why are you doing it alone!?"

"I-I…" Blake tried to think of what to say but could not come up with anything.

"Blake, tell me what's going on and I'll help y-" Yang was saying until Blake dropped the scroll, then stomped the device into broken bits. The twins watched as Blake's face was dripping with sweat and tears.

The black cat faunus then tried to clean her face before speaking again, "…We need to get moving," Blake said before turning around and jumping to another branch. The twins looked at each other before following through the forest.

Yang.

"Blake!? Blake! DAMN IT!" Yang said as she tried to redial. Suddenly, she had an incoming call from another teammate, "Weiss?" She said while answering.

"Yang, I need to talk to you about something." Weiss asked, her looking down as she spoke, "Do you have a minute?"

"Weiss? What's wrong?" Yang said with confusion, but then had the shake her head, "Look, Blake's in trouble."

"What?" Weiss answered, her eyes filling with panic, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Yang said as she paced, "I called her after I found out The Club was destroyed a week ago. She started acting weird like she was trying to hide something from me. But this was different than the faunus situation, Blake sound more terrified of me finding out about…whatever is going on!" She then leaned against a tree, her left arm holding her waist, "The last time she called me, it was about trying to find someone."

"Oh no," Weiss said as she put her hand on her forehead, "What is she thinking!?"

"This is really bad." Yang said before taking a deep breath, "Weiss, I need you to tell me the truth, okay?"

"Okay," Weiss responded, "What are you going to ask?"

"A while ago, when you call me, it was about Adam?" Yang said as Weiss gasped, "Why did you ask about him?" After hearing her teammate question, the white heiress looked over to see Adam and Nobu still sparring, "Weiss…Please, tell me what's going on? What are you doing right now that would require you to know about that creep?"

"Y-yang," Weiss said while sweating, "I…I can't tell you. Winter said to not discuss this mission with outsiders." Weiss said as she clenched her left fist on the scroll, "I-I shouldn't have called you before about that information, I'm sorry."

"Weiss!" Yang pleaded, "Blake could be rushing into a battle that will get herself killed!" She said with Weiss gasping, "She needs our help." The blond brawler then looked back at her house, "Look, if you tell me your location, I can see you face to face in a matter of seconds. Then, we can find Blake faster by working together."

"No, I can't do that." Weiss said as she shut her eyes, "Winter ordered me to-"

"Then let me talk to her!" Yang raised her voice, "I can convince her to let you-"

"MY SISTER IS DEAD!" Weiss shouted, causing Adam and Nobu to stop their match in mid-swing. Musashi watched as she dropped dummy swords.

"…Weiss?" Yang said before remaining speechless for a few seconds, waiting for a response that did not come, "Your older sister's dead?"

"Yang, …I-" Weiss was saying until a loud explosion occurred, one that rocked the airship.

"What was that!?" Yang said before a second explosion was heard over the call, "Weiss!?" suddenly, she heard only static before looking at her scroll, seeing the connection was lost. Yang began to hyperventilate, then gritted her teeth before running into the house.

Meanwhile.

Back on the airship, explosion after explosion occurred. "What's going on!?" Nobu exclaimed as Weiss looked at the scroll, seeing the connection was lost. The group then turned to see a Reines running towards them.

"We're under attack!" Reines said before another explosion rocked the airship.

"By what?" Weiss asked as Reines took out her scroll, showing a feed of one of the drones. Crashing into the airship were multiple firebirds Nevermore familiars. The crackling audio of the blast and screeches were almost deafening.

"Uh, are Grimm usually that on fire in this part of the world?" Nobu asked but was met with silence.

"These aren't Grimm, I would have felt them coming," Reines responded as another explosion rocked the airship more than before. She tracked the drone to show the whole airship, identifying dozens upon dozens of the firebirds swarming.

"Those things are targeting us and not Menagerie." Adam noted, "We need to keep it that way as much as possible."

"Agreed," Reines nodded, "If any faunus die because of this altercation. We could be looking at losing more than Sienna Khan's trust." She said before looking to the whole group, then pointing to the feed, "Sigurd and Brynhildr are already attacking the highest concentration of these things on the exterior upper deck. All of us need to aid them as the Chieftain and his teams evacuate the faunus citizens to a safer distance."

"Understood." All responded to Reines before another explosion occurred.

They each readied to run into battle. However, just before Reines was about to closer her scroll, a monstrous roar was heard, "▂▂▃▃▅▅!"

"What was that?" Nobu asked, seeing almost everyone froze in dread. However, as she turned to Weiss, the white heiress was seething with rage. At that moment, Weiss ran the opposite direction the group was about to go, "Weiss!" Nobu called after her friend, then turned back to the others, "What's gotten into her."

"Nobu, the monster that made that noise." Musashi said as the Grimm Archer realized it halfway through, "It the same monster that is responsible for Winter's death."

The group was silent for a second as Nobu was about to speak up, facing Reines, "I need to help We-"

"Go and back up Weiss," Reines cut Nobu off, checking her scroll, "That sound came from the docks in Menagerie. It is emerging from the sea to attack the civilians." She said before putting away her scroll, then turned to Musashi, "You fought It before, do not lose this time."

"Got it," Musashi responded with a nod.

"Thank you," Nobu said to Reines before the Grimm Archer and the swordswoman ran to follow the white heiress.

Reines and Adam then ran towards the upper deck. As they prepared for the battles, Adam asked Reines a question, "Who is attacking us?" He asked as the Princess of El-Melloi gritted her teeth. The White Fang Swordsman knew she had a guess, or rather new the reason. However, he rescinded his question, knowing all that mattered now was repelling this ambush.

AN: There you go, things are heating up now. Ruby somewhat recovers from her heartbreaking conversation. Sadly, that is one of the only positive moments to happen this chapter. Blake does a very stupid thing as Yang tries to help her. Weiss is still dealing with her sister's death but has a chance to get revenge. You can guess who is attacking the airship right now, as well as who they are after. The next two chapters will be the battles from above and below. And when chaos breaks loose, who will die this time around? That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.