(A/N) No ASH this week, because I've decided that there needs to be one more chapter in this fic than I originally thought. The reason should be obvious after this chapter.

Also, I've begun porting this story over to Space Battles. A chapter gets posted every morning (my time) and its currently on ch5, with ch6 going up tomorrow. One of the reasons I'm doing this because SB is a lot better when it comes to reader interaction. If you do decide to go visit that version, please refrain from spoiling anything. If the schedule holds, they'll be caught up on May 6th with the main fic, ASH being a day or two behind since I'll start posting that after FoR finishes (I'll start posting that along with ch7, which is scheduled for Tuesday). Updates here will not cease, in fact, they won't be affected at all.

Also, there will be the occasional lore post over there under the "Apocrypha" section. The first one is already up, covering Ruby's assessment of the Blazing Suns gang (those mooks that RWBY started beating on in V1Ch6 "Ink").

With that out of the way, on with the show!


Volume Two

Chapter Two – For Those We Cherish


/-\ Blake Belladonna /-\

Kuo Kuana – Belladonna Residence


My ears flattened against my head in hesitation. "…Hi… mom…" I managed to get out, a nervous smile on my face.

Eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, she strode forward and enveloped me in a hug, not muttering another word beforehand. "My baby girl…" She let out.

Finally recovering from my shock, I returned the embrace, slightly nuzzling my head into hers.

"Kali? Who is it?" A male voice boomed from inside the house. Looking up, I saw the source to be my father, who's eyes widened to almost comical proportions after he recognized me. "…Blake?" He gasped out.

I gave him a nervous smile. "Yeah…" I muttered. "I'm home."

A grateful smile crawled its way onto his face. "Well, come in!" He said, gesturing inside before turning to my mom. "Kali, would you be a dear and brew up some tea?"

She nodded and got to work as my team and I headed inside. "So, not that I'm not overjoyed that you're back, but why are you here?" He asked. "And who are your friends?"

I gave a nervous chuckle, not looking forward to explaining the first question. "Well…" I said, deciding to pretend said question didn't exist for the time being. "this is my team." I said. "I'm uhh… going to Beacon now."

He blinked. "You're becoming a huntress?" He asked, almost in disbelief.

"Yeah. I think it's time I used my skills for something good." I said, casting a glance at Ruby, who was leaned against one of the pillars in the entryway.

"Well, if it makes you happy, then I'm behind you one-hundred-percent." He said. "Though I do believe introductions are in order." He turned to face my team. "I'm Ghira Belladonna, Chieftain of Menagerie and Blake's Father."

Ruby nodded, popping off her helmet. "Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY." She gestured to her sister.

She stayed silent for a few moments before getting the hint. "Oh, uhh… Yang Xiao Long." She said. "I'm Blake's partner and Ruby's sister."

My father's eyes glanced between the two. "Forgive me, but I don't see it."

Ruby shrugged. "We're half-sisters." She clarified.

"Ah." He let out before looking towards Weiss. "And you are…?" He asked as my mom re-entered the room.

"Dad," I said before she could answer. "just… keep an open mind, please."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh-kay…?"

Weiss cleared her throat before removing her helmet. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to-" She stopped herself, shoulders slumping in the process. "Former heiress to the Schnee Dust Company…"

I blinked. "When did that happen?"

"You're on the same team as a Schnee?" My father asked, finally getting over his shock.

I sighed. "I'll admit, it was a little rocky at first…"

"That's putting it mildly." Weiss commented.

"But after we got to know each other, I realized that she is nothing like her father." I said, conviction evident in my voice. "I'll even go so far as to call her my friend."

Weiss gave a grateful smile. "A feeling which is returned, Mister and Missus Belladonna."

My father studied our expressions for a moment, looking for any trace of deceit. When he found none, he sighed. "Well, I suppose any friend of Blake's is a friend of ours." He said before looking to Winter, his eyes glancing down to her missing arm. "I hope that you're not as… interesting as your teammate here, umm…" He studied her. "I'm sorry, but it is a little hard to tell whether you're a man or a woman under that armor."

Winter glanced at her sister before knocking on her helmet.

"Oh, of course." She said before scurrying over to her and removing the offending piece of armor.

Winter sighed after her face was revealed. "Apologies for that, but… this…" She gestured to her stump. "…is somewhat of a hindrance." She finished. "Lieutenant-Colonel Winter Schnee of the Atlesian Specialist Corps, Chieftain."

He blinked before looking to me. "You know, if someone told me yesterday that my daughter would show up at my door with the two Schnee Sisters in tow, I'd've called them crazy."

Ruby shrugged. "Eh, in my experience, crazy is an everyday thing."

"Indeed it is, especially with rumors of an alien invasion taking place in Atlas of all places." He said, looking pointedly at Weiss towards the end.

Catching his unasked question, she spoke up. "They aren't rumors, it actually happened."

He raised an eyebrow. "With the CCT down, we don't have access to anything beyond your word."

"Actually," Alice said from within Ruby's helmet, finally joining the conversation. "while I was in Atlas, I downloaded several clips of the Covenant engaging Human forces." She paused. "Including one Weiss Schnee defending a group of Faunus civilians from a Brute Chieftain."

Ruby grew a wide, proud smile as I raised an eyebrow. "Heh, knew ya had it in ya, Ice Queen." She said before turning back to my dad. "You want proof? Get us a projector."


My father looked at us in shock. "You…" He trailed off. "You really were telling the truth…" He slumped down into a nearby chair. "This changes… everything…"

Over the last few minutes, we showed him various clips of the Fall of Atlas, in addition to an abridged version of Operation: BLOOD MOON.

"Yeah…" I let out, my ears drooping. "I just wish that Ilia could've put aside her differences with you." I said, looking at Weiss.

"I beg your pardon?" She responded, eyebrow raised.

"You know that White Fang girl in Atlas?" I asked, receiving a nod. "That's Ilia." I said. "We were friends, once. Back when I was still a member."

"Oh…" She let out.

Winter raised an eyebrow, her hand unconsciously moving towards her blade. "You were in the White Fang?"

Before I could answer, Weiss of all people came to my defense. "Former." She clarified. "As in 'not with them anymore'." She placed a hand on her sister's. "Winter, she has proven time and time again that she is trustworthy and means us no harm."

"Very well." She said after a few moments before releasing a small sigh. "I suppose I should've realized that when her father was once the High Leader."

"Indeed." Weiss said, curtly, before turning to my father. "Speaking of my sister, Blake said that you knew a doctor we could trust to not reveal our identities?"

He blinked. "Oh, of course. We really should get that looked at." He said before turning to me. "Will you be alright while the Schnees and I step out?"

I quirked an eyebrow. "I thought we were going with."

"His office is a little… small for this many people." He clarified. "The three of us plus him will be cramped enough as it is."

My eyes flicked to Weiss, who gave me a nod. "Alright." I said.

The two Schnees then donned their helmets, Winter managing to without assistance at her behest, before setting off with my father.

"So… uhh… now what?" My partner asked.

I shrugged. "Anything you'd like to do?"

"Maybe…" She let out. "Do you… uhh… like… have a change of clothes?"

I rolled my eyes, realizing that I also wanted out of this thing. "I didn't exactly plan to leave home, so, assuming my parents didn't clean out my wardrobe, I should have some spare clothes that would fit you, Yang." My gaze flicked to her sister. "…Not so much for you, though, Ruby."

"Eh, I'm used to sleeping in my undersuit." She said, shrugging. "Got a place to leave my armor for the time being?"

"Are you fine with it laying on the floor?"

"It'll only be for a day or so, so yeah."

I nodded. "Then I'll show you to the guest rooms." I said before leading the sisters away.


At first, I didn't know where I was.

Fires burned all around me, thick smoke obscuring any vision beyond a few feet. Oddly enough, my breathing was unaffected.

I barely batted an eye when ruined buildings suddenly appeared out of the smoke.

What did give me pause, however, was when bodies revealed themselves some seconds later.

"Blaaaakkkeeee…" A masculine voice taunted from behind, causing me to freeze up.

I heard a few steps from the same location, each a heavy -thump- into the cracked pavement.

I slowly turned around, eventually coming face-to-mask with Adam.

"I'm still coming for you, Blake." He said, a devilish smile on his face.

Suddenly, he reached towards his mask, removing it.

Instead of his Schnee-like blue eyes, the offending object gave way to the face of an Elite.

An energy dagger sprang forth from his wrist as his split jaw formed into a perversion of a grin. "And this time, you won't get away."

He sprang forward, his weapon burning a hole in my chest.


I shot out of bed, heart pounding, and scanned the area. My head swiveled side to side, arms raised in defense, for several moments before realizing it was just a particularly bad nightmare.

I breathed a sigh of relief, allowing myself to slide along the wall onto the floor. I sat there for several minutes while my heartrate fell back to normal levels.

Finally, I got up, deciding that I wouldn't be able to get any more sleep no matter how much I tried. Looking at the clock, I sighed, 4:37am. I told myself that I was just getting a nap in before supper, like that would happen…

'Guess I'll join Ruby on her workout…' I decided. '…If she even goes, since we're in Menagerie.'

I silently stalked the hallways, my Faunus ears hearing my parents' sleeping breaths as I passed their room on my way downstairs. As I reached the first floor, my hearing perked up at a feminine sigh coming from the dining room.

Raising an eyebrow, I poked my head into the offending room. Inside sat a slightly downcast- "Weiss?" I asked, startling her slightly.

She looked up from her otherwise empty spot at the table, a tired look in her eyes. "Oh, hello Blake." She answered before letting out a yawn.

I strode into the room. "What's got you up so early?"

Her eyes trailed back down to the table. "Couldn't sleep…"

I hummed, catching her hint. "Sorry I slept a bit longer than I wanted. How is Winter?"

"The doctor gave her some painkillers and antibiotics. He said that she should see someone every week or so until its healed." She looked up at me, a ghost of a smile on her face. "He said she was going to be alright." She paused. "I mean… I knew she would be but… it's just good to hear someone else say it."

"That's good." I nodded. "So, what did I miss, then?"

"Not much, if we're being honest." She said. "We just explained to your parents what was going on, what's out there, and then Ruby asked for passage back to Vale for the team."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Why doesn't she just wait out the solar storm?"

"She said she has no idea how long it'll last, and that it might be faster to take a ship rather than wait." She explained. "Something about our sun being a… oh, what did she call it? Gee-Zero-One-Bee, I think." She shrugged. "I don't know what it means, but that's what she said."

I hummed in acknowledgement. "Did she say when we were leaving?"

She nodded. "There's a ship leaving tonight for Vale, though it has a stop in some Mistrali town."

"Likely Lán Guānkou." I said. "It's the only Faunus friendly port on the Anima side of the Serpentine Strait."

She blinked. "Really? I thought there would be more, considering that Valerian territory is just across the sea."

"You'd think so…" I said, my ears flattening against my head. Suddenly, I heard heavy footsteps coming from upstairs. Checking the time, I realized that it was almost five. "I think Ruby's up." I announced. "I'm planning on working out with her this morning, how about you?"

She sighed. "Well, I suppose it beats staring at a coffee table all morning." She stood up, brushing off her knees before we were joined by our leader and, surprisingly, her sister.

The Spartan blinked. "Huh, didn't know you guys were up."

"Well, we are." Weiss said. "Mind if we join you this morning?"

She shrugged. "Eh, couldn't hurt." She said. "Actually, I've got an idea, get your armor on." She turned to Weiss. "You especially need to, considering you're uhh…" She gestured all around her face. "ya know…"

"Point." She said before we all marched off to our rooms, preparing ourselves for an odd one.


/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\


"Alright." My partner said, clapping her hands together. "It's been a while since we've practiced free running, and Menagerie's a lot different from Vale."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's a good idea in the rain?"

"Yeah… uhh… wouldn't that make everything slippery?" Yang asked.

She waved us off. "Eh, even if you weren't using aura for some reason, you're all wearing your armor. If you fell, you'd be fine." She said. "Plus, the gloves make gripping things a little easier."

"Speaking of the armor, its significantly heavier than what we're used to." Blake pointed out. "And not to mention not Faunus friendly." She said, wincing.

"You wanna take off the helmet? Go ahead. Just clip it to your belt." She responded. "You've got nightvision anyways, so VISR doesn't matter." Yang reached up to remove her helmet as well, but her sister stopped her with a wave of her hand. "Not you." She said. "You don't have nightvision, and it's almost two hours before sunrise." The blonde in question grumbled in agreement before Ruby continued. "But anyways, how safe is this place at this time in the morning?"

Blake hummed; helmet already locked at her hip. "The nocturnal Faunus are still up, so it really depends on the location. If we don't stray too far from the main road, though, we'll be fine."

Ruby nodded. "Alright." She then turned to the entire team. "What's my rule number one about walking around?"

""Never go anywhere unarmed."" We all answered simultaneously.

"Good. Now, who followed this rule?" We all reached for our knives and- "Besides those." She interrupted, confusing us. "They'd work well enough for civilians, but what happens if, say, a Covenant attack were to suddenly happen while we were out doing this?"

Seeing the widened eyes beneath our transparent visors, she pulled out a- "Why do you have one of our guard's pistols?" Blake asked, already recovered enough to speak.

She shrugged. "I just told you." Blake gave her an incredulous look. "I'm gonna give it back." Her eyes darted to me. "Or should I say that Ice Queen's gonna give it back?" She said as she tossed the firearm to me.

I easily caught it. "Umm, why…?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

"You need it the most." I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off with a wave of her hand. "Even if she wasn't armed, Blake can talk her way out of any situation just by saying 'I'm a Belladonna', Yang can punch her way out of one, and I'm a Spartan." She hummed. "Plus, if anyone here figured out who you really are, you'd probably need it."

My eyes darted down to the antique-looking weapon in my hand before I shrugged and stowed it on my thigh. "Fair enough." I said. "Though that doesn't explain why you're using people as the main threat when you just mentioned the Covenant."

She shrugged. "We might have an invasion on our hands, but we will definitely be dealing with people while we're here." She explained before handing me two extra dust vials. "Each one has enough dust for eight rounds, so, including the one in the chamber, that's twenty-four shots total."

I nodded. "Alright."

She turned to the rest of the team. "Stay close-ish to the main road, like Blake said. This is training, not an op, try not to start any trouble and if someone has a problem with you, disengage. Clear?"

We all gave our affirmations.

"Good." She grinned before donning her own helmet. "We're a few clicks away from the house, objective is to get back there before I do. I'll take the low road so I don't accidentally cave anyone's house in with my MJOLNIR, but you guys should be fine by rooftop. I won't sprint there, so you'll have about ten minutes to reach the objective, though I'll warn you that there is a price for failure. Everyone ready?" We all nodded, taking a runner's position. "Go!" She shouted, causing us to take off.

Blake took off immediately, scurrying to the rooftops with Yang hot on her heels; me following behind them. Even after an entire semester of training, I was still by far the slowest, and they quickly outpaced me.

No longer being able to follow the girl that grew up here, I instead looked for a vantage point of some kind, given that the Belladonna residence was very hard to miss in Kuo Kuana.

It didn't take long before my VISR allowed me to spot a dark, and luckily unmanned, guard tower. I quickly scaled the somewhat rickety structure and, moments later, I found myself on the open roof.

The second I found myself inside the guard tower, my eyes trailed onto the sleeping form of a Rabbit Faunus outlined with the same orange-ish color that everything else was, one of his ears twitching every second or so. From the position he was in, sprawled out next to a chair, I can assume that he merely fell asleep during his shift and fell out of said chair.

Deciding to find the house quickly, I immediately turned my gaze to the streets. In the distance, the Belladonna home sat, shining brightly, with a dark-clad figure standing outside.

Curious, I reached up and pressed the 'magnify' button on my helmet. As the augmented-reality binoculars came into being, I saw that said figure was wearing the undersuit for an ODST BDU, albeit, missing an arm.

I blinked, not expecting my sister to be up so soon, before remembering the reason why I was up so early. For a moment, in the rain, I thought I saw a plasma grenade sailing through the air and before I even realized it, I had hit the deck, both my pistol and knife drawn.

After a few moments, I poked my head above the half-rotten walls. Spotting nothing, I let out a shaky sigh of relief. "Must've just been my imagination…" I muttered…

…shortly before I heard the telltale -click- of a gun's hammer being cocked.

My head snapped to the side to be met with the barrel of a pistol not too dissimilar from the one in my hand, an amber-eyed Rabbit Faunus behind it. "Who the fuck are you and why are you up here?" He asked, tersely.

I hesitated for a moment. "It matters not who I am." I began. "I was just looking for my home. I'll be taking my leave, now." I said, slowly getting up with my hands raised, though the pistol didn't make me look as non-threatening as I'd liked.

"No one trespasses on White Fang territory." He growled out, causing my stomach to drop. Fully upright, I began slowly backing away to the edge of the guard tower, unable to utter a word. "Take one more step and you're dead." He said, pistol aimed right between my hidden eyes.

I froze. I knew I'd be able to take out one White Fang Grunt easily, but my concern was that he'd get a shot off and alert the entire town, bringing an… untoward amount of attention to my rather distinctive appearance.

He seemed to pause for a moment before giving a slight shrug. "Ya know what, they'd probably just execute you anyways." He grinned. "I'll just save my buddies a bit of time." He said as he squeezed the trigger.

Thanks to my huntress training, and no small amount of warning, I was able to dodge the bullet. My gun-toting hand instinctively aimed the weapon in response, but moments before I pulled the trigger, I realized what I was about to do, and shifted my aim to his weapon hand.

My nerves still fried from a combination of sleep deprivation and from this situation, I was unable to fully shift my aim…

…and ended up grazing his neck…

I watched on in horror as he collapsed, blood spurting from the wound like some sort of twisted geyser. He desperately pressed his hands to the hole, but only succeeded in bloodying them. His eyes trailed up my form, eventually locking onto my visor with a desperate, pleading, look.

After what felt like hours of just standing there watching him die, his eyes started to gloss over, a weak groan escaping his rapidly paling lips.

For a while, I wasn't even aware time was still passing. It was just me, the guard tower, and the… corpse that I'd made…

I, Weiss Schnee, just… killed a man.

I just killed a man.

I killed.

I killed.

That single thought reverberated throughout my head as I watched blood empty from his wound, washed away by the rain.

"It came from over here!" I heard, snapping me out of my stupor with a gasp.

I whirled around to where the voices came from just in time to catch three mask-wearing Faunus round the corner of a nearby building.

I shot a glance to the dead body and murmured a near-silent apology before a flash of lightning – most likely coming from behind me – illuminated everything for a split-second. Still shaking, I only had one thought on my mind.

Run.

And so I did. I leaped from the tower, a bullet whizzing over my helmet, before sprinting into the narrow alleyways of Kuo Kuana.

Unlike the wide, open main street of the city, the alleyways were dark, cramped, and often full of garbage left by their inhabitants.

I ran through these streets, zigzagging behind whatever cover I could find, though the occasional gunshot pinging off a building behind me told me that my pursuers were still nipping at my heels.

Just as I'd rounded yet another corner, I was suddenly pulled into a shop by a pair of extremely strong arms and thrown onto the floor.

Moments later, I felt a crushing weight collapse onto me, stunning me for a moment. I was still cognizant enough to recognize the feeling of someone grabbing my wrist and pressing several buttons, though.

My eyes widened and I looked down to see…

"…Ruby?" I let out, incredulously. For some reason, she didn't even respond. "Ugh, get off of me, you Oaf!" I shouted, trying my best to free myself.

She stayed put, still silent, and actually forcefully held me down before making a shushing motion. Moments later, a trail of splashing footsteps ran past the store, causing me to recover from my momentary memory lapse.

I laid there, motionless, for several minutes, Ruby having started supporting her own weight to avoid crushing me.

After a while, she sighed and got up, helping me do the same in the process. "I heard gunshots, what happened?" She asked.

"…I…" I said, voice dripping with sorrow. "I… killed someone…" I said.

"Oh, one second." She said, quickly grabbing my wrist again and pressing several buttons. "Okay, you're un-muted."

I blinked. "You can do that?"

She gave me a nod. "Yeah. Helps with getting wounded soldiers out of sticky situations." She said. "Okay, so…?" She trailed off, making an expectant motion.

My gaze fell to the floor. "I killed someone…" I muttered, almost inaudibly.

Evidently, it was loud enough for her to hear, as she responded with an– "…Oh…" She stood there for a few moments before shaking her head. "We can talk later. Right now, you need to get the fuck out of here." Her helmet swiveled about, inspecting the clothing store we'd apparantely broke into, before she darted off, returning moments later with a red-lined white cloak. "They probably saw you, you'll need a disguise." She said.

"Umm… isn't that-"

"Its either take this-" She held up the cloak for emphasis. "-or risk getting caught by them." She thrust a thumb outside the building.

After thinking it over for a minute, I swiped the cloak from her hands and threw it on, though I had trouble getting the hood around my helmet.

Seeing this, she sighed. "Take it off." She said, continuing before I could voice my concerns. "As long as you keep your head down, you should be fine. Clip it to your belt and lets get moving." She said.

I grumbled, fumbling with the offending piece for a few moments before it stuck to where I wanted it to, and drew my hood. The cloak itself came down to my knees and fully wrapped around my body. In all honesty, it felt like I was wearing a blanket, and I was sure that if I weren't wearing armor, I'd feel nice and cozy.

The thought of comfort was dashed as I was again reminded of my earlier actions. I shivered involuntarily before steeling myself. 'I need to get back.' I thought with a sniffle. 'Then I can break down.' I looked to my partner, giving her a nod.

She returned the gesture. "You first, I'll follow from behind and keep those goons off your tail."

I gave another nod, pulling my hood up even tighter before setting out into the rain.

Between the rain, lack of proper lighting, and the overcast sky, the alleyway was almost completely black; barely enough light to see a few feet in front of me.

Through this, I walked on almost blind. Occasionally, I would see Ruby almost magically appear in front of me and direct me down a certain path. Whether it was to keep me going in the correct direction, or to avoid the White Fang, I had no idea.

Frankly, I didn't care, though, as my mind was on my victim for the entire time. On several occasions, I bumped into something, be it a crate, wall, or sign, because of just how distraught I was.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of walking, I stood outside the Belladonna home. With a shaky sigh, I climbed the steps and opened the door.

Just inside, I saw my sister entering the room from the dining room.

At the sight of her, I immediately ran up and buried my face into the crook of her neck; held tears finally spilling free.


/-\ Jaune Arc /-\

Beacon Academy; Outside Ozpin's office


I exited Ozpin's office with a huff. "Two days and still nothing…" I said as I started towards the cafeteria, where my team was waiting.

As I rounded a corner, passing through his receptionist's office, I spotted a man in a stark white officer's uniform speaking to said receptionist.

At a glance, I thought he was Atlesian, but the uniform itself was completely wrong. Add to that, the two black-armored soldiers that flanked him and it was fairly obvious that he was from the strange dreadnought.

I stared for a moment before one of his guards motioned me to move along. I meekly nodded and continued on my way.

As I exited, I caught a glimpse of a green airship surrounded by more black-armored soldiers on one of the landing pads. Paying it no attention, as I'd seen them at the crashed dreadnought, I continued onwards.

Finally arriving at the cafeteria, I strode up to my team, who gave me questioning looks.

"So… how'd it go?" Nora asked, a little apprehensive.

I sighed. "Still no news of Team RWBY…"

"They should be back by now." Ren observed. "Ozpin recalled all huntsmen-in-training after the refugees started pouring in."

"I'm… not done yet…" I said, shoulders slumping. "He also said that if they don't return in two weeks, he'll be forced to give up their room."

My entire team recoiled in shock. "Why would he do that?!" Nora shrieked.

"He said it was because it was cramped already down in the city." I said. "Apparently, Vale didn't have room for five-hundred-thousand refugees, but we took 'em anyways."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "There are still plenty of dorms open in the guest wing, why would he be considering giving away RWBY's dorm?"

"He said the rest of the Vacuoans and all the Mistralians're coming next week. Whatever dorms aren't filled will be opened up to the public."

"I'm sure they will be back before then, Jaune." My partner said, a reassuring smile on her face.

"I hope so, Pyr." I sighed. "Maybe going to Vale would help take our minds off it…"

"Well, I am running low on rounds after our little… excursion four days ago." She commented.

"Yeah!" Nora cheered. "I heard there's a new sloth exhibit at the zoo, too!"

I chuckled. "Always looking on the bright side, aren't cha, Nora?"

"You betcha!" She replied, a smile plastered on her face.

Ren shrugged. "It couldn't hurt." He said. "Though I will admit to leaving my wallet in the dorm."

I blinked before patting down my pockets. "Eheheh… I might've done that too…" I said, blushing slightly. "Alright, let's make a quick stop back there, then we'll go to town."

With that, we headed back up to the dorms, but a news broadcast stopped us as we passed the student lounge.

"-imm attacks continue to escalate as more and more refugees, all bringing their negative emotions, continue to swarm into Vale." The VNN broadcaster said. "The latest victim is the village of Winshire, a settlement originally founded by Vern Winchester, a Valerian General during the Great War almost eighty years ago. The village survived, but over half of its inhabitants gave their lives so others may live."

She paused for a minute, exchanging the papers on her desk for another set. "In semi-related news, the remnants of the Atlesian Armed Forces have applied for asylum in Vale. Experts say that they'll likely be granted their request provided they use their skills to defend our kingdom."

"In unrelated news, experts in theoretical physics have confirmed that, yes, hamburgers can see the fu-"

I stopped paying attention as VNN did their joke news segment. This was legally required by the Valerian Council to follow any sort of bad news in an attempt to cheer up the populace.

"That's messed up." I finally said. "Sure, Blake said that Winshire was full of racists, but still…"

Ren shook his head. "No town deserves a Grimm attack…"

Nora, for once calming down, put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Hey, that's what we're here for, right?" She asked. "To stop that from happening."

He sighed. "Yes, Nora." He said, though slightly more enthusiastically than normal. As we rounded a corner, our dorm came in sight. Said sight was accompanied by a short-ish ginger girl waiting patiently outside Team RWBY's dorm.

I looked to my partner, silently wondering what we should do. Instead of giving me advice, she motioned me forwards. With a silent sigh, I approached the girl.

"Uhh… hey there." I greeted.

She spun around so quickly I briefly wondered if she got whiplash. "Oh! I didn't notice you there!" She said with a wide smile. "Sal-u-tations! My name is Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

I blinked. "Uhh, okay…" I said, momentarily thrown off by her cheeriness. "I'm Jaune."

Ren stepped forward and made a slight bow. "Lie Ren."

Nora, being Nora, hopped onto her partner's shoulders, kicking her legs about. "Nora Valkyrie!"

My partner awkwardly coughed. "Pyrrha Nikos." She introduced, an awkwardly wide smile on her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said, a wide grin on her face.

I inwardly raised an eyebrow at her repetition, but brushed it off in favor of another topic. "Soooo… Penny…" I started. "What're you doing outside Team RWBY's dorm?"

"Oh! I am patiently waiting for Friend-Weiss to answer the door!"

"Umm… Penny?"

"Yes, Acquaintance-Jaune?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Team RWBY is missing."

She stood shock still for a moment before her smile dropped. "Oh…" She let out. "I'm sorry to bother you. Have a wonderful day." She said, beginning to walk away.

I sighed. "Hey, Penny…" I said.

"Yes, Acquaintance-Jaune?" She asked, this time in a more sour mood.

"We're going to Vale for a bit, wanna come with us?"

Nora, immediately picking up on my intentions of cheering her up, jumped forwards. "Yeah! We're gonna have lotsa fun! Come with us!"

She stood still for a moment before nodding. "Okay." She said. "My records show that I am currently free."

"Great!" Nora says. "We just gotta grab some things from our dorm, then we can go!"

Ren and I quickly ducked inside, grabbing our wallets, before coming back out to the scene of Nora and Penny practically bouncing off the walls, the former exclaiming how they were friends now.

I gave my partner a questioning look, to which she donned a deer-in-the-headlights expression, signifying that she had genuinely no idea what had happened.

A small smile crawled its way onto my face. 'Well, at least she's not sad anymore.' I thought to myself as we headed towards the Airdocks.

"So, Penny," I started as we walked through the courtyard. "I haven't seen you around here before, are you visiting for the festival?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm here to fight in the tournament as well!"

"Ah, okay." I studied her for a moment. "You look a bit too well-dressed to be from Vacuo, soooo… Mistral, then?"

She shook her head. "Atlas, actually."

The mood once again soured. "Oh…"

"There are…" Pyrrha began, unsure of her wording as she spoke. "rumors that aliens caused the fall. Is that…?" She trailed off.

"I wouldn't know, I came to Vale earlier than most." She responded. "While we are in the city, do you mind if we stop by the local government office? I have had an extremely difficult time contacting my father for the last few days, and I would like to check for updates."

I nodded, solemnly. "Yeah, we can. I think we're passing right by it, anyways." I said, ignoring her slightly strange way of wording things.

My scroll suddenly chimed, causing me to blink in surprise. Opening it, I saw that it was an update from VNN. Normally, I would've ignored it, but the headline gave me pause.

"'SDC announces new heir'?" I said aloud, catching everyone's attention.

I quickly opened the offending news app, clicking on the featured video.

"Good morning and/or evening citizens of Vale." The video said. "I'm your host, Lisa Lavender, and today I bring you an update from the Schnee Dust Company, which has since relocated to Mantle after the Sunset Invasion."

The view switches from Lisa to the instantly recognizable Jacques Schnee. "-t is with a heavy heart that I must declare my daughter and designated heiress, Weiss Schnee, to be no longer among the living."

We all gasped, the others having crowded around my scroll.

"Her bravery, however, is not in question, as I'm sure we've all seen her inspiring speech during the invasion." He paused. "However, the Schnee Dust Company must always have an heir. Between Weiss's death and Winter's ineligibility, that leaves only one claimant." He paused once more. "Let me introduce to you Whitley Schnee, the new heir of the Schnee Dust Com-"

I shut off my scroll before any more could be said or seen, unable to continue watching.

"Fr- Friend-Weiss is d- dead?" Penny said, voice disbelieving.

"Penny, we don't know-" I tried to reassure her as I turned around…

…but she was already gone. "Penny?" I asked, hesitantly as I looked around. Unfortunately, it would appear that she was very good at disappearing, as she was nowhere in sight.

I turned to my team. "Guys, we need to find her." I said. "Ren and Nora, you go north. Pyrrha and I'll go south."

They all nodded in affirmation as we set off.


(A/N) Welp, that could've gone better for just about everyone.

Penny needs a hug; Weiss needs a hug; maybe they should hug each other and act like friends? Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Don't really have much else to say, so… Reviews! And holy Jesus, there's a lot of them!

Artyom-Dreizehn said – "Remnant can be considered an Outer Colony World, though with an Overpopulated in density(in their Cities) numbering in estimated 50 million(Remnant is a Death World but a mild one for WH40k classification) now with one of the Major Cities down and population cut down in millions by the Glassing, I hope the Survivors had the luck of time to rally others as this is just a Scouting group with reinforcements likely coming as the Covies really loath to have their ships being down in a Human world and will take it back with zeal."

Somewhat quoting Arnie "They'll be back."

Guest 001 said – "Hope they get in touch with the UNSC forces soon! Want to see Ironwood's and Ozpin's reactions when they learn that the "dreadnought" is actually a Frigate!"

Ikr? Don't worry, the UNSC will indeed be contacting them soon. They've just got some of their own shit to sort out first.

Guest 002 said – "Okay when you say 12, do you mean that's when they started their training, or do you mean they were already trained? If that's when they started their training, then Winter has no business being outraged by that, because when you think about it, on remnant, people start training at the age of 12 or 13 in a Prep Academy, and they do this for four years, then they go to one of the four main combat academies, in not sure if they train before that but 12 or 13 sounds about right."

12 is the canonical age that many Beta Company Spartans partook in Operation: TORPEDO. And I agree that somewhere around that age would be when the typical Huntsman/Huntress-to-be would start their training. Ruby started her Spartan training at age 5.

Helljumper206 said – "Yay! Update! Wonder what's in store if the White Fang attack Team RWBY while they're in town?"

Yay indeed.

Survivorsp said – "Thank you for the update. I'm happy to see it's time for the next season. Looking forward to the interaction with Blake's family."

Kinda skimped on the family thing this chapter, that'll be on the next one when {redacted} Menagerie.

Dovah117 said – "So they are in Menagerie? Cool we can see Kali embarassing poor Blake! Shit is going down! Where will be the next Covenant attack? Vale? When will the UNSC will talk to Remnant? Will more Spartan are going to appear?"

*Spoilers intensifies*

Mid Level Fighter said – "Ggggaaahhh... It took so long, but it was worth the wait. Dude, you can not believe how many times I checked to see if you updated this. I even started writing (totally unrelated) stories of my own to pass the time. Main story is definitely still chugging along strong and healthy. Good place to stop, dramatic ending just like the Vol. 4 episode. Solar flare? Well that ruins easy reunions... But Schnees in Kuo Kuana, going to be fun for my sadistic self to read that. And UNSC not contacting Oz sets up some nice ideas in my head, with our loveable Spartan being the necessary bridge. So many possibilities in my head, and I dont know what way you plan to go. Im looking for that shot to the feels around the corner."

Our lovable Spartan still has a ways to go before she gets back to Vale, and the UNSC is still trying to get its shit back together between having a downed destroyer and evacuating civvies to Vale.

Arsonist said – "Yesssssssssss I've been waiting for this

This is feeding my hype for Reach on Pc, and Reach on PC is feeding my hype for this like some kind of recursive loop"

Let the hype flow through you.

TheFishKing said – "Blakes mom needs to fuss over the girls, all have mommy issues and she needs to help fix them. Are you going to have June come back? an Omake RWBY reacts would be funny and it could just be a few shorts to key moments"

Family time will probably be next chapter, god knows Weiss needs a mother-figure right now. I'm assuming you mean Jun A-266, and not at this moment, no. I'm playing around with a few ideas, one being something called X-ALT, though I'm not gonna reveal the full title.

Guest 003 said – "Will Ruby make her signature Sniper Scythe soon!? What did Ironwood do with the Wand of Creation!?"

Creation is currently snuggling up to the unconscious body of Amber. I have plans involving Ruby and a scythe, but I don't think this Ruby would make something like Crescent Rose; too mechanically complex and prone to failure (even if the show doesn't show it, though that's probably because canon Ruby obsesses over it).

Kragh50 said – "Thanks for the chapter"

Np, thanks for reading!

Raw666 said – "I am curious why the UNSC is not contacting the various world governments as soon as they made contact? They would need to set up an alliance of sorts. Though I guess it's possible they are waiting to see how many survivors they have, consulate strength, and looking to decide their course of action. Especially a world that never was under UNSC control."

Pretty much. Plus, they're trying to figure out where the hell they ended up in the galaxy, as, per Cole Protocol, they made a random jump.

Shadow Walker of Fire said – "Great chapter. Is Ruby-B312 and A Summer's Harvest both part of the same universe?"

There is some level of confusion on this matter, so I'll just clarify that no, they don't. The Haloverse and RWBYverse are the same galaxy in two mirror universes. Obviously, crossover is possible though, seeing as Ruby is a Spartan and ASH… exists.

ASH's Summer is Spartan Ruby's mother, though. Not some other Ruby.

Red October 700 said – "Good chapter dude and good reasoning for most of the things. Ghira and Kile are going to be in for the shock of their lives. Conspiracy materal maybe, but true nonetheless. I cant wait to see where you go from here. Oh and derp face is still derp face. Can Ruby just off him yet? Or are you saving that treat for a later date? You seem to have made a charter that people mostly dislike if not out right hate, want to see burn. So I got nothing else. Check 6 man and I will see you next time."

Thanks! And not quite yet with Jacques. His time will come, don't worry, but he still has a bit of living to do. Though I do agree that I may have made him into a bit too much of the classic moustache-twirling villain.

CreeperslayerL421 said – "Excellent work on this, mate! You've done a fantastic job with this whole saga. Ruby B-312, B-312 Fall of Reach, ASH, it's all so amazing.

Which leads into a proposal I have: A mass crossover event between RWBY, Halo, Red Vs. Blue, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. The title: The Silver Files, Book One: Remnant in Ruins, part one of a planned series of fics revolving an OC named Sylvar Radcliffe. Details are in the file at {redacted}"

Thanks! But I'm afraid I will turn down your proposal, as, even discounting the fact that I'm booked solid between ASH and the main fic, I don't actually watch ST nor DW (at least, not for several years), and thus, have no interest in writing about those IPs.

Though, you're obviously welcome to try your hand at writing said fic. If you choose to do so, let me know and I'll check it out. Best of luck!

Osterreicher97 said – "Hmmm... I wonder how things will go this time around considering that Blake only came with Sun in canon. Then again, this is much sooner than canon considering that this all happened before the Vytal Festival could even start (on top of it being Vale that was overrun by Grimm in canon). Also, I could totally see Jacques Schnee buying out Mantle. I would assume though that without the Atlesian military, they will be down to whatever security forces that they might have left (which will probably be even less effective than the Atlesians)."

No comment on the Mantle situation, but another radically different thing from canon is that Blake doesn't know the true extent of the WF's fall just yet, considering that they didn't just release hundreds of Grimm into the school or blow open the Mountain Glenn tunnels.

Seraphimnight said – "Sorry it took me so long, i got backlogged on fics for a few weeks.

I'm so happy you're updating again!"

Np, and its good to be back!


That does it for this chapter. I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with the next one's name, but right now, it's tentatively called "Necessity". That might hold, or it might not. Either way, see you then!