I am not dead!

Hello everyone and welcome to the fourth chapter of "From Nerds to Nightwalkers!"

I am so sorry for being away for so long. I was dealing with what could be described as the hardest time of 2021 for me.

Fortunately, things are looking up now. So overall, I cannot be happier.

So now that I am back I want to say thank you to every one of you for your reviews, favorites, follow and support!

Anyways, I don't wanna ramble on anymore, but I do hope you'll forgive me and let me know how the story is going in the reviews below. Now then without further ado, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite drink because it's time to continue the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY; all rights go to the Legendary Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I do not own any of the Music, Anime, or Manga that will be referenced in this story as well, all rights go to their respected creators and studios.

Beta Reader: KittyKat-Belle

Opening Theme: We're Not Alone by Coldrain

CHAPTER 4: All Hallow's Night (Part 2)

As the wolves howled across the Emerald Forest, the moon was full, shining brightly across the cloudless night sky. In the metropolis that was Vale city, thousands of people – human and Faunus alike – were beginning to emerge from their homes to celebrate this most wonderful time of year, All Hallow's Eve.

The streets were already filled with countless trick-or-treaters eagerly ready to collect as much candy as their bags and pillowcases can hold.

And as they went on their merry way, Ruby was fuming.

'How?! Just… how?!' She thought as she replayed the events from earlier in her head yet again for what felt like the 20th time.

/-/

While Nora was still grounded and unable to come, it was a pleasant surprise to see Velvet deciding to join them after all for some trick or treating.

However, the last thing any of them expected was for their Faunus friend to hand Ruby a small, folded card.

She reached into her little belt pocket and pulled out the card again.

"Yo guys!

Happy Halloween! Just wanted to let you know I'm hosting a Halloween Party here at Casa de Wukong and you guys should come! Seriously! What better way to spend Halloween than with a wild party! It's gonna be off the hook! Plus everyone's gonna be here! The address is right below! See ya soon! – Sun

P.S. Neptune says yo!"

Ruby shook her head and frowned, 'We gave up a trick or treating for this?'

She glanced up towards her friends. Velvet was currently leading the way with her scroll navigating while Jaune and Ren idly chatted among themselves. She remained behind the pack and scowled.

'Traitors.' She thought and tucked the card back into her pocket.

While it was nothing against Sun, the idea of spending Halloween at some random party didn't appeal to Ruby.

There were many factors as to why but one that stood above the rest. People, lots of people. Too many for her standards.

Ruby wanted to trick-or-treat, not spend her favorite holiday surrounded by an overcrowded lot shaking their asses to club music in skimpy costumes.

In the end, it merely came down to a vote and, unfortunately, she was outvoted two to one. It bewildered her to no end that her friends were so willing to go.

Ren claimed it was at least worth visiting if Sun had gone through the trouble of inviting them personally. Jaune felt it was nice that someone outside their friend group wanted them to come.

'Are we even going to be welcomed, though?' Ruby wondered.

If Sun was right in his invitation then it was a guarantee that a majority of their school would be at this party. And Ruby knew all too well that that could lead to disaster. That was the last thing they needed after everything that happened with Yang.

Still with the votes unanimously against her, Ruby had no choice but to begrudgingly agree. Even if she didn't have to, she would not abandon her friends.

To ensure that things were fair, all three had promised Ruby that should she not find any enjoyment thereafter an hour then they could leave and go trick or treating instead.

Though Ruby agreed, she sincerely hoped that she would not come to regret this.

/-/

The group had been walking for several minutes now and Ruby's worry now turned into anxiety. She had realized too late that this would be her first time going to a party that didn't involve her family.

In truth, she had no idea what to expect but after listening to all the stories Yang told from her experiences, Ruby wasn't sure if she was ready to deal with that kind of ridiculousness.

She shook her head as she resisted the urge to groan.

'This is gonna be a long night.'

"We're not far now!" Velvet announced happily as she and the others rounded a corner. "Just a few more blocks and we'll be there soon."

"Thank goodness." Ren sighed, "I wasn't sure if I could tolerate this cold for much longer without my jacket." He once again attempted to warm himself up by rubbing his arms furiously as his friends all watched.

"Are you that cold?" Jaune asked with genuine confusion. "It doesn't feel that bad out here."

"That's because you have more layers than me," Ren stated as he pointed down towards his midriff. "Plus a hooded cape." He then pointed to the large, green, piece of cloth around his friend's back.

As Jaune glanced down at his costume then compared it with Ren's his eyes widened in realization as he could feel his best friend's deadpan stare.

"S-Sorry..." Jaune stuttered as he immediately looked away, flustered.

Ruby shook her head and smiled a little. "Well at least you look cool, right?" she complimented. "If you were pale and wore the sandals you'd be a spitting image of Sai!"

Ren frowned, "Sai doesn't have magenta eyes though Ruby." He muttered.

"No… but you have his stomach!" She teased and wrapped an arm around his waist nearly causing the boy to flinch as her cold hand planted itself on his exposed skin.

Ren's frown turned more into a scowl as he firmly - yet gently - pushed his smaller friend off. "I do not."

"Do too! Tell him Jaune!" Ruby argued and turned towards the blond.

Jaune awkwardly chuckled as he padded Ren on the shoulder and shrugged. "I-I hate to say it buddy but… you kinda do."

Ren narrowed his eyes, "How?"

Jaune shrugged. "Well… what can I say? Y-You kinda have his figure. You both have black hair, you're both lean, and have a nice stomach-" Both his and Ren's eyes widened upon doing a double-take on what was just said. "W-Wait no!" Jaune stammered out with a look of horror. "T-That's not what I… n-not that I ever... I swear I never looked at your body like that! T-That was not what I meant!"

Ren didn't even know how to respond. All he could do was close his eyes and hide his face in his hands as he wished to be anywhere but here.

Jaune reacted in a state of panic as he flailed his arms around Ren's shoulders and began to shake the boy violently. "R-Ren! Listen to me! I'm serious! I do not look at your body like that! You know I don't swing that way. AT. ALL!"

The sudden force caused Ren's eye to snap open as he now stared into his male friend's frantic ones with surprise.

However, in the process of this, Jaune had not realized that he was starting to pull Ren's face dangerously close to his the more he shook him as his cheeks now blushed in embarrassment. "I mean it, Ren, I didn't! I know we took baths together up until the fifth grade!"

"J-Jaune!" Ren squealed as his face now flushed red as he attempted to break free.

"And I know we used to always sleep in the same bed during our sleepovers!"

"Jaune please!" Ren begged as he tried to pull away even harder to no avail.

"And I know we watched a clip of Boku no Pico together just to see what it was about but I- MMPH!"

"For the love of Oum and the brother gods, please be quiet Jaune!" Ren wailed as he thrust his palms out and over the blond boy's mouth. The sudden force caused Jaune to lose his balance as he fell onto the grass of a nearby house.

Ren panted as he turned away from the group as he dared not at them until his flustered face quelled down. 'Why me…'

As the whole scene played out, it took all of Ruby's strength to not burst out laughing. She had to cover her mouth tightly for fear of her trembling lips parting and unleashing the roaring might of her laughter.

And standing next to her, has stopped working.

Her face was blood red as she swayed back and forth with her hands on her cheeks as she watched the two boys grow closer and closer together. Droplets of blood began to drip from her nose as her vision blurred and her imagination ran wild.

"Velvet!" Ruby screamed.

The Faunus girl jumped at the sound of her name as she snapped back into reality. Ruby had been shaking her shoulder for who knows how long as Ren and Jaune - no longer holding each other - hovered close by with worried expressions.

"Uh.. wha…" Velvet blurted; her ears perked up straight.

"I asked if you were ok?!" Ruby cried and pulled her hand back, "You just spaced out on us! What happened?!"

"O-Oh!" Velvet quickly wiped the liquid away from her nose and cleared her throat. "S-Sorry! I-It's nothing I… I was just… thinking…"

The Faunus' ears drooped as she began to blush heavily and quickly looked away, not daring to face Jaune nor Ren just yet.

Ruby quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

Velvet cringed at her poor choice of words as her eyes darted back and forth.

"What does that even-"

"H-Hey!" She suddenly interrupted, "Look at the time! We better keep going or else we'll miss the party!"

Without waiting for a reply, Velvet immediately took off as her face continued to flush red.

The sudden departure left Ruby, Jaune, and Ren surprised as they called out for her to wait. When she didn't comply the trio quickly took off after her.

/-/

As Velvet continued running, she ignored the calls from her friends echoed from behind. Still too embarrassed by what transpired.

She hastily turned another corner and jumped in surprise when she saw someone leaning against the wall in a long black cloak with the hood draped over her head. With her enhanced hearing, Velvet heard music coming from some headphones this person was wearing and immediately felt panic.

Not only could this person not see her coming from their peripheral vision, but they couldn't hear her as well.

She tried to stop herself. But the momentum of her speed still carried her body forward as Velvet lost her balance and began falling.

Velvet mentally cursed to herself as she was already thinking of a dozen different apologies once she made contact.

Until...

In what Velvet could only describe as unbelievable, the cloaked figure suddenly pushed themselves off and hopped forward causing Velvet to completely miss them. Though the accident was averted, without an object to stop her, Velvet's body was now falling forward. She shut her eyes tight and brace herself for the impact.

Though it never came.

Instead, the figure had turned around and grabbed Velvet by the collar of her costume making her hang in the air listlessly.

'Wha…' Velvet thought before she felt herself being pulled back onto her feet.

As she found her balance, the Faunus girl quickly turned and stared at the cloaked figure and realized now that it was a girl from the faint streetlight hanging overhead.

Both girls stared at one another in complete silence, Velvet with confused eyes and the girl with curious ones.

Velvet still couldn't make out any of her appearances, but her train of thought was suddenly broken when the girl spoke for the first time.

"Isn't it stereotypical for a rabbit Faunus to dress up like a rabbit?"

Velvet blinked. For a moment she couldn't think of a reply as she continued to stare dumbfoundedly.

The girl then tilted her head slightly to the side. "Not judging, just curious is all."

Before Velvet could offer a response, a sudden, powerful, force pushed her body forward to the ground. As she fell, Velvet turned and saw all three of her friends slamming into one another like a chain reaction as they all collapsed together in a jumbled mass of pain.

The girl flinched at the sound of their impact followed by their groaning.

"Ugh Jaune~ get off me!" Whined Ruby as she tried in vain to push her blond friend off.

"Ow~ my head." Jaune moaned. "What happened?!"

"It seems we collided and fell," Ren grunted as he shifted around to see Velvet rubbing the top of her head. "Oh, we found Velvet."

"Hurray~", both Jaune and Ruby groaned as they slowly untangled themselves apart.

The girl raised an eyebrow and slowly approached the group. She glanced down at them for a moment before extending a hand down towards the nearest of the trio.

"You ok?"

Jaune nodded absentmindedly, "Y-Yeah I think so-"

He glanced up to see a glove-covered hand of a girl he had not seen before shrouded in a cloak. Though it could be from the light Jaune could have sworn that he saw her eyes glowing for a second.

The sight of this nearly caused him to jump in fright as he quickly rose to his feet. His cheeks reddened as he clumsily backed up and bowed his head away. "S-Sorry…"

The girl shrugged as she withdrew her hand back into her cloak. "It's fine. Not the first reaction I got tonight."

Before Jaune could reply, his body was suddenly shoved to the side onto the ground as he yelped. From where he once stood, Ruby now appeared standing face to face with the girl as she had a look of stars in her eyes and a big smile on her face.

"Oh my gosh, I freaking love your costume, where did you get it? How can I get one?! Did you buy it? Did you make it?! Did you? Did you?"

As Ruby spewed her questions out in one breath, Velvet suddenly appeared behind the younger girl and pulled her back. "R-Ruby! You're invading her personal space!" She cried and handed the pouting girl over to Ren. "I-I am so sorry for that! Please forgive her, she gets very excited!"

The cloaked girl let out a small chuckle and waved a hand dismissively. "No harm done." She then turned away towards Jaune on his back. "Is he gonna be ok?"

Velvet rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, "W-Well-"

"Oh yeah, he'll be fine!" Ruby chimed in. "This stuff happens to him all the time."

The girl glanced towards Velvet as if asking for confirmation to which the girl sighed and nodded as she walked over to help the blond boy up.

The girl tilted her head. "Huh, tough kid. Anyways, I didn't make this. My, uh, mother did."

Ruby squealed in delight. "Really? That is so cool! Is she a tailor? Can she make one for me? How much does- ah!"

Ren quickly placed a hand over her mouth and sighed as she thrashed around, trying to free herself. "Ruby introductions are in order first before asking for requests."

"Mmkay, mmkay!" Ruby replied as she pulled Ren's hand away and bowed with her hands at her sides, "Konichiwa! I'm Ruby, nice to meet you!" She then pointed to the others. "These are my best friends! The blond one is Jaune!"

"H-Hi," Jaune said, now back on his feet, as he glared at Ruby while rubbing his side.

"The semi-naked boy here is Ren!"

"Not by choice," Ren muttered, covering his stomach once more.

And this adorable bunny girl here is our very own Velvet!"

Velvet gave a small wave and smiled a little shyly. "H-Hello again… and thank you for earlier."

"It's no problem." The girl nodded

"So~ what's your name?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, right." The girl slowly brought the hood of her cloak down. She was a mocha-skinned girl with short green hair and bright red eyes. "Name's Emerald. Nice to-"

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

The girl stopped and quickly pulled out her scroll. She silently read the message she received and sighed heavily as she tucked her scroll away again. She was silent for a moment as if lost in her thoughts as Ruby and the others all glanced at one another.

"I-Is… everything alright?" Jaune asked, which seemed to snap the girl, now known as Emerald, out of it.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Emerald said, "Afraid I have to go through. I was waiting on someone, and they just texted."

"Aw really?" Ruby whined, "But we just met!"

"And it was nice meeting you all." Emerald smiled as she took a step back. "Great costumes by the way! Happy Halloween" She then turned and started walking away further down the darker side of the street.

"Bye!" Ruby waved, alongside the others. "That was awesome! We made a new friend!"

"S-She seemed nice," Jaune said, as the pain in his side finally went away.

Ruby smirked in his direction. "Really? From the way you acted, I'd say you were downright terrified of her."

"I-I was not!" Jaune whined, causing his voice to crack just a little making Ruby burst out in laughter. He cleared his throat and stood a little taller, "I-I was just taken back by her costume is all!"

"Sure~ you did Jaune!"

"I'm serious Ruby!"

"Uh-huh~!"

"Really!

"Well, at least she liked our costumes." Velvet chimed in.

"Yeah! Glad to see someone has good-" Ruby's eyes widened as she quickly turned back around, "Wait, Emerald! Do you like anime?!" She called out.

But the girl was already gone leaving Ruby and the others to merely stare out into the deserted street in front of them.

"Aw man, she's already gone." Ruby pouted.

"W-Wow she walks fast," Jaune said.

Velvet nodded in agreement, "M-Maybe we will see her again someday and you can ask her then Ruby. B-But we really should keep going. I already texted Sun that we'll be there soon."

Ruby sighed, "You're right Vel. Alright gang, onwards to the dreaded Halloween House Party!"

"Y-You know it's not gonna be that bad Ruby." Said Velvet.

"Nope! I say it is!"

"R-Ruby you don't know that yet." Jaune reasoned.

"I'm the leader of this group so what I say is a fact!"

"N-No you're not!"

"W-Who made you leader?! We didn't even vote!"

"It's my birthday command!"

"That doesn't count!" Both Jaune and Velvet yelled.

As the three continued arguing as they walked, only Ren remained in place as he stared down the empty street. He narrowed his eyes as he recounted what he saw.

For a split second, right as Emerald's scroll beeped, the long-haired boy could have sworn he saw fear in her eyes.

Though he hoped he imagined it, he silently wished Emerald well as he turned and jogged towards his friends.

/-/

It wasn't long before the group reached their location. But as they neared the long driveway of Sun's home, they stopped dead in their tracks.

"Whoa…" Jaune muttered.

"Indeed." Ren could only nod as his eyes widened slightly.

Aside from Velvet - none of them could move as they stared in awe at the Wukong residence. To say it was a house would be a grave understatement. It was more like a small manor secluded down the road from the other houses in the neighborhood.

The walls, windows, and yard were beautifully well kept whilst decorated to the brim with Halloween decorations, lights, and animatronics as far as the eye could see. The teens could hear the loud music and cheering laughter of the participants already inside with more walking towards the house.

'When he said everyone was going to be here, he was not kidding.' Thought Ruby as she turned to Velvet.

"Why didn't you tell us Sun was rich?!"

The sudden accusation in Ruby's tone as she pointed towards the Faunus girl caused Velvet to jump as she raised her hands. "N-No one asked!"

"But you knew the whole time?!"

Velvet's ears drooped low, "I-I didn't think it would be a big deal! I-I'm sorry!"

"R-Ruby, come on now!" Jaune got in between the two girls as Velvet hid behind his back, "D-Does it matter if we knew or not?"

Ruby bit her lip then suddenly turned and scoffed as she crossed her arms. "No! But… it just caught me off guard ok! Hmph!"

"I think it caught us all by surprise," Ren added. "We don't know Sun very well, yet he insisted we come."

Ruby sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, you're right… sorry, Vel."

The Faunus' ears perked up again as she smiled, "I-It's ok! B-But how about we go inside now?"

The group all nodded and, without further argument, followed Velvet up the long, stone walkway towards the manor. The moment they arrived at the front door; the music was louder with vibrations from what they suspected was the stereo playing at max volume.

After a couple of fruitless knocks, Velvet decided to ring the doorbell as she texted Sun that they had arrived.

Within seconds, the door rushed open, and, to their surprise, it wasn't the grinning monkey Faunus that they had expected; but rather the bubbly, excited, image of their friend Nora dawning what appeared to be the female version of Thor, with the cape, armor, helmet, and foam hammer.

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" She screamed and jumped onto her friends as she pulled them into a bear-hugging embrace.

"N-Nora! L-Let go! "Ren wheezed as he and the others tried desperately to break free.

"Aw~ ok, Renny!" Nora complied as she released her grip and allowed all of them to suck in great gulps of air.

Ruby was the first to recover and stared at her friend bewildered, "What are you doing here Nora?! I thought you were grounded?!"

Nora grinned as she placed her hands onto her hips, "I have my ways, Ruby! I have my ways!"

"Nora," Ren warned, "What did you do?"

The orange-haired girl flinched as her grin now turned into an awkward smile, "Well~ you see Ren I may~ have snuck out when my parents fell asleep…"

Ren raised an eyebrow and checked the time on his scroll. "Nora, it's 7:55, your parents don't sleep at this time."

"Y-Yeah!" Jaune agreed, "Plus you're terrible at sneaking!" He flinched when he caught her glare. "N-No offense."

Nora then averted her gaze to the side as she shuffled her feet. "Hmph! Well, you're not wrong… thankfully the melatonin was strong."

Ren's eyes widened as he thought he heard that wrong. "What?!"

To his dismay, Nora winced as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh, I mean… nothing?" She chuckled weakly.

"N-Nora!" Velvet cried.

"You drugged your parents with sleeping pills?!" Ruby asked.

"Oh man, that is genius!"

All eyes turned and saw the resident of the house himself, Sun, approaching the small group wearing nothing but a brown cheetah loincloth and flip flops that left nothing to the imagination.

"Welcome to Casa De Wukong!"

/-/

The reactions varied.

Between Ren's utter dismay in seeing more of Sun than he'd care for and a blushing Velvet practically hyperventilating, he didn't feel so self-conscious about his costume anymore. Nora seemed to be laughing up a storm as she watched Ruby trying to calm the poor Faunus girl down.

Jaune, on the other hand, felt a wave of jealousy and admiration when seeing how well-built Sun was. Comparing his broad shoulders with his scraggly ones, those well-toned abs to his nonexistent ones, life seemed to enjoy reminding Jaune of how far he was from the man he wanted to be.

"Nice costumes guys!" Sun smiled. "I'm digging the schoolgirl outfit, Ruby! That's gonna get you some extra points on the list!"

Ruby blinked.

"Ooh and Ren! Way to finally shed some layers and show off some skin dude!"

"Not by choice," Ren muttered as Nora giggled right beside him, hugging his arm.

"And Jaune! Looking pretty badass there buddy!"

"Uh… t-thanks."

"Anyways, what are you guys staring at?!" Sun asked playfully as he wrapped an arm around each of the boys making them shudder. "I mean it's cool if you fellas look and all but just be sure not to touch! I don't want things to get weird or anything! These abs are only for the ladies!"

"S-S-SUN! WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!"

Sun turned to Velvet and grinned. "You like? I'm Tarzan?! Get it?! Cause monkey Faunus?! Sexy ape-man?! Get it?!"

"I-I GOT IT BUT WHY ARE YOU WEARING THAT?!" She shakily pointed down towards the very small fabric around his waist.

Sun feigned a shocked expression, "What? You expect me to not show off the goods?! I'd be doing a disservice to all the ladies here!" He then rested his arms around Jaune and Ren's shoulders. Both looked extremely uncomfortable with a nearly naked Sun pressed next to them. "Am I right, boys?"

"N-No comment," Jaune muttered.

"I have no idea how to answer that," Ren admitted.

"I like it!" Nora praised and gave him a thumbs up to which the Faunus boy graciously nodded back.

"See, they agree!" Sun cheered and happily slapped them both on the back. Ignoring their groan, he continued, "Anyways lighten up! It's Halloween which means we gotta party it up! Go ahead and do whatever you want! We got drinks over there, food and snacks in the dining hall, the dance floors all around you! Oh! We also got some cool stuff in the backyard too!" He then smirked, "And in case you find a special someone tonight feel free to spend five minutes in heaven with them upstairs in any of the bedrooms!"

"S-SUN!" Velvet cried again.

"Alright catch you guys later, I gotta go find Neptune!"

As he darted away Velvet leaned against the wall and sighed. "I-I swear he has no filter."

Jaune nodded. "W-Well besides that... since we're here w-why not enjoy ourselves?"

"Now you're talking!" Nora said and gripped Ren's shoulder tightly, "Come on Renny! Let's hit the dance floor!"

"Wait Nora I- ah!" Try as he might, his pleas went ignored as the small orange-haired girl dragged Ren through the crowd farther and farther away from their friends.

Jaune laughed a little as he turned to Ruby and Velvet, "Y-You guys wanna go check out the food?"

"O-Oh yes!" Velvet clapped her hands excitedly, "S-Sun said he'd have carrot cake!"

"Only you would get excited over carrot cake Vel!" Ruby jeered. "You two go on ahead! I'll stay here!"

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "W-Why?"

Ruby shrugged, "I wanna look around here some more! This place is huge and I'm feeling snoopy!" She rubbed her hands together. "Plus I wanna judge all these cretin's costumes!"

Jaune sighed and shook his head. "O-Of course you would get riled up over costumes!"

Velvet giggled into her hand silently.

Ruby puffed her cheeks out and gave Jaune a hard poke in the chest. "I'll have you know as a pro cosplayer it's my duty to judge all the bad costumes here! Got that mister?!"

Jaune "C-Crystal m-mam! W-We'll bring you something back!" he squeaked and hastily grabbed Velvet as he darted off.

"It better be chocolate!" Ruby smiled and waved.

/-/

As soon the two were out of sight, the smile dropped, and her hand fell to her side as she sighed.

She raised the hood of her cloak over her eyes again as she leaned against the wall.

'I don't like this…' She frowned as her eyes gazed at all the people around her.

So many of them she recognized faintly as students from Beacon. Others looked foreign to her from other schools, but it didn't matter. They were all people she didn't know - people she didn't associate with - and it didn't sit well with her being surrounded by them.

She had been to conventions and game events before, but this was different. There were no fellow otaku here, no hardcore gamers to talk to. The only ones that were, were her friends.

At the thought of them, she frowned. They had been able to integrate themselves into the party easily and yet she couldn't. She was the only one hesitant to come, the only one who was against it, and the only one who felt like they didn't belong… that she didn't belong.

Ruby felt claustrophobic now, out of place. The music, the laughter, the dancing, it was not for her. That much was clear. And yet she felt conflicted. All she wanted was to take her friends and go. But on the other hand, they seemed so interested in coming. She wished they didn't have to come but she also didn't want to be a buzzkill.

'We were supposed to go trick-or-treating…' With a sigh, Ruby turned towards the door. She stared at it for a moment and bit her lip. 'Maybe I should just go... I can hit a few houses and come back in a few hours… they won't notice…' She nodded to herself and quickly rushed to grab the doorknob.

"Ruby?"

The girl froze. She recognized that voice. And as she slowly turned her eyes widened.

"Yang…"

/-/

The world around the two sisters fell into complete silence in their minds. There was no one else around them as they stared at one another in complete disbelief.

Neither could bring themselves to talk first despite the anticipated looks they gave each other. Ruby pondered if perhaps she could make a break for it, at least until she noticed what Yang was wearing and raised an eyebrow. She could easily guess her sister was Cleopatra, the old Vacuoian pharaoh. That is if Cleopatra was a half-naked belly dancer.

"What are you wearing?"

Yang flinched as she glanced down at her outfit. "W-What?! What's wrong with-"

"There you are babe!"

Ruby's eyes hardened. Here came Cardin, dressed in a half-naked pharaoh costume, swaggering over to them like he owned the place as he held two cups of what Ruby guessed was fruit punch. He handed Yang a cup and kissed her cheek as he glanced towards Ruby.

"You didn't tell me your baby sis was gonna be here."

"I didn't know either," Yang said, never taking her eyes off her sister.

Cardin smirked as he stood behind Yang a little and slowly slid his arm around her waist. "I gotta say I'm surprised! Never pegged you for a party goer, much less to be away from those "friends" of yours. Good for you in taking a step in the right direction!"

He raised his cup in a mocking toast as the smirk still plastered his lips.

The emphasis he added did not sit well with Ruby as she silently bit her tongue. She nearly spewed out in anger that her friends were here, and she was not, in fact, alone. She mentally cursed herself for nearly doing so. The last thing she wanted was for Cardin to prey upon Jaune and Ren with so many people around.

"I was thinking of leaving, actually," said Ruby. Yang's eyes widened. "I just came to check this place out but it's not for me." She sighed and turned to the door.

"Wait!"

Ruby did so and slowly turned back around. "What Yang?"

Getting over the initial shock, Yang quickly turns to Cardin and gently pushed him away. "Babe, can you give us some privacy, please?"

Cardin thought he heard that wrong. Was she serious? He frowned, "What?"

"Just for a little bit!" Yang assured, "I want to talk to my sis here."

"I don't think-"

"Cardin please?!" She hissed, causing Cardin's eyes to widen as she quickly pulled out of his hold. "I'll come looking for you later, alright babe?! I just want a moment with Ruby, that's all!"

Taming his rising anger, Cardin reluctantly nodded as he stared at Yang making her way to Ruby's side. 'Her side…' He thought bitterly. "Of course, babe… I'll go find the others then." He muttered and walked away, leaving them alone.

"Sorry, you had to see that." Yang sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, "We don't normally fight like this."

"It's fine," Ruby shrugged nonchalantly. Although on the inside, she was bursting with joy at the sight of Cardin's face retreating, "But was that ok?"

"He'll be fine," Yang smiled, "He's more understanding than you think!"

'I'm sure he is.' Ruby resisted the urge to say out loud.

"Besides, I wanted to talk with you, sis!"

"About what? There's nothing-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Yang placed a finger on Ruby's lips, "You were trying to weasel your way out of socializing!"

Ruby pushed her sister's hand away. "I was not!"

Yang placed her hands on her hips. "Sure sis, then why were you so quick to leave?"

Ruby remained silent as she turned away. Yang sighed once more and gently placed a hand on her sister's shoulder to which the younger girl shrugged off.

"Ruby, if you keep shying away from things like this you'll never break out of your shell. I mean come on, all you ever do is hang out with Jaune, Ren, and Nora!"

Ruby narrowed her eyes, "And what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing!" Yang said quickly, holding a hand up. "I'm just saying… it's nice to see you trying new things is all. I'm proud of you sis, I really am."

She smiled genuinely and Ruby opened her mouth to retort but shut it at the last second and sighed. "It wasn't like I chose to come." She leaned back against the doorframe. "Sun invited us and sent Velvet to pick us up."

"Us?"

"Ren and Jaune. Nora was already here; I'm surprised you haven't run into her."

Yang shrugged a little awkwardly, "I-It's a big house, lots of people… you never know who's around."

"Isn't that the truth." Ruby agreed, staring at her sister. "Either way, they were the ones who wanted to come. I… wanted to go trick-or-treating, I still do. But I didn't want to rain on their parade just cause it's my birthday."

Yang nodded. In her mind, to which she couldn't believe she was thinking this, silently thanked her former friends for bringing her sister over. She shook her head and then her eyes widened as an idea popped in her head.

"Hey, that's right!" Yang now gripped both of her sister's shoulders more firmly this time as Ruby stared at her with confusion.

"What?"

"This is a golden opportunity for us to spend time together on your birthday! Come on Rubes! At least spend some time with me here before you decide to bail!"

"Yang I don't really-"

"Come on Ruby! You said it yourself, your friends are here enjoying themselves which means you should give it a chance too!"

"But Yang-"

"No buts Ruby!" Yang said firmly as her face softened, "Look, I know I haven't been the best to you recently. And believe me, it kills me that I hurt you, Ruby… maybe more than you'll ever know… but I want to make it up to you. This is your birthday and I wanna spend it with the best baby sister in the world!" Her lips trembled slightly, "Please?…"

Ruby was silent for a moment as she stared at Yang to the point the blonde girl shifted around uncomfortable in anticipation. A dozen different thoughts ran through Ruby's mind as she pondered this over.

She still felt apprehensive, another part flat out cried against this, and yet something deep inside her felt warm as she gazed into her eyes. There were no crocodile tears or uncertainty. Yang was serious with everything she said. She took a deep breath and, against her better judgment, nodded.

"20 minutes Yang… then we'll see how it goes from- ah!"

With speed, that surprised Ruby, Yang quickly pulled her sister into a bone-crushing embrace as she cheered so loudly it turned a few heads. Ignoring the stares, Yang twirled Ruby around before finally settling her back onto the ground with the largest grin she had all day.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, sis!" Yang cried, "You won't regret it! We are gonna have the best time! I can finally show you how to live it up at a party! We can dance, eat snacks, oh, I can even introduce you to- huh?"

"Yang… air!" Ruby wheezed as she tried desperately to pull herself free.

"Oh! Sorry!" Yang chuckled awkwardly, letting Ruby suck in great breaths of air. She wondered if this was how Ren felt every time Nora jumped him. If it were, she seriously felt bad for laughing at him all those times.

After composing herself Ruby stood back up and sighed, "Let's just get this over with ok Yang? Don't make me regret this…"

"You won't Rubes!" Yang assured, "Watch 20 minutes with me and you'll see just how much fun I am!"

Though she hated how tightly her older sister wrapped an arm around her neck, Ruby couldn't help but smile a little as she let Yang guide them further into the house.

"I'll hold you to it."

As the two sisters made their way past the large crowds of people, they were unaware of Cardin watching ever so vigilantly from a distance with a crushed cup in his hand.

/-/

If someone had told Jaune that he would be personally invited to a massive party like this, he would have thought they were pulling his leg. And yet, here he was attending such a party with all of his friends enjoying themselves and no one bothering them.

'So far…' A voice inside him said. Jaune frowned. He hated that voice, that familiar foreboding anxiety that constantly put him on edge. What he wouldn't give just to have that voice shut up for one night.

"W-What do you think of the party so far?" Velvet asked as she finished chewing a rather large slice of carrot cake.

"I-It's nice." Jaune laughed, snapping out of his thoughts, as he turned to her. He chuckled and pointed out some frosting that coated the side of her lips to which she bashfully wiped off. "W-We never get invited to anything, so this is a nice change for once."

"I-I'm glad you guys came," Velvet smiled, "I-If you didn't it would have been lonely without you."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "W-What about your other friends?"

Velvet sighed as she took out her scroll, "I-I texted Yats, but he said they'd be a while. Fox ran into two of his ex-girlfriends at the same time a-and now there's a lot of shenanigans going on."

"Wow…" Jaune felt a tinge of sadness in his chest. "E-Even a guy like him has better luck with girls…"

Velvet noted his tone of voice and quickly nudged him, "I-I did say, ex-girlfriends. H-He isn't exactly a Casanova if things didn't work out!"

"I guess you're right," Jaune sighed, "I-I'm still surprised. I don't think I ever heard him say a word."

Velvet covered her mouth and giggled, "Y-You'd be surprised! He actually texts the most out of anyone!"

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Really? Huh, I never would have-"

"Well, well~ look who it is?!" Jaune and Velvet turned to the voice behind them.

"C-Coco!" The Faunus girl cried.

Both their eyes widened when they saw none other than Coco Adel and Pyrrha Nikos strolling up to them.

Already surrounding heads were turning and whispering to one another as they stared at the two popular girls approaching who they now recognized as one of the losers from their school.

'Oh no…' Jaune felt heat rising into his cheeks as he finally gazed down at their costumes. Coco, as ever the epitome of confidence, wore what Jaune could only describe as one of those risqué bunny outfits he saw in adult magazines.

The brunette still wore her signature shades as she came up to them with a smirk plastered on her lips.

"Hey there bun-bun!" She said then turned towards Jaune, "And kid! How're you doing?" She asked with a hint of sultry in her tone.

"G-Good!" He stammered and quickly looked anywhere but Coco's immediate direction as she leaned closer to him.

Unfortunately, his eyes landed on Pyrrha, and his breathing halted.

Beauty wouldn't come close to what he was thinking when he saw the redhead. Standing tall and radiant in a golden feathered crown and a tight white toga, Pyrrha looked like the embodiment of a goddess which wasn't far off. She was the spitting image of Athena, the ancient Mantlian Goddess of War which made Jaune shudder.

Try as he might, he couldn't help glancing down at her long-toned legs that seemed emphasized with the heeled strappy sandals she wore.

Jaune quickly glanced back up and met her eyes in a panic. He already knew there would be trouble if he stared any longer and immediately looked away.

It was bad enough that the rumors made him out as a creep in the eyes of the school. The last thing he needed was to prove them right, which already seemed too late when he noticed Pyrrha staring at him with a frown from his peripheral.

'She saw that I was staring… I didn't mean to I… damn it...'

"That's good to hear," said Coco then glanced back to Velvet, giving her costume a once over, and smiled. "Looks like we're matching tonight Vel!"

"H-Hardly!" Velvet squeaked and blushed, "I-I'd never wear something so… i-indecent!"

"Aw come on Bun-Bun! Live a little" The brunette laughed and patted Velvet on the back, "You got nothing to be embarrassed about girl! If you got it, show it! Isn't that right P-Money?!"

"Huh?!" Pyrrha jumped, as she shook her head and focused on Coco, "I'm sorry what were you saying?!"

"Don't you think Velvet here would look sexy if she showed more skin?!"

Pyrrha flinched and rubbed the side of her arm a little awkwardly, "I suppose… if she wishes to. However, it is her choice…" She trailed off and glanced down at her costume, "Though if I am honest, I would have preferred if you made this toga a little longer…"

Coco sighed and waved a hand dismissively. Contrary to herself, these two were just too goody-two-shoes. They needed to unwind and have a little more confidence in their bodies. They were already blessed in all the right areas; it was just that hesitation that drove Coco mad.

'They were just as bad as the Ice Bitch!' Coco thought 'At least Yang and the twins know how to live it up.' That was when she glanced back to Jaune and got an idea.

"Well, I think the kid here likes what you're packing Pyr. Isn't that right Jaune!"

Jaune nearly choked on his beverage as he coughed furiously into his hand. "I *cough* *cough* I'm sorry?!"

"You heard me~" Coco's voice dipped in a low tone and took a step closer to the blond. "Don't you think my friend Pyrrha here looks hot in that outfit?"

"W-Whaa?!" Jaune's jaw dropped as he took a step back, "I-I uh…" His eyes darted to Pyrrha who stared back at him with a reddened face and hardened eyes. Sadness once again emanated within his chest as he cast his sight towards the ground. "I-I don't think I-I can answer that…"

This caused the brunette to chuckle a little as she now sashayed over to him, "Oh? You don't think she's hot?" She teased and placed a finger on Jaune's chest. "That's not what I heard from the rumors~."

"C-Coco!" Pyrrha suddenly hissed, her face nearly as red as her hair.

"W-Why would you say that?!" Velvet cried as she hastily pulled her away from Jaune. "Y-You know that's not true! People are just-"

The voices soon fell into a distant silence in Jaune's mind as his quivering lips bit so hard in the inner walls of his cheeks that he tasted blood. His body trembled as his nails dug into his palms beneath his cloak.

'Rumors…' He thought solemnly, 'That's right… she heard the rumors too… she'll believe them over me… it doesn't matter what I say… they'll never take my word...'

'They see you as a creep, a messed-up pervert, a stalker of women.' The voice returned once more. 'They've already made up their minds. There is no changing it. No matter what you do, you will always be outcasted.'

'I know that…' Jaune agreed with dismay as the world around him darkened. 'I know that but… I just… wanted to feel accepted… for once.' His eyes moistened.

'You will never be accepted. Coming here pretending so was pointless.'

'But… I was invited… I WAS accepted…'

'One opinion does not outweigh the majority. You are seen as a nuisance, ruining people's enjoyment.'

Jaune nodded slowly, 'I… you're right… then… what can I do?'

'Run and never trust anyone!"

"I-I'm serious, Coco!" Velvet scolded softly as she and Pyrrha both surrounded the brunette on either side, "T-that was not ok!"

"Oh lighten up, I was just teasing a little." Coco huffed, "Besides the kid knows I'm just playing around. I don't believe that crap."

"R-regardless, y-you should still apologize." Velvet retorted with Pyrrha nodding in agreement. "A-And please stop calling him kid! H-His name is-"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried as she and the other girls turned to see the blond boy running off through the crowd. In that brief second, before he took off, the redhead could have sworn she saw what looked like a wet trail running down his eye.

"Oh Jaune…" Velvet muttered as Coco frowned and awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

"Maybe... I did go a bit overboard."

Pyrrha turned and narrowed her eyes before wordlessly running off.

"Ooh." Coco inhaled sharply and turned to Velvet. "You think she's mad?" Velvet's ears drooped as she sighed.

"W-We are going to talk later." With that Velvet also ran off leaving a silent, guilt-ridden Coco to lean against the table.

/-/

Jaune never felt more like a fool before than today. Granted he always did but by far this took the cake.

Having been able to get away from the girls, Jaune huddled himself into the corner and pressed his face to his knees. He couldn't stop the tears from falling as he recounted all of those painful realizations.

'Why did I think coming here was a good idea… I'm Cardin's punching bag... Weiss hates my guts… Yang wants me away from Ruby… and the whole school thinks I'm a creep… it's not fair. Why?...'

Jaune hugged his knees tighter.

Coco had been one of the few people who had shown some effort of kindness to him and his friends. 'Just like Pyrrha did before…'

He gritted his teeth and punched the floor. He should have known that she was just playing with him all along.

'Just like Pyrrha… just like all of them' He thought darkly.

He wasn't even angry. He was just disappointed in himself for blindly clinging onto hope.

'They're all liars.' His inner voice said. 'You will never be accepted. Never.'

Jaune could not argue. He only nodded as he lowered his head and cried.

/-/

Pyrrha sighed as she gripped the railing of the second-floor walkway. She could have sworn she saw Jaune running this way, yet the blond boy was able to evade her sight just as he turned a corner. And just like that, he was gone.

'There's no mistaking it. I'm certain those were tears I saw.' She gripped the railing a little harder, 'Oh Jaune… I have to find him and…'

Then what? She wondered. Make sure he's ok? Hug him? Comfort him?

In all this time, Pyrrha had been trying to catch Jaune but what was she planning on saying once she found him?

If anything, she was the last person he'd want to see. Not since she had ignored him when returning to Vale. Not when she was the one who practically broke their friendship off. Not when she caused him so much misery.

Just remembering the look in his eyes as she ghosted him wrecked her heart with grief as she gripped the clothing over her chest. 'Jaune… I'm so sorry… I should have told you why…'

"There you are!" A voice behind her cried.

She quickly turned and saw Weiss, dressed in her Elsa costume, walking up to her with a frown on her face. "Pyrrha, are you alright?! I saw you moving quickly up the stairs and decided to follow!"

Pyrrha stiffened.

Though Weiss was a close friend, she knew how she felt towards Jaune. How would she react if she mentioned the reason for her practically running up the stairs was to find the boy she despised?

'Not good.' "Oh, hello Weiss… I'm sorry! I didn't mean to concern you. I just..." Her eyes darted back and forth, then spotted the door adjacent to her, "Needed to use the restroom here!" She pointed towards the door, "Though it seems someone else has beaten me to it!" She laughed a little dryly.

"I see…" Weiss muttered, staring at the door, "Would you like me to aid in finding another? Despite how… disgraceful Wukong acts, his home is surprisingly acceptable."

'Perhaps you should not judge a book by its cover…' Pyrrha thought as she shook her head. "I'm alright now."

Weiss looked visibly relieved. "Oh! Then I am glad to see that you are well. You'll find it silly of me to say this but… I was quite worried that something may have happened."

Pyrrha looked at her curiously, "Why would you think that?"

"I just saw Yang mingling with that dunce sister of hers." Weiss crossed her arms and frowned, "If she's here then Arc most definitely is as well."

'Oh no…' Pyrrha stiffened. "I… I see…"

"That is why I came to warn you of his presence!" Her expression darkened. "I saw you looked worried and wanted to make sure that cretin didn't have a chance to hurt you!"

Pyrrha's eye twitched. 'He hasn't hurt me though… but I did…' "Why would you assume that?" She asked slowly.

"HA!" Weiss scoffed as she flipped her hair to the side seemingly ignoring the hint of sadness in the redhead's voice. "Come now Pyrrha! It's obvious he's trying to invoke in his horrid predilections of you and I again! Why else would that blond dolt come here?!"

Pyrrha's jaw clenched as her heart began to race. "I'm sure he was simply invited just like we-"

"By the gods Pyrrha!" Weiss shook her head and laughed into her hand, "You really are too sympathetic! He doesn't deserve your kindness! He's a menace to all women! I should know, I am a victim of his actions!"

Pyrrha averted her gaze away, trying to control the heat within the pit of her stomach. "I-"

"I am convinced he weaseled his way in here after stalking after us! There's no doubt in my mind about that! That conniving, stalking, perverted little-"

"Enough Weiss!"

Weiss' eyes widened in surprise as did several others around the redhead's sudden outburst as the hall grew quiet.

Weiss took a step back as the redhead flinched and glanced around embarrassed. "P-Pyrrha?..."

"F-Forget it, Weiss! I am sorry for yelling it's just… c-can we just drop this conversation? Please?" She quickly grabbed the first arm, "Let's go find the other girls!"

"O-Oh!" Weiss cleared her throat, "I apologize as well. I should not have reminded you of such vulgarity. I understand it affects you as well and for that, I am deeply sorry. You are right, he is not worth our time! Let us away!"

"R-Right…" She sighed as that same pain in her chest returned. "Let's go…"

'Jaune...'

As the footsteps grew farther and farther away. They were unaware that just behind that bathroom door, lay Jaune huddled in the corner, with tears long since dried, hearing every word of their conversation.

"Liars… all of them."

/-/

"Seriously dude, you have to tell me your secret! I'm begging you here!"

Ren sighed.

After finally convincing Nora that he needed rest from being constantly tossed around like a rag on the dance floor, he had hoped to find some peace and quiet sitting down as Sun offered to take her off his hands.

What he didn't count on was switching partners with a tuxedo wearing Neptune now sitting next to him, notebook in hand, asking nearly a dozen questions.

"Neptune, I already said there is no secret." He said for what must have been the fourth time.

"No way! You're trying to hold out on me! Come on man! Ever since people saw you getting your ninja on, your popularity has gone up by 10% in the last week!"

Ren quirked an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound like a lot."

"Well, it would have gone up to 40% but you know," Neptune shrugged, "I had to factor in your reputation, public opinion, and who you hang out with - no offense of course! You have some cool friends not gonna lie, it's just… you know, their reputation."

"I'm aware."

"But now you have chicks noticing you! I mean, aside from Nora and Velvet, I caught these two freshman girls talking about you the other day! They were twins dude! TWINS! I didn't hear much but they were watching the video giggling! Then they said something about being flexible and have you underneath their something, something?! Then they started fighting! Like fighting, fighting! YOU HAVE GIRLS FIGHTING OVER YOU NOW DUDE! TEACH ME!"

Ren slapped a hand over his face and groaned. He already knew who he was talking about, and they were the last people he needed to see after that whole debacle in the gym. "Neptune, all I did was use my martial arts training to not get hit with a ball. That is it."

"But the way you and Blake Belladonna moved was like… some yin-yang stuff! Speaking of which, she's a shoo-in for the top spot in November! You should have seen "Witter"! Everyone was talking about it and how… nimble she is." Neptune blushed a little as he rubbed the back of his head.

Ren grunted as he narrowed his eyes. "She was rather… skillful."

He hadn't thought about that moment until now. But thinking about it, the way she moved, attacked, and dodged. It was perfect, too much so.

'That wasn't martial arts… it couldn't be. Her attacks were... unorthodox, random. Her movement was too fluid and her balance… maybe… gymnastics? No, even gymnasts wouldn't land so flawlessly without rest. She never stopped moving once. All that stamina yet not a single sign of fatigue or even a bead of sweat... I was drenched more so than a non-asthmatic person but even they would-'

"AHH!"

Both Ren and Neptune grunted as the sudden heavyweight of Sun landed on top of them. Both nearly fell back from their chairs as the monkey Faunus moaned in their arms.

Ren managed to shift Sun's legs off of him as Neptune mercilessly dropped his friend on the ground causing him to moan even louder.

"Hehehe… whoopsie~" Nora laughed as she skipped over to the boys. "Aw~ I think I broke him!"

"Nora, don't break the host."

"It's not my fault Renny!" Nora whined as she gripped his shoulders, "We were dancing and comparing our respectable muscles! Then I told him I could twirl him around like those pro wrestlers and he didn't believe me!"

Ren sighed again.

"You believe me right Renny?! You know I wouldn't perform a perfect airplane spin attack on someone unless they deserve it right?!"

Ren didn't reply.

"Renny!"

"Nora, you're invading my personal space..."

Nora blinked, replayed what he just said, then realized she was actually pinning him against the wall with their faces dangerously close. She can see clearly into his bright magenta eyes as he blinked every few seconds.

'K-Kawaii…' Realizing what she just thought and squealed. Without thinking, she shoved both palms into Ren's stomach, pushing herself back up, and causing him to cough out a groan of pain.

Her eyes widened as she stared down at his now slumped body with flushed red cheeks.

"R-Ren! W-What are you making me do?!" She then cried, jumping a few steps back, covering her chest for whatever reason, "Y-You jerk! Y-You had me sitting on you so you can ogle me! Y-You horndog! You could have just ask- AHH - you did it again! S-stop corrupting me!"

She then pointed towards Neptune, "Y-You saw that right?! Right?!"

The blue haired boy didn't respond. He was too busy staring at Ren with wide, sparkling eyes as he gripped his notebook with shaky hands. He then jumped from his seat, actually using Sun's body as a leg rest and snapped his finger into the air.

"Glasses!" He exclaimed with a big grin on his face as he pointed towards Ren, "It's gotta be the glasses! It's so clear now! Chicks dig smart guys! Why didn't I see it before?!"

As Neptune furiously began jotting down notes into a new page of his notebook both Ren and Sun groaned simultaneously.

'I hope the others are having a better time than I.' Ren thought as Nora began poking his cheek.

/-/

It was now a few hours into the party and Ruby, who could not believe she was thinking this, was actually having fun. Sun was not kidding when he said there was more stuff in the back.

What he failed to mention, however, was that the backyard was literally filled from every corner with various activities. Ruby couldn't remember the last time she had attended a Halloween event as big as this before.

She never expected to see a haunted house in a backyard before, but three? That blew Ruby's mind and that wasn't even all of it.

From the Asylum, the Penitentiary, and the Sanitarium, Ruby and Yang happily indulged themselves in every little thing outside. From the Hay maze, costume contest, Jack-o-Lantern carving, and apple bobbing tournaments Ruby never felt more alive.

Even when they returned back inside, she ate, laughed, and was convinced to even dance with her sister as a request for winning the Halloween Pinata for her.

She laughed at that, no one did say Yang couldn't use her fists as Ruby happily held onto the large bag of sweets. Every step of the way, throughout the entire time, Yang had been with her and making her laugh so hard her sides hurt.

She couldn't remember the last time she smiled like this with her sister. It warmed her heart as she gripped her bag happily swaying her feet under the chair.

"Hey! What are you smiling about?" Yang asked as she handed her a drink. Ruby took it and shook her head.

"Nothing just… thinking that… this is nice… I never had this much fun at a party before."

Yang grinned. "Well, maybe we just haven't found the right one!" She playfully nudged her, "Until now!"

"Yeah," Ruby laughed, "Maybe."

The two fell into an easy silence as they watched all the people still partying on, despite being nearly 10:30. Ruby noticed Yang rocking a little in her chair as she kept stealing glances at her sister.

"What's up Yang?"

The blonde flinched and chuckled a little dryly. "N-Nothings! W-Why does something have to be up? Why can't' things ever be down, uh, yo?!"

Ruby fell into a fit of giggles as she watched her sister cringe into her hands, refusing to look up. "That was bad sis! Even for you!"

Yang lifted her head up and smiled, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." The smile fell a little as she finally turned towards her sister. "Well… to be frank there is something I kinda wanna ask."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "What is it, sis?"

Yang started playing with her hair to hide her face, the same habit she always did when nervous. "Well… I actually wanted to know… is… is Ren… mad at me?"

Ruby's eyes widened, "What? Yang, we've been over this. Ren-"

"I know! I remember what you said earlier but… you know… with all the shit that went down on Monday… I wouldn't be surprised if he did have a little-"

Ruby placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, silencing her. "Yang, Ren isn't mad at you. AT. ALL."

Yang peaked out of her hair, "Really?"

"Yes," Ruby smiled.

"Like really, really? Because some people can say one thing then say another- ow!"

After slapping her sister in the back of the head, Ruby sighed as she lowered her bag to the floor. "Yang Xiao Long, you've known Ren as long as I have! You don't have to think that he's a different person just cause you aren't friends. He's still the same forgiving, patient guy he always was." She smiled, "And he forgave you a long time ago. For everything, and I mean everything."

Yang looked doubtful, "And Nora?..."

Ruby groaned, "I already told you, she's not gonna fight you! It was the heat of the moment and I know she still sees you as an old friend just like the others."

Yang smiled a little at that but quickly dropped it as she looked away. Ruby noticed and felt a little happy inside. She had to press on now that she saw the wall slowly weakening.

"Look, sis, regardless of everything, you don't have to be friends with them anymore if you don't want to." She said assuredly, "But like I said, I don't want any more fighting between us, and no more awkward tension either! We just keep our groups separate and away from each other, but we can still do this." She gestured between herself and Yang. "Until tonight, I forgot what it was like to really have fun with you, Yang… I… I miss that."

Yang stiffened.

"This was awesome, and I don't want it to stop at just tonight. I wanna keep doing stuff like this! I want us to joke and laugh and smile, to go out and have fun together, I want-" She paused and took a breath. "I want my sister back."

Yang inhaled sharply as she quickly turned her back to Ruby. The younger sibling heard a light sniff coming from Yang as she wiped something from her face that Ruby couldn't see. She didn't need to as she slowly reached out and embraced the blonde's back.

"We don't have to be friends or merge our friend groups together at lunch, Yang. Gods no!" Ruby laughed and was quick to her distaste for the idea.

The day she decides to actually hang out with both Weiss and Cardin in the same room would be the day fantasy became reality.

"Heh y-yeah…" Yang's voice cracked a little as she cleared her voice, "I-I guess you're right. It would be nice to have my baby sis back too…" She turned back to Ruby; a smile plastered on her lips. "I'm gonna have to give a hard pass on that idea too sis. The last thing I need is for you to keep glaring at my boyfriend while my best friend glares at Jaune while we eat."

"Hey, you're starting to catch on." Ruby teased, earning herself a playful shove.

"Alright!" Yang sighed as she stretched, "I guess some things can't ever be 100% fixed but you know… I guess… maybe… they aren't that bad."

Ruby's eyes widened as she began to smile widely.

Yang glowered and pointed a finger at her sister. "I said, aren't THAT bad! It's gonna take a huge difference for me to see them in a new light anytime soon!"

Ruby giggled and couldn't stop herself from pulling Yang into her arms. "Thank you Yang."

The false anger fell as Yang smiled and wrapped her own arms around Ruby, hugging her tightly. "Anything for you Rubes."

/-/

As the sisters embraced, Cardin watched on in the corner of the room, far from sight, with his friends standing nearby at a dessert table stuffing their faces.

It had been abundantly clear to him when laying eyes on Ruby that the other two losers were nearby. The three of them were as inseparable as flies were to shit and it made him sick.

He had already tried to find his old buddy Jauneyboy. But the wimp was hiding good. Perhaps he knew he was here and was terrified. Good. He should know who to be afraid of.

He would have tried for Ren, but the bastard was being coddled by that psycho hammer wielding bitch and that damned monkey Faunus freak who owned the joint.

He sneered at the last part. The fact that he was in the same house as the fucker whose parents loved talking shit about his company made his blood boil.

Yang may have come for a good time, but he was ready to cause as much chaos to the monkey's house as possible. That was until his plans changed when 'Little Red' decided to show up out of nowhere and steal his girl away from him.

'You have a knack for pissing me off Little Red. You took my property… no one takes Cardin's property. You'll get your penance soon enough.'

"Wow~ big, bad Cardin without a girl around his arm?"

The boy turned and narrowed his eyes. Coming towards him were the sashaying images of Melanie and Militia, dressed as a seductive angel and demon.

"We should totally fix that. Shouldn't we sis?" Melanie asked as she quickly slid herself to Cardin's left arm and gently stroked it as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Definitely!" Militia mimicked her on his right as she smiled sweetly. "Hey there big, boy~."

Cardin glowered. "I thought I told you both not to talk to me in public."

Melanie rolled her eyes as she started massaging his arm, "Aw~ don't be like that. We just came by to have a little chat with ya."

"That's right sis!" Militia smirked, "We've been wandering around the house for a while now and…" She licked her lips and leaned closer to Cardin's ear, "Let's just say~ there's something that you might find interesting~."

Cardin quickly pulled away from the twins and glared, "If you have something to say you better say it now or get out of my face. I have no time for your little-"

"Geez, ever the sweet talker. Huh sis?!"

"Hey, go easy on the man, his girlfriend just ditched him for her "wittle sister" after all."

"Enough!" Cardin snarled through gritted teeth, "If you have nothing to say then get out of my-"

"Alright, alright." Melanie raised a hand up, "We had our teasing. We're being serious though dumbass. We found something juicy that we think you're gonna like."

Militia nodded, "It involves a certain baby sister you hate~."

That caught his attention. "Then out with it!"

The twins nodded to one another then graciously walked up and pulled him down to their eye level. They learned in and each whispered something into his ear one at a time.

Cardin stood back up to his full height and stared at them with a raised eyebrow. "You're sure of this?"

"100%~." Melanie smiled.

"Do we look like we'd lie about anything?" Militia added and leaned on her sister's shoulder.

"Interesting…" Cardin smirked as he hummed to himself. 'Interesting.' He chuckled darkly as he glared towards Ruby. 'Say your prayers Red. This is going to be satisfying.'

"Boys!" He called out causing Russel, Sky, and Dove to freeze and turn to their leader, "We got some work to do!" and motioned for them to follow.

As he and his group walked away with the twins in tow, a figure popped up underneath the table and watched them leave.

/-/

Jaune stared at himself in the mirror one final time before deciding to step back out into the party.

After hiding in the restroom for nearly the entire night, he sighed as he finally saw the white in his eyes fully return. His tears had long since dried after cleaning up and Jaune wondered if he even had any left after tonight.

In the wake of his misery, Jaune had accepted two things. 'Life isn't fantasy,' and 'I'm not the hero in a story, I'm just a high school kid… who got the short end of the stick.'

He nodded to himself, feeling it was better to admit that things may never work out for him. And in honesty, he didn't feel any anger anymore. Only numbness.

'It doesn't matter now.'

In the end, Jaune decided he would not care anymore after so much thinking.

Weiss, Pyrrha, Coco… Cardin. He would never trust them, nor anyone else for that matter.

Except for his family and his friends. His real friends. He nodded at that and opened the door. As he exited the bathroom he leaned onto the railing and sighed.

"JAUNE!"

The blond jumped and gazed down the hall to see Nora running towards him. He smiled. 'Only them… no one else.'

His smile dropped, however, when he saw the worried look on her face. Nora never looked worried and that alarmed him as he pushed himself off the railing.

"Nora what's- ah!"

Nora reached out and grabbed Jaune by the hood of his cloak. She dragged him back into the bathroom which he had just left as people watched and cheered him on.

As the door slammed shut Jaune freed himself from Nora's grasp and turned around. "Nora what the hell-"

"Trouble!" Nora cried as she gripped his shirt. "There's trouble!

"What are you talking about?" Jaune tried to shake himself free to no avail.

"Ruby!" Nora cried, "We have to save Ruby!"

Jaune stopped struggling as his eyes widened. He can see the panic in her eyes more clearly now. "What?! From who?!" Fear now started to trickle in.

"Cardin!"

Jaune felt his blood go cold as a shiver ran down his spine. Nora slowly released Jaune as he stumbled back. Without thinking, Jaune gripped the sink. "What…"

After several minutes, Jaune sat on the toilet clenching his hands so tightly Nora could see the white in his knuckles. Everything she had told him made his blood boil.

"I can't believe it..."

With Ren out of commission and Neptune watching over him. Nora couldn't find Velvet or Sun anywhere. She did see Ruby with her sister but knew things wouldn't go well if she went to them so that only just left Jaune.

Nora nodded as she leaned against the wall, "I wanna break his legs Jaune… I wanna hurt him so badly… but I… I can't." Nora shivered slightly and hugged herself, "Last time it was self-defense… if I lay a finger on him now..." She gritted her teeth and slammed a fist against the wall, "Damn it!"

Jaune frowned and abruptly stood up. "Nora, that's the last thing we want!" The girl jumped by the sudden anger in his tone, even Jaune himself was surprised. However, he continued, "I don't want to see you do something you'll regret! Ren would be devastated along with the rest of us!"

"Jaune I…" Nora couldn't find the words.

"I'm angry too!" Jaune admitted as he gripped her shoulders tightly, "Believe me, more than you know! But if he's planning to ruin this for Ruby I… not her! I don't care if I'm his punching bag! But that's too far!"

"Jaune…" Nora winced and looked away. "I don't know what to do… I wanna stop him but… I don't know how."

He let go of her and sighed as he took a breath to calm down. But then to his surprise, an idea formed. A crudely made one but interesting, nonetheless. "I… I think I do."

Nora glanced back at him," What?! Really?!"

"Yeah! I have an idea." Jaune said, rubbing his chin. He gave his idea more thought and a plan was now forming in his head. "Yeah… I think we can do it!" He smiled up at her, "We're gonna stop this Nora! We will! I swear it and an Arc never goes back on his word!"

Nora stared at him with wide eyes then smiled. "Huh, you know you're like a different person when you're not stuttering. That is so weird." She giggled, "I'm not used to non-stuttering, loud talking Jaune!"

The blond blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Heh, yeah… I'm not either, to be honest." Jaune smiled a little bashfully, "But… I think it was time that I did some changes."

"I'm glad," Nora said and gave him a hard pat on the back. "Now let's go teach them not to mess with our friends!"

"Right." Jaune nodded, and even though he still felt fear, he refused to stutter again.

/-/

As the 11th hour struck on the grandfather clock its bells came to life as it rang throughout the house.

Sun had already called for everyone to gather in the grand hall as he stood in the center of a large table beneath two arced staircases. The room was filled with curious spectators on both the ground and second floor with all eyes on their grinning host.

"Ladies and gentle boys!" Sun screamed,

A wave of moans responded, mostly from the boys.

"I'd like to thank each and every one of you for coming out to Casa De Wukong to celebrate my favorite holiday of the year!"

Cheers and applause erupted across the hall. Ruby and Yang had placed themselves near one of the large windows to the side. It was a little intimidating to see all of these people around her like this but having Yang there made it easier to bear.

Ruby frowned, however. She was beginning to wonder where her friends were. She hadn't been keeping track of the time now and it's been hours since she last saw any of them.

In the distance, she can see Coco with Pyrrha, Weiss, and the twins near the front of the crowd. On the other side of the table, directly beneath the staircase, was Cardin and his cronies. Ruby shivered as she saw the biggest smile on his face.

'Creepy.' she thought and continued glancing around.

Still no sign of either Ren, Jaune, or Nora. Velvet had briefly caught up with her and told her she had to help Sun with something and quickly ran off before Ruby could even ask what it was.

"Hey Rubes, you good?" Yang asked.

"Oh uh, yeah." Ruby nodded and turned back to the front.

"Thank you, thank you!" Sun bowed gracefully giving the people above on the stairs too much of a view of his backside. "Now speaking of celebration, I wanted to end this night with a bang! Now originally, I had something else in mind for this time! That is, until my good friend Velvet mentioned something that I found very~ interesting!"

Ruby quirked an eyebrow, 'Vel?'

"So naturally when I found out I got an idea! And with her help, we are now set for the icing on the cake tonight! I mean I can't seriously tell you guys how hard it-"

"Dude, get on with it! You're wasting my film!" Neptune cried from the top of the balcony.

Several people laughed.

"Shut up Nep!" Sun cried back and scoffed, "Fine!" He turned towards one of the larger doors, "Bring it in!"

The door opened and to the surprise of everyone, a beautifully crafted three-layered cake of enormous size was rolled into the room coated in more frosting, chocolate, and strawberries than anyone had ever seen. However, its design wasn't the sight that garnered attention as everyone's eyes read the words iced on each layer.

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

RUBY!

"W-What?!" Ruby's jaw dropped. As the cake was rolled into position with several chefs and Velvet herself carefully placing it on the table, her heart began to race. "I… I don't-"

"Oh my god, this is awesome Ruby!" Yang cheered and embraced her little sister.

"Thanks, fellas!" Sun called out as the chefs nodded and walked away. Velvet blushed as she saw all the people watching her and quickly moved to stand behind the table Sun was on. "Well everyone, I hope you will all join me in celebrating, not only this awesome holiday but my new friend Ruby's 15th birthday today!"

On cue, and to the surprise of everyone, confetti and balloons erupted around the hall as a large banner was released by Neptune, showing a large image of Ruby standing outside the school holding up a peace sign with Velvet, Ren, Jaune, and Nora all huddled together in a selfie.

Ruby's eyes blurred a little as she quickly wiped the tears away as so many people around them applauded and cheered.

"Ruby Rose!" Sun pointed to her as a spotlight suddenly landed on her, "Get on up here!"

/-/

'All going according to plan.'

With great pleasure, Cardin watched as Ruby and his traitorous girlfriend approached the table in front of the massive pounds of sugar and cholesterol.

Just as he predicted, the shrimp stood directly in between the arched staircases exactly underneath where he positioned Dove and Russel.

The two had their cloaks on and it was all so easy, perhaps too easy, for his boys to slip away as soon as the door opened.

Now they just lay in wait for his signal, armed with a balloon filled with fake blood and a bag of feathers. He grinned as Yang waved at him, he waved back. Foolish, so very foolish, the lot of them.

That idiot monkey and all his ridiculous planning practically handed Cardin the best opportunity for revenge in which he didn't have to lift a finger. As obnoxious as the twins were, they had their uses.

His girlfriend had her scroll out and was recording the whole thing.

'Perfect.'

He spotted Melanie smirking at him as she and her sister had their scrolls out as well, waiting.

Cardin leaned against the wall and crossed his arms in an almost triumphant stance. 'Too easy.'

/-/

"All right people, on the count of three, let's give the birthday girl our best performance!" Sun yelled and held his hand up to his fingers out to begin the countdown. "Are you all ready?"

He was met with a wave of cheers. Out of everyone, only a few did not.

Sun grinned, "Alright here we go! One, two-"

"REEEE!"

A sudden shriek echoed across the halls as Sun and everyone else fell into a silence as they glanced around. Someone then pointed up to see a small red balloon of sorts flying in the air.

Cardin frowned. 'What the hell are those idiots doing?! I didn't give them-' His eyes widened. He glanced to where Ruby stood and was stunned to see she was still dry, 'What the hell?! Where the hell is that thing-'

*WHAM*

The impact came so suddenly that Cardin actually screamed in surprise. He swore as the thick, red liquid trailed down his head and then onto his upper body. His costume was ruined, expensive cloth and fabric now utterly devoid of their worth.

Suddenly white, fluffy feathers started to rain down above him. They instantly stuck onto him as they began to cover his entire body.

Sun was the first to start laughing. Soon others joined in until almost everyone was. Some were hunched over, others were pointing, and many were clenching their stomachs.

The laughter increased tenfold as Sky ran over to try and help. Unfortunately, the boy mis stepped in his haste and slipped over some of the blood making him crash into Cardin as the two collided with the wall.

The people with their scrolls out could barely hold their cameras steady as they watched on with absolute humor.

Cardin glanced around with gritted teeth. He can see a grinning Neptune getting a better angle as he focuses his camera squarely on him.

"Dude, this is so going on Witter!

There was not a word in the dictionary that could describe how angry Cardin was. He could see Ruby practically having a field day as she gripped the table. Even Yang could not stifle her laughter as she clenched her stomach. The rabbit girl looked positively elated.

The Malachite twins were grinning as they had their scrolls pointed to him. Pyrrha and Weiss were covering their mouths, but he could still see the twitching of their shoulders. Coco didn't hesitate in the slightest as she openly laughed.

'You bastards…' He sneered as he shoved Sky off of him and abruptly walked away with his friend stumbling over himself to follow behind.

Ruby couldn't stop the grin on her face as she watched him leave. Never in her life had she seen that bastard in such a state. It was almost too good to be true. She turned to Yang as she sighed and shook her head with a pleasant smile.

"I'm gonna have to check on him later." Yang said, "Right now I doubt he wants to see anyone."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you… you know… angry?"

"Oh, I am!" Yang admitted, "No one does that to my boyfriend! But I'll find out who did it later! Besides, even I gotta admit, that was pretty good!"

Ruby smiled and nodded as she silently thanked whoever did that.

/-/

From inside a cramped closet, Ren, Jaune, and Nora shuffled about as quickly, and quietly, as they can to remove their disguises.

"Ow! Who's stepping on my foot?!"

"Suck it up Jaune!"

"I cannot believe we succeeded. Thank you for telling me about this."

"Of course Renny! We wouldn't leave you out of our grand plan!"

"To be fair, this barely counted as a plan."

"Shut up Jaune, it worked, didn't it?!"

"Hey! I thought of it!"

"Well, I'm the one who gave them a wedgie!"

"Enough! What matters is that we thwarted them."

"Ren's right, we kicked their ass!"

"Actually we pulled their… ass?"

"..."

"..."

"Right! Let's… let's just get out here!"

"Well… Looks like Mr. Winchester just became the Fowl-Prince!" Sun grinned then imitated the sounds of a chicken.

A collective groan erupted as the Faunus boy rubbed the back of his. Neptune shook his head.

"Dude that sucked."

"That was good, but I'm so punching you for that!" Yang called out.

Ruby giggled as Sun now panicked as she leaned against the wall. 'Best Birthday Ever!'

When things have finally settled down, Sun called for silence. "Alright people, we stalled long enough! Let's sing this song and dive into this cake!"

Cheers erupted.

Ruby smiled as she took her place once more as a single candle was lit in front of her. She glanced around and saw Jaune, Ren, and Nora standing next to Velvet as they watched her.

They looked tired and a little disheveled and she did wonder why Velvet came up to Jaune immediately with a worried expression. But he seemed to calm her down and in the end, they were here and that's all that mattered.

"Alright everyone, on three!" Sun announced, "ONE, TWO, THREE!"

"Happy birthday to you~"

Ruby quickly wiped a tear from her eye as she gazed at all the people around her smiling and singing to her. This has never happened before and it made her feel warm inside to see her sister, her friends, Pyrrha, Coco, Sun, Neptune and so many more wishing her a wonderful birthday.

/-/

Cardin sat on the bathroom toilet as he finally got the last of the damn feathers off.

He refused to look at himself in the mirror once more to see his beautiful body coated in what should have been on the damn brat!

Sky had been sitting on the bathtub in silent fear as Cardin looked about ready to kill any who came too close.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"Answer it!" Cardin growled.

Sky quickly got to his feet and practically swung the door open. He saw who it was and grabbed Russel and Dove inside before slamming the door shut.

Sky knew what was gonna happen and backed up to the corner as Cardin charged at them with a roar.

The two boys looked terrified as Cardin grabbed his friends by the collar of their costumes and slammed them into the wall. Sky winced slightly as he heard the wall crack behind them and refused to look their way.

"Explain!" Cardin's voice was thunder as he pressed his wrist against Dove's neck.

"W-W-We didn't throw it at you!" Russel wailed. He watched in utter terror as Dove gasped for air. "I-I swear!"

Cardin turned towards Russel. The boy nearly pissed himself as he could see the veins protruding from his leader's neck.

"I know you didn't you stupid fuck!" Cardin hissed, nearly spitting droplets of saliva on Russel. "You don't have a death wish!" He relaxed his grip on Russel as the poor boy sucked in great breaths of air. "Neither of you do."

He let them drop as both fell to the ground with Russel quickly checking on Dove

"So I'll say it again, explain."

"W-We were jumped…" Dove wheezed, "S-Some dudes came behind a-and gave us a huge wedgie! They took the balloon and bag and… i-it really hurt man…"

In a desperate or unorthodox method of evidence, Dove slowly turned and showed the outstretched elastic of what once was his underwear.

Cardin was silent for a moment as he stared at the clothing before he suddenly grabbed Dove by the collar again and tossed him across the floor.

He then turned to Russel, "Who were they?" he asked with venom dripping from his tone.

Russel huddled himself in a corner and held his hands up. "I-I don't know who they were- ahh!"

In a flash Cardin dragged him to his feet and slammed him into the wall again. "YOU DON'T KNOW?!"

"I-I don't remember seeing a face Cardin!"

Cardin jammed his wrist against the boy's neck causing Russel to panic as his body flailed.

"You better start remembering right now, or you can go to sleep, permanently." He leaned in, pressing his wrist further into Russel's neck, as the boy gripped Cardin's arm.

"I-I-I… d-d-don't… r-r-remember…"

"He's telling the truth there big boy~"

Cardin eased his grip and turned to see Melanie and Militia standing in the doorway. How he didn't hear the door open was irrelevant as he dropped Russel to the ground and approached the two in a huffing rage.

"What do you mean?"

Melanie smirked as she crossed her arms, "Gotta admit, never thought I'd see the day when he finally grew a pair."

"I think it's kinda hot~." Militia shrugged, "He's dead meat but hey, at least we know he has some cajones."

"Enough!" Cardin barked, "I am not in the mood for your fucking flirting games! If you have nothing for me then get out of-"

"We weren't talking about you Cardin." Militia cut in with a bored tone. "We were talking about the one who did that." She gestured towards the mess on his clothes, "To you."

Cardin narrowed his eyes, "Who was it?!"

"See for yourself," Melanie teased and held her scroll up to show him.

In a blind rage, Cardin turned and started punching several holes into the wall as he roared in anger. Sky fell to the floor and crawled away towards the other two cowering in the bathtub.

Melanie watched on in amusement as she turned to her sister who rolled her eyes. "If you wanna catch' em, you better hurry. They just left."

"Tick, tock, tick tock~"

"ARC!"

/-/

"That was… amazing!" Ruby squealed as she hugged her bag of candy. "I never thought I would have a birthday party like that before!

After saying her goodbyes to Yang and Sun at the manor, Ruby began her walk back home with Jaune and Ren at her side. They had already parted ways with Velvet and Nora a few blocks ago as the crisp night air felt soothing in the silent streets.

Ren smiled and nodded. "It was satisfactory."

"I guess it wasn't so bad." Jaune agreed and checked his scroll. "I just can't believe it's already midnight!"

"I can't believe you're not stuttering anymore!" Ruby turned and smiled at Jaune, "I'm not used to it, But I like the new you!"

"It is nice to see you so confident, Jaune." Ren added.

Jaune laughed a little and shrugged, "Yeah well-"

"Look out!" Ren cried as he quickly pulled Jaune towards him.

A second later a glass bottle flew past his head and crashed into a nearby wall shattering it into pieces.

Ruby screamed as she and the others turned to see an enraged Cardin charging at them with his friends right behind.

"ARC! YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Shit! Run!" Jaune cried as he and the others sprinted down the street.

The chase was on as the group ran as fast as they could from one street to another. But Cardin was relentless as he still pressed on. He kept screaming like a mad man.

Even when she threatened to tell Yang, Cardin didn't seem to care. He was like a blind bull and Ruby felt herself shaking in fear at this raging lunatic trying to hurt Jaune. She didn't know what he would do and frankly didn't care.

He nearly caught up to them at one point, and likely would have, had Ruby not used one of the firecrackers Sun gave her as a gift. She aimed at their exposed legs, causing the sparks on the ground to halt their pursuit, momentarily, as it burned their legs.

This stalled them long enough to make their way towards the old construction site still housing several abandoned buildings across the acres.

Unfortunately, they made their way towards a dead end and there wasn't enough time to double back. Ruby could see them still coming in the distance and for a moment she thought this was it for her friends.

That was until she saw a door hidden beneath some old planks and cement blocks.

"In there!" Ruby cried as she pointed towards the door.

She quickly moved the debris away and pushed to try and open it. "I need help!"

Ren and Jaune were at her side within seconds as the three managed to push the door open just enough for them to slide in.

Cardin sees his prey heading inside and doubles his speed.

Just as he nearly had Arc by the arm the other two managed to shut the door in his face. Cardin fell to the ground as he swore loudly. His friends quickly rushed to help him up, but he shoved them away as he ordered them to find another way inside.

As they left, Cardin ignored the pain of his bleeding nose and charged back in. He relentlessly punched the metal door repeatedly until his knuckles bled.

As he stopped to take a breath, his friends returned claiming there was no other way in or out apparently.

This enraged Cardin as he screamed into the night sky. "FUCKING DAMN IT!"

He then got an idea and immediately started blocking off the exit with all the heavy items he can find. The other boys helped as well until there was a large pile of wires, wood, metals, and cinder blocks backed against the door.

He knew even all together they wouldn't be able to push this and smiled so sinisterly, it made Russel, Sky, and Dove back away.

"YOU WANNA STAY IN THEIR SO BAD ARC?! FINE! ENJOY SLEEPING IN THERE YOU BITCH! I'LL GET MY HANDS ON YOU ON MONDAY! AND WHEN I DO YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD! YOU HEAR ME ARC?! DEAD! YOU AND ALL YOU'RE FUCKING FRIENDS!" He spat at the door then turned and stormed off, barking his friends to follow as they quickly made their way out of the construction site.

Unknown to them, a dark silhouette watched everything from afar.

/-/

Ruby finally exhaled the breath she had been holding. Jaune and Ren looked visibly relieved as well, but as they tried for the door. This confirmed the rattling they heard outside. In their efforts to escape Cardin, he had turned the tides so that now they could no longer escape the building.

"W-What do we do?" Ruby asked as she held onto Jaune.

"T-There must be another way out," Ren answered. "There has to be."

"I can barely see anything," Jaune complained.

"Hello there~"

The trio jumped towards the corner near the door as they huddled closer together. That voice was not human.

"W-Who said that?" Jaune cried. He secretly hoped it was someone pulling a prank.

*BANG*

The three screamed as the noise came behind them on the wall. The vibration sent them running off of it and kept banging and banging.

"Your fear is intoxicating~ let's warm them up~" Several other voices began giggling.

"W-Who are you!" Ren demanded, "What do you-"

"AHH!" Ruby screamed as she was suddenly pushed to the ground and slid across the floor.

"RUBY!" Jaune and Ren cried as they raced towards her. They tripped and lost their balance but were able to follow the screams and found her curled up in a ball.

"SOMETHING KNOCKED ME DOWN!" Ruby shouted, "SOMETHING KNOCKED ME DOWN!"

"Squeal little pig~ squeal!"

Jaune's heart was racing; he grabbed hold of Ruby's body and pulled her into his chest. "R-Ren we gotta go!"

"Right!"

As the two boys tried to run, they found that they couldn't move. Something was keeping them in place which sent them in a panic to try and free themselves. The giggling erupted all around them.

The next thing Jaune or Ren knew they were pushed to the ground so hard it nearly made Ren throw up. They felt some stinging pain across their arms and realized they were covered in scrapes.

"Delicious~" The voice laughed.

The boys rose to their feet but were once again met with a force that knocked the wind out of them. They tried again but every single time they were knocked back to the ground harder and harder as the giggling continued.

Jaune opened his eyes towards the ceiling, and he screamed. High above them were dozens of glowing red eyes all watching them. Ren noticed this too as he cradled Ruby in his arms.

"G-Guys… I-I'm scared… I-I wanna go home…" Ruby's voice cracked.

Jaune felt his heartbreak when hearing that as he moved closer to his friends. "I'm sorry… Ruby."

"Ruby… Jaune…" Ren's voice sounded hoarse, as he sniffed. "I will always treasure our friendship..."

Huddled together, Ruby, Ren, and Jaune embraced one another with tears in their eyes as they watched the several glowing red eyes lower themselves as they surrounded them.

"Yes~, I smell it~. They're ready~ heh, heh, heh~. Dig in~."

The giggling stopped and silence emanated through the building.

Then as one, the voices all roared so thunderously, Ren, Jaune, and Ruby all closed their eyes and held each other tightly as whatever was in the shadows launched themselves towards them. Their screams echoed throughout the building and the empty streets.

/-/

'Cold… so cold.' Thought Ruby as her body was tossed to the ground. She couldn't feel anything anymore.

Everything was broken. It hurt to even breathe. Her body lay bloodied and bruised, the costume she wore torn to shreds, along with chunks of her flesh.

'Is this what dying feels like?' She wondered.

She slowly moved her neck to the side and saw Jaune. His entire face was bloodied; half of his throat was gone. Nearly all the meat on his legs was gone. He was just as torn as she was as lay in large puddles of their own blood.

Ruby tried with the last bit of strength to see Ren. She couldn't see much of him left. His lower back had been torn and clawed at with chunks missing. There was no meat on either of his arms as his mostly skeletal arms remained motionless on the floor.

She didn't even see his face and wondered what she must have looked like. She kept falling in and out of consciousness. Whatever attacked them had abruptly stopped eating them before she blacked out.

Now she was awake staring at the remains of her dead friends, alone. No friends, no family, just herself in a cold warehouse with her dead best friends.

A tear escaped her eye as she groaned out a cry. How long had she been like this, how many times had she fallen in and out of consciousness?

It was then that she heard something. Muffled sounds within the building. At least she thought she did.

It was closer and she realized, just barely, that the sounds were voices. She couldn't make out who it was, but it sounded nothing like those monsters. It kind of sounded human. She tried to focus on what they were saying but then she realized, one of her ears was missing and the other was nearly cut in half.

Ruby wheezed out a low dry groan and the talking stopped, and the room lit in low light by what she guessed was flames? She couldn't see much of anything and realized that one of her eyes was missing.

She tilted her head and can see them now. Three cloaked figures. They began talking again. No, not talking, arguing?

Ruby was unsure. One of them pointed toward Ruby as the other shrugged. The middle one looked at her and shook their head as they walked over and kneeled next to her. He took in her body and shook his head.

"I am… sorry this had to happen to you." It was a man, "We have killed the ones responsible for this. I promise you; you can rest now. You will no longer suffer anymore. There will be no more pain."

No pain? No suffering? Everything still hurt. Her body, her mind, her heart, everything. Ruby's body twitched furiously now in the arms of the man; she ignored the pain as her only eye cried blood. "Ave, em! Ave em!"

She tried harder as blood spewed out her lips, "tave, tem! Tave Tem! LEASE TAVE TEM!" She cried and moaned horribly at the pain as she pointed towards Jaune and Ren.

The cloaked figures turned to the bodies and then to each other. The man carefully lowered Ruby back onto the floor and turned towards his allies.

"LEASE TAVE TEM!" Ruby gave one final cry as the last of her vocal box shattered, causing tears of blood to pour from her eye at the pain.

She watched them with a wide eye as the three seemed to be discussing this.

They glanced at both Ren and Jaune and then back towards her as Ruby still extended her hand.

One of the figures said something and the man shook his head. Suddenly they grabbed him and started speaking harder and a little louder.

She couldn't make out what was said, but the person had been talking a lot and whatever they said made the man slowly nod as he turned back to Ruby. She could see the other two making their way towards Jaune and Ren as they hovered over them and turned toward the man.

He carefully picked up Ruby's body and sighed, "You have asked, and we have listened. I ask that you understand this is not to be taken lightly. We can save you and your friends. However, brace yourself, for there is no going back. So I ask again, will you accept the burden of your own choice?"

Ruby gurgled some blood as it slowly dripped down her neck and nodded. "...es…"

The man nodded and made a hand gesture towards the other two.

"So be it. Welcome, Nightwalker."

A sharp pain entered Ruby's neck as she felt something flow inside her. It caused a burning sensation like fire within that caused her body to twitch uncontrollably before she blacked out from the pain.

And thus, the fourth chapter comes to an end! What did you guys think? Please be sure to share your thoughts and constructive criticisms in the reviews - whether good or bad it's all welcomed! And please be sure to share, favorite and follow!

Well, that's all I have to say! Please stay tuned for the next chapter and until, then I will see you later! And I hope you had a wonderful Halloween!