"Mom!" The three of us yelled in unison as we ran towards her. We hugged her legs; Ruby was openly crying and Yang looked like she was about to start as well.

"Hey kiddos, it's nice to see you're well." Mom gave us a smile and ruffled our heads.

I nodded, pulling myself out of her grasp. I noticed her left hand, or more specifically, her lack of it. Uncle Qrow already told us about it in the car, but seeing it up close had a different impact. Guilt welled up in my stomach. Could I have prevented this? If I had been more adamant about her not going, would she have not lost her arm?

I opened my mouth to say something, but Ruby beat me to it.

"Mom, what happened to your arm!" Ruby screeched.

She clutched her chest. "It was a tough battle. I was facing one hundred Grimm at once—all of them out for blood—but at the end of the day, Mom came out on top. But it was not without a cost: my trusty arm was lost in the battle."

Her tone caused Ruby and Yang to giggle.

I hugged her leg again, this time a lot harder. "Don't do that again, okay?" I was barely keeping my voice from breaking into a sob.

Mom's eyes widened, guilt finding itself on her face. "Don't worry baby, I won't be doing anything like this again."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes.

"So, what are you going to do about that arm, Summer?" Dad asked. He tried to sound optimistic, but his voice betrayed him. He was obviously not taking this easy.

"Don't worry dear, they said I could get a prosthetic arm. The surgery is next week apparently."

Putting aside the shitty entertainment, Remnant was a futuristic world. The technology and everything in this world was far more advanced than Earth ever had. That was why losing her arm wasn't too big of a deal. Objectively, at least.

"I see. That's good then." Dad moved towards Mom and hugged her; she returned it the best she could with her lack of two arms.

Dad had never been very supportive of Mom taking missions. He mostly quit and became a teacher at Signal, and he wanted Mom to do the same. But she insisted she should continue for a bit longer. He was probably blaming himself because he couldn't stop her from going, and Mom probably knew that too.

"Tai look at me." She grabbed his face and made him look into her eyes. "This is not your fault okay? It was my decision to continue this job, so this is my responsibility."

"But if I just—"

"No. I wouldn't have been able to stop myself either. And it's okay now, that was my last mission, so don't worry, okay?"

"If you say so, Summer." He let out a sigh. Moving close to her ear, he whispered, "But we're talking about this later, okay? In private."

Mom nodded. It was great having enhanced senses.

"Now, Summer," Qrow began. "I think you have a bit of explaining to do."

"What?"

"I want to know how an elite huntress like you got beaten by a few Grimm. I find it extremely hard to believe that you lost that bad. So tell me—no, tell us—what happened." Uncle Qrow didn't look like he was going to relent.

"There were too many of them," Mom said. "They were everywhere. Alphas, mutants; just about any type of Grimm you could think about. It wasn't a battle I could win alone."

"So—"

"Can we talk about this some other time, Qrow?" Mom snapped. "Maybe not in front of the kids?"

Qrow widened his eyes and looked towards us. Had he just noticed we were here? He chuckled nervously, before saying, "Yeah, let's do that."

Summer nodded.

Ruby, who was quiet this whole time, spoke up, "Mom, when we get home, can you make cookies?"

Dad gave her a disapproving look. "Ruby, Mom just got out of the hospital. I don't think—"

"Ooh! I want cookies too!" Yang interrupted.

"It's fine Tai." Mom put her hand on his shoulder. "All right Ruby. In fact, since I'm out of the hospital today, I'll even make extra."

I agreed with Dad when he said Mom shouldn't be making cookies. She had just gotten out of the hospital and she shouldn't be cookies. Though, looking at her, she probably already set her mind to it.

"Yay!" Ruby and Yang chirped.

"Absolutely not!" Mom said, glaring.

"Come on, Summer," Uncle Qrow pleaded, gesturing towards Ruby and I.

When I had asked Uncle Qrow to train me yesterday, he was naturally hesitant. But I kept pressing, and I'll give him this, he did not budge. He eventually relented, however, after I brought up the 'protecting my family' card. He even looked proud.

It wasn't a lie—more a half-truth. I did want to protect my family, and I would, but I had bigger reasons to get stronger. There were monsters in this world—Cinder, Adam, Salem—and although I had this handy system, I wouldn't be able to get strong enough to face them properly if I didn't train. The sooner I started, the better.

"He's five! Are you seriously telling me you want a five-year-old to start swinging around a scythe!?"

"It doesn't have to be a scythe. There are plenty of weapons—"

"I swear to Oum, Qrow—"

"Don't you think it's fine, Summer?" A familiar voice interrupted her. Dad.

He was fine with this? I honestly thought he would be the one to be most against it. With what just happened to Mom, it would make sense.

"Are you seriously on his side, Tai!?" There was a dangerous glint in her eye.

Dad put his hands up defensively. "I'm not on his side… Well, maybe I am. Wait! Before you say anything, hear my reasoning."

Mom raised her eyes and gestured for him to continue.

"I know you're concerned about training them early because you want to keep them away from danger as long as possible. They're probably going to become huntsmen when they grow up; training them early will prepare them for that."

"We can just protect—"

"Face it, Summer," Dad interrupted. "We won't be there for them at every moment"

They were obvious points, but Mom wasn't thinking when denying Uncle Qrow. She had one main objective, and that was to keep us safe.

She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, thinking. Exasperated, she said, "Fine, they can train."

"Fuck yes!" I yelled.

They all looked at me in horror.

"Rory! Where did you learn that!?" Mom asked, covering her mouth.

Shit. I had to cover this up.

"I heard Uncle Qrow say it."

It wasn't a lie. Uncle Qrow cursed quite a bit in front of us all the time, so he couldn't really talk himself out of this one.

"Qrow…" Mom narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't in a good mood from the conversation from before, so this didn't look too good for Uncle Qrow.

"I-I—" Qrow stuttered, not able to say anything.

"We're going to have a long talk about this later. All right?"

"I—all right."

"Now, let's get back to the main issue," Mom said. "If you're going to train them this early, we're going to need to set a few rules."

"Rules? Well, that's fine."

"First rule, no letting them fight Grimm—"

"Wha—"

"Until they're ready," Mom finished. "I'm not going to have you make them fight a Grimm and then they get severely injured because they couldn't handle it."

"That's completely fine, I won't make them fight Grimm until they're ready. I wouldn't do that anyway. Did you really think I was going to let them fight Grimm if they weren't ready?"

"I know you, Qrow. You would probably get excited and test their skills a bit too early. We all have to agree if we're going to allow them to do that; it's final." She said with a glare.

Ugh. I wasn't used to an angry Mom. This was too weird.

"All right, I agree." Qrow said, and Dad voiced his agreement right after.

"Good. Now, onto the second rule… Um, well, I don't have one yet, but I'm going to think of some more rules later on. Okay?"

"Yeah, I got it, Summer," Qrow answered.

"Good."

Beside me, Ruby—who was quiet the whole time—whispered to me, "Does that mean we get to swing weapons around like Hunter-man?"

"I think so," I whispered back.

"A single look from these warriors was able to kill a Grimm," I read out loud. I'd read this fairy tale, along with all the others Remnant had to offer, countless times. It was about the silver-eyed warriors. Warriors with eyes the colored silver that could simply glance at a Grimm and kill them. I was also conveniently part of this group of people.

I looked at the window beside me and saw a pair of silver eyes staring back at me. Those eyes had so much power—so much power, so close. Now, if only I knew how to use them.

How had Ruby used them again? I wasn't sure. I hadn't watched that much of RWBY in my past life—only until the end of volume three. Maybe it was something to do with intense grief? Ruby had activated them when she saw Pyrrha die, so that was definitely a possibility. But how would I get into that type of situation? I'd rather avoid it—even if it meant not getting the silver eyes.

Ugh, this was so confusing. It sucked that I couldn't just go up to Mom and ask her how to use them. Maybe she would bring it up later on? Ruby didn't learn how to use them until later on because she didn't have anyone to guide her, but Mom is alive this time, so maybe she would help.

I closed the book and got to my feet. I had school today.

"Rory, are you ready yet?" A voice came from downstairs.

"I'm coming!" I grabbed my bag from my closet and headed downstairs. Everyone was already there eating breakfast.

"Sit here," Yang said, patting the seat next to her. "I saved you a seat."

"Thanks Yang." I walked to the seat next to her and sat down. We were having pancakes with a side of—obvious—cookies.

"So kids," Mom began, "Your training with Uncle Qrow is starting next week, right?"

"Yep. It's our birthday next week," I said, pointing to Ruby.

"And you can finally start training with me!" Yang exclaimed. She was a bit too excited though, because she choked on her food and started coughing.

"Yang!" Mom yelled. "Don't talk while you're eating!"

"Sorry, Mom," Yang replied.

"So, what weapon do you guys think you want to use?"

"I'm going to use a scythe! Like you and Uncle Qrow!" Ruby answered.

"Aww, I'm sure you'll be great with it Ruby." Mom smiled.. "How about you, Rory?"

"Um, I don't know. Maybe a sword or something?" I didn't actually think too much about it. So far, my skills were more speed based. I was really fast—at least for my age. Of course, that didn't really mean much since I hadn't started my training yet, but it still meant something. A sword didn't sound bad, but a pair of daggers seemed a bit more me. I added, "Daggers seem cool too."

She ruffled my head. "Well, you should make up your choice. Maybe not now, but sometime soon."

"Mom's right," Dad said. "It's better to start off with the weapon you're going to use throughout than change it in the middle."

I nodded.

"If you don't know what to choose, you can always choose a pair of gauntlets like me," Yang said while raising her arm.

"Thanks, Yang," I said, "But I'm good."

"Your loss," she muttered, a slight pout on her face.

I finished my breakfast a bit before everyone else. I placed my plate near the sink and turned back to the dining table. "I'm going to go upstairs real quick."

"Sure. Did you forget something?"

"Yeah," I said.

I went upstairs and grabbed a book I took from the library a few days ago. It was a book about Atlas that covered the history there. I was almost done so I might as well finish it during school. I stuffed the book into my backpack and ran back downstairs. Ruby and Mom had apparently finished and were standing at the door with Dad, ready to go. Yang, however, was desperately trying to finish what she had left. I walked over to the door where everyone was standing.

"Yang we're leaving. Finish it up," Dad said.

"Wait," she said in a muffled voice. Her cheeks were stuffed with food. "Let me finish this."

She swallowed what was left in her mouth. "Okay, I'm done."

"Great. Get your backpack and let's get going."

She nodded and grabbed her backpack, walking over to us. I opened the door to the car and took a seat, Ruby and Yang following right behind. The car ride was fairly normal, Ruby, Yang, and I were making small talk. Mom and Dad were doing the same. The car stopped in front of a fairly large building with a huge sign that said 'Signal Academy'.

Right, Dad was working here from today onwards.

"Bye Dad," Ruby, Yang, and I said as he got out of the seat.

"Bye kids. Have fun at school!"

The car stopped next at our school. I followed Ruby and Yang out of the door and waved goodbye to Mom. "Bye!"

She waved back. "Bye kids!"

"Anyway," Yang said. "Gauntlets are really the best. Trust your big sis, Rory!"

"Fine, I'll think about it." I wouldn't, of course, but it was the best way to get her off my back.

"Really?"

"Yep. Let's just stop talking about it, okay?"

She nodded. "All right."

Once we entered the building, someone yelled, "Yang!"

I turned to the direction the voice came from. It was a girl that looked to be the same age as Yang, waving her hand and looking this way.

"My friends are here now, so I'm gonna go now." Yang said.

"All right. Bye Yang."

"See ya."

I turned to Ruby. "Class is about to start, so let's go."

"Okay." She nodded.

The class went normally for the most part. There was an incident where someone threw a crumpled piece of paper across the class, but the teacher didn't notice it. I also tried to read the book I brought with me, but I couldn't really focus. The class was too loud. When it was time to go outside for a break, I took my book with me. I could find a nice and quiet place to sit and read it there.

I looked around to find a place to sit. Ugh, there were kids everywhere. I looked around for a bit longer before I saw a tree with no one around it. That'll do. I walked to the tree and sat under it. Yep, nice and quiet.

I opened the book and started reading. Normally, I didn't find history too interesting, but I made an exception here. It was so interesting seeing how Atlas became so advanced and how it differed from Earth. It also helped the idea that this world was real, settle in. I'd known it as a two-dimensional world so far—only knowing what the show covered. Reading the history, however, helped me realize that it was a real world with real problems.

I continued reading, immersed in the book. So immersed that even with my enhanced hearing, I didn't notice the footsteps walking towards me.

"Haha, look, a nerd!" A voice broke me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw an older-looking kid standing in front of me. He had his hands on his hips and was looking at me with a confident smirk, a gang of kids behind him.

"Um, do you need something?" I asked.

"Yeah! I need you to stop being a nerd!" He yelled. His lackeys—almost on command—started to laugh at his 'joke'. He joined them shortly after with his mocking laughter.

Well, this was a new experience.

I'd never been bullied in my past life—if this could be called 'bullying' that is—so I wasn't sure what to do. Should I laugh with them? Ignore them and hope they go away? Most advice I'd heard in my past life was to just walk away.

I closed my book and stood up. Giving the kid one last glance, I turned my back to him and started to walk away. A shame, that spot was good. Well, I could find another—

"Hey! Come back!" The kid yelled. I peeked back and saw that he was glaring at me. "Stop ignoring me!"

Sending him a last glance, I turned back and started to walk away again. Where was Yang when you needed her? Unlike me, she had no qualms against hurting kids—judging by the number of fights she got in.

While I was walking aimlessly looking for another spot to sit at, I heard footsteps behind me. I looked behind me and saw the kid running at me, fist raised and a furious scowl on his face.

Ugh.

I wasn't too proficient in martial arts, but this kid was going too slow. Even if he was a few years older than me, I had skills to enhance my abilities, so it looked like he was moving a lot slower than he probably was. I waited for him to get closer and then sidestepped his attack, sticking my leg out to trip him.

His face planted into the dirt, a dust cloud building around him. I heard a few snickers from behind me, probably from his lackeys. Talk about disloyal, though they were kids. The kid got back up and sent me a mean glare. "I'm going to kill you!"

Don't punch the kid, Rory, I told myself, but he was really tempting me. He charged at me again, and I moved to dodge his attack again. However, this time, before he could reach me, someone came out of nowhere and punched him in the face.

"Who the hell is bullying my bro!" Yang yelled. The lackeys scattered almost immediately, and so did the kid who was picking on me, albeit after a bit of hesitation.

"Rory, are you okay!?" Yang ran up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"I'm fine, he didn't touch me," I said.

"Are you sure? You can tell me if this happens again, you know. I'll beat them up!" Yang said, punching the air to emphasize her beating them up.

"Don't worry Yang, if it happens again, I'll tell you. And really, I'm fine."

Yang nodded, taking her hands off my shoulders.

"So Yang, how did you know I was here?" I was pretty far away from everyone else.

"Well, Ruby and me were—"

"Ruby and I," I corrected.

"Ruby and me were close by and I saw that guy picking on you, so I ran here and beat him up," she said.

"Wait, then where is Ruby?" I asked.

"Um… She should be in the same place, I think. Let me go check." She turned to the right and started running. A few seconds later I heard Yang yell, "She's not here!"

What? I ran in the direction she went and saw her looking into the forest with a worried face.

"She's not here!" Yang repeated. "She was here when I left."

"Okay Yang, calm down. What were you guys doing when you left?"

"She was feeding a bunny." She pointed towards a patch of dirt with a few carrots uprooted. "We got the carrots from there."

Weren't those the carrots the older kids were growing for their project? No, that wasn't important. A few seconds of thinking and an idea as to what might have happened struck me. "Shi—it probably ran away and she followed it. Let's go."

Yang nodded and we started to run into the forest. The further inside we went, the denser the forest got.

"Ruby! Where are you!?" Yang yelled. No response. "Maybe we should have called a teacher?"

"Yeah, we probably should have," I answered. "But going back now will take longer. Let's just find her and go back."

"All right."

We continued to look for her, calling out her name every few seconds—still no response.

"How far did she go?" I muttered in frustration.

"Maybe she didn't come here. I mean—wait, look over there!" Yang pointed. "Ruby!"

I looked at where she was pointing and saw Ruby standing there in the middle of the trees. "Ruby!" I yelled along with Yang to get her attention.

Ruby noticed us and turned in our direction. Her face instantly brightened up and ran towards us, hugging the both of us. "Rory! Yang!"

"Ruby, you're safe!" Yang said, hugging her tighter.

"Why did you come here alone?" I asked, a slight glare on my face. "What if you had gotten hurt?"

Ruby flinched. "I-I'm sorry. Please don't tell Mom and Dad."

"We'll talk about this later," I said, still a bit mad. "For now—"

I paused. There was a low growling sound coming from behind us. It wasn't loud, but it was deep in a way that made it just as—if not more—scary. I recognized it pretty quickly; I'd heard it countless times on the internet.

"Shit! Run!" I yelled.

"Rory? What—"

"A Grimm! Just run!" I grabbed onto their hands and pulled them to follow. It took a second, but they finally processed what I said and started to run on their own.

Right as we started running, a Beowolf jumped out of the bush, red eyes staring at us. Fuck. Why was there a Grimm here? They were attracted to negativity, so maybe Ruby had attracted them when she got lost.

The Beowolf started to run at us.

Fast. Too fast. We wouldn't make it.

The Beowolf started to close the distance between us.

Ruby and Yang were running a bit behind me. Suddenly, Ruby tripped and fell over.

"Ruby!" Yang and I yelled.

I ran over to her and tried to pull her, but she started crying right there.

"Rory! I hurt my knee!" She cried.

"Fuck, not now Ruby," I muttered. I looked back to the Beowolf and saw that it was far too close. Shit, I needed options. I looked around for anything I could use and saw a sharp-edged rock.

That'll work. I gripped the rock and threw it at the Beowolf's eye. It didn't do much damage, but the Beowolf staggered slightly.

I pushed Ruby to Yang. "Yang, take Ruby and run!"

"But—"

"Just do it!"

I looked back at the Beowolf and saw that it had already recovered.

There was nothing I could do, the Beowulf would kill me now. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable.

Then I heard a shot. A gunshot.

I opened my eyes and saw that the Beowolf in front of me had a bullet through its head. It collapsed, turning into a fine ash.

"Rory! Are you hurt?" A familiar voice asked. Mr. Bertly: our teacher.

"I-I'm fine," I managed to get out. I didn't even think about the fact that our teacher was a huntsman.

I would have died.

If he hadn't come, I would have died. Definitely.

It won't happen again, I promised myself, that day.

AN: The previous chapters were longer, but these are the normal length chapters I write: 4-6k works. Also, review! It means a lot. Other than that, that's it. Thanks for reading.