Chapter 8: Forever Fall

Cardin Winchester with The Executioner perched on his shoulder and Jaune Arc opposite him with Crocea Mors drawn, leaning on his weapon as if exhausted, in the spotlight shining on the Beacon Academy auditorium stage.

He looks at Cardin, who laughs at his opponent's tiredness, and Jaune gathers his strength to charge forward and swing his blade at Cardin, only for him to jump out of the way. Jaune looks back, surprised, as The Executioner sends Jaune's shield - and himself - flying back. Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continued to try and attack, but is blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, Cardin forces himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.

Cardin: "This is the part where you lose."

Jaune: "Over my dead-!"

Jaune is cut short as Cardin knees him in the gut, making Jaune drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain. Cardin raises his mace and is about to slam it down on a worried Jaune just when the buzzer rings, the lights come back on, and Glynda Goodwitch's voice causes him to stop.

Glynda: "Cardin, that's enough!" (he relents and walks away as she comes onto the stage, tapping her tablet) "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." (while Jaune still lays on the floor in defeat and Pyrrha Nikos looks sad, Glynda turns her head to look at the losing warrior as he pulls out a smaller tablet with his low, blinking stats and that of his entire team) "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

Cardin: "Speak for yourself..."

Glynda: (to the seated and standing students, such as: Yang Xiao Long, punching the air in anticipation; Weiss Schnee, shaking her fists with an excited smile; and Ruby Rose, shaking her entire body with enthusiastic energy while squealing softly) "Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

Bloo: "No pressure or anything." (speaking playfully sarcastic to his team, as they we're also watching Jaune's duel, thought of competing made Cinnnabar Caliburn quite nerve-wreaking, while both Tenné Khani and Blake Belladonna we're staring down at each other from a distance ever since Cin got to introduce his team to Team RWBY, both knowing of their dangerous pasts before coming to Beacon)

The bell rings, and students start leaving while Pyrrha continues to frown sadly. Jaune, still sitting on the floor, hangs his head in shame as the scene goes dark.

The next scene opens with a zoom-up of Nora Valkyrie's turquoise eyes as she tells an unbelievable story to her audience...

Nora: "So! There we were, in the middle of the night..."

Ren (off screen): "It was day."

Nora: (to Blake Belladonna, paying no attention as she is lost in her book, and Yang, who is hanging on her every word with her hands cupping her face along with Team CBRT) "We were surrounded by Ursai..."

Ren: (holding a coffee cup) "They were Beowolves."

Nora: "Dozens of them!" (she screams this as she stands at the table of both Team RWBY and JNPR with two of Team CBRT both sitting across the table, Rico & Bloo sitting next to Ren, where Tenné & Cin sit next to Blake, while Weiss is ignoring Nora and filing her nails, Ruby and Pyrrha are listening politely, and Jaune is messing with his food)

Ren: "Two of 'em."

Nora: (while Ruby and Pyrrha now look at a distant Jaune with concern) "But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Ren: (sighs) "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

Cin: "You know, I heard that when someone's been having a recurring dream, that usually means that it could eventually come true."

Nora: (gasped with excitement) "You really think so, Cin?"

Ren: "Please don't about that."

Cin: "At least it's what grandpa told me"

Bloo: "Well, that's all a well and good tale, Nora, but that story isn't as herotic compared to our epic trail by fire back at-"

Pyrrha: (looking at her leader) "Jaune? Are you okay?" (Interrupting Bloo Grijalee's monologue, his frustrated voice could be heard off screen for having his story being ignored again: ""Are you kidding me right now?!")

Jaune: (snapping out of it, turning back toward them) "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

Ruby: "It's just that you seem a little... not okay..."

Jaune: (as the others stop their distractions and stare at him) "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" (he holds up a thumb while laughing nervously until his attention is focused on the members of Team CRDL, standing around a girl with brown rabbit ears jutting from her hair as Cardin laughs at her and Sky Lark holds up his hands to his head in a mock interpretation of her unusual features)

Pyrrha: "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"

Jaune: "Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!"

Ruby: "He's a bully."

Cin: "He's a jerk."

Jaune: (scoffs) "Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

Jaune is seen on the way to class as Cardin is going the other way down the hall. When the two pass, Cardin knocks his arm into Jaune and makes him drop his book, then continuing on his way with his hands out as if daring anyone to challenge him.

Jaune: "Ah, come on!"

Jaune and Cardin are about to pass through a doorway, but Cardin clicks on Jaune's sheath and extends it into its shield form as he's going out, causing him to run into his own defense and have it block the exit.

Jaune: (grunts in frustration as he tries to lift his shield back out) "Come on...!"

Glynda is in the locker room with several students, gesturing at the devices.

Glynda: "Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code."

Hearing this, Cardin looks at Jaune - standing between him and the only open locker in the room - and the cliché plays itself out as Cardin quickly pushes a shocked Jaune into the small dark space and closes the door on him, pressing random buttons on the pad right after that.

Jaune: "What?! No, wait, wait! You've gotta get me out of here! Please! Don't! Don't! Don't do it!"

It's too late to protest when the locker scrunches down and launches up with a burst of blue fire coming from its base. Cardin watches as the locker slowly soars across the sky.

Jaune: (still heard from within the locker) "Ahhh, coooome oooooooon...!"

The others are totally focused on him now.

Jaune: (attempts to laugh it off) "I didn't land far from the school!"

Pyrrha: "Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask."

Nora: "Ooooh!" (gets up from the table and presents her diabolical plan with a not-entirely-sane grin) "We'll break his legs!"

Rico: Yeah! (standing up next to Nora with excitement of torturing bullies)

Tenné & Cin: Rico! (spoke her name, like strict parents)

Rico: (sitting back down, slightly embarrassed) Well, we could. (speaking that under breath)

Jaune: "Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

They all looks over as the laughing grows louder, mixed in with cries of pain from the rabbit girl when one of her ears are tugged on by Cardin.

Velvet: "Ow! That hurts!" (stops struggling and grimaces as she says:) "Please, stop..."

Cardin: (continues laughing as he turns to his cronies) "I told you it was real!"

Russel Thrush: (still guffawing with his teammates) "What a freak!"

Cardin finally relents, and the girl stands up and hurries off, her head bowed and hiding her face from the watching table of heroes.

Pyrrha: "Atrocious. I can't stand people like him."

Blake: (staring daggers) "He's not the only one..."

Yang: (sadly, leaning her head on her hand) "It must be hard to be a Faunus." (she looks to Bloo, who watched Velvet being bullied)

Bloo: (He turned back upset at first) Yeah... It can be at times, but not as much, when you're with pretty cool friends like you guys. (He smiled a bit looking at new friends, Yang gives him back a soft smile of comfort)

Ricochet Tiri was frustrated by such prejudice, crushing her fists, with growing anger at Team CRDL, just letting Velvet get picked on like that. Tenné reached out touching Rico's clenched fist, trying calming her down. Seen by Blake, who felt off guard for a moment seeing Tenné's gentle side for Rico, starts to doubt that Tenné is as dangerous as she originally thought. While Cin was a bit puzzled to what his two teammates might be hiding from him.

Having gotten up from the table, Jaune looks back at his friends and sighs to himself before moving on with his tray table. He doesn't realize that Cardin is watching his walk of shame with a sinister grin.

Some time later at Professor Bartholomew Oobleck's session on History of Remnant, a uniformed, sleeping Jaune Arc with his head resting in his hands while the constantly-zooming and fast-talking Professor is in the middle of his hyperactive lecture, educating Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Pyrrha Nikos, Velvet Scarlatina, all of Team CRBT and a leaned-back Cardin Winchester directly behind Jaune.

Oobleck: "Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution-more popularly known as the Faunus War-" (zooms up to the front of the class and the map covered in papers behind his desk) "-humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." (points at the map of said-area with his stick, then zooms off to the side for a sip of his coffee before appearing in front of the desk) "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" (zooms around the classroom more, sipping his coffee again before continuing to zoom and talk) "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

Some of the silhouetted students raise their hands. Velvet & Bloo, after a moment, does the same.

Oobleck: "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" (takes another sip of his coffee) "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" (a hand is raised) "Yes?"

Weiss: "The battle at Fort Castle!"

Oobleck: "Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Unseen by the professor, Cardin flicks a paper football at Jaune's head, causing him to wake up.

Jaune: "Hey!"

Oobleck: (zooming over into Jaune's face) "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

Jaune: "Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... that the Faunus..." (looks behind Oobleck's focused face at Pyrrha, who coughs and motions to her lips as she gives him the answer) "...had over that guy's stuff..." (he sees Pyrrha cup her hands around her eyes and goes for the most obvious answer) "Uhh... Binoculars!"

While Jaune looks pleased with his answer, the class laughs at him and Oobleck (back at the front of the class) sips his coffee. Pyrrha sighs and slaps a hand to her forehead as Cardin pounds his fist on his desk while chortling.

Oobleck: (zooming back behind his desk) "Very funny, Mr. Arc! Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

Cardin: "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."

Cin & Tenné quickly noticed that Rico was getting more furious at Cardin's harsh tongue, while still managing to control her temper.

Pyrrha: (as Oobleck shakes his head) "You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?"

Cardin: "What? You got a problem?"

Pyrrha: "No, I have the answer! It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark." (Cardin growls at the correct response)

Blake: "General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." (turns to Cardin) "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Cin & Tenné: "Oh!" (hearing that, as they chuckled at Blake's burn on Cardin)

Oobleck: (as Cardin gets up from his seat, fist clenched) "Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat." (when Jaune laughs at his tormentor's embarrassment, zooming up to him) "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." (takes yet another sip of his coffee)

Jaune: (shoulders slumping) "Oohhhh..."

Oobleck: (zooming away) "Now! Moving on!"

When the lesson ends, Blake, Weiss, and Team CBRT come out of the classroom.

Cin: Hey Blake, what you & Pyrrha did back there was really awesome, It was about time Cardin was put on his place for once.

Blake: (she blushed a bit) "Thanks Cin, I'm glad you've enjoyed learning more about the Faunus."

Weiss: (noticed Rico slightly storming off) "Uh, Cin... I think you should check on Rico, she seems very... uptight than usual."

Cin: "Hm..." (seeing Rico very upset, decided to try and check on her) "Yeah, I think I should." (starts walking up to Rico, looking away from anyone) "Rico... Is there something you want to talk about?"

Rico: (took in a deep breath) "I'm sorry, Cin, I just don't wanna be around anyone like Cardin anymore, I just... need to be alone, okay?" (she didn't want Cin to look at her, this angry.)

Bloo: (steps in for Cin) "I can walk her back home."

Cin: "Thanks Bloo."

Bloo and Rico started walking back to the dorm room, Cin felt discouraged seeing them go, Tenné and Blake saw how upset Ricochet really was.

Weiss: (confused, whispering to Blake) "I wonder what's made Rico so upset?"

Blake: (whispering back) "I think I know, and I think he does too."

Weiss: (now curious) "So, what is it?"

Blake: "Pretty sure it's something he needs to talk to Ruby about. (she walks up to Cin) Cin, maybe you should talk to Ruby about this."

Cin: "You sure, Blake?" (She nods her head saying "Yes" as Tenné checks on him) "Maybe you should check on Rico too, I'll be back later."

Tenné: "Are you sure?" (asking with a concerned look)

Cin: "Yeah, I just need some talk to Ruby about a few things."

Tenné: (she looks at his two friends, hoping Ruby really can help Cin with Rico) "Okay, Cin, I'll see you later."

They all made their way back to the student dorms so Cin could get some leadership advice from Ruby.

At Beacon Academy student dorms in Team RWBY's room, Ruby and Yang we're in their pajamas, already relaxing on their beds.

Yang: "So Ruby, looking forward heading Forever Fall someday soon?"

Ruby: (writing notes) "Yep, it's too bad we have do school work there though."

Yang: "Yeah I hear you."

The room door opens, as Blake, Weiss, & Cinnabar walks inside, surprising Ruby & Yang to see Cin again.

Ruby & Yang: "Cin!" (both hopping out of the bed with excitement)

Ruby: Long time, no see!

Yang: "Oh!" (giving Cin a great big bear hug, crushing him tightly as he's gasping for air) "How's my baby bro?"

Weiss: "Well... Not too good, I'm afraid Yang." (this immediately made Yang drop Cin to the ground in shock)

Blake: "It's Rico, she seems to be having a hard time here." (turns to Ruby) "Cin really needs some advice in helping her, Ruby."

Ruby: "Is that true, Cin?"

Cin: (a bit dazed as he got up after the hug) "Uh-huh..."

Ruby: (she was more than happy to help him) "Come on then!" (Ruby walks Cin out of their room, back to the hallway for a more private discussion.) "So what wrong, Cin?"

Cin: "It's like what Blake said, it's Rico, she just really can't stand being around Cardin."

Ruby: "Cardin, huh?" (not surprised that he'd be involved) "Did he do something to her?" (asking with concern)

Cin: "No! No! Nothing like that, at least nothing directly and intentional." (sighs and lowers his head) "The truth is I think I really know why Rico is so upset about things Cardin does, but she never wants to talks to me about it, she doesn't trust me." (pointing to himself) "Her leader, I'm supposes to help her, but how can I when she doesn't want me to." (presses his back to the hallway and slides down to the floor in depression)

Ruby: (thinking carefully about this, she joins him on the floor) "Does Tenné and Bloo know why Rico is upset?"

Cin: "I'm pretty sure, but I don't want to just ask them about Rico, I really Rico to tell me herself. (thinking about Tenné and Bloo at her Rico's side now) They're with her now, hopeful making her feel a bit better, but I want Rico to know that I can help her, to trust me, the same can go with Bloo and Tenné, I want to be their friend first and leader second."

Ruby: (she smiles, proudful) "I'm proud of you Cin, you're really trying to be a true team leader." (she gets up and places her hands on her hips as she speaks) "Just remember Cin, You've got a team now. We both do! We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second, and I think they're getting a great leader." (she walks over to her door and opens it as Cin, now slightly inspired by her words, watches her wave) "Have a good night, Cin!" (she goes inside)

With new energy, Cinnabar pushes himself off the ground and walks over, facing his team's door. Cin opens it slowly to see Bloo and Rico sleeping in their bed, while Tenné was still awake waiting for Cin to come back, wearing her pajamas. Cin walks in quietly.

Cin: (whispering) "How's Ricochet doing now, Tenné?"

Tenné: (whispering, as well) "She's resting now, Bloo and I managed to calm her down..." (lowing her head) "after she finished crying."

Cin was shocked to hear that.

Tenné: "Cin, you should know tha-"

Cin: (he cut off Tenné's sentence) "Tenné, please, I don't want you to tell me anything Rico can't yet, If I'm really going to really help her, I want her to know that she can trust me enough to tell me her problems herself, I'm more than just her leader, your leader, I want to be your friend, for all of you guys. I'm just hoping she can talk to me whenever we go to see Forever Falls."

Tenné: (she smiled, touched by what he just said, seeing how mature he'd quickly became, as she than give Cin a passionate hug, catching Cin off guard) "You really are a true friend, I'll help anyway I can Cin." (she than thought of an idea) "I think I can tell Rico what you just said to me, and you and her can talk in Forever Fall, is that okay?"

Cin: (suddenly turn bashful, blushing bright red) "Sounds good to me."

Tenné: "After that..." (letting him go) "Whenever she tells you her secret... I think I can finally trust you with mine." (unintentional flirting with him)

Cin: "Uh, okay." (now feeling sheepish) "We should get some rest." (awkwardly heading to the rest room to change clothes) "I'll see you guys in the morning."

Tenné: (she chuckles seeing Cin acting this way, as she starts to rest in her bed) "Good night, Cin." (closing her eyes)

Cin: "Night." (looking for a moment, at Tenné's resting face)

Cin than starts preparing himself for the night and soon for the big trip to Forever Fall forest.

An overhead shot of a forest bustling with red leaves and gray trunks is seen as the camera descends and shows Glynda leading teams RWBY, JNPR, CBRT, and CRDL through the area.

Glynda: (to the group) "Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

The group stops, and Jaune, grunting and carrying a large case with six empty glass jars on top, tries to catch up with them and ends up bumping into Cardin. The bully scowls at Jaune, who attempts to feign innocence by whistling tunelessly.

Glynda: (still instructing her group, holding up a full jar of their objective) "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

While Yang Xiao Long and her sister smile at one another, Jaune attempts to (noisily) sneak away from Cardin to his team, but the blackmailer sees this and grabs Jaune by the back.

Cardin: "Come on, buddy - let's go!"

Jaune miserably looks up at his team, where Nora and Ren are already walking into the forest's depths and Pyrrha is staring sadly at the scene. Dropping his gaze, Jaune turns and follows CRDL, to the disappointment of a sighing Pyrrha before she continues on. Elsewhere Team CBRT was preparing to split in two, taking care of their own problems.

Tenné: "Rico, why don't you and Cin go that way to that hilltop and maybe keep an eye out for anything dangerous, Bloo and I can some sap with the other teams."

Rico: "Sure, alright" (already aware of Cin and Tenné's plan) "Come on, Cin."

Cin follows Rico walking into the forest's depths to the hilltop.

Now perched on a hilltop overlooking the other students, Cinnabar and Rico we're finally somewhere private while watching over as everyone else is retrieving their samples of sap. Ren, kneeling to collect it from a tree, passes a full jar to Nora, who "Mmmm!"s at the gift as Ren trades it for the other jar in her care. He turns back to the tree and starts filling it up while several licking sounds are heard off-screen until the camera pans back to Nora, now with an embarrassed smile covered in red and an empty jar in her hands. Bloo already had his jar filled up and help Tenné up a tall tree, getting her sample of sap.

Rico: (takes a deep sign) "Okay Cin, I know you have some things to talk to me about as much I do too." (Cin finds some boulders to pass as chairs for to sit down for their chat, Rico also sits on one) "I can..." (starting to blush a bit) Start with saying I'm sorry for yesterday?" (feeling apologetic about her temper)

Cin: "Of course you can, Rico, I can understand why too."

Rico: "You do huh, you really know why I was so angry with Cardin, don't you?" (testing him)

Cin: "Let's just say, it doesn't take much to fool team CRDL to not recognize a tail passing off as a belt."

Rico was surprised, but not too shocked to hear that from Cin, as she took another deep breath, as start undoing her grey fur belt, revealing to actually being a Faunus tail.

Cin: "It looks nice." (complementing her mongoose tail) "And I'm sorry too, you tried so hard to pass off as being human while being someone like Cardin and his lackeys"

Rico: (blushing red) "Thank you, (she starts brushing her tail) you're now only forth human to know about the true me."

Cin: "So um... (asking curiously) who are the three?"

Rico: "My parents and my baby brother, and you're right, it was hard to handle my emotions, it just that Cardin reminding of how cruel... (remembering her past) Humans can really be."

Cin was going to ask what happen both her parents are human, but knew she tell him herself.

Rico: "When I was just born in Mistral, my... my real parents we're killed by human poachers, fortunately they quickly arrested, one of the officers that found soon become my father. They finally told me about what happened to my real parents, when I was old enough and when I wondered why other kids didn't have a tail like mine in my hometown, It also took while to figure out why my parent wanted me to keep this tail a secret from everyone."

Cin couldn't believe humans would something that horrid.

Cin: "I'm... so sorry." (starting to get teary eyed)

Rico: "Stop it, don't get me teary-eyed too." (She lightly chucked, wiping away any signs of tears from herself, touched by Cin's compassion) "At first I was angry at humans for what they have been doing to the Faunus, but I've quickly learned thanks to my parents that there are really good humans out there helping others, just as there are bad Faunus hurting others all across Remnant."

Cin: "Just like what Professor Oobleck was saying about the White Fang." (reminding him about it after what Rico just said)

Rico: "Exactly! But later on I've met Tenné and Bloo, who both wanted to try making and helping friends of both humans and Faunus."

Cin: "Is that what inspired you guys into training to become huntsmen and huntresses?"

Rico: "Pretty much, yeah." (looking at how fluffy her tail was now, after being brushed during the whole conversation) "I really do feel alot better, thank you understanding, Cin, you really are a true friend." (she smiled happily, knowing that her whole team now knows her secret, but than had a another question in her head) "Are you really not gonna tell anyone else about me being Faunus, and will you be okay with that?"

Cin: "Of course I will Rico, your secret is safe with me..." (he does feel a little guilty about keeping this from his other friends) "Although to be honest, I'm really sure Team RWBY and JNPR would very understanding and kind enough to keep this secret too, you really don't think you can trust them?"

Rico: "Well..." (having two human teams knowing her secret sounded too much of risk for her, despite knowing them well enough) "I..."

Suddenly, a low growl is heard from the distance, far enough for Cin and Rico to hear it. They looked at each other, and quickly hurried to find the source of the sound. Looking downhill they've seem a surprised Team CRDL along with Jaune turns around and sees a large paw crash onto the scene, belonging to a huge Ursa Major with dozens of jagged spikes sticking out from its wide back. It leaps forward and stands over the terrified students, lifting its head in the air to smell sap on Cardin's breastplate. It lands back on its forelegs and roars at Cardin while his teammates heroically flee.

Russel: "That's a big Ursa!"

Cardin is rooted to the spot when the Grimm swings its claws and knocks him sideways, revealing Jaune cowering behind him. The Ursa continues to sniff, uninterested in Jaune and following its nose to Cardin. He watches at it towers over Cardin, who gets his wits and pulls out The Executioner only for the monster to swipe it away to Jaune's feet. He looks conflicted, wondering whether to fight or run away.

Rico: Jaune's in trouble! (clearly ignoring Cardin's hour of need)

Cin: ...and Cardin, Rico, come on, you're better than that (slightly teasing her)

Rico: (She groans, slightly annoyed for agreeing with Cin) I guess so.

Rico smiles back at Cin, as they activate their weapons, Rico has her tail placed back into a belt, and start to charge a the Ursa Major.

Meanwhile, the roar of the giant Ursa is heard by the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR, still collecting sap on the other side of the forest.

Ruby: (getting up, concerned) "Did you guys hear that?"

Suddenly, the remaining members of Team CRDL are seen running the other way from the roar through the other students.

Russel: (looking back) "Ursa! Ursa!" (he runs into Yang accidentally)

Yang: "What?!" (completely unfazed by his collision, she picks him up by the front of his shirt) "Where?"

Russel: (struggling and still running in air, but points back from where they came) "Back there! It's got Cardin!"

Pyrrha: (dropping her jar of sap) "Jaune!"

Tenné & Bloo: (both in shock too) Cin & Rico!

Ruby: (going into leader mode) "Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" (dropping Russel, Yang and Blake nod before following the orders)

Pyrrha: (to Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie as she and Ruby activate their weapons) "You two, go with them! There could be more!"

Cardin is attempting to run from the following Ursa, but it leaps over its prey and claws him away. He tries to get up and crawl away.

Cardin: "Crap! Crap, crap!"

Pyrrha: (she, Ruby, Tenné, Bloo and Weiss come on to the scene) "Oh, no!"

They watch as the Ursa leans over the helpless victim, raising its paw and swiping it down... only to be blocked by Jaune's shield, Crocea Mors. He struggles to defend a stunned Cardin from its attempts to lean on him, but Weiss lifts Myrtenaster as she prepares to go help.

Pyrrha: (to Weiss) "Wait!"

Pyrrha than suddenly noticed Cin and Rico coming to Jaune and Cardin's aid.

Pyrrha: (to Tenné & Bloo) "Quick, call them over here!"

Pyrrha, Ruby, Tenné, Bloo, and Weiss we're trying to get Cin and Rico's attention. But they we're too focused to see them, so Weiss decided to at least lifts Myrtenaster and used her glyph to create a shield in the midair. However while Rico quickly noticed it and stopped at her tracks, Cin was too late to see the shield and slams his face right into it like a bird hitting a window. The other groaned as they reacted to Cin's collision. This also finally got their attention as Cin and Rico recognizing Wiess's shield and see Pyrrha and the others waving to come towards them, and started running towards them now, away from the battle of the Ursa Major.

Cin: "What the big idea, Wiess!" (annoyed and upset, as he rubbing his sore cheek)

Weiss: "So sorry, Cin." (she felt awful doing that to him, and checked on his face for any other injuries', making Cin blush redder than before, and very slightly annoying Tenné)

Rico: "Yeah, why you do that? we're trying help Jaune..." (and said add with annoyance) "...And Cardin."

Pyrrha: "Just watch and see." (getting everyone's attention back to Jaune's battle.)

Jaune takes the shield out from the Ursa's paw and slashes at its stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush him. He rolls out of the way and jumps over its swipe at his feet, but he is unprepared for when it launches a claw at him in midair. He lands far away, yet is immediately back on his feet and passing Cardin as he charges again. The Ursa knocks Jaune behind it when he tries for a leaping attack, and he looks at the Scroll in his shield to find out that his Aura level is in the red. He grows angry again and starts to run at the Ursa as it also begins to dash towards him.

As they are just about to clash in slow-motion, Pyrrha sees that Jaune has left himself completely open to the Ursa's attack, and lifts her hand out to him, gathering dark red energy in her arm. Just as the Ursa is about to hit him, the glow surrounds Jaune's shield and makes it lift up to block the swipe. Jaune uses the surprise defensive move to lean on the ground, push his shield back up, and swing his blade right through the Ursa's neck. The head falls to the ground as the body slams onto the ground.

Ruby & Cin: (as Pyrrha's hand stops glowing and she smiles) "Uhhh... What?"

Weiss: (equally amazed as the others) "How did you...?"

Pyrrha: "Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity."

Ruby: "Whoa, you can control poles..."

Cin: (Chuckled)

Weiss: "No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!"

Ruby: (still impressed, whispering) "Magnets are cool, too..."

Cin & Bloo: (agreeing with Ruby in awe) "Yeah."

Weiss: (noticing Pyrrha start to leave) "Wait, where are you going?"

Ruby: "Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!"

Pyrrha: "We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" (walks away again as Ruby and Weiss smile to each other in understanding and a bruised Jaune sheathes his weapon before going over to Cardin)

Team CBRT also soon realized too why Pyrrha wanted Jaune to battle the Ursa Major alone.

Cardin, still covered in sap, looks up at Jaune as his savior offers a hand. Cardin smiles as he takes it and is lifted back up on his feet.

Cardin: "Holy crap, Jaune!"

Jaune: (threateningly) "Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - ever again." (as Jaune stares Cardin dead in the eye) "Got it?"

Cardin looks intimidated, possibly even apologetic. With his order spoken, Jaune turns and walks away from a frozen Cardin.

Team CBRT we're happy to have finally be back home to their dorm room, the room light still off, after that major Ursa dilemma.

Bloo: (crashing down onto his bed first before the others) Ah! Did you miss bed, I sure missed you.

Rico: (happy to finally no longer hide her tail in their room from Cin) That was definitely a heck of a field trip.

Cin: (Getting himself ready for rest too) It sure was, alright.

Tenné smiled seeing the team getting more comfortable then before, as Cin truly accepted both Bloo and Rico into his team, but her mood quickly changed as she than gave Rico and Bloo a serious look on her face, as she was ready to talk to Cinnabar about her secret... privately.

Rico: Hm... (start shaking a sleepy Bloo) Come on Bloo, You can't go to sleep yet,

Bloo: (annoyed) What, why not? (Rico than make "ahem" cough, motioning her head at Tenné, and he quickly realized why they need to go) Oh! um, okay. (gets himself out of bed, and make his way to the door.)

Rico: (she turns to Cin) Cin... (Cin turns to her) Tenné has something to tell you, something very Important.

Cin: (turns to see how serious Tenné wants to be alone with him) Alright. (feeling confident to what Tenné's secret was now)

Rico walks to the door, as she and Bloo open the door, steps out to the hallway, and close it. Cin sat up on his bed, as Tenné walks to her's and sits in front of her leader.

Tenné: "The moment we've first met, you've been nothing but supportive and kind to us, you've been growing more and more into a great leader for us, and couldn't be more proud, happy, and honored to be by your side, but..." (she placed her hand on his) "Cin, what I'm about to tell you, you must promise not to tell anyone else, unless I think otherwise, this secret is far more dangerous than just hiding ourselves from being a Faunus, will you understand?"

Cin: "I will..." (he places his other hand on top of her's) "..and I promise."

Tenné closes her eyes and slowly lifts her arms up to her spiked bands and takes them off from her buns as she lets her hair down to her mid-back. As she reveal her Faunus ears, ears of a Bengal tiger to Cin.

Serene: (she opens her eyes to Cin) "My real name is Serene Khan, the youngest sister to Sienna Khan, High Leader of the White Fang."

Cin was in complete shock to see one of his most trusted friend for who she truly is, as the camera moves away the window and on the night sky over the school before the scene cuts to black.

End of Chapter 8

Author Notes

RWBY, its owned by Rooster Teeth.

Major thanks to the Transcripts written on RWBY Wiki

This chapter was quite the challenge and now the longest chapter ever (mostly) written down, but does have a pretty cool and major twist for who ever reads all this to the bottom.

Sorry for not putting in Tenné, Rico, and Bloo, Grimm encounter in the chapter, there was really not enough room. I started to get the idea of asking you guys what you think happened to Team CBRT that they couldn't make it to Beacon Academy at first? It Could by any kind of Grimm, and any possible situation.

I've been thinking a Short Fanfic called RWBYC Vol 1.5; basically a collection of possible Short stories set in Vol 1. Inspired by RWBY: Official Manga Anthology, any other suggestion are open.

Like a moment with just Cin and Pyrrha, Cin preparing a duel with Wiess, A class session on Dust with Master Merrune, and Tenné, Rico, and Bloo, Grimm encounter!

I'd thought about the adoption question, and decided to just for now let Yang (maybe Blake too) be the big sister figure Cin always wanted. (at Least here in Beacon anyway)

I've been working on Cin's long lost sister, and have the perfect name for her: Magen La Fey (Magenta and Morgan La Fey)

As for Cin's love life, well... let's just say for the long run, I'll try my best to keep the "momentum" going. ;)

I'll put a pin on the tenacious d thing for later or something, having the songs We Are Here Together & I Think I Love You (for Pyrrha and Jaune) from the Croods 2: the new age be preformed by Team CBRT (with Cin at the drums) at the Beacon Dance in Vol 2.

As for the last two chapters... That might take a while to work on with as I'm still thinking about whether or not adding two new characters in them both, inspired by the two scoundrels from Pinocchio and 101 Dalmatians, along with dastardly duos in the classic Disney films: called The Bandit Brothers, Jasper and Holly Bandit. (Not sure to make Jasper a boy or a girl yet) Just not too sure how to fit them in the chapters.

What do you guys think of all this I've written down?

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