Disclaimer:This is a work of fan fiction using characters and/or scenes from the show RWBY, which is trademarked by Rooster Teeth, and the video game Persona 3, which is trademarked by Atlus. I do not, in anyway, claim ownership over the characters, the world, the story, or any other aspect belonging to either one. This story should not be, in any way, considered canon. This story is written strictly for entertainment and not for profit.

Warning: This story will exhibit slight differences in character behavior since I will be taking the liberty to fill in blank points in the pasts of various characters. As such, expect that many characters will not behave exactly as their canon selves. I will attempt to keep their core personalities intact, but slight changes will be unavoidable.

Warning 2: With the ongoing status of RWBY, it's to be expected that many of my ideas will, at some point, go against what is canon, such as when more of each character's respective pasts are revealed. I will do my best to incorporate what I can, but expect that many will be blended with my own ideas or perhaps even ignored completely if incorporating it will be detrimental to my existing story plans.


I finally got this updated.

I am really, REALLY, sorry this took so long.

I was hoping to have this out sooner but I was hit by a bad case of writer's block. The first time since starting this story actually. I even tried writing the second chapter of Love and Madness but the results were the same. And by results, I mean no results at all. Or very poor ones not worth releasing at any rate.

In addition (though more along the line of good news) I was finally granted the transfer I've been requesting for a while now so I've been moved to a different department a work. Good news, I'm where I want to be. Bad news is that less than half of the people I work with aren't ideal workmates, including the department head (one lives in the same building as the dept. head, one is the head's cousin, and the other is a close friend). As such, I can't even bring up my concerns since the head is pretty lax with the rules when it comes to those three. A clear cut case of favoritism but since the guy's also friends with people in HR it makes things more complicated.

Adjusting to the new work environment and my less-than-ideal workmates (thankfully the other half are easy to get along with) gave me a lot more stress than I was expecting, so my writer's block became even worse.

So, in the end, I took about a week off from writing, did some other projects, went through my fairly small backlog of books and such (including Worm and a few other web serials that were recommended to me) and spent some extra time with friends and family. Still not at peak writing condition, but it's good enough that I'm not sitting in front of a computer for half an hour or so without being able to come up with a single decent paragraph.

For those who noticed, yeah, this chapter is a fair bit shorter than my regular chapters. It's also sort of fillerish, pretty much just to bridge the gap between the end of last chapter and the start of the next arc or two.

Not my favorite thing to do but the sudden jump without anything in between would have been even worse. So yeah, this chapter isn't winning any awards for crowd favorite anytime soon. Or even author favorite. Still, just bear with me here and we'll get back into a bit more action come next chapter.


Chapter 17 – Tests and Travels

December, XX13

A full month had passed since the day of Blake's return and the revelation of her past. And since then, quite a lot of things happened and changed for the four teams of friends.

The day after her return was a Saturday, so she didn't have any classes to attend. She spent nearly the whole day in the library, catching up on lessons missed with Mitsuru. She did the same with Chidori and Aigis for her Field Medicine class, and Ren for her Stealth and Recon class.

The day after was, as usual, spent watching SEES's Persona testing with the Beacon staff. Since most of their abilities had been tested, they simply repeated previous tests with the offensive abilities to see whether the damage done to Aura was consistent. They also tested whether similar attacks dealt the same amount of damage, specifically Ken and Akihiko's lightning-type attacks and Chidori and Junpei's fire-type attacks.

They also proposed to test whether the damage was consistent when faced with a different opponent. It was a set of tests that would take much longer because of how many of them there were as well as the need to allow the teachers to recover their Aura. As such, it was scheduled for several sessions and would even continue into the new year.

The Sunday afternoon was spent relaxing at Beacon. After her hectic week, Blake really just wanted to laze around reading her books the whole day. And so she did, much to Yang's consternation as the blonde wanted to go to Vale for a celebratory lunch or dinner.

The following Monday would be the first day of Blake's return to her classes, minus the past Friday's Combat class. True to her word, she started attending some of her classes without her bow.

At first, few people took notice of it. They had gotten used to seeing the bow on her head that nobody gave that part of her a second glance anymore. And while the bow was larger in size, the shape of her cat ears vaguely resembled the bow so, at a passing glance, she didn't look that much different from how she normally looked.

Soon enough, however, a few people began to notice something was off. Sometimes it was the people she spoke with, such as the group she worked with in Field Medicine. Other times it was someone sitting behind her in class. By the end of that first day, Blake's sensitive ears picking up at least two first-year teams talking about her ears, one of them wondering whether they were real.

It was only the next day, during Professor Oobleck's class, that everyone else took notice and learned the truth. After welcoming her back to the class and asking after her health, he made casual mention that he felt she looked much better without her bow. That, of course, caught everyone's attention. She huddled down in embarrassment, especially when a few crass remarks from teams CRDL and KLAD – which were fortunately, for them, spoken too softly for Blake's friends to hear – reached her ears.

News spread, of course, and by the end of the week the entire school knew that Blake Belladonna had been hiding her faunus heritage.

The stares and veiled glances over the rest of the week were expected, as were the quiet whispers, but expecting them didn't make them any more comfortable. Even the other faunus students did the same since most of them were never close enough to Blake to identify her as a faunus, with only a few being able to tell from afar due to a superior sense of smell. The only consolation was that a few of the older faunus gave her looks of approval, sometimes even approaching her to tell her directly.

There were a few faunus, however, who openly sneered and scoffed. They derided her initial decision to hide her heritage, seeing it as cowardice or a lack of pride in her heritage. One third year, a female faunus with a scaled tail, even openly mocked her after intentionally bumping into her in the hallway one day, nearly causing the feline faunus to fall on her face.

She, however, promptly found out the hard way that none of Blake's teammates took kindly to such poor treatment of their friend. And while Blake would rather they not jump into the line of fire like that, a part of her felt warm at the fact that their knowledge of her past did not really change anything asides from knowing more about her.

The stares and whispers faded as the days passed, and Blake was surprised that, asides from the first few days, she had not been tempted to wear her ribbon even once. Whether it was because putting it back on would attract more attention or because she had her friends supporting her, she didn't care. All that mattered was that she was openly, even if not necessarily proudly, displaying her heritage for all to see.

And while she and Weiss haven't really had a proper conversation since her return to Beacon, neither did they argue about anything. At the moment, however, that was enough. She knew better than to push too hard. Since it was Weiss's trust she was trying to earn, she would need to leave it to the heiress to set the pace. Token gestures and empty words would not earn the heiress's trust any faster.

Time passed normally after those few exciting days. It was almost as though nothing had changed. But all of them knew that, below the surface, things were vastly different in many ways.

SEES still held their late-night Wednesday and Saturday meetings. The only difference was that, now, they were joined by their friends more often than not. That, and everyone began wearing warmer clothing as the weather grew colder. Snow wasn't often a major factor though it usually fell for about two months, give or take a week or two. Even so, the temperature was fairly mild when compared to the chilly climate of the continent of Solitas.

They would pass the time discussing various things ranging from the ordinary such as classes and weekend plans, to the personal such as family for those who were willing to share, and even to slightly serious matters such as ambitions and future goals.

By now, the only one among SEES whose past was unknown was Chidori. All she shared was that she had been an orphan for as long as she could remember and that she was the newest member of SEES, though she had known them, mostly Junpei, for several months before she joined. Pyrrha didn't miss the meaningful look that her fellow redhead and teammate sent her when that topic came up, nor did she find it difficult to understand the unspoken message.

SEES hadn't yet explained why they always stayed up until just past midnight before going to bed on those night. The only exception so far had been the second day of December. It was Weiss who had noticed that they had done it once before as well as the similarities, that being the presence of the full moon.

Mitsuru had given a revised explanation of Japan's moon-viewing festival, and that this was their way of preserving some things from their homeland. It was hard to tell if Weiss believed the partial lie, but she had left the matter alone after that. Thankfully, neither Yang nor Blake seem to have remembered that Yukari once explained that the moon-viewing festival took place during the fall season and not every month.

Many of them felt guilty for hiding the truth. That they were almost literally incapable of going to sleep before a certain time because of their past. They could force themselves to sleep, but it would be a restless night for them, repeatedly tossing and turning, drifting off to sleep but waking up shortly after for no apparent reason. Such was the lingering effect of their experiences in the Dark Hour.

They felt even guiltier since Jaune and Blake had previously laid open their pasts for everyone to know, but they also knew that there was almost no point in telling them. Even if their friends believed them, the Dark Hour no longer existed and, thus, its existence could not be proven. Or rather, the Dark Hour now existed in a different form, one that could not be distinguished from the time that had once been considered normal. And without any leads to follow, they had no way of knowing if it was even possible to reverse what had happened to the world.

Guilt-ridden or not, they all knew that there was only one real choice. The knowledge of the Dark Hour would die with them, one way or another. There was no need and no point in dragging their new friends into that part of their lives. Not when nothing could be done about it either way.

Friday morning training sessions proceeded much the same, though now they went as far as training in full teams of four instead of just fighting one-on-one or two-on-two matches. But much like previous training sessions, they didn't always stick with their teammates. Taking their Combat class's current setup one step further, one team would trade members with another team and then fight it out. Sometimes they only changed one member, sometimes two.

Their most recent training session had Mitsuru putting all their names into Junpei's cap, much to everyone else's amusement. The first four names to be picked would then be the team leaders for the next set of matches, with the three names each of them picked being their team members. No one would deny that it made for an interesting training match when they found themselves working with completely random teams. At one point it had even become an Aura versus Persona match as one team had four Aura-users while the opposing team were all Persona-users.

On a similar note, Coco once again began hounding Yukari for a joint training session about a week after Blake's return to Beacon. The archer had apologized profusely, admitting that she had forgotten once again, but did not mention the kidnapping and rescue of Mitsuru as the reason for such.

The four teams involved had agreed that it would be best to keep that event to themselves. It would only bring needless attention to them, not to mention they were sure to get in trouble with the school staff for what they did if the event reached their ears.

Coco laughed it off, though she did start teasing Yukari for her forgetfulness, having forgotten about it twice now. This time, however, she made sure to bring up her request to all four teams by approaching them during lunch that day. Several people were intrigued, and more than a few were excited, but their excitement was dampened by the reminder from Yukari that the only time they were all available was from noon to three in the afternoon on Fridays, and on Sundays.

Friday afternoons, before their Combat class, was an extended lunch break after their group training session. Even if they skipped the morning training session and Team CFVY ate a very quick and light lunch, they wouldn't be able to train very long or very hard since the first years, SEES especially, would need time to recover before they went to Combat class.

Sundays were an instant no-no for them. Asides from the Persona testing, which was more of a necessity – and one that they kept hidden from the second-year team – almost nobody wanted to spend their Sundays on more training. Even if it was just a single Sunday.

Surprisingly, Akihiko, the one whom Junpei often proclaimed as an exercise junkie, added that training and exercising every single day was not a good idea as both the body and the mind needed to unwind. The body needed to recover and grow from the damage caused by training and exercising, while the mind needed time to process what they've learned. Neither one benefited from constant use.

The final nail in the proverbial coffin was Mitsuru's reminder that the first major examinations were in a month. Even though only the final examination every year truly mattered, or perhaps it was because of it, she did not want anyone, specifically the members of SEES, becoming too complacent with their studies.

Their self-managed crash course prior to attending Beacon was only barely enough for a rudimentary understanding of Remnant. In addition to catching up on lessons they were expected to know upon entry, they had to continue learning from the current curriculum. While none of them were performing poorly in class, she still did not want them becoming too self-assured just because they weren't failing.

With those reasons, Coco found her request gently refused. She had tried to push just a little bit, but she clearly knew that she wouldn't be getting her way anytime soon and gave up shortly after. Especially not when she saw half the members of SEES shiver when Mitsuru mentioned there being a punishment of sorts should any of the Japanese teenagers fail.

Yukari still met with Coco and Velvet fairly often, usually just to hang out for one reason or another. Yang, Fox, and Yatsuhashi would occasionally join them, but neither Blake nor Mitsuru did. Not for the lack of an invitation – Yukari, Yang, and Coco often tried to invite the two girls – but simply because one much preferred the company of silence and a book, while the other often claimed to have something else that needed to be done.

At one point, they thought to bring their meeting to the dorms. If Mitsuru and Blake wouldn't join them, then they would just take things to them. At least, that was Yang and Coco's reasoning. Unfortunately for Blake, that led to a lot of teasing at her expense.


November 27, XX13

"I'm sorry Blake," came Velvet's soft, apologetic tone.

Blake could do nothing but groan, sigh, and fall backwards on top of her bed in Team KYBT's dorm room. "It's not your fault."

Well, technically it was since the brown-haired faunus had been the one to bring up the issue that she overheard the day of Blake's return. Blake's first instinct at that time had been to tell her fellow faunus the truth, especially since Velvet knew the real reason for Blake's absence. But logic overrode impulse and she remembered that she was still outside Professor Goodwitch's office. It didn't help that several people turned the corner just then and came their way.

So she lied, again, and told Velvet that, yes, she did have an estrous cycle. Knowing that it was a sensitive and personal matter, Velvet didn't say anything else about it. At least, not out in the hallway where their fellow students could overhear.

Unfortunately, that meant that Velvet's curiosity went unsated. And so, one day, Yukari, Yang, Coco, and Velvet entered Team KYBT's room, where Blake was relaxing with a book in hand after lunch. Upon seeing her fellow faunus, Velvet greeted Blake and immediately asked, "Did the medicine for your estrous cycle arrive?" not knowing that neither Yukari nor Yang were aware of it and seeing little need to hide it from Coco.

Needless to say, Blake had to explain to all four of them that her having an estrous cycle, a rare but not unheard of condition that faunus can be born with, was nothing more than a fabrication Mitsuru came up with to cover-up the real reason for Blake's disappearance from school. After briefly explaining that an estrous cycle for faunus was more or less the same as what their animal counterparts go through, the trio of girls burst out laughing almost immediately.

"Come on, how long are you going to keep laughing? It's not even that funny!"

Blake's complaints and protests only seemed to fuel the laughter of three of the four girls in the dorm room, asides from the feline faunus herself. Velvet just continued to look apologetic, but did little to try and stop the laughter. Yang's boisterous laughter wouldn't look out of place on someone clutching their bellies while rolling around on the floor. Coco and Yukari were only a bit less rambunctious with their laughter, but that didn't mean they were restraining themselves at all.

Were her supposed condition not the reason for their laughter, Blake might have noticed that this was the first time she had ever seen Yukari laugh so loudly and so openly, so freely, amongst people outside of SEES.

Yang shouted her response amidst her uncontrolled laughter. "It… it totally is!"

Coco and Yukari were similarly unable to form a complete sentence without their laughter interrupting them multiple times.

"That's… the funniest thing I've… I've ever heard!"

"Oh God, I… I can't… I can't breathe!"

Blake groaned out loud, just barely managing to hold back her annoyance from exploding. "It's not even real! I don't have an estrous cycle!"

Hearing those words, the same two words that started it all, the laughter, which the three had been struggling to control, was renewed and grew even louder than the first time. Yukari eventually settled down, apologizing profusely for laughing at Blake's expense, but Yang continued to laugh and her cat-themed jokes spurred on Coco.


It was a good long while before they calmed down, long enough that Mitsuru returned to the dorm room from lunch to find the two teenage girls gasping for breath but unable to stop laughing. The redhead, after learning of the situation, apologized once more to Blake for having to resort to that. She even took it a step further by… persuading them, mostly Yang and Coco, to not say a word of it.

Needless to say that, after facing down the same quiet intimidation that stared down Cardin Winchester while threatening him with an Execution, neither Yang nor Coco would ever consider spreading the news of Blake's estrous cycle, untrue though it may be.

Velvet would later inform Yukari that, while in the privacy of Team CFVY's dorm room, Coco admitted that facing Mitsuru at that moment had been one of the most nerve-wracking things she had ever experienced. Yukari definitely enjoyed holding that little detail over Coco's head in the following days.

Another change was the study sessions that Mitsuru decided to hold on Friday afternoons, during the periods between lunch and Combat class. Seeing as she had no authority over the other teams, it was only mandatory for her own team, much to Yang's utter dismay.

Astonishingly enough, during lunch one day before the second session came around, Junpei asked if he could join the study sessions. Ken spoke up as well at that moment, wanting to join as well. Ken's decision was understandable and Akihiko openly admitted that, while his grades weren't anything to scoff at, he wasn't very good at teaching things not related to combat.

When asked why he wanted to join, given his past reputation as a slacker when it came to his academics, Junpei's response was quite simple. "Minato gave us a second chance. Like hell I'm paying him back by slacking off again."

Encouraged by his resolve, a gleam appeared in the eyes of the other members of SEES. At that moment, all their teammates knew exactly what it meant. And predictably, Team KYBT's weekly study session became SEES's weekly study session. Plus Blake and Yang, of course, since Mitsuru made it mandatory for her team.

By the fourth session, which was just last week, almost every member of all four teams were attending the study sessions, each one joining for various reasons.

Jaune was originally content having Pyrrha tutor him. But Pyrrha, herself, said that it would be better to join since there were many advantages to group learning. Provided, of course, that the group as a whole was not led astray by needless conversation, which Mitsuru was sure to prevent.

Ren, like Pyrrha, felt it would be much more efficient to study as a group and joined. Of course, this meant that Nora came with him. It had only taken one too innocent smile from Mitsuru before the orange-haired girl gave up trying to play around while everyone else was studying. And so, unable to stay in the vicinity while remaining still, she was left with the choice joining the study session or go without Ren for about two hours. There was more than just a bit of grumbling and pouting as she sat down and opened her notebook and books.

Ruby's entry into the group, however, was not without issue. Nor was it without consequence.


December 1, XX13

"How could you possibly be failing this badly?!"

Several sheets of paper were slammed down on the table next to her while Ruby flinched at the beginning of Weiss's tirade, which the heiress seemed to have been holding in since they left Giollah's Social Studies class. Ruby could attest to that, rubbing her wrist right where Weiss had grabbed her, all but literally dragging the younger girl back to the dorm. Speaking of which…

"DAMN IT ICE QUEEN! OPEN THIS DOOR!"

Weiss must have been really furious as she didn't so much as blink at the equally furious yell accompanied by a heavy banging that, surprisingly, didn't wreck the door. Then again, the reaction was to be expected. If there was one thing Yang could be counted on to do, it was to race to Ruby's defense.

Although Weiss had waited until they were out of the blonde's line of sight before taking Ruby by the wrist, she knew that Yang would eventually hear that someone saw her pulling a protesting Ruby to the dorms. It was only Weiss's poor fortune that determined that it would happen sooner rather than later. Ruby could only imagine some poor sap being shaken down for information by a raging blonde.

"Three months! You've been here three months already! I could understand if you failed a few tests at the beginning since you skipped two years, but how is it that you're still performing this badly?" Her hand once again slammed down on the table, right on top of the graded essays and tests that Professor Giollah had returned to them less than an hour ago.

Ruby huddled down into her cloak as her attention was drawn to the crimson numbers on the corner of each page.

Thirty-two.

Eighty-seven.

Fifty-six. Forty-two Twenty-six. Twenty-one. Forty-six. Seventy-six. Sixty-two. Twelve.

Every piece of homework she turned in and every test that was administered always came to a total of one-hundred points. And all of them always required an essay in some form since, as many of their professors put it, understanding the facts was much more beneficial in the long-run than simple rote memorization.

Out of ten that Ruby had turned in for their Social Studies class, only three were above the passing mark of sixty percent. One of the three was just barely above the mark. And those three were essays she had written with help. In fact, Weiss distinctly remembered helping Ruby with one of them near the start of the school year. The remaining seven, all of which were below the passing grade, were tests given to them in class where Ruby was unable to request help from her teammates.

Perhaps it was because Professor Giollah returned hers first that Weiss was looking in her direction, coincidentally spotting the large number twelve on the corner of the page of the test they had taken just last week. Before Ruby could hide them in her bag, Weiss snatched them out of the younger girl's hand, ignoring the curious and slightly surprised stare their professor briefly gave them before he set down Weiss's own tests and moved on. Ruby could only watch, growing more apprehensive with every moment, as Weiss read through all of Ruby's tests in record time.

When she was done, all she did was glare at Ruby for a good long while before stuffing the papers into her bag along with her own tests, not even bothering, or needing, to check the results of her own work. Right before the class ended, Weiss grabbed Ruby by the arm and leaned in. "If you run, I will make this so much worse."

Those words had been enough to change Ruby's mind since she had been contemplating running the moment the class let out. It had also been enough to make her follow the heiress out the door without a word, moving away from and out of sight of her (over)protective sister before Weiss took her by the wrist and proceeded to the dorm.

And now here they were, the heiress glowering at her partner while said partner's sister was banging on the door shouting profanities and demanding that they open the door.

"Do you even care about staying at Beacon?" asked Weiss, her tone slightly less harsh but no less demanding. "Do you even care that the first major examinations are just three weeks from today?"

"OPEN THIS DOOR DUST DAMN IT!"

"B-but i-it's only the final exams that matter, r-right?" Ruby stuttered out timidly, and more than just a little fearful of the red-faced, blue-eyed heiress. "I-I can just-"

"Just what?!" Ruby flinched once more, shoulders rising up and burying her face further into her cloak. "Wait until the final exams before taking your studies seriously?" When Weiss put it that way, Ruby couldn't help but think that her plan really didn't sound as good as she thought. "The major examination compiles everything we've learned up until that point to see how well we remember and understand them. The second and third major exams will be the same. We won't be tested on the same topics again at all until the final exams. If you fail every major exam and leave your studies until the finals then you'll have to study an entire year's worth all over again in the span of several weeks. Are you honestly telling me you can do that?"

"WEISS!"

The disheartened look on Ruby's face was enough of an answer. "You've been going over your homework with Fuuka and Aigis so I didn't ask about it. When I did ask about how you were doing in class you told me you can handle it. Against my better judgement, I decided to trust you. I told myself that since you skipped ahead two years that you must be capable." At that reminder, Ruby's mood sunk even lower. "That, and you have Fuuka and Aigis to help you study. But is this really what you call 'handling it'?

"Do you realize what will happen if yo-"

They were interrupted by the door slamming open followed by a brown and blonde streak rushing into the room as Yang quickly closed the distance between her and Weiss, one hand outstretched and ready to grab the heiress. Just before she could reach her target, however…

"YANG!"

It was neither Weiss nor Ruby whose voice called to the blonde, stopping the hand that was just inches away from the heiress's shoulder.

Another person walked in through the still open door, a person who possessed flowing red hair, a powerful presence that dwarfed even the raging blonde's, and accusation in her wine-red eyes. "Did you or did you not promise to only speak with her? That was why I asked Aigis to let you into the room, correct?" The aforementioned blonde android, as well as her teal-haired partner, entered the room at that moment, both looking very uneasy with the situation they had walked in on.

Yang didn't even bother arguing. She knew there was no way she could win an argument against Mitsuru, of all people. She merely clicked her tongue and brought her hand back to her side, fists clenched shut as tightly as her jaw.

Mitsuru carefully watched Yang for any sign that she would continue, turning away only when it was clear that the blonde would not attack Weiss. Not unless Weiss acted foolishly at least. In which case, Mitsuru would be unable to stop her teammate in time regardless of the difference in strength. "Would you care to explain what happened to cause you to physically pull Ruby to the dorm room?" she asked as diplomatically as she could. "I'm aware that I have no authority over your team, but I believe it would be best if we heard the full story."

Taking the initiative, Weiss relayed her side of the tale, pointing to the papers on the table next to her to showcase the reason why she was upset with her teammate. She made sure to emphasize the fact that the three essays that passed were those that had been assigned as homework, homework which Ruby accomplished with aid from Fuuka and Aigis.

"I see. Is this true, Ruby?" Whether it was because she was afraid of what would happen if she contradicted Weiss with a lie, or because she was speaking with Mitsuru, Ruby could only nod, her throat too tight to meaningfully convey her words. "Well, Yang?"

"Well what?" Yang shot back, though Mitsuru seemed unfazed by her teammate's anger. "I get it, Ruby's not doing well in class but that doesn't mean that Weiss can just drag Ruby around like she did or yell at her."

"I admit, I let my temper get the better of me. No matter how upset I might have been, I was wrong to do that." Weiss's words were as close as they would get to an apology, though her tone remained proud and haughty. "However, that doesn't change facts. This," she gestured to Ruby's tests, "is just for Social Studies. I know for a fact she is doing well in Grimm Studies but I doubt she is doing as well in Geography and History."

"Hey! I'm not that bad! Besides, what do we need Geography and History for? We're Huntresses!"

Weiss spun around to face her partner at the younger girl's indignant response, directing a challenging glare at the younger girl. "If you were lost in the Kingdom of Vale and found a tree bearing pale blue flowers, where are you, and where is the nearest known city, town, village, or settlement?"

"Uh… wha-"

"As a future Huntress," Weiss took the time to deepen her glare at that last word, "Name three famous Huntsmen or Huntresses who died at least thirty years ago, what they are known for, what they've contributed to our society, how or why they died, and what we can still learn from their example even from so long ago."

"Thirty? But that's too long ag-"

Ignoring Ruby's squeaky complaint, Weiss continued to quiz the black-red-haired girl. "You're on your way to the town of Engelus and you see smoke coming from the town. As you get closer, you see that more than half the town has been engulfed in fire, massive enough that putting it out would be almost impossible at that point. What is the first thing you do and why?"

"Wha… what does this have to do with anything?"

"The fact that you have to ask is exactly the problem," Weiss declared with a glower. "Do you honestly think all you need to know to be a Huntress is how to fight and how to kill Grimm?"

"Well, what else does a Huntress do?"

A flat glare was the response Ruby received, along with an equally flat-toned answer. "… You really don't want to know how I feel about you right now."

Unfortunately, that was enough to set of Yang once again. "Seriously, what is your problem? It's not like Ruby's grades are any of your business. Why can't you just leave it alone?"

"My problem is that your sister isn't taking her studies seriously." The glare was now directed at the blonde elder sister. "And if I could leave this alone I would. Unfortunately, I can't. For better or worse, Ruby is my partner and teammate for the next four years. I refuse to be held back just because of her indolent attitude with regards to her studies."

"Why does it even matter to you?" questioned Yang. "It's not like you're the one failing."

Rather than a verbal response, Weiss's glare turned into an inscrutable expression. "Are you… You really don't know what I'm talking about?" She stared at Yang long enough that the blonde was actually beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with the strange expression, one that seemed to be something between disbelief, confusion, and even understanding. Then Weiss's palm met her face as she shook her head in exasperation. "Dust help me."

"What now?!"

Ice blue and lilac met with glares, both conveying its owner's annoyance with the other. And then Weiss turned away. "Forget it. I'm not even going to bother anymore." The words were unexpected enough that Weiss was able to walk past Yang without any resistance. When the blonde did call to her, Weiss was already at the door. The heiress paused just long enough to say a few parting words. "I don't care how you do it, Xiao Long, but Ruby had better start taking her studies seriously. If not, then I'll be the least of her worries."

"You're threatening her?" Mitsuru tensed, at Yang's words, hoping they wouldn't have to resort to physically restraining the powerful brawler.

The heiress huffed, glancing at the blonde out of the corner of her eyes. "Take it however you want." Then she fully turned her gaze back to Ruby, who flinched back as though Weiss had hit her from afar. "For the record, Ruby, Engelus is the largest Dust mining town within the Kingdom of Vale. If a fire were to break out there, of all places, the first thing you would need to do is to determine how close the fire is to the Dust warehouses, both the ones under and above ground. Depending on how close it is, then, as cruel and heartless as it may sound, it may be best to gather as many people as you can and run away before the Dust is ignited, taking the entire town, and much of the surrounding area, with it."

Then, without another word, she turned and left the room.

"You okay sis? She didn't hurt you or anything, did she?"

"I'm fine. She was just doing a lot of yelling," Ruby replied even as Yang swept her up in a one-armed embrace. "I just don't get it. I mean, it's just a test, right? As long as I pass the final exams it should be fine, right?"

"You really don't know?"

At Mitsuru's question, both siblings turned their attention to her. "Know what?" asked Ruby, though anyone could see that the same question was in Yang's eyes. "What was Weiss talking about?"

The redhead took a quick, deep breath, and gently sighed. "Ruby, Weiss is worried for your performance because it affects the whole team." Before either girl could speak, Mitsuru cut in. "It's not as simple as you're thinking. Tell me, have either of you ever heard of anyone graduating Beacon without a full team?"

The two girls shared a look, the younger sibling shrugging and shaking her head, then turned back to Mitsuru. "Ruby." A sense of foreboding overtook Ruby and Yang at the serious look on the redhead's face. "You're right that only the final test of each year really matters. But if you fail that test, it's not just you who will be affected even though you will be the only one who will be forced to leave."

"Huh?" Were it a less serious conversation, the confused look on Ruby's face combined with the way she tilted her head to the side might have been called cute. "I don't get it."

"If you fail," that one word struck deep into Ruby even as wine red eyes bored into her silver ones. "Then the rest of your team will be forced to attend the next year as first-years, together with whoever their new teammate will be. In short, because no team must ever be without a full roster of four, any team that lacks a member for whatever reason will be held back a year."

The revelation of that fact delivered a heavy blow to Ruby and Yang. Enough that both failed to notice the door opening and quietly clicking shut as the leader of Team ASYR departed from the room.


Ruby joined the group study sessions immediately after, not wanting to take even the slightest risk of being the one to drag down the entire team.

However, Weiss, as a result of the event, maintained her distance whenever possible. Ruby tried to apologize, approaching the heiress the next time they met, but Weiss rebuffed her before Ruby could finish, saying that she would only accept an apology after the exams.

When Ruby asked for Fuuka's opinion about why Weiss wouldn't accept the apology, the Japanese girl shook her head sadly and said, "I can't say I know for certain. Even if I was right, but it wouldn't be fair to Weiss if I told you. If you apologize, it has to be because you understand what you did wrong and that you're admitting you were wrong."

Yang, on the other hand, nearly went on a rampage, loudly complaining one day about how Weiss was being an irresponsible partner. Weiss promptly shut her up when she overheard this. "You wanted me to leave it alone, so I will."

Predictably, Yang was unable to swallow her pride and take back her words, her protectiveness over Ruby winning against wanting the Schnee heiress to do her duty as Ruby's partner, causing her already poor relationship with the heiress to sour even further. The only consolation for the group as a whole was that neither one chose to escalate things.

Then again, perhaps that had to do more with the fact that Weiss was only ever around in the dorm room and in class. She was still present during mealtimes but was always the last to arrive, allowing her to carefully consider where to sit so as to minimize the need to converse. It was only the knowledge that eating separately would cause rumors to spread that she did not do so.

Afterwards, the only event of note had been Jaune's reaction to learning what the absence of a team member meant for the team as a whole. His face had turned pale when he asked Junpei if he had known that when he made the decision to help Jaune convince his family to let him stay. Surprisingly, and yet not, Junpei replied in the affirmative. Still pale and his voice shaky, he then asked what they would have done if his family pulled him out of Beacon.

Junpei just smiled, shrugged, and said, "Kidnap you?" That earned a laugh out of several people and led to Nora trying to come up with various scenarios by which they could have kidnapped Jaune from under his family's nose.

But despite all that's happened, time marched on. Heedless of the concerns and troubles of the world.


December 16, XX13

"So what're you guys doing for the end-of-year break?"

Yang posed the question to the group during the usual Wednesday night gathering. As was the norm for a Wednesday, Yukari was absent as her Marksmanship and Ranged Combat class was right after dinner. She, however, would arrive soon, unlike Ren and Blake who were on their way to their Stealth and Recon class. Asides from those three, there was one other absentee of note.

Weiss.

It was an issue nobody brought up. Not since the day after she began secluding herself from the group. There was simply no point. The only way things would change was if Yang or Weiss, or possibly even Ruby, brought up the matter. Even then, depending on how it went, things may just become worse.

"It's a two-week break, right?" asked Fuuka, to which Yang nodded. "I haven't really thought about." She cast a discreet glance at Mitsuru.

Catching the look, as well as the ones from Ken and Junpei, Mitsuru joined the conversation. Starting with a chuckle. "You're all free to make plans of you own. If I had plans for us all I would have mentioned it by now."

"Do you have plans?" asked Yang. "I was kinda thinking I'd take our team over to Patch and show you around. Since we're all girls I'm sure dad wouldn't mind having a sleepover in my room for a night or two. Though I won't exactly complain if you wanna spent the whole break period there."

"That's the island off the west coast of Vale, correct?" Almost everyone knew that there was no need for Mitsuru to ask as it was unlikely she would remember wrong. "Asides from a quick trip I had planned with Akihiko and Aigis, I don't have anything particularly important planned for that time. We can schedule a date for it later when Yukari and Blake are here."

"Where are you going senpai?" asked Ken, intrigued by that little detail that Mitsuru mentioned. Several others turned as well since this was the first they were hearing about it. "Since it's just the three of you I'm guessing it's not a vacation."

"We'll be headed to Mistral for some business, actually," answered Akihiko, causing Pyrrha to perk up at the mention of her home. "Well, one of the cities in the kingdom, at least."

"I take it your business has to do with Adamas then?" asked Pyrrha. "Mitsuru is a shareholder in the company, if I remember right."

It was Mitsuru who answered with a nod and a small smile. "That's right. I've spoken with Director Claire twice since the first time we spoke, and I've made arrangements to meet with her to discuss some things. Akihiko is joining me since I need help with some things. As for Aigis, well… I wanted to see if they might be a viable alternative to the Kirijo scientists who once performed the necessary maintenance."

"Although Fuuka's independent studies have been progressing, there still only so much she and Aigis can do." Given the current situation, Mitsuru felt it wise not to mention Weiss's decision to help. "We still intend for Fuuka to be Aigis's primary mechanic, but it wouldn't hurt to see if we have other alternatives especially while Fuuka is still learning."

"Should I come along?" Fuuka asked.

"Only if you want to," replied Mitsuru. "I'll have to see for myself first if they are capable and if we can trust them. If they prove to be, which is quite likely, Aigis should be able to provide everything they need to know. Asides from that, there's a few things I need to speak with the Director about. We'll be leaving on the twenty-sixth, the day after the exams. We should only take about three days, including travel time, provided nothing unexpected comes up."

"Would you like a guide?" offered Pyrrha. "I'm scheduled to meet with my sponsors during the break. It wouldn't be difficult to re-schedule my meeting to coincide with your own meeting with them."

"If you're sure then I certainly won't turn down your offer," Mitsuru replied with a smile.

As the two of them continued to discuss the details of the trip, Jaune turned to his own teammates. "Hey, Junpei? Chidori?"

"Wassup?" Junpei turned to him with a grin. "Got somethin' planned?" Chidori just turned to Jaune without any verbal acknowledgement.

"Yeah, but it's not actually my idea," the blonde replied with a nod. "Sooo… My family wants to get to know you guys better. Said if you wanted to, you could spend a couple of days with us. Or even the whole two weeks."

Junpei's eyes opened wide, and his near-breathy tone gave voice to his surprise. "Dude, you serious?"

Jaune nodded again. "Yeah. It's pretty much an open invitation just in case you already had plans and my parents said you can visit any time. Just let us know so someone can meet you when the airship lands at Domremy. I was gonna ask Pyrrha too but it sounds like she's got plans already."

"Well, why don't we ask her?" Junpei proceeded to call Pyrrha's attention, the latter excusing herself from her conversation with Mitsuru. When she arrived, the cap-wearing teen wasted no time getting to the matter at hand. "Wanna go visit Jaune's family?"

Needless to say, Chidori and Jaune had to fill in the many blanks that Junpei left unfilled. Intentionally, it would seem, given the way he laughed at Pyrrha's flummoxed expression.

At the end of the explanation, Pyrrha adopted a thoughtful look. After a minute or so, she gave them a nod and a small smile. "I believe I can finish all my obligations by then as well as spend some time with my family. But it would have to be the last two or three days of our break since I'll be accompanying Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Aigis when they leave for Weilai."

"That's cool," replied Junpei. "If nothin' comes up we might just check out Jaune's town the whole two weeks if his folks don't mind. Either way, we'll be there."

When Yukari and, much later, Blake and Ren returned from their respective classes, more concrete plans were made for the two week break following their exams.

Three members of Team JACN questioned the fourth about his hometown of Domremy. They learned that it was just barely within the borders of the Kingdom of Vale, far to the southwest. It was a fairly large farming town with not much else of note asides from the small combat academy in addition to the regular school.

With all their members present, Team KYBT went about making plans for visiting Yang, and Ruby by extension, at their home on the island of Patch. Well, if Yang managed to convince Blake first, of course. The black-haired faunus, cat ears almost invisible against the dark backdrop of the night sky, was reluctant to spend two weeks in someone else's home. And even though her heritage had been revealed for nearly a month, there were still times when she had to restrain herself from hiding her ears once more, reminding herself that this was a necessary step in her long-term goals.

Team ANKR's discussion centered mostly on what Ken would be doing. Akihiko was going with Mitsuru for a few days while Ren and Nora would remain at Beacon. With the possibility of everyone else spending the full two weeks with their respective teams, Ken was left with the decision of where to spend those few days. With Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Aigis in Weilai, or at Beacon with Ren and Nora. Or possibly with one of the other teams.

With all the excitement, however, nobody noticed that a certain blonde had slipped away, unnoticed even by her partner and her teammate who made plans for an extended stay at their teammate's home for the end-of-year break alongside Team KYBT.


Weiss set down her notebook with a heavy sigh, leaning back, hanging her head off the back of the chair, and shutting her eyes for a well-deserved break from studying. With the exams starting the following week, she had taken to studying every night, going over all the books and all her notes one subject at a time. Tomorrow's History and Social Studies classes would still have new topics but, since she had already taken the initiative to read ahead, all that was left was to see if Professors Oobleck and Giollah had anything to add to what was in the book.

When she opened her eyes, she found them straying to the clock hanging over the door. Eleven seventeen. About three quarters of an hour more before everyone came down from the roof. Then her eyes drifted down in the opposite direction, to the unoccupied table next to hers which was cluttered with notebooks and books.

The two years that Ruby missed out on by skipping ahead wasn't as big an issue as Weiss made it out to be. Most combat school shared a curriculum similar to regular schools, only with combat and related subjects added. Their four core subjects, not counting Combat, were the only ones that really carried over.

Ruby's surprisingly high level of skill in designing weaponry aside, Weiss had to admit that she was far from stupid. Just highly unmotivated when it came to subjects she had no interest in. Grimm Studies was proof of that, as her younger partner was very knowledgeable when it came to a Huntress's natural enemy. Her other subjects, however, suffered due to the girl's overspecialization.

She sighed and shook her head. While it was good that Ruby had begun studying seriously, joining the weekly group study sessions, she was almost completely hopeless when studying on her own. Fuuka and Aigis certainly did their best to help, but it wasn't as if they could always be there. They had their own studies to worry about outside of the core curriculum after all.

More than once Weiss had seen Ruby running around the dorm, looking for one of her other notebooks. Since certain information was missing from her notebook then, apparently, she must have written them in the wrong notebook. Much later, after scouring through all her notes, she would be panicking upon realizing that the notes weren't misplaced. She just hadn't made them at all.

After panicking, she would either borrow someone's notes or begin speedreading through the book to look for the information she needed. The latter sometimes ended poorly when Ruby ended up unknowingly skipping past what she needed because of that same speed she was proud of. And when it did, her panicking would restart, believing that she was now missing something crucial.

Had she not been upset at the girl, Weiss would have found the situation at least a little bit amusing.

As it was, Weiss didn't do more than sigh whenever she saw Ruby's attempts at independent study. It was hard to say whether the girl's poor study habits were due to her relative immaturity or simply her nature. Either way, it was painfully clear that, even if Weiss chose to help and Ruby accepted, the heiress's methods would not be as effective on the young scythe-wielder.

That, and Weiss was likely to give in to her irritation and annoyance long before the end of a single study session. Even a half-wit could tell that it wouldn't end well. At all.

No, this was one battle that Weiss was not likely to win. At least, not this late in the game. On the other hand, if Ruby were to willingly ask for Weiss's help after the first major examinations then just maybe she would help. It would all depend on-

Her thoughts froze as a click came from the door, the doorknob jiggling as the other end was grasped and turned. Another glance at the clock made Weiss furrow her brows when she noticed that barely five minutes passed since she last checked the clock. It was still too early. They never left the roof before midnight. Even Ruby had gotten accustomed to it and was able to stay up that late without yawning or drifting off to sleep every five minutes. Though that was probably also because she had classes until eleven at night twice a week.

Still, the jiggling doorknob at this time could only mean one thing.

When the door opened and allowed the person on the other side entry, Weiss let out an annoyed sigh, her head turned away from the door. "How long are you going to keep this up, Aigis?"

Unlike the first few times that Weiss asked that question, Aigis didn't flinch or even turn away. She just gently shut the door behind her and greeted the heiress. Then, like the past several days and nights, she asked, "May I join you?"

This time, however, Weiss had had enough. "And what if I say 'no' this time? What if I ask you to just leave me alone?"

There was a flash of what seemed to be sadness in Aigis's artificial eyes, but nothing else on her face gave any indication of her feelings. "If that is what you want, then I will."

Weiss had prepared countless answers that she could use based on Aigis's own answer. But whatever Weiss was going to say never made it past her lips, dying somewhere along the way from her brain as the android's answer was not one she had prepared for.

Was it really that easy? Since the day that she had gotten into that argument with Ruby, Aigis had taken to speaking with Weiss once a day, usually at night after dinner.

She often inquired about Weiss's wellbeing or even just inconsequential things such as how her studies were proceeding. Other times, rather than conversation, she would offer to get Weiss something to drink. Once, the heiress even tried asking for a drink from the dining hall and was honestly surprised when Aigis went all the way there for the drink in question.

But now that she thought about it, she never really tried just asking the blonde girl to leave whenever Aigis asked to join her these past several days. She had always allowed Aigis to join her, relying on steadfast silence, barbed words, and the occasional slightly, and sometimes not-so-slightly, unreasonable request to make her leave. Not that they worked, obviously, since Aigis remained with her until the time came to part or sleep.

She decided to test the waters just a bit more. "And if I asked you not to bother me again?"

Again, sadness passed through her eyes. "Then I will not bother you again as you ask." After a brief pause, "Do you wish for me to leave?" she asked.

She couldn't be serious. Could she?

Looking back at the three months that she had known the girl, Weiss had never seen or heard Aigis make a joke. Well, there was that one time in Ozpin's office during the day of the initiation, but, asides from that, Aigis was fairly straightforward and oftentimes serious. Chances are she really would leave Weiss alone if she only asked.

Another sigh slipped past her lips as she mentally shook her head in exasperation at what she was about to do. "No, it's fine." Some part at her, the logical side of her, railed at what was clearly an illogical act. There was no benefit to allowing Aigis to continue what she had been doing. "I'm tired and, quite frankly, not in the mood to talk or anything tonight."

"I see. My apologies then."

No more words were exchanged as the pair went about their evening rituals prior to sleeping. Weiss collected a nightgown and, after just a second of deliberation, went into the bathroom to change. When she stepped out, Aigis took her turn, having already stripped off her Beacon uniform and carrying her own nightgown and a towel, the latter to wipe down her body. Weiss was already lying in bed by the time the blonde exited the bathroom, all the lights in the room switched off save for the dim, orange light coming from the lamp on the bedside table between Aigis and Fuuka's beds.

Aigis slipped into her own bed and, noticing that Ruby and Fuuka would be down in a little over five minutes, decided to leave the table lamp switched on. It wasn't as though the light was bright enough to keep her from sleeping. With that decision made, she shut her eyes and set herself on a five minute timer, during which her systems would gradually either shut down or go to sleep.

"Aigis." When the voice of her white-haired teammate called to her, however, she put a hold on the countdown. "Why did you come after me?"

There was a strange undercurrent in Weiss's tone. One that Aigis couldn't place. And since the heiress was lying on her side, facing away from Aigis, the blonde couldn't check the other girl's expression. So she didn't let it bother her too much and, instead, answered the question. "I was worried about you. And… I did not want you to be alone."

"… what?"

An uncomfortable silence filled the room for a short while. One did not know whether the whispered response was meant for her ears. The other did not know what to say in response.

A single minute stretched, feeling so much longer despite what logic and reason told them. As such, it was a relief when the silence was broken.

"Thank you."

"… you're welcome."


December 21, XX13

Ruby sat nervously in the classroom, hands wringing around one another and her knee bouncing up and down, awaiting the beginning of the Local Geography test

With only four core subjects, each subject was scheduled to take place on a different day. For the first years, the sequence of tests would be Geography today, Social studies tomorrow, Grimm Studies on Wednesday, and History on Thursday.

Exams for the elective classes took place at the usual time they held the respective classes, so her Advanced Weapons Designing exam was tomorrow night. The only exception was the Leadership exam and Combat Tactics exam. Those would take place on Thursday night and Friday night respectively. That way the end-of-year break could begin as early as Saturday morning after a brief assembly.

The Combat class exam was different. The exam would still take place at the usual time slot, but since they were tested individually the exam would be spread out across the entire week. And, supposedly, all the professors would be involved in that exam. And with forty students per year, that meant eight students per year would be tested each day at a randomly assigned time slot.

Ruby's assigned slot was later this afternoon, the second one on the list in fact, which was good news since it meant getting it out of the way sooner. For now, however, she had her first test to worry about.

Soon enough, the bell rang and Professor Peach stepped into the room, a thick bundle of large brown envelopes tucked under one arm. Just the sight of it was enough to double Ruby's worries, enough that she was beginning to worry that she might fall ill at that very moment.

She glanced to her right, to her partner. As expected, the Schnee heiress was as calm as she could possibly be. There wasn't a hint of anxiety to be found at all. It was as though the results of the exam were a foregone conclusion, not even worth worrying about. In short, she was absolutely confident in her ability to secure a passing grade with her eyes closed. Higher, or even a perfect grade, if she had her way.

Knowing the heiress's study habits, Ruby didn't doubt that she would rank among the top of their year. The only person whom Ruby could confidently say was smarter than Weiss was Mitsuru. But even that was debatable since Mitsuru was two years older. Then again, everything they would be tested on was new to Mitsuru as well so Weiss just might rank higher. But since Mitsuru was less familiar, would that mean that she was smarter if she scored higher than Weiss? Maybe it-

Ruby nearly jumped out of her seat with a barely restrained yelp as someone tapped her on the shoulder, her already frayed nerves reacting badly to the unexpected physical contact. Turning with a hand over her heart as though it would calm it down, agitated silver met concerned blue, a gloved hand outstretched and holding a small stack of envelopes. The very same envelopes that held their tests.

"Are you alright?" asked Aigis, setting the stack down on the table in front of Ruby.

"I-I'm fine. Just…" Shaky hands picked up the tests, took one envelope for herself, and passed the rest to Weiss, who took it without a word or even a frown, completely ignoring the nervous smile Ruby tried to give her. Ignored by her partner, Ruby slumped in her seat, the smile fading away.

This time, she didn't jump in fright when a hand fell on her shoulder. "It will be fine, Ruby."

"Weiss or the test?" Ruby wanted to ask. Unfortunately, she was far too nervous to do so. Instead, she just nodded and accepted the encouragement for what it was.

Aigis's gloved hand tightened its grip slightly even as she spoke. "Try not to worry too much. And if you cannot, then at least focus on the more immediate concerns and leave future concerns for a later time."

"Alright, does everyone have a copy of the test?" Nervous responses filled the classroom even as Aigis gave Ruby's shoulder one last squeeze before she slid over to her seat. They were far enough that anyone attempting to cheat would be caught in an instant. Not that anyone would be foolish enough to try when their teacher was a certified Huntress. "Begin whenever you're ready. You have until the end of the class to finish."

The sound of envelopes being flipped open, papers rustling as the tests were pulled out and laid on the desks, and pens rapidly flowing over paper rang loudly in Ruby's ears ever as her eyes scanned over the questions on the first page. Then she flipped the pages over, taking a quick peak at the other questions. As Coco had been gracious enough to warn them about, every single question needed at least one full sentence to answer.

Beacon's reputation as the premier Huntsman Academy was well-deserved and their exams showed as much. With this manner of testing, it would be nearly impossible for someone to pass through luck alone. Even simply memorizing facts was not enough. Both knowledge and understanding of the subjects were required to succeed.

Those who relied on rote memorization of facts would find the exam doable, but difficult if they were unable to apply that knowledge or understand the underlying details. Those who believed that combat ability was all that was necessary to become a Huntsman or Huntress would soon discover their folly in the most painful way possible. And, while not as foolish as the latter, Ruby's dislike of subjects she did not find interesting would be the most likely culprit should she fail. That, and her avoidance of such things.

With a resigned sigh, Ruby turned back to the first page and got to work on the first question. She could only hope that two weeks of comprehensive and intensive studying would be enough to pull her through. If not… well… the best she could do was worry about that if, or when, it came, just as Aigis suggested.


"That's enough Ms. Rose. This fight is over."

Ruby nodded as she got to her feet, breathing heavily and tired out from the fight. She took a moment to recover, shaking the pain out of her arms from when her opponent seemed ready to pull them out of their sockets, then went to pick up her fallen weapon.

The only people in the combat area were her and Professors Goodwitch, Giollah, Peach, Oobleck, Port, and Fair, the six professors who taught the core subjects. Outside, behind the door leading out into the hallway, were the other six who were scheduled to take the Combat exam after her. Among them were Blake and Ken.

The seating area was closed off to prevent anyone from spectating. Ruby assumed it was so that none of the other students could examine the professors' fighting styles before their own exam. That wouldn't stop the students from talking to those who have yet to take the exam, but Ruby had a feeling that it wouldn't matter. Quite possibly the only ones with any hope of besting a professor in a fight were the fourth years. Even then, it was highly unlikely they would win. The professors, after all, knew what the students were capable of.

Crescent Rose folded into its travel form and was returned to its place on the magnetic plate on Ruby's lower back. Across from her, looking no worse for wear, Professor Peach returned her weapons to the holsters on her thighs. It was a pair of pistols with a single-edged blade attached below, extending past, and positioned parallel to the barrel. It reminded Ruby of Hazel Arc's Rugitus Leo, only smaller and, presumably, without the ability to change forms.

Above the trigger was a revolving cylinder that, like Weiss's Myrtenaster, held an assortment of Dust. Not that the diminutive pink-haired professor even used them. Even after Ruby cleared the five-minute mark needed to pass the test Professor Peach only used the blades of her weapon, dashing in to attack Ruby up close.

Ruby managed to last an additional two minutes after the five minutes were over. Professor Peach had ramped up the difficulty, gradually but still enough to take Ruby down within the next hundred and twenty seconds. In the end, it was a combination of being disarmed, her lack of any real unarmed combat skills, the difference in physical ability, the difference in experience, and the fact that Ruby had never once fought someone smaller than her.

The height difference was small, two or three inches at most, but most of Ruby's combat experience was against people taller than her. Seven minutes was not enough for her to completely adjust to fighting someone smaller than her. Even if she tried using her own experience to predict how the short professor would attack. The problem with that was, once again, a difference in combat experience and the difference of attack range.

While Crescent Rose gave Ruby a reach advantage, Professor Peach, due to both her stature and weapon, was much more experienced in fighting longer weapons. If not for her Semblance, Ruby would have been beaten sooner, possibly even before the five minutes were over. Ruby had to retreat whenever the pink-haired professor got too close. The first time she tried to defend with the shaft of her scythe, she found herself flat on her back and just barely managed to roll away before the pistol-blades struck her.

All in all, Professor Peach was the worst match-up, or best depending on how you looked at it, for Ruby's exam. All her shortcomings were brought to light and anything that might normally have been to Ruby's advantage – her height and reach – was used against her.

Her loss came when Professor Peach holstered one of her pistols and grabbed Crescent Rose by the shaft, preventing Ruby from running away via her Semblance. Not unless she wanted to leave her weapon behind. Then, displaying strength far beyond what her frame suggested, the weapon was wrenched out of Ruby's hands and the fifteen year old was grappled into submission before she could dash away, ending with a blade at her throat while her limbs were restrained.

Ruby passed the exam, but she couldn't help but feel the sting of defeat nonetheless. She knew it was irrational to feel that way. Her opponent was a full-fledged Huntress. No matter what advantage Ruby had, only genuine skill would have been enough to make up for the difference in physical ability and experience. That, or an entire lifetime's worth of luck. From multiple people. Even so…

Even so, she knew the truth.

"Needless to say, you've passed the exam," Professor Goodwitch stated when Ruby approached her position near the exit. "Your exact grade will be released with the others when you return from the end-of-year break. Unless you have any questions, you're free to go."

There wasn't really anything she wanted to ask about the exam so she thanked the professors and left, the door opening not long after Professor Goodwitch released the locks. As Ruby left, another first year rose from the bench and entered, the door closing once the two of them switched places.

"How was it?" Ruby turned to face Ken, who had asked the question. He was seated at the end of the bench, his spear resting against the wall next to him. "Who did you face?"

"Professor Peach," she replied, then went on to tell him about the fight. The others in the hallway, Blake included, listened in, knowing there was a chance they would fight the same opponent.

It was a bit of a morally gray area, as Coco had explained to them one night when Team CFVY joined them on the roof the Saturday before the last. Apparently Yukari had told them about their late night gatherings and the second-year team decided to see what it was about one evening.

The professors don't let other people watch the fight. But they don't stop the students from telling the others about the fight itself. Nobody knew the reason why. Even when asked directly, the professors never answered. Students speculated, but without even a single clue it was almost impossible to know which theory even came close to the real answer.

So they just went with it. Some students didn't talk, not wanting their classmates to get an advantage they themselves did not have. Others went into detail to help their classmates have a better chance of passing. And, while rare, there were those who fed false information, especially while in hearing range of classmates they didn't like.

One by one, the students came and left. Ruby hung around to keep Blake and Ken company. Also, partly, because going back now would mean studying for tomorrow's test. While she wasn't entirely against it, she did want to relax a bit before going into it.

Soon enough, Blake took her turn. When she came out, her cat ears were almost flat against her head. At first Ruby and Ken thought that she might have failed the exam despite being inside for more than five minutes. The feline faunus explained that she did pass, just that something else upset her during the test. She didn't say anything else, nor did they ask.

After another one took their turn, it was Ken's turn. He looked nervous, which was understandable. He was the first among SEES to take the test and it was uncertain whether there would be any special considerations given because of his lack of Aura. The privacy of the exam worked to his advantage since it would mean he could use his Persona. The only downside to that was that the professors all knew what his Persona was capable of.

A few of the students who came and left, some of which were teammates of those who took the test, also wished Ken luck and congratulated Ruby on her pass. As the two youngest students of their year, many had been understandably dubious at the beginning. Some openly, some not so. And while Ken was not as capable in a fight, he had certainly earned the respect of their classmates, even a grudging one in the cases of some.

"What do you think?" Ruby turned to the left where Blake sat, the faunus still facing the direction of the door that had just closed behind the twelve year old. "Do you think SEES will have a different exam?"

It was a good thing that everybody else left already. Otherwise they would have had people asking what SEES was.

"Maybe." Ruby really couldn't say anything definite. "I mean, none of us got out of that without getting hit. Other than Aigis and Pyrrha, I don't really see anyone else going five minutes against the professors. Then again, the professors did say they'd hold back to our level for the first five minutes so maybe they'll hold back even more?"

"Maybe," Blake mirrored Ruby's previous response. But unlike the girl with reddish-black hair, the feline faunus did not look very optimistic. "I just have a bad feeling whenever I think about it." The black-haired girl shook her head and decided to change the subject. "How was your test earlier? Did all the studying help?"

"Well…" Ruby turned away, looking uncertain.

Despite countless hours of study Ruby still felt that she had a very good chance of failing. It was only now, after the first written test of the week, that she realized just what it was that Weiss had been trying to tell her since the second week of classes, the same time that the professors began assigning homework.

It happened right after dinner on a Wednesday. Weiss invited Ruby to join her in the library to start and finish the homework that had been assigned to them that day in both Grimm Studies and Local Geography. Rather than accepting, Ruby claimed – quite proudly at that now that she thought about it – that she would finish it on Friday or Saturday when they had more free time, just like she used to do it back in Signal Academy. The same happened the next day for her History and Social Studies homework.

Both times, Weiss let the matter drop without too much issue. Though she did frown deeply and mention that she hoped Ruby knew what she was doing. In the end, Ruby had gone to Weiss Sunday afternoon, asking for help with the homework since she didn't want to bother Fuuka and Aigis, both of whom, at that time, were still depressed due to their failed music night.

This repeated itself a few more times over the next two weeks until came a time, after SEES's recovery, that Weiss had had enough.

At first, she simply began insisting more and more that she and Ruby study in the evenings. But, having experienced first-hand how difficult it was to… teach her partner, Weiss proved to be too strict in her manner to teaching, resulting in Ruby turning to Fuuka and Aigis for help.

Yet she only turned to them when necessary. A fact that Weiss noticed.

Time and again she reminded Ruby that she needed to spend more time studying. Time and again she turned down invitations to hang out while simultaneously trying to convince Ruby to study instead. Every Saturday morning, without fail, she would ask if Ruby was done with her homework for the week. And promptly scold her for putting it off. And lose her temper whenever Ruby prioritizes her plans for the day over schoolwork, sometimes ending with a face buffeted by rose petals.

Looking back at all those times, Ruby was beginning to wish she spent less time playing around. Not too much time, but certainly enough that she had kept up with her studies. And while her argument that failing the first set of exams did not mean expulsion, nor did it warrant any form of punishment beyond a warning, Weiss also had a point.

The first major exams covered everything they had learned over the past three-and-a-half months. Any lessons they had afterwards would be part of the second major exams. Any lessons after that would be part of the third major exams. Some subjects may be interconnected but, for the most part, nothing in one exam would appear in another.

After the third exam, they had only about half a month to prepare for the final exam. And as Weiss had warned her partner, the final exam took everything they had learned over the year and put it all together into one comprehensive exam. And that was the one that determined whether an individual would be returning the following year. And, by extension, it would determine whether that individual's team would need to repeat the year with a new teammate the following school year.

A similar system was used in Signal Academy. The main differences were that teams in Signal were formed only for practice, and failing the finals did not necessarily mean expulsion since it was possible to make up for the failing grade with extra work. That, however, was a system used mainly in regular and combat schools.

As Ruby was coming to learn, Huntsman Academies were far, far stricter. And it was a painful reminder that she was accepted solely for her combat ability whereas everyone else, minus Jaune, has to show both sufficient combat and intellectual capability. It wasn't that Ruby was stupid - her grades prior to jumping ahead were evidence enough - just that some parts of her education were missing due to skipping two years.

And it was just as painful to realize that Weiss had taken that into consideration whenever she urged, insisted, and all but physically forced Ruby to study.

Blake frowned when Ruby did, the latter turning away with a hint of embarrassment coloring her features. "… Don't worry," she said after a prolonged pause, placing a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Just do your best. That's all anyone can ask of you. If you fail, and I'm not saying you will," she added hurriedly but comfortingly when Ruby cringed, "But if you do, then learn from your mistakes and do better next time."

A small smile replaced the frown on Ruby's face, but Blake could tell that she was mostly forcing it. "Thanks Blake. I jus-"

The sound of shifting metal cut off their conversation. The two girls turned to the door, surprised and worried. A quick glance at a Scroll showed the time. More importantly, it told them how much time had passed since the door last opened.

Ken had a sheepish but amused grin on his face as he walked out of the combat area. Since he was the last one to be tested for the day, the professors exited as well, walking past the three students without a word even as Ruby and Blake walked up to Ken.

As they neared, they noticed the bruise forming on his cheek as well as the way his clothes were slightly torn and frayed. He chuckled before they could speak, looking up at the two of them. "Sorry," he said with another chuckle, his amused expression completely out of sync with his words. "Looks like I'm the first to fail."


December 25, XX13

Exam week passed faster than Ruby thought possible. Or the exams themselves at least. The period between exams seemed to stretch on indefinitely. Sitting for five minutes in the classroom while waiting for the professor to arrive with the test felt like hours or days. Never mind the hours between the actual exams.

Ruby tried to pass the time by studying but Fuuka had advised against studying too much. Reading through her notes once or twice was fine, but cramming and forcing herself to memorize things would, according to Ruby's Japanese teammate, make her actually start forgetting things.

So most of the time was spent waiting and worrying, though everyone tried to cheer each other up.

But the worst part, in Ruby's opinion, were the results of the Combat test.

Passing was a simple matter. It was just that the final grade for the exam would be determined after the professors carefully went over the student's overall performance.

Inversely, you would automatically know if you failed. And in this case, eleven first-year students failed the first major Combat exam. Seven of those people belonged to their group.

To be precise, all members of SEES, minus Aigis, had failed.

It was almost surreal. Not just for Ruby but for the half of the group, again minus Aigis, who passed.

It turns out that no special test had been designed for the group of Aura-less students. They had to survive a five-minute fight against the professors just like everyone else. Due to their lack of Aura, the professors changed the conditions of the fight. SEES would only lose if they received ten solid hits, if they were disarmed – both their weapon and their Evoker while their Persona was not already out to fight – or if they were rendered unable to fight back in any other way.

SEES took their defeat graciously, some of them mentioning that it was to be expected. Although both Akihiko and Junpei looked disappointed. Apparently the two of them were the ones who struggled the hardest, almost to the point of defiance, to try and eke out a victory even when they knew they were outmatched.

Understandable or not, it still came as a shock to their teammates. Even if the professors held back to their level, and had to hold back any significantly damaging attacks, they were still fighting a steep uphill battle. Aigis passing was practically a guarantee. But none of them expected all the rest to fail.

"There's not much we can do about it now," said Mitsuru, looking quite relaxed as she sat along the edge of the roof with the rest of the group. "The best we can do is prepare for the next ones, the finals especially."

Since their end-of-year break was starting tomorrow, everyone decided to move their Saturday night meeting a day earlier. Surprisingly, Weiss decided to join them, though she and Yang made a conscious and very noticeable effort to not interact with one another or even look in the other's direction.

They mostly spoke about how the exams went. Even without SEES's failure in the Combat test, there were plenty of things to talk about, both exam related and not.

"Hey, I just realized something," suddenly came Junpei's voice, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"That you're an idiot?"

Junpei rolled his eyes at Yukari's barb but didn't acknowledge it beyond that. "It's the twenty-fifth today."

While half the group just looked at Junpei with a look that said 'So?', the other half reacted with mild to moderate levels of surprise. Yukari even pulled out her Scroll to check.

"You're right." Fuuka's voice was breathy with disbelief, her eyes conveying her surprise as well. "With the exams and everything else that's happened I didn't even realize it."

"What's so special about the twenty-fifth?" asked Ruby. "Was it a holiday or something?"

Fuuka nodded, recovering a bit from her shock. "Today is Christmas. It's a holiday celebrated just about everywhere."

"Everywhere in 'Japan', you mean," Yukari corrected with a small smirk. "If there was Christmas anywhere else then we'd have seen a lot more signs before now. People would have been decorating everything for weeks before today if there was and there'd be the usual shopping rush."

"That reminds me of something else," threw in Mitsuru. "Fuuka." The teal-haired girl turned to the redhead. "If I remember right, wasn't your birthday on the twenty-second?"

If she had had a different upbringing, Mitsuru would have roared in laughter at how quickly Fuuka was overwhelmed by everyone's reactions. The poor girl was rapidly looking back and forth as she tried to answer everyone's questions.

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of-"

"No, that won't be-"

"I'm eighteen now bu-"

"No, I-"

Unfortunately, people kept cutting her off before she could finish even a single statement. The only people not actively involved were Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Weiss. Everyone else was all but bombarding the diminutive Japanese girl with questions and various comments. Some of which were, to Mitsuru's observant eyes and ears, strictly to keep the girl off balance for the sake of amusement.

"That's one way to distract them," Akihiko commented in a soft voice.

That comment drew Weiss's attention. "From what?" she asked, just as softly to avoid drawing attention from the majority of the group.

There was a bitter smile on Akihiko's face as he replied, though he didn't turn away from the group as Fuuka vehemently and stubbornly kept trying to turn down the need for a birthday celebration of any sort. "Christmas is generally a happy time but last year wasn't as… ideal as it should have been. Not to say that we didn't celebrate it, just that we had a lot on our minds at that time."

It wasn't as complete an answer as she would have liked – then again few things with SEES ever were when it came to something they didn't want to talk about – but she would take what little she could get.

"Then it's settled!" announced Nora, shooting up to her feet with her fist raised. "We'll throw Fuuka a party right before we come back to Beacon!"

The announcement caused another ruckus amongst them all. Only this time, Yang and Nora were handling the details such as where the party would be held…

"They have a house, remember?"

"Oh yeah!"

… the party food…

"Renny can do the cooking!"

"Wh- Nora!"

… the entertainment…

"Isn't that a game for a kid's party?"

"It's fun!"

… and generally anything else they could think of.

The others contributed as well, throwing in ideas or, in Yukari's case, shooting them down when they became too outrageous. And all the while, Fuuka's almost teary complaints that it was unnecessary or too much went mostly ignored.

By the time the discussion wound down, midnight had long since come and gone. And with it, the end and beginning of yet another day.


December 26, XX13

"I've just realized something," began Aigis, looking around at the assembled groups. "I believe this will be the first time since we came together as SEES that we will be apart for an extended period of time."

"Now that you mention it…" Yukari trailed off, looking around as well and taking note of where everyone was standing.

Teams ASYR and KYBT, with the exceptions of Aigis, Weiss and Mitsuru, formed one group. Team ANKR, minus Akihiko but including Weiss, made up another. Team JACN, with the exception of Pyrrha, formed a third. Mitsuru, Aigis, Akihiko, and Pyrrha formed the fourth.

As she had already told the group, Mitsuru, Aigis, and Akihiko were headed to the City of Weilai in the Kingdom of Mistral, the same city where the main office of the Adamas Corporation was located. Both former seniors were tightlipped regarding their business there, just that it wasn't anything the others needed to worry about, though they would be told once they were all gathered once more at the end of their respective vacations. Pyrrha would be joining them, having successfully rescheduled her obligations to be able to accompany the two older teens during their brief visit.

As for the remaining groups, anyone who paid attention to the countless conversations over the past ten days would immediately come to the proper conclusion that their current groupings fell in line with their respective plans.

The first group would be headed to Yang and Ruby's home on the island of Patch. With permission from Taiyang Xiao Long, the father of the siblings, the members of both teams were invited and welcomed to stay for the entire duration of their break if they wanted to. With no other plans, the siblings' teammates accepted the invitation with two exceptions, Weiss and Mitsuru. The latter, however, said she would join them once her business in Mistral was finished.

Weiss, Ren, Nora, and Ken would remain behind at Beacon. Weiss did not state any particular reason for not returning home to Atlas, but Ren and Nora, being orphans, had no other place to go. And although Mitsuru and Akihiko offered to let them stay in SEES's house, Ren declined, claiming that he wasn't comfortable having more or less full run of someone else's home. Weiss gave the same reason, though was much more verbose about it. Ken chose to remain with them with Akihiko joining them once he returned from Mistral.

The first Headmaster was aware that there would sometimes be circumstances under which a student could not, or would not, return home. As such, the school remained open during the shorter breaks with a number of volunteers from the school's staff – security, medical, maintenance, and one or two professors – staying behind. Most facilities also remained open and available for the students' use but with much stricter rules due to the lesser number of staff to keep an eye on them.

The trio of Jaune, Junpei, and Chidori were headed to Domremy, Jaune's hometown. With a similar invitation from the entire Arc family, Junpei thought it was a perfect way for their team to bond without resorting to group studies and team training. Much like Mitsuru and Akihiko, Pyrrha would be joining her team at a later date. Though, unlike the former two, Pyrrha would be spending most of her break in Mistral and joining her team for less than a handful of days, rather than the reverse.

Just then, the external speakers of all the airships on the landing pads buzzed and crackled to life and a handful of pre-recorded announcements blared out from multiple direction. Only one part of the announcement, however, meant anything to the group. "The airship to Vale will be departing in ten minutes." The recording looped once before falling silent.

"Well, that's us. Better get in and grab some seats." Junpei picked up the duffle bag by his feet and slung the strap over his head and across his torso. "Yo, Ken." The twelve-year-old looked up as his name was called, meeting Junpei's grin. "Try not ta get into trouble, alright?"

"Shouldn't I be telling you that?" Ken quipped back with a grin of his own. "Oh, and you don't have to worry about bringing me back any souvenirs. I don't think Domremy, Patch, or Weilai have any specialties I can't find in Vale."

"Alright, alright, quit with the reverse psychology already. I'm pretty sure you did that last time too." Ken just gave an unrepentant grin. "Hey, Nora. When we get back, we're hitting the arcades first thing and breaking the tie. So better get practicing, y'hear?"

"Br~ring it!"

Everyone ignored the exchange and said their own farewells to the quartet who would remain behind. As the larger group moved to enter the airship, the smaller group began their trek back to the school, Nora chattering all the way.

"Uhm… Weiss…?"

The voice was soft, almost to the point of being inaudible as the airships' engines slowly whined to life. Yet it was loud enough that all four of them turned around. When they saw who it was, one nodded to Weiss and left with the other two, leaving the heiress to deal with whatever it was that Ruby wanted to talk about.

"What?" There was no inflection in her tone or even an undercurrent of any sort of emotion. And, if Ruby were being honest, that disturbed her more than if Weiss had been angry. "Well?"

Hearing a hint of impatience enter Weiss's tone, Ruby realized that she had been silent for too long. "I just… I…" Ruby's voice trailed away, unable to form the words she wanted to say. When Weiss's lips thinned as she pressed them tighter in in irritation, Ruby panicked. "IjustwantedtosayI'msorry!"

The black-haired girl shut her eyes on reflex as though expecting a tongue-lashing or something similar. But when silence was all that met her ears, a single eyelid slowly rose. Then the other joined the first when her lone opened eye saw that Weiss did not look angry at all.

Instead, the heiress's head was raised and she gave the younger girl a look of smug satisfaction. "Apology accepted." Weiss's expressions grew even smugger, something Ruby thought impossible, when the younger girl felt her face twist in confusion. "What? Would you rather I gloat since I was right, or scold you some more for not taking your studies as seriously as you should have been?"

"What? No!" Ruby replied in a hurry, neither choice sounding the least bit appealing. "I just… you're… not mad?"

And yet again, the smugness that Weiss was radiating grew even more pronounced. She may not have been gloating openly, but her body language told a different story. "The point of an argument is to convince the other person or group that your way of thinking is correct or better. Unless you intend to insist that putting off your homework and studies is better, then I've already won the argument."

When it was clear that Weiss wasn't going to add anything else, Ruby gave a small sigh of relief. In her head of course. There was no telling just how far the heiress's goodwill extended and Ruby had no intention, nor the desire, to test it. Best to enjoy speaking with her partner while she was in a good mood while it lasted.

"Now that you've realized the error of your ways, I expect to see you take your studies more seriously from now on. No more putting off homework until the last minute or even until the weekend." A~and it was nice while it lasted. "I realize it would be too much to ask expect you to read ahead but I will at least insist that we review each week's lessons. Since I have a class late Thursday night and you have a class late Friday night, we'll schedule the review for Saturday after breakfast. Furthermore, we…"

Ruby felt her calm façade grow closer to breaking – not that she was that good at it in the first place – with each new caveat her partner added. It was clear to her that this was the price she had to pay if she didn't want another argument, or worse, with the white-haired girl.

"Ruby! Come on!"

The fifteen-year-old brightened up when she was saved by someone calling her name. In contrast, Weiss looked decidedly annoyed by the interruption. Though perhaps that had to do with the fact that the interruption in question was made by Yang. To this day, the two had yet to properly reconcile their differences. Ruby could only hope that two weeks apart would cool their heads at least a little bit.

With a huff of what sounded like forced annoyance, Weiss's gaze softened as they landed on Ruby once more. "I suppose we can go over our plans when we see each other next." Ruby, wisely, decided not to correct her partner's use of the word 'our'. "I'll see you in two weeks then."

The heiress had already turned and begun to walk away when Ruby made up her mind about something. "Uh… bye Weiss! Enjoy your break!" She cringed at how loud her voice came out. She hadn't intended to yell. Especially not when her partner was nowhere near far enough to warrant it.

She quickly spun around and began speed-walking in the direction of the airship's boarding ramp, where Yang was still waving her over. Ruby had only taken a few steps when she suddenly froze mid-step as a soft, almost sad, voice reached her ears. Familiar and, yet, entirely unrecognizable. "Have a safe trip, Ruby."

Ruby's mind moved faster to process the new information as though to make up for her lack of physical movement.

Fact number one, it had been Weiss's voice. Fact number two, the voice came from Weiss's direction. Fact number three, there was nobody else around the area who was close enough to have been the one to speak. Conclusion, it was Weiss who had spoken.

But, at the same time, there were many facts that seemed to disprove that same conclusion.

Contradictory fact number one, the tone was soft, uncharacteristically so for the Schnee heiress. Contradictory fact number two, Weiss had never, never, spoken with such a tone. And contradictory fact number three, it was Weiss.

Ruby spun, barely a heartbeat after hearing Weiss's(?) words. Even so, by the time she did, Weiss was already walking away, giving no indication that she had been the one to speak.

And yet…

And yet, Ruby couldn't stop the wide smile that blossomed on her face as she ran to the soon-to-be-departing airship. And as she did, she could only wonder what it all meant for their relationship. Both as partners and, hopefully, friends.


High above the entire Beacon Academy campus, a lone figure watched with bright yellow eyes as a handful of airships slowly rose from the platforms, the gentle whine of their engines inaudible in the distance yet easily brought to mind through memory. In mere moments, the airborne ships turned away from the school and towards the City of Vale just as they always did.

"Are you sure you should be up here and not down there?" asked a male voice.

Turning, the yellow-eyed figure met two pairs of eyes. One pair was a deep brown while the other was a lively green, both pairs of eyes situated behind their respective owners' spectacles.

"I am precisely where I need to be," she replied, the white-haired woman's unnaturally yellow eyes twinkled in amusement along with the grin on her lips. "I have given them all the aid I can by giving them the tools to help them survive in this new world they have found themselves in. The consequences of the things they have done since our parting, and the things they will do in the days and years to come, are ones they will bear on their own. After all, the only ones who can face such consequences, are those who have chosen the paths that led to them in the first place."

The pair stared at the woman in silence, contemplating her semi-cryptic words. Yet, before another word could come from their lips, the white-haired woman turned her gaze back to the airships, whose forms were quickly growing smaller as they soared away. All three pairs of eyes watched until the ships were nothing but specks in the distance, like near-microscopic motes of dust hanging in the air before them. Soon enough, the ships were gone from sight.

At that point, both the brown and green pairs of eyes turned to the white-haired woman once more, only for the latter pair of eyes to widen in shock when they discovered the woman to be missing.

"Where did…"

"It seems that Ms. Elizabeth has more secrets that we initially believed," the gray-haired Headmaster commented as his deputy's questions trailed off in confusion. "Perhaps it was too optimistic of me to think that we would get our answers so easily."

"Should we search for her in case she's still in the area?" asked the blonde Deputy Headmistress.

Ozpin merely shook his head, a response that Glynda had already predicted. "No. I don't believe we will find her anywhere on campus." His eyes remained steadfastly gazing in the direction of the distant airships. "She only seems to have come to check on her former charges. I suspect she will either await their arrival in Vale, or she will return to whatever business she is engaged in at the moment."

"I see. Still, I can't help but wonder."

"So do I," admitted Ozpin. "While it can be seen as lending aid to the friends of a young man she knew, her actions still do not make complete sense." Seeing Glynda's thoughtful and slightly worried expression, Ozpin was glad that he had long since decided to keep one additional fact to himself, the fact that even Elizabeth's physical appearance alone had been more than enough to cause him to worry when they first met.

The white hair and otherworldly yellow eyes, the strangely formal manner of speaking, the strange choice of clothing she wore, and, worst of all, the immeasurable hidden strength beneath her calm features were but the first and most outward signs that set him on alert. The things she said, and the things she didn't say, were less obvious signs. Yet to one like himself, who regularly spoke with officials of various fields, they were as plain as day.

But beyond her mention of a surviving Shadow, beyond the strange intonation on the word 'Death', beyond her strange interest in a certain group of children, and beyond her bizarre resourcefulness and ability to provide for SEES in almost every way conceivable, there was one little fact, one statement, that rang through his head whenever he thought of the white-haired woman. A statement that she had made in passing during their first meeting when she witnessed Glynda's Semblance at play. A statement that made it clear to him that she was more than she appeared to be.

"Even after everything I have witnessed over the years, the growing potential of humanity never ceases to surprise me."

He had no proof, of course, beyond his suspicions. But her words were enough to stir even that much from him. Whatever her goals were, Ozpin was fairly certain that SEES's patron was not human. What she was, however, remained to be seen.

And he dearly hoped, despite his suspicions, that he was wrong.


And that's the end. For now anyway.

A fair bit shorter than my usual, I know. I really hate writer's block. Especially one that's bad enough that I went nearly two months without being able to update this. Well, part of those two months were the work issues I mentioned earlier. Still, I'm fairly sure I would have been able to do my monthly update had it not been for the writer's block.

A~aaanyway, not the most fulfilling chapter but we've got SEES splitting up for the first time in quite a long while. With a two week break, who knows what sort of trouble they'll get up to? Well, I do, of course. XD

We'll get a chance to see what all the groups are doing, though one group in particular will be getting more focus than the rest.

Anyway, bit of sad news for everyone but I'll be working mainly on chapter two of All's Fair in Love and Madness next, so don't expect another update too soon for this. Messiah's Legacy is still my current brainchild and the one I have bigger plans for, but I was never one to leave something unfinished nor was I ever fond of leaving something on the back burner for too long. Either way, this shift in focus will give me a chance to flesh out the next few chapters for this as well as finish planning out the first major arc once the next arc finishes.

As always, let me know what you think, good and bad.

Until next time everyone.