*Desolate grave suddenly bursts open*

"AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS I AM FREE! TIME TO CONQUER THE EARTH!"

That's right you lot, after however long it's been, I'm back, and making updates for Death's Apprentice again! I was mainly motivated by the unsatisfying gut-punch that was the Vol 8 finale. Stay tuned for more of the magnificent Red Reaper's adventures!

To KHARAKI TAKAN who asked what language Benz was speaking: Benz has had his tongue cut out, so it's basically gibberish.

Don't forget to ask me anything, share your theories, or ask for an original character to be added if you want!

A dark room, a clash of steel, sparks illuminating. Grim's Harvester grinding against Ruby's own Crescent Rose.

It was almost 3 am, and Grim was training her apprentice in truesight, the act of perfectly detecting one's surroundings through the use of something akin to echolocation, but with soul energy instead of sound. And that was the reason that Ruby and Grim were currently sparring in a completely dark, soundproof room.

Ruby was having some trouble perfectly maintaining the truesight, only using it to see in a cone in front of her like a flashlight. Which was hindering since, as Grim explained, the complete version of truesight was like a sphere that surrounded the user, alerting them to everything that was in their vicinity.

The upside was that it still pierced through the various obstacles that were scattered around the training room, giving her a sought of x-ray. Plus, the sound part also worked, so bonus.

Speaking of which, Ruby heard the subtle whooshing of air behind her just in time to burst into a storm of petals and dodge a downwards cleave of Harvester. Ruby then did her best to counter with by spinning Crescent Rose around her hand like a top, and launch the spinning blade of death at her master. Grim, being the smug badass that Ruby considered her to be, simply did her annoying 'cloak teleporting' trick (which she had refused to share with Ruby yet) and disappear from Ruby's sight once again.

Crescent rose ricocheted off an obstacle's wall and back at Ruby, who caught it one-handedly.

"Very good, Ruby." Grim congratulated, as the lights flickered on, the walls shifted from soundproof to regular, and all the obstacles submerged into the floor once again. "I think you're picking this up quite well."

"Ugh, thanks, Grim. I don't feel like I'm picking it up all that well, though." Ruby groaned, stretching her back to get the various kinks out.

"Nonsense," Grim dismissively waved a hand. "You've been progressing at a steady pace and I never did say that this training would go fast." Grimm then pressed a button on the wall to open the metal door, stepping through it once it was open. Ruby followed closely behind.

"Yeah, but the only thing I've really learnt is how to go without sleep, and even then, I'm not very good at- OW!" Ruby was interrupted by Grim flicking her forehead.

"Shush, Ruby. I will not have you degrading your accomplishments like that." Grim lectured. "Such training that I give is meant to come in small increments. It is very difficult what you are attempting to accomplish, and even the smallest of improvements warrants paise. And, not to forget, but look at what you have achieved even before coming to Beacon! Flight, barriers, infusement, those are great things, Ruby!"

Ruby blushed at the praise, rubbing the back of her head. Grim giggled at her, before kneeling down to look her in the eyes.

"You are a brilliant mentee, Ruby. Let no one tell you otherwise."

"…Thanks, Grim."

Grim smiled warmly. "You're welcome, Ruby. Now! Back off to sleep, should you so want."

Ruby giggled. "Heh, okay Grim!" Ruby agreed, trotting off to her room.

DEATH'S APPRENTICE

The Next Night…

"Hi Jaune!" Ruby greeted, appearing with Sam behind a startled Jaune. "long time no see!"

"Oh-oh! Hi Ruby, Sam." Jaune greeted the pyjama-clad red and pink girls.

"Did you get locked out of your room again?" Sam asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Ah… what? Oh, um, nope! See?" Jaune scrambled to show them his scroll. "Totally got it this time!"

"So where have you been?" Ruby asked. "SKRA has just started hanging out with us and you're the only one missing."

"I… uh…" Jaune tried to come up with something in his head to avoid telling his friend the truth but came up short for an answer. "…I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and..." Jaune's whole body slumped. Jaune then leant against his team's door and slid down it to the floor. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea. I'm just a failure."

Ruby and Sam looked at one another before back at Jaune.

"Nope!" They said together.

"Uh… nope?" Jaune questioned.

"Nope!" Sam clarified.

"You're a leader now Jaune, just like Same and I am." Ruby told him.

"And we aren't allowed to be failures." Sam continued.

"But, what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" Jaune asked.

"Hmmm… Nope!" Ruby repeated, she and Sam now sitting left of Jaune.

"You know, you guys are not the easiest to talk about this kind of stuff.

"Nope!" The girls said once again.

"Jaune, you may have been a failure when you were a kid…" Sam said.

"You may have been a failure the first day we met…" Ruby continued.

"But you can't be one now, you know why?" Sam asked.

"Because… uh…" Jaune tried to guess.

"It isn't just about you anymore," Ruby answered for him, seeing that Jaune didn't know. "We've got teams now, Jaune. We can't screw up for them, Weiss, Yang and Blake are all counting on me."

"Just like Krane, Ray and Amelia are counting on me." Sam included. "We can't bring them down with us, so we need to put our teammates first and ourselves second." Sam finished, she and Ruby getting up.

"JNPR deserves a great leader Jaune," Ruby said. "And I think that can be you. We both think that can be you." Ruby glanced at Sam.

"Yeah, so stop playing that little violin of yours, and if you can't do it for yourself," Sam gave a smile, "Do it for them."

"Night Jaune, night Sam." Ruby farewelled as she stepped into her own dorm.

"Goodnight Ruby, Goodnight Jaune." Sam also farewelled, walking away to her own dorm.

Now alone in the hallway, Jaune sighed.

"I really hope you two are right…" he said to himself, just before his scroll rang.

DEATH'S APPRENTICE

On the way to Forever Fall, Ruby sat next to a disgruntle Pyrrha, arms folded and face scowling. Ruby was honestly still debating to just talk to her.

"So… Pyrrha…" Ruby started, making her decision.

"Yes. Ruby?" Pyrrha said, a certain poison to her words. Perhaps not directed at Ruby, but the little red reaper still felt it there.

"Are… you doing okay?"

"Yes. Never Better."

"O-okay. It just really seems that you're… not."

Pyrrha sighed. "I'm sorry, Ruby, if I'm being difficult. It's just…"

"Jaune?" Ruby guessed. Pyrrha nodded. "And I'm guessing this has something to do with your talk on the room a week or so back?"

Pyrrha was caught off-guard by that. "H-how did you…?"

"I was already there when you guys came out. You didn't notice me, and I left, as to not interrupt." Ruby explained. "What did you guys talk about?"

Pyrrha debated in her head what she was going to say to Ruby. On one hand, Ruby would never spill the secret that Jaune cheated his way into Beacon. But on the other, even if she was still mad with him Pyrrha didn't want to betray Jaune's trust.

"Well, I'm sure you can tell that Jaune is struggling in class…" Pyrrha began.

"No duh," Ruby quipped, smiling at Pyrrha, who felt obliged to return the smile.

"Well, I just wanted to offer to help him train and study, and he completely blew up. Not wanting to be the 'damsel in distress stuck in a tree whilst his friends fight for their lives'." Pyrrha paraphrased.

"But, if he wanted to get better, why didn't he accept?" Ruby asked.

"Because apparently, if he can't do it himself, then what good is he?" Pyrrha scowled at the memory.

"That's stupid."

"Huh?" Pyrrha looked to Ruby again, who was staring up at her with her glistening silver eyes, which seemed to peer right into a person's very soul.

"That. Is stupid." Ruby repeated. "We've only come as far as we have as a civilization because we can work together. Even I have help training, and honestly, without that help, I wouldn't even be half as strong as I am today. We all need a hand up here and there to get better, so I think it's stupid." Ruby looked around the interior of the bullhead. "But… I can also kind of get where Jaune is coming from. Since day one, it's been us who've taken care of his problems for him, and, I think he wants to prove to us most of all that he can do it."

Pyrrha stared at this girl, wise beyond her years, and did the only she could do.

She laughed.

"H-huh?! What so funny?" Ruby asked, utterly confused in an adorable way.

"You, Ruby Rose, are an incredibly smart girl." Pyrrha remarked, her laughter dying down. "I don't know why I never thought of that before, it seems so obvious when you say it."

"Hey," Ruby put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, "We all need a hand up now and again."

Pyrrha chuckled a tad more.

"So, how about once we all get back to Beacon, we all talk to Jaune again, but instead of offering to train him, we offer him to train with all of us?" Ruby suggested.

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, Sam and I have been thinking that our teams, and JNPR of course, should all start training together." Ruby explained. "It'd be a great idea since we'd be able to all improve on our strengths and weaknesses together, as well as strengthen the bond between our teams."

Pyrrha smiled. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Ruby."

"Thanks!" Ruby beamed.

'Brothers, this girl is a whole kind of something else, isn't she?'

DEATH'S APPRENTICE

HAHA! Bet you didn't expect to see I, the author Kamiro, here in the middle of the story! Worry not, for I shan't stay long, only long enough to remind you of a few things.

Don't forget to comment,

I'm a beta reader now, so check out my beta profile and message me if you want me to beta something for you,

If you wanted a character/event to be in this story, just tell me! And it may just happen.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program!

DEATH'S APPRENTICE

The bullheads that were transporting the students lowered into the red-leafed forest that was Forever Fall, giving the teens all great views of the breathtaking scenery. Once at a clearing, the bullheads, one by one, dipped beneath the crimson foliage and hovered just far enough off the ground for the students to hop off, before pulling away and allowing the next ship to do the same.

Ruby gathered with the rest of her team, SKRA and JNPR with the exception of Jaune, who was following behind CRDL lugging a large case with jars being balanced on top of it. Pyrrha wanted to glare at the blonde but couldn't find the resolve to after her talk with Ruby. The students soon began splitting off into groups, chaperoned by the accompanying teachers. RWBY, JNPR, SKRA and CRDL were being supervised by Miss Goodwitch. Now down at the forest floor, the environment was just as beautiful as it was in the air above it, and the students continued to marvel at it as they walked.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful." The huntress said to the following teens. "But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you dies while doing so." She then turned to face the students, holding up a jar of viscous red liquid. "Each of you is to gather as many jars worth of red sap as you can. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

With that declared, the students each went off by themselves, pairing up with a few others. Jaune attempted to sneak away from Cardin, hoping he could stick with his team and give himself a chance to explain himself to them, but he had no such luck and Cardin noticed almost immediately.

"Come on, buddy - let's go!" he said to Jaune, gripping his hoodie. Jaune looked sadly after his team, of whom Pyrrha was the only one noticing him. She looked at him sadly for a moment before turning away and following Ren and Nora, most likely to help Ren handle the energetic girl. Jaune slumped, before giving in and following his blackmailer.

A few minutes later, Blake was collecting sap with the help of a member from team SKRA, Krane Grezzelle. The spindly girl was particularly tall, being rivalled only by the second year Blake had seen from team CFVY. Despite being a calm and positive girl, Krane always had some sort of resting bitch face, her short salt and pepper hair doing nothing to hide it.

Blake would privately admit to herself that it was useful to have such a tall person around when collecting things from trees. It also helped that Krane could find the trees with the most sap with aid from her semblance. The two worked in a comfortable silence that neither were too eager to break due to how comfortable they were in the silence.

That was Until Yang and Amelia Merrytin had to break their lovely peace with their rambunctious personalities amplifying off one another. Right now, they were having a competition seeing which one of them could hold more sap jars at once. Blake did have to admit, it was always quite humorous watching the tiny Amelia carrying something so comically disproportionate.

Whilst Ruby was sometimes asked by other students if she was a little young for Beacon, Amelia constantly was asked if she was looking for an older sister or parent on the account that the wispy blonde ram faunus looked like a 9-year-old. It also didn't help that she kind of acted like one too. But any laughter anyone made against her was quickly diminished once she took out her battering ram/assault cannon hybrid that was just bigger than Krane.

"Watch it you two! Don't drop those!" A boy called out to them, Weiss next to him with her arms crossed and face disappointed.

The boy was the final member of team SKRA, Ray Grizzle. His two-tone red and silver hair was slicked back and cut short(ish). His lance and Shield hung on the back of his red and grey jacket.

"Aw, lay off it Ray," Yang grinned, but still putting the jars down, "Just doing what Goodwitch said after all. Have fun!"

"She also said to collect sap." Weiss reminded.

"Ugh, yeah, yeah. Whatever Weiss Cream." Amelia rolled her eyes, ignoring the subsequently fuming Weiss over her nickname. Yang and Amelia just laughed at her, which made Weiss rage more, which then made the two laugh even harder, all the while Ray kept trying helplessly to lecture the two of them. It also didn't help that their unattended and ignored sap jars were being pilfered by Nora, who just kept eating them all no matter how hard Ren tried to stop her.

Sam, Pyrrha and Ruby were watching the whole commotion go down a distance away, all giggling at their teams' antics.

"You know," Sam began, "I really do forget sometimes that we are being trained to hunt monsters and protect the world."

Ruby hummed in agreement. "Me too. But I guess that's why we can appreciate these moments a little more. So, we can see what we're saving."

Pyrrha looked away, slightly disheartened. "I just wish Jaune was here with us…"

Sam and Ruby glanced at one another.

"I'm sure he'll come around," Sam said, putting a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, 'for all the shortcomings that he has, loyalty is not one of them. So don't give up on him that easily."

Ruby tuned out of the conversation when her finely tuned senses caught the sound of glass breaking from the small plateau behind them. Looking up, she didn't see anyone there, but with a quick flash of her newly learnt truesight, she saw something that would have put a smile on her face if not for someone attacking her friend. Jaune finally defying his bullies in the name of his friends. But before anything else could happen, a scream rang throughout the woods.

And the grimm began appearing.

DEATH'S APPRENTICE

Earlier, further into Forever Fall…

Benz V Gault strode around the makeshift 'camp' he had set up the night before by the mercenaries he had hired to assist him in his task. He made short stops to provoke the grimm that they had entrapped in cages, ready for release, to make sure they were agitated, angry and ready to start a real commotion.

"Hey there big boy, we ready to go?" The mercenary captain asked, a burly tan-skinned woman with frizzy hair poking out of her jingasa named Butcher Ruth. She still was about a head shorter than Benz himself but filled out the rest of her size with healthy blubber that hid strong muscles.

"Elirgbeeojn." Ben nodded whilst looking at her with the only eye he had left, his absent tongue providing no help speaking.

Ruth took the nod as a yes, not really having any idea on what exactly he said. "Right then, Daisy's already over there to lure your little friend away, and Sparx is ready to cut comms on a dime, so all we need is your signal and we're off to the races."

Benz nodded again, holding out a hand in expectance. Ruth huff grumpily and handed him a machete.

"You're sure no one for patience. Me semblance 'ill last an hour or two on that," she pointed at the machete, "I'll go tell the boys to start the cage timers and book it." Ruth began then to walk away, pausing to give Benz one final look. "Better pull through this one, Gault. Don't wannta lose me best client!" she laughed, before disappearing amongst the cages of furious grimm.

Benz ran a finger down the machete's blade, the metal piercing his finger. Benz's burn mark stretched as he smiled, watching the wound in his thumb that refused to close.

DEATH'S APPRENTICE

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