I do not own RWBY or any of the characters.

Mining

Fox was not happy. Ironwood had told Penny and Winter everything, the relics, the Maidens, all of it. Fox didn't mind that. Ruby had decided not to tell Ironwood or the others about what Jinn had told them. Fox agreed with that decision. The part that Fox was truly displeased about, the part that infuriated him to no end, was the fact that Ironwood had decided to put the Amity Colosseum into orbit with a new communications tower to get the world able to talk to one another again, another excellent idea, and then use that tower to tell the entire world the truth about Salem and the old Gods, and the Relics. It would start a riot, mass panic, and millions of deaths by Grimm, if not more. Fox was livid.

He had also conscripted them, albeit in a nicer way of saying it, into helping him with the plan. Which was why Fox was currently trying to avoid killing a certain inventor they had met in Mantle who was trying to argue that replacing the emerald in Fox's sword with Dust was a good idea.

"If you touch my sword, you die," Fox finally snarled.

"Oh, of course," Pietro said, leaning back in his chair. "I'm sorry. you're right."

Blake rested a hand on Fox's shoulder and Fox sighed heavily. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," Fox sighed. "I just really don't like Ironwood's plan."

Blake nodded in agreement. "It'll be okay."

Fox sighed, nodding. "Yeah. It'll be fine. Come on. I think the cafeteria has tea."

Blake nodded and they walked away from the others, Blake having already passed off her broken sword to be repaired and upgraded by Pietro. They walked through the school to the cafeteria, getting some tea before heading to the room they were sharing. Originally, Ironwood had tried to have them separated by team, but after Fox had explained who he really was, as well as his current circumstances and need to be around Blake, Ironwood had given them a room to themselves, leaving Ava and Wulfe in a room alone together, and Ruby, Weiss, and Yang sharing one.

That night, past lives' memories plagued his dreams, as they had been with more and more frequency, and when he woke up, he felt on edge. It faded after a bit, but over the next couple of days, it began to grow worse.

"Are you alright?" Blake asked as they went to get her sword back.

"I'm fine," Fox sighed. "I'm probably just tired from the nightmares."

"They've been getting worse," Blake noted. "Should we be worried?"

"It's fine," Fox smiled. "I'll be alright."

"Fox," Blake said, brow furrowing with worry as she stopped, tugging his arm to stop him as well. "I'm serious. Are these nightmares a bad sign?"

"It's fine," Fox said, cupping her face and pressing his forehead to hers, enjoying the relief it brought, as the contact muted his headache slightly. "I promise you, I'm alright."

Blake sighed and nodded, kissing him. He kissed her back, remaining there for several seconds before pulling back.

"Come on," Fox smiled. "We should go."

She nodded and they headed to Pietro's lab where he apologized for having taken so long to finish their weapons, as well as telling them he had recommendations for further upgrades. They all took their new weapons, minus Fox, as well as their free new outfits, and headed to the changing rooms. Fox paused outside the one Blake was headed to.

"You can come in," Blake said. "It's not like you haven't seen."

"It's alright," Fox smiled. "I'll let you have some privacy."

"Fox, it's alright," Blake said. "Really. I don't mind."

"Blake, I'll be fine," Fox smiled. "It's only a few minutes. If I can't even survive a few minutes without you, there's going to be some serious trouble later on."

Blake hesitated but nodded. Fox gave her a quick kiss before walking away, entering his own changing room. He had agreed to a new outfit as well, if only to make up for snapping at Pietro. He opened the box and pulled it out, nodding appreciatively. It consisted of a black shirt with three-quarter sleeves, as he had had when he first entered Beacon but with the emerald from his cuirass woven into the fabric somehow, dark green pants, and a pair of fingerless black gloves that had emerald plating on the outsides. He liked the outfit. He pulled his shirt off and winced. His whole body ached. He needed sleep. He bent down and untied his shoes, then stood back up and staggered to the side as his head spun, then winced as it began to pound. He sat down heavily. Apparently he was more tired than he thought. He kicked his shoes off and slid his pants off, pulling the new pants on instead and found that they were actually a more comfortable fit than his. He pulled his new shoes on, then reached out for the shirt just in time to feel a pair of horses kick his temples at the same time. His vision rolled violently before fading to black, a scream echoing inside his head.

"Where's Fox?" Blake asked as she stepped out of the changing room and found Yang waiting.

"I haven't seen him," Yang shrugged. "I kind of figured he'd be with you."

"He wanted to give me privacy to change," Blake said.

"BLAKE! ! !" Wulfe's voice shouted suddenly.

Both girls sprinted around the corner and toward a door Wulfe was standing in. He stepped out of Blake's way and she dropped to her knees inside of the changing room, lifting Fox into her arms.

"Fox!" Blake called out, shaking him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Fox! Wake up!"

Fox winced before his eyes slowly slid open and he stared up at her in silence. After a moment, he raised a hand, combing his fingers through her freshly cut hair, which was slightly above shoulder-length now. "You cut your hair."

Blake sighed in relief, kissing him. "You scared the hell out of me! I knew you weren't telling me everything! It's getting worse, isn't it!?"

Fox sighed, sitting up, and holding a hand to his head. "Yeah. It's getting worse."

"What do we do?" Blake asked.

"What can we do?" Fox asked.

"We...We could have Jinn show you all of your memories," Blake said. "She said before that it fixed it."

Fox shook his head. "I can remember that life now. It didn't fix it. Only delay it. Besides, I'm not wasting Jinn's last question to buy myself a few more years. There are more important things than me."

"Then, what about Ozpin?" Blake asked. "Maybe he knows a way to help."

"Ozpin's gone," Fox said. "It's alright, Blake."

"No it's not!" Blake snapped, tears running down her face again. "I don't want to lose you!"

Fox sighed, glancing past her, seeing the hurt, dejected look in Yang's eyes, though her face was calm and neutral. "I'll see if I can get Ozpin back again. If not, we'll think of something."

Blake nodded. "Okay. But from now on, you're not leaving my side."

Fox smiled and nodded, kissing her, then standing. "Come on. We'll be late."

She nodded and he finished getting dressed before following her to where they were all meeting up for their mission to exterminate a Ghast in a mine near where the Amity Colosseum was being launched. He looked around at the others' upgraded weapons. Yang had gotten her right bracer attached to her arm, and had swapped her old outfit for a dark brown jacket over a light tan shirt that still exposed her cleavage, matching shorts, and thigh-high stockings, one of which reached up to the shorts, and one of which was folded down about three inches below them. Weiss had swapped her dress for a longer one with a pale blue outer layer that was split up the front, pale blue boots with a diamond of layered white in the front, a dark blue jacket over the dress, black gloves, a pair of white belts with the pouches she held her Dust in, and a small three-pointed tiara-like hairpieces holding her hair in place on the back right corner of her head where it was transformed into a massive braid almost as thick as her head and reaching her waist. He actually hadn't realized she had that much hair.

Ruby had gotten a few inches cut off of her hair, and had it cut so that the right side was a little longer, and her bangs fell entirely on the right side. She had swapped her outfit for one with a black corset over a red skirt, the top of which ended dangerously low, judging by what was visible through the opening in the front of the corset. There was a see-through, red-tinted netting portion extending from the top of the dress over her shoulders, her usual red cape around her neck, and she wore thigh-high black boots with dark grey stockings visible between the top of the boots around mid-thigh to where the thin material of her skirt ended about a quarter of the way down her thighs or so. Then there was Blake. She had swapped her black top that Fox loved so much for a white jacket over a black shirt with a zipped up collar reaching up high on her neck, the coat hanging into a pair of tails behind her, and tight black pants and boots. She looked as beautiful as ever, but speaking from both her boyfriend's perspective, and also a male's perspective, he missed the black top showing some skin. Not that he'd complain. After all, she was still so beautiful that he struggled to grasp the concept of him having actually won her heart.

He glanced at her, seeing her steal a glance at Yang. He grinned, remembering their discussion so long ago about her attraction to the blonde. He leaned in close to her ear. "At least she kept the view open for you."

Blake blushed bright red instantly and smacked him on the arm before hissing, "That's not what I was looking at!"

Fox chuckled, kissing her forehead. "Of course you weren't."

Blake scowled at him and he smiled, heading for Oscar. He was standing with Jaune and the others. Pyrrha hadn't changed anything, though she had clearly given Jaune a haircut, a skill she had only told them she had after they got to Atlas, because Jaune's only change to his look was that his hair was now short and in a messy style. His shield had apparently been made magnetic, because he was wearing it attached to his left vambrace. Ren had changed into white pants and a dull green tunic with a black sleeve over his right arm with pink on the inside of the forearm and armpit. Nora was currently braiding his hair for him, though Fox wasn't sure if it was his idea or hers. Nora had probably changed her outfit the most out of anyone besides Blake. She had swapped her old outfit for one with a sleeveless pink jacket over a white jacket that was also sleeveless, a black shirt under them with the sleeves rolled up to make it also sleeveless, fingerless white bicep gloves under thicker yet still fingerless black gloves, and black boots with thigh-high, light grey stockings, and a black skirt that only just barely reached out from under her two jackets.

Fox glanced around, noticing that Wulfe and Ava weren't present yet. "Hey Oscar, can we talk to you?"

"Sure," Oscar nodded, the three of them walking away from the others. "What's up?"

"I know you can't sense Ozpin, but I really need him," Fox said. "Can you see if you can get to him by yelling at him? Tell him I need his help with my memories? He once told me he could seal them away, and I really need him to."

Oscar nodded, looking anything but certain. "I'll try."

"Thanks," Fox smiled, then headed back to the others just as Wulfe ad Ava walked in.

Wulfe hadn't changed his outfit at all, and Fox doubted he had been any more willing to let Pietro modify his weapons than Fox had been, same with Ava and her weapon. However, Ava had changed her outfit. She now wore a lime green top which hung low enough to expose her cleavage, tight white leggings, dark green boots that reached up to above where her legs went from bird to human, and a pair of green sleeves that reached from a point at the back of her hands with a small cloth loop around her middle fingers to high on her biceps, ending in a feathered design. The part that caught Fox's attention, however, was that the two of them were walking hand-in-hand.

"Finally," he muttered.

Blake looked over at the pair and smiled, nodding in agreement. A few minutes later, they loaded up in a ship and were flown to their destination. As the door opened, Fox took a deep breath and sighed, smiling.

"See you on the ground," Fox smiled, falling backward out of the ship.

The others jumped as well, the others using their weapons or semblances to land safely, as they had done that first day in Beacon. Ruby fired her scythe's rifle to slow her descent, Weiss used a combination of her sigils and summoning, Blake swung on her sword and it's cloth, and Yang fired her bracers to slow herself. Off to the side, Pyrrha had jumped onto an ice slope, using her shield to slide down it, while above her, Nora used her hammer the same way Ruby was her scythe, Ren swung from buildings using his blades, and Jaune, who apparently had his shield more heavily upgraded than Fox realized, used it and the barrier around it like a glider before flipping and holding it under himself, the impact sending a pulse of purple energy out of the shield, entirely negating his momentum and allowing him to land safely on his feet. Fox was impressed. However, just as soon as he rolled to land himself, agony lanced through his head and his body began to spasm and contort, crashing down through the roof of a building. He continued to spasm for several more seconds before falling still, panting and gasping, eyes wide and staring blankly ahead, heavy wooden beams lying on top of him. After a moment, he pushed himself up, the beams falling away, and dusted himself off, staggering out of the building, meeting Blake almost instantly, Blake looking terrified.

"I'm alright," Fox said. "That wasn't memories."

"What was it?" Blake asked.

Fox turned to look toward the mine. "It was a very old friend. One that Salem turned into a Grimm."

"Like that one you fought while me and Yang fought Adam?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," Fox nodded. "Like him."

"Is the friend here?" Blake asked.

"I think the friend might be the Ghast," Fox said. "Which means this mission just got a whole lot more dangerous."

"What do we do?" Blake asked.

"I'm going to kill them," Fox said. "I hope."

Blake nodded and they headed for the mine to meet up with the others.

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