Chapter 1: Weren't you just. . .?

Ozpin stared out the window of his office, his gaze fixed on the hovering arena in the distance. "Does anyone else know about this?" he asked.

"No," General Ironwood responded. "There are rumors, of course. This was reported by a student. But nothing has been publicly confirmed yet."

"Good. How long do you think it will take to get whatever this thing is out of my school?"

"I believe we should have this thing in custody within a week."

"And I believe you're full of shit," Qrow said from the corner before taking a long swig from his flask. "According to Ruby, these rumors have been going around for close to a month. If a school full of hunters couldn't find it in that time, I doubt you'll have any results working within your timeframe and you know it."

"You underestimate me, Qrow. I would like to remind you that I have the full military might of Atlas at my disposal."

"So what are you going to do, have the army search the entire school up and down continuously to find something that can change its shape?"

"I-"

"That won't be necessary," Ozpin interjected. "Ironwood, you have skilled students here for the tournament. I would like for a few of them to search the school alongside a few of my own. Preferably, students that aren't competing."

"I'm assuming you already have your picks in mind," Qrow remarked.

"Indeed I do."

"Then if you don't mind me asking."

"Blake Belladonna and Jaune Arc."

"Very well," Ironwood mused. "And what about the Man At Arms?"

"I'm late," Ruby muttered repeatedly under her breath as she ran through the fairgrounds. She was so focused on trying to catch up that she didn't notice the person turning the corner until she collided with them, sending a tub of popcorn flying and knocking both of them to the ground. "Sorry," she sputtered out as she stood up.

"No worries," Pyrra said as she got up.

"Hey, weren't you going to watch Yang and Wiess?"

"Uh, yeah. I was just getting more food."

"Now you sound like Yang."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I'll let you decide. See you in the stands!" Ruby skipped away, excited to see her sister fight.

…..

"You're just in time," Blake remarked as Ruby took a seat, struggling to catch her breath.

"I ran the entire way here, including a short bit with my semblance," the young girl replied.

"Then maybe you should have gotten up here sooner instead of trying to win that giant stuffed panda," Pyrra said with a small laugh.

"How did you get up here so fast?"

"What do you mean? I've been in this exact spot for the past twenty minutes."

"How? I ran into you, literally, on the way up. It's going to take a while to get all the popcorn out of the various folds of my clothes."

"Well, you have fun with that. Are you sure it was me?"

"Yeah. We talked for a bit. You said you were getting more food."

"No, that's what we sent Jaune to do, which I realize now was probably a mistake. You weren't the only one eyeing that panda," she chuckled.

"Then who did I talk to?"

"We can figure that out later," Blake said. "Right now, let's watch our friends kick butt." The horns blared, signifying the start of the match as the crowd roared, Nora's voice carrying over the rest.

"GO TEAM RWBY! BEAT THEIR FACES IN!"

Daniel Mercia gazed out at the fight from the very top of the arena, thankful that the building's shields let him walk out over the open air. As soon as Weiss Schnee was out, he knew how this fight would end and decided to turn his attention to the crowd instead. "Next time, can you survey the crowd, I don't know, uh, within the crowd as opposed to above them?" a voice rang in his ear. "The wind up there is sending constant feedback through the comm link and the ringing is driving me nuts."

"Sorry, Layla, but it's easier to see everyone from up here."

"If you insist. Find anything." He flipped down the visor of his helmet, activating a scanner.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"I think there's a feedback loop on this frequency. Nothing means nothing. The only thing of note is a random synth, but nothing else. And certainly no shifters."

"You should probably check the fairgrounds."

"And what are you doing to help?"

"I'm reviewing school security footage to see if there's any sign of a shifter."

"That's. . . not a terrible idea."

"Why thank you."

"I can hear the smug smile."

"You betcha."

"I'll leave you to bask in your pride. Mercia out." Daniel shut off the comm link and shot a wire into the edge of the arena, giving it a quick, sharp tug to test its strength before leaping off the side. When he had used up all the slack in his descent, he let the wire carry him in an arc until he was over the airship dock, letting go and landing on his feet in one fluid motion. "Sometimes even I wonder if I'm an undiscovered faunus with my catlike agility and grace," he remarked to himself. "Alas, regular human ears." He shrugged as he climbed into the cockpit of a small jet, letting it drop before taking off and making his way to the fairgrounds.

How's it, Driver3196 here with my first attempt at a RWBY story. Not much to say other than that you shouldn't expect regular updates(but I will update) and that not everyone will make it out alive. Welp, enjoy, reveiw, and have fun. Driver out.

P.s. I just started watching and am only starting Volume 5, so please try and keep spoilers to a minimum.