Alright so we're back with another Chapter of RWBY and this one's going to be good!

At least I hope so, there's a bit of a long fight scene in this one but I think it fits what I'm going for here.

Also, diverging a little from RWBY lore, with an explanation on magic that the Canon just hasn't given us yet, so if you like it and think it makes sense let me know, if not, well let me know where you think I went wrong.

And a final thing; I encourage you to review this story, PLEASE! I love writing these stories but it fuels me to write more when someone gives their thoughts on a chapter. It can be anything! like the chapter, didn't like the chapter, character you want more of, a character you want less of, an idea for the story or things to fix. Have any questions and I'll answer to the best of my ability!

Ok,ok, I think that's enough of a rant. Anyway, if you like it then Follow, Favourite and Review.

Enjoy

Weiss hadn't run so fast in her entire life.

No, that wasn't true; her Glyphs could enhance her speed to inhuman levels easily but it made it so that her extra speed didn't cause extra strain on her body.

Right now, there was a strain, enough for her lungs to burn and muscles to scream out in agony. If she took a moment Weiss could have used her Glyphs and pushed a lot faster and she would have…

If it wasn't for the monstrosity hunting them down.

The young huntress-in-training took a single glance back, a mistake. The next moment she was screaming internally. Wait, no, it was out loud. Thankfully she wasn't the only one; Yang was a very vocal person even as she melded a string of curses with her fear.

Weiss wasn't ashamed to admit that she joined in after a while, but stopped once she realized she needed to conserve what little breath she had in her lungs.

She was scared. The monster was over sixty feet tall and as wide as a house.

But it wasn't the size that terrified her: it was the rows upon rows of deadly incisors, hundreds if not thousands of teeth that made its maw look akin to a grinder.

They needed a plan. What was the plan?

Weiss realised in that instant that she didn't have one; she wasn't prepared for this kind of situation.

"Keep moving!" Ruby yelled from the front. It looked like she had said something else but Weiss couldn't hear as a bone-chilling howl tore through the forest.

And another.

And another

And a- oh god there were hundreds of them now, all around them the cries of Beowolves surrounded them.

Beside her Jaune curse and picked up the pace.

They couldn't do this Weiss began to think, and then they'd be dead before they reached the top of the cliff.

The forest in front of them broke in the next instant and less than a few feet ahead the ground fell away into an abyss. There was only one salvation; there!

A ruin dead centre of the chasm. It looked like Ruby had come to the same conclusion as she had and was already sprinting towards the only path over; an ancient stone bridge.

Weiss was scared, but she was willing to follow orders and right now, it looked like the red Huntress was the one giving them.

However the younger girl was facing an internal struggle of her own.

Ruby grit her teeth as the eight teenagers clambered onto the stone construct. The area behind them already swept away by shadow.

There was a howl that rattled her bones.

And then everything stopped.

Ruby looked back and paused. What was going on?

The Ouroboros had disappeared. How did something that big just vanish? Even stranger was the pack of Beowolves that had stopped at the beginning of the bridge. These were Grimm, young ones at that, they should be charging at the Huntsmen and Huntresses-in training with reckless abandon.

Instead they were watching, waiting.

Ruby wasn't going to waste their hesitation.

"Come on!" she ordered. "Get to some cover and get ready."

There was a bark as they leapt into action.

The fallen ruin was an excellent defensible position; with a massive gap preventing large attacks from the front by ground forces, the place was littered with fallen pillars perfect for hiding behind, and with only a single way in and out.

Ruby was going to make full use of what she had.

The silver-eyed warrior felt the mechanics of her weapon shift as she held the sniper-rifle in her hands. She dived for the left side of the bridge, finding a rectangular piece of cover at chest height to hide behind Right beside her Pyrrha slammed the tip of her shield down, giving it a hold in the stone. The inward curve of Akoúo̱ giving her sight as she set her Rifle on top, effectively creating a make-shift tripod.

The redhead gave Ruby a subtle nod but did not fire, simply training her sights on one of the waiting Beowolves.

At the left side Ren, Nora and Blake had found a similar position. Ruby didn't even blink as the louder girl pulled a grenade launcher out of nowhere, it was completely like Nora.

Blake and Ren had also loaded their guns, seeming to agree to give Nora covering fire.

And finally on the bridge itself was Weiss, Jaune and Yang. Practically a wall, guarding their side of the stone construct with melee tactics. Ruby hummed to herself as she took it all in; three people taking the brunt of the force of the charge while five cut the Grimm down at long range.

At least that was the plan. The damn things still hadn't moved. A few more Beowolves had appeared but it was nothing momentous. What was this?

Ruby realized after a moment that she had been grinding her teeth together. She was wasting time! If she had a moment to speak then she should be doing it.

"Hey!" she called out to the trio in front. "Do you think you can hold them off?"

Yang didn't look back, simply preferring to raise a fist and give a thumbs up, similarly Weiss nodded as she unsheathed her rapier. The chamber above its hilt turned to a shade of blue but she stayed where she was.

Jaune didn't look as confident. "Dammit," he said. "I should have got a gun; it would've given me an excuse to be anywhere but here."

The blond brawler beside him barked out a laugh and grinned. "Hey don't sweat it! We got this, the worm's gone so all we have to deal with is a few mutts."

The male gulped but gave a weak grin anyway before drawing his sword, the sheath springing up and transforming into a shield.

Ruby nodded, mostly to herself and raised her voice.

"Fire on my mark! We can't let them cross this bridge! We have to-"

She was cut off as a howl came from the Grimm pack, this one was different; it was louder, more dangerous, more terrifying.

The eight of them stared as a Beowolf came forward. Ruby let out a gasp. It was massive! Triple the size of the other wolf Grimm surrounding it, and it's midnight black fur was matted in bone white spikes.

It let out a series of snarls to the smaller Grimm.

Ruby, along with the others could only watch on in morbid interest as they barked back at the bigger one. Like some sort of communication.

"What is it doing?" Pyrrha whispered beside her, the quiver in her voice giving away her unease.

"I'm not sure," was Ruby's reply. "But… I think it's giving orders."

The champion's head snapped around so fast Ruby could have sworn she heard something crack in the girl's neck.

"What!?" she gasped. "But that's not possible! How is that possible? I though Grimm were mindless."

"Yeah, they are… at least in a way; no living creature is mindless or else it would be able to function. And the big one looks like an old one… you know how Grimm get smarter the longer they live?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes, it was one of many lessons at Sanctum Academy. But I've never heard of younger Grimm being able to do the same."

Ruby shook her head. "I don't think they do."

"What do you mean?"

"Beowolves are pack animals, like regular wolves. They only need to send signals to each other to talk. It's like how the Alpha tells the others what to do in a hunt. At least that's what I think."

The Mistral Champion hummed in thought. "So what do we do?"

Ruby bit her lip. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "We can't do much until the thing makes its move. I think I have a plan."

"Alright, I hope you know what you're doing."

"We have a problem!" Ren yelled.

The violet-eyed teen pointed to the edge of the forests and Ruby had to suppress a scream:

Two more groups of Grimm emerged from the tree line; Big, bearlike monsters. Half-a-dozen Ursa lumbered forward, sniffing the air and making their way towards the pack of Beowolves.

The other was full of much smaller creatures, and yet it wasn't their size that mattered but their number: fifty- no! Sixty explanation lizards slinked towards the growing mass of Grimm. Creep, if Ruby could remember their names. She couldn't agree more, the things just looked unnatural, no matter how many times she saw them.

Those things shouldn't be able to keep their balance; they had too much weight on their fronts and their heads were too big, to flat.

There wasn't some big move, some final howl from the alpha or even any words from Ruby herself.

It just happened.

One moment the Grimm were converging, the next they were charging the bridge.

Ruby felt her pulse slow as she took in everyone for one last moment.

Pyrrha slowed her breath, gripping her rifle tighter. Ren's face became stoic as he aimed his weaponry at the oncoming Grimm. Blake seemed to twitch all over, subtly. Nora grinned, giggling to herself with excitement. Jaune's muscles tensed, his shield arm raised a little higher than usual. Weiss was a statue, standing elegantly but without even a quiver. Yang's Grin was wide, her gauntlets loaded as she slammed her fists together.

The Grimm were approaching in mass, barely enough room as they engulfed the bridge in shadowed flesh.

A tenth of the distance crossed.

A quarter of the distance crossed.

Half the distance crossed.

"Weiss!" Ruby bellowed. "Freeze their exit!"

There was no hesitation, it wasn't even clear if the older girl was sure on what her orders were but she carried them out to the letter: Weiss plunged the dust infused blade into the bridge and a layer of ice burst forward.

It swept under the Grimm's feet. Leaving them undisturbed, instead it sprang up behind them, a wall of ice that blocked more Grimm from coming… or for the Grimm already there to run.

"FIRE!"

And then Ruby's vision was filled with Dust.

…

…

Yang panted as her fists collided with a Creep, the lizard sent spiralling into the abyss below. The blond fires off a round of shells into the stomach of an Ursa and it too fell to its death.

This was working.

Barely, but it was working Yang admitted as her weaponised fist crunched into the jaw of a young Beowolf. A hail of Dust ammunition sailed over their heads, mowing down ranks of Grimm and thinning them out to a manageable number for the trio.

The ice wall had been a stroke of genius Yang would say; the barricade had made the first wave a piece of cake to deal with. The Grimm had been sitting ducks placed right in the firing line. Not only that but when the Grimm that hadn't been trapped tried to advance the ice slowed them down. Some even slipped straight off.

Yang fired another Shell into a group of Creep, blowing them away. A lumbering Ursa smashed through his fallen comrades' right at Yang. It clawed at her, the blond jumped back. The bear had overextended, and she moved in for the kill, bashing it right in the face and sending it flying back into a pocket of Beowolves that were sent catering into the chasm.

She didn't watch Weiss or Jaune, who were similarly cutting down their own opponents. It didn't matter how they did it as long as they did. They were Yang's support and they knew it too.

They may have been tough in their own rights, but Yang was the muscle. If she went down then the Grimm would swarm the bridge and screw the others over.

Ruby was up there.

She couldn't let that happen.

Yang growled as her fist burst through a Beowolves chest, dead in an instant. But there were already more taking its place. She didn't have time to pull her fist out. She stepped forward, the stone barely handling the force of her steps and fired a round of dust into the head off another Grimm, blowing its head off.

Black ichor splashed onto her face but she ignored it. The Beowolf on her arm was beginning to dissolve. Pivoting on her heel she threw it into a pack of Creep, knocking them down to their dooms.

Yang jumped back; barely able to catch her breath as her previous space was filled by a Grimm.

"Holy crap," Jaune gasped. "What do they feed you?"

She grinned at him before diving back into the fray, he followed, using his shield to cover her back and jabbing at the lesser Grimm with his ancient blade.

The two blonds stood back-to-back, circling each other and preventing the Grimm from advancing. Yang's crimson eyes glared back into evil blood red.

Those eyes were quickly dimmed as a metal fist crunched into them. They were replaced a split second later by another pair.

"Damn," Yang spat. "These things just don't stop coming!'"

"Tell me about it," Jaune coughed. "At this rate we're going to run out of dust."

She growled in agreement. Ruby's plan was working but it wouldn't let them hold off forever. They needed to get out of here…

They couldn't.

Yang realized it a second later. They just couldn't. The cliff was at their back, preventing them from any kind of retreat. And by the looks of it the flow of Grimm wasn't stopping any time soon. Their only option was to push forward.

But they couldn't do that either.

Not with that giant worm still alive. It was probably waiting for them to come back onto solid ground. They would be chewed up instantly, and with what dust they had left there wasn't even half a chance that they could get back over the bridge anyway.

This was bad, Yang realized. And there was nothing they could do about it, they-

"Ursa!"

Yang blinked as Jaune called out a warning but it came too late. The two-ton Grimm barrelled into Yang's lower body. If she had been ready for it, it would have only made her budge a little. But her footing had been off, and so Yang was sent tumbling back.

Right off the edge.

"Shit, Yang!"

It was only her reflexes that saved her, and probably some luck too as her hands desperately scrambled for a hold. They found it in a crack in the bridge. They stop was sudden and it jerked at her arm, her body screamed in pain as gravity attempted it murder her.

Crap! She was out of rounds. There was no way to propel herself back up in time.

The ledge began to crumble even as she held on.

Yang let out a curse as the muscles in her arms begged of oxygen.

The roar of the Ursa sounded above her. It-

Was cut off in a strangled gasp. Suddenly a strong hand clutched her own and yanked her back onto the bridge. Jaune let out a noise at the effort and fell onto his back.

Yang made to thank him before she noticed a chunk of ice wedged between the shoulder blades of the Ursa that had knocked her off, as well as a dozen other Grimm littering the path.

"Get up will you," Weiss yelled from ahead of them. "I can't hold them all off by myself." She said this at the same time that she stabbed her thin blade into the eye of a Creep, its body igniting as the chamber of her blade turned red. The flaming corpse was fired back at the mass of Black.

The two blonds scrambled to their feet and took stances beside the ice queen.

"Where'd you learn how to do that snowflake?" Yang panted.

Weiss shrugged, her body giving away none of the fatigue she was no doubt feeling. "I just made that trick up actually."

The taller girl nodded. "Cool." Was all she said.

A terrifying curse that came from Jaune brought her attention to him. And what he was staring at:

"Death Stalker!" she screamed back to the others, and Yang could have sworn she heard Nora of all people gasp.

The Giant Scorpion made an unnatural sound through its mandibles. The white, bone-like mask gave it a sinister look.

It was fine, Yang told herself; the thing was too big to use the bridge, it would just fall off if it tried.

She was right, it was too big. But there was one thing she wasn't taking into account: its stinger.

The golden weapon was harder than steel. And it was connected to an extending tail.

One that could reach a lot farther than the rest of its body.

"Oh no." Weiss realized what it was going to do before Yang. But by the time she did there was nothing she could do to stop it.

The Death Stalker's stinger struck out.

And smashed the ice barricade to pieces.

Yang let out a cry as the wall filtering off the Grimm was no more and they spilled forth in even greater numbers.

Behind her, Ruby screamed out an order:

"Blake, Ren! They need your help, get down there!"

The normally quiet Huntsman and Huntress-in-training nodded before lunging to join the trio on the bridge.

It was no time to be conservative of weaponry, not anymore, not with the amount that threatened to overtake even the blond brawler.

Blake gripped the sheath of Gambol Shroud, pulling the blade within free, the dual bladed weapon cleaving through weaker Grimm.

Ren too, slid into action, Weaving his way in and out of the smaller Grimm, cutting them down easily. Five now guarded the bridge, holding back the tide of monsters that threatened to overwhelm them all.

"Look out!" Pyrrha warned.

Yang's head snapped up as a howl shook her bones.

It was the Alpha, and it finally decided to join the battle.

She didn't know when it had happened; one moment she was watching it come at her, the next it was right in her face.

Fast Yang thought to herself as she reeled back in shock, it's way too fast!

Air was forced out of her lungs as its massive claws scrapped across her stomach. Had it not been for her aura the thing would have cleaved her in half. As it stood instead she was sent hurtling back, her body skidding across the ground.

It lunged at her.

Jaune jumped in to protect her and was knocked over like a bowling pin. But the slight stop the Alpha had to make to do that gave Yang enough time to scramble to her feet.

It struck her again, but this time she stayed put, raising her arms to block the blow her aura dropped and her bones rattled.

A stream of fire passed over her shoulder and suddenly Weiss had joined in, stabbing at the legs of the thing, trying to weaken it. It would've worked on a regular Grimm, but that this thing was not.

It stepped to the side and dropped to all fours, barrelling its shoulder into the Weiss.

The Schnee gasped in pain as her aura shattered and Yang cursed; she hadn't noticed how low Weiss had been.

Yang moved to defend the smaller girl as she tumbled back. She was joined by Ren, who fired straight into its chest.

He didn't care about killing the thing, no; he just needed to bleed it out, so that someone stronger could take it down.

The Alpha knew this too however and dived at him.

The boy was more agile that Weiss though, and was able to flip over the brute's arm, dive under its bite and avoid its claws.

Yang didn't waste any time either; she was out of rounds, completely, but she could still fight!

Raising her fists she stepped into the monster's guard and smashed a metal fist into its ribs. There was a satisfying crunch as the Beowolf howled in pain and anger.

Blake was no slouch either; she lunged at the beasts back and brought her blades down, the katana sinking into muscle.

It howled again, writhing and thrashing in rage.

Blake wasn't prepared for the whiplash and was sent flying into Jaune, whose aura broke from that last impact.

Yang cursed, if Jaune or Weiss got hit they were dead, Blake and Ren couldn't be that much better off there.

The Alpha roared in fury, it dropped to all fours and snarled. It's back arched and fangs dripping with…

Blood?

Oh god!

It was at that moment that Yang heard Weiss' screams. She was bleeding. Bleeding heavily from her side and clutching it desperately, Jaune was already dragging her back to cover.

When had that happened? When had she been paying so little attention that one of them had been hit like that?

To Ruby's partner… to her own teammate. To someone she was fighting side-by-side with.

Yang saw red.

The fiery brawler let loose a savage roar of her own, and charged at the Alpha.

It happened so fast. One moment she was charging at the thing, the next she knew she'd tackled the thing over the edge of the bridge.

Falling.

Yang was falling.

The thought was a strange one. Not in the way that 'hey, she was falling' no, it was the fact that at that moment, Yang realized she was going to die.

There was nothing she could do about it; her aura was too low, whenever she hit the inevitable bottom her body would splat against it. Even if she did survive she'd be too exhausted to climb back out. Not to mention there was probably some Grimm down there, that would eat her alive.

That though was probably the scariest.

In a way, Yang found it funny that her best hope was to die quickly. But that feeling was muted.

She did take some satisfaction in seeing the Alpha's body smash into the cliff face.

Guess she was next.

"I don't think so."

Yang felt her body jerk upwards as something grabbed the collar of her jacket.

Her eyes shot up to see a familiar black figure holding onto her.

"Hey Kitten!" Yang whooped in joy.

Blake rolled her eyes and she swung from Gambol Shroud's reinforced ribbon.

"We need to get back in the fight! Think you can last any longer?" The dark-haired girl called down to her.

The blond gave a predatory grin. "Let's get goin!'"

…

…

"I'm almost out!" Pyrrha informed over the bellows of Grimm.

Ruby grit her teeth. Things were going bad and they were going good.

Yang had just fallen off the side of the bridge. If Blake hadn't been so fast to jump Ruby would have gone after her sister herself. But they were fine.

Relatively speaking anyway.

On the whole though, things were not fine, they were most defiantly not fine.

They were running out of energy, ammo and options as every second past. The ice barricade was gone and they had no way out yet.

But uncle Qrow told her there was always a way out, no matter how small the chance or ridiculous the idea there was always a chance to live.

That wasn't the real problem however; instead it was the fact that Ruby wasn't sure they would all make it out of this if she tried anything.

"The bleedings stopped!" Jaune yelled out.

He was crouched over the slumped form of Weiss. Bandages were stained red and stuck to her side. She was pale, but she was conscious, if only barely.

Ruby had to settle for that at the moment. She pulled the trigger again and a Grimm fell dead. She had a back-up plan; it was a long shot, but if they could just hold out a little longer then it could work.

It was at that moment that the world decided it wasn't done crapping on the eight teens, as a shriek echoed from the heavens.

A Nevermore emerged from the cloud cover, bigger than any should naturally be this close to the school. It shrieked again and Ruby fought the urge to cover her ears.

It circled above them, waiting for its turn to hunt prey.

Well Ruby had had enough of this.

She wasn't going the give the thing a chance to screw them over. Not now of all times.

"Pyrrha, Nora! I need your help, now!"

They didn't hesitate to leave their positions and move to her.

Ruby barked at the champion. "Pyrrha, use your shield to boost us into the air! Nora on my mark send me flying at the Nevermore, then destroy that damn bridge."

"Got it!"

There was nothing more to be said, no words of comfort or confidence, just grim determination.

Ruby took a breath and yelled;

"Fall back! Get off the bridge now!"

Ruby didn't wait to see if the others did what they were told, her and Nora were already running at Pyrrha, who had her shield at the ready.

They leapt onto the bronze, the Mistral champion used all her might to propel them upwards, Nora pulled the trigger of Magnhild and sent the both of them rocketing further into the air.

Ten meters.

Fifty meters.

A hundred meters.

"Now!"

Ruby planted both feet onto the flat of the hammer, crouching low as the recoil of the weapon shot her like a bullet, she gripped her scythe. She wouldn't let these Grimm hurt anyone. Not her and not her new friends!

Crescent Rose was armed to kill.

And a white light engulfed them all.

…

…

…

Ruby's eyes burned.

She couldn't see, she couldn't see!

Her vision was nothing but a white canvas and it felt as if she had been stabbed in her pupils. The wind whipped past her, hair swaying.

She was falling out of the sky; this wasn't a black-out, or a dream.

Someone called her name… who was it?

Ruby blinked.

Her vision returned for an instant before fading back to white.

She could tell the ground was getting closer.

"Ruby!"

There was that voice again. Ruby was sure she'd heard it before… Yang?

"RUBY!"

Ruby's landing was rough, but it wasn't fatal. The breath was temporarily knocked out of her as two muscular arms caught her in mid-air.

Something squelched and Ruby smelled blood as Yang let out a pained moan.

"F-fuck!" the older girl ground out.

The crimson Huntress blinked harder, her sight returning slowly, the edges of her vision still tinted white.

"Yang…?" she coughed out.

"Shit sis," Yang laughed weakly. "Whatever it was that you did sure iced those Grimm."

"There… gone?"

"Yeah they-"

Yang never got to finish as tHe GRounD ShOok and the blond Huntress neatly fell flat on her face.

Ruby couldn't move, her body too weak from the exertion of just breathing, but she could watch as the monster returned, the Ouroboros burst forth with an ear-piercing shriek.

Its body defying gravity as it hung from the cliff face, mouth opened wide to devour the eight exhausted warriors.

At least it would have, if the older brother of light had not been smiling upon them.

And he answered in a rain of bullets.

The air was singed in a blaze and the earth was rocked.

There was a cheer from someone, probably Nora as half a dozen Bullheads fired at the giant worm; the massive dust shells punching through its disgusting, black flesh.

The creature thrashed in agony and broke the cliff face apart.

Then as if from the hammer of the gods a bolt of lightning struck the beasts head, searing straight though.

With one last death cry the giant fell, into the abyss, and faded from sight.

Yang let out a triumphant cheer and the others were eager to join in.

"We did it! Do you see that sis? We're alive… sis? Ruby?"

The silver-eyed girl smiled, as she drifted off to sleeping, letting the white light take her one more, before fading to black.

…

…

The first thing Ruby heard as she woke was the steady beeping of a heart monitor. Was it- yes, it was hers, Ruby would have rolled her eyes if they'd been open; they really didn't need that for her. She was fine!

The girl rubbed her eyes and sat up on the bed, she was in the infirmary by the looks of it. But at the moment none of the nurses were around. Maybe they were on break. She noticed that her golden bracelet hadn't been taken off. The Headmaster must have instructed them not to.

A snore caught Ruby's attention and she almost jumped when she realised Yang was there, at her bedside asleep. How had she not noticed the girl? More importantly, how long had she been there?

There were a few strands of blond hair draping over her sleeping sisters face, and every time she breathed they fluttered slightly. It was kind of…

Cute.

Well, despite that, Ruby needed answers so as gently as she could the girl place a hand on her sister's shoulder and shook.

"Yang? Come on wake up."

"W-wha… where am… huh?" Yang murmured sleepily.

Her lilac eyes blinked a few times before she realised where she was. Immediately her body straightened and hands clasped one of Ruby's own.

"Ruby! Oh, finally you're awake. I've been so worried about you."

The smaller girl smiled. "I'm fine Yang. Um… how long have you been there?"

"All day, I would have been here yesterday too but the Doc's needed to patch me up too."

Ruby blinked. "Yesterday? How long have I been here?"

Yang shrugged. "A couple days, the headmaster told us not to worry, that this was normal after what you did…" Yang looked at her strangely. "Hey… Ru? What did you do then, with the Nevermore?"

Ruby's mind immediately went into overdrive, filtering through her memories of the event; a blinding white light… Oz had told her exactly what lie to spin.

She smiled in what she hoped looked sheepish. "I um… may or may not have used a type of experimental dust that may or may not have meant to be used at long range."

Yang blinked and Ruby could practically see her mind put the pieces together. "So… you used this dust too close to the Grimm and it… knocked you out?"

"Y-yeah! That's what happened."

There was silence for a moment as Yang stared wide at her sister before she broke out into laughter, gripping her sides.

"Oh that's funny sis! I didn't think you'd be that crazy!"

Ruby joined in, honestly finding the idea funny herself.

There was a grown from the bed beside them. "Will you dolts be quiet? Some of us are trying to get some rest."

Ruby blinked, craning her neck to look at her neighbour. "Weiss? You're here too?"

The Schnee scoffed. "Yes, and I'm trying to get some sleep so could you at least keep your little reunion at a low volume."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Sure ice-queen, we'll keep it down."

"Excuse me?!"

"Anyway!" Yang said. "Yeah, Weiss has been here too. We all were actually. The eight of us had some pretty serious aura exhaustion. The teachers made sure we all got at least a day's rest. Weiss' here longer because of the hit she took from the Alpha and you've, well, been asleep the whole time."

Ruby shrugged. "Well I feel fine now so you don't have to worry."

Yang smiled. "Yeah."

An awkward silence settled over the two of them.

"Hey… Ruby?" The blond started carefully. "I was uh… well I… I was just wondering… where does this leave us?"

She knew what her sister was trying to say… but she really didn't know how to say it either.

"Listen, Yang I-"

"No, just… let me say what I wanna say. I've had two days to think about it."

Ruby hesitated but nodded despite herself.

"Listen Ruby. I get that we haven't seen each other in a long time, and that you might not like the way I'm handling it so you're pushing me away but… I'm handling it. I just don't want my little sister to disappear again."

She… didn't know what to say to that. Yes she hadn't like the way Yang had been treating her the first two days but… had she really been like that to Yang?

"So, instead of us having these awkward conversations now that we're on a team I thought maybe we could… start over." The blond flinched. "God that sounds cheesy."

The corner of Ruby's lips curled into a smile.

"So what do ya say Ru? We could start off as friends and maybe, work our way back up to sisters."

Yang extended a hand. "Hey, I'm Yang Xiao Long."

Ruby couldn't help it; she burst out in a fit of giggles. Gods she really did sound cheesy.

"Ruby Rose," she said, playing along. "Nice to meet you."

The brawler's face split into a big grin as her little sister shook the hand.

At that moment the doors of the infirmary opened up and Glynda Goodwitch strode in; back straight and riding crop in hand. It amazed Ruby how she could use that thing with a stoic face.

"Children," she said with a nod. "It is good to see you all away now. If you would, Headmaster Ozpin would like to speak with you. Miss Belladonna and Team Juniper are already waiting in his office."

Yang nodded and helped Ruby out of bed even as Weiss muttered something about peace under her breath.

"Team Juniper?" Ruby asked her sister.

"Yeah, the other team! Jaune's the leading Pyrrha, Nora and Ren."

She raised an eyebrow. "So… what's our team."

Yang grinned. "Team RWBY."

"…oh." Ruby gulped.

"Yep!"

"Why?"

"You are not the only one questioning that." Weiss said as they began to follow Miss Goodwitch down the hall.

"Don't get me wrong; I believe you are a competent fighter, but I feel as if the role of a leader should go to someone more experienced."

Yang scoffed. "You're just jealous that you weren't picked for team leader."

The Schnee sent an icy glare at the fiery blonde.

It wasn't long before they stepped into the elevator and entered the Headmasters office; which was already populated by the others as Goodwitch had said:

Blake was at one side of the room, speaking quietly with Ren about something, not too far away Nora was busy having a very animated discussion with Jaune and Pyrrha.

Ozpin nodded. "Miss Rose, it is good to see you and Miss Schnee up. Now that everyone is here, I believe it's time to get down to business."

Ozpin gestured to a holographic screen on his desk, as it flicked to life the two teams watched it play a video; a recording of their battle during initiation. It showed them fighting off hordes of Grimm, and now that they were able to get a good look at it they could see that there had been hundreds. Uh… it hadn't really been on their mind to count how many they were killing; too focused on the actual act of surviving.

"This," Ozpin began. "Was an unprecedented number of Grimm for individuals as young as yourselves. You were not expected to combat this many creatures for quite a time. And yet you did. And you succeeded."

He turned to the eight of them.

"It is for this reason that I have come to a decision. It is one I have put much thought into, one that you may either be excited about, or terrified of. It will involve pushing all of you a great deal."

Jaune's eyes flickered to his teammates, who wore a similar one to his own. One that seemed to be a mixture of confusion and trepidation.

"I, along with many of the other staff here have decided to allow the eight of you to carry out the mission. Early."

THAT got a reaction. A round of mutters passed over them. Nora and Yang looked positively eager; Jaune looked more than a bit worried at fighting more Grimm so early while Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha and Ren took it with a stoic acceptance.

Ruby narrowed her eyes.

"Anything else professor?" she asked suspiciously. The man smiled.

"Indeed. In fact it has been put forward by Glynda that because you will be taking on these tasks that you should have some more intense training; while regular combat classes will remain there will also be spars and duels with second-year students every second day to test your mettle. Academically you will still be attending first-year courses but I have spoken to the staff here and allowed the opportunity to take additional studies to expand your knowledge and be ahead of the program if you so choose, I can assure that these will come with a number of benefits."

He scanned them carefully. "This will only be available for the eight of you, since you were the only Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training documented in this academy's life span to face such odds so early on."

Weiss stepped forward, a look passing on her face. "But, professor Ozpin sir, don't you think that this will alienate us from the other first years? Or that it might be a bit much for some of us to handle?"

Even if everyone else did, Ruby didn't miss the way Weiss' eyes moved to her for a moment.

Hmph! Fine, be that way.

Ozpin looked her in the eyes.

"Miss Schnee, do remember what the first thing I said to all of you was."

Weiss straightened up. "We planned to dedicate our lives to the protection of the people."

He nodded slowly. "Indeed, I did say that. But I also said that all I saw was wasted energy. As a teacher, it is my job to guide my students to be their best, and I could not do that if I did not push you all as this will."

Eventually this seemed to convince both Team RWBY and JNPR that what he was saying was turn, in one way or another, Weiss bowed her head and stepped back into line.

He looked at them. "I understand if some of you feel uncomfortable about taking missions that would otherwise be out of any first-year team's league. Which is why a sort of… precaution has been taken; simply put, all first-year mission you take will be as normal, a single team shadowed by a Huntsman. Second-year mission however will be both teams and a single Huntsman."

Ruby understood the reasoning straight away. "So the teams will need to agree on what missions to take together."

"Correct Miss Rose, this is so that the eight of you will have to understand each other's limits, else a mission be too easy and a waste of time… or too dangerous and result if one of you being killed."

The teens nodded. They understood the consequences.

Ozpin smiled. "I believe that is all I have for you right now, you are dismissed. Oh, but Miss Rose, would you stay a moment please?"

Ruby turned to her team and shrugged. ""You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up."

Yang raised a hand in goodbye as the seven students piled into the elevator… something about hoe Nora was smiling made her glad she would be going down later.

The doors closed and Ruby turned back to Ozpin, who had two mugs of coffee in hand.

Ruby sat down on the chair across from him and gratefully accepted the hot mug. She reached into her pockets and pulled out a small flask, pouring the liquid in before taking a sip and sighing.

Her leader raised an eyebrow. "I would usually say that a girl like you should not be drinking alcohol… but then I remember that you had Qrow as a role model."

Ruby chuckled. "Hey, if this is the only bad habit I pick up from my uncle them I'd say I'm fine, besides my aura will protect my liver."

Glynda tutted. "Even so, I would advise you not to do that in front of your teammates, a leader drinking so casually would set a bad example."

"…yeah… why did you-"

"You already know the answer to that Ruby."

She sighed. "It was a spur of the moment thing, and we only barely survived."

Ozpin hummed in agreement. "And yet survive you did. Against startling odds."

The young Huntress sighed, but let the topic go. "So what did you want to talk about Oz?"

"Your eyes Ruby; this is the second time you've been able to activate them. Do you know what happened?"

She winced. "Not really; I mean, one second I'm flying at the Nevermore and the next they all get wiped out."

He leaned back into his chair. "Was there a particular thought going through your mind."

She thought back. "Well… just that… I wanted to protect my friends."

Ozpin and Glynda shared a look.

The woman hummed. "We had a theory on how your magic works Ruby; it seems like it is activated by high levels of emotion… first back then and at this time now. However it does not seem as if the power comes without its drawbacks; you were unconscious for a number of days both times."

Ruby sighed. "Ugh! Magic is stupid! Why can't it just work like a semblance?"

"Because it isn't a semblance." Said a third voice. Ruby turned and a smile spread to her face.

"Amber! I was wondering where you were."

The tanned girl smiled. "I was settling in. Headmaster Ozpin has gotten a room set up for me. Sorry I could talk to you sooner."

Her apology was waved away. "Yeah well thanks for saving us from the Ouroboros; we didn't have the energy left to take it on."

Amber smiled back and ruffled Ruby's hair suddenly, much to the younger girls protest. "To answer the question before," she began. It's because Magic isn't like a semblance; it hasn't got anything to do with our aura, which is probably the reason why it's become a lost art."

He left eye glowed for a moment before a chair was formed from the earth. Ozpin mumbled something about it clashing with the room.

"We can train with our magic to make it stronger and yes, in that way it is a lot like a semblance, but the thing about magic is that because it's connected to the Gods so much it has a sort of… awareness. No, it's not sentient but it does have the option of refusing to work with you. What have I told you Ruby?"

"Magic is not a mortal creation," she recited, having learnt this a long time ago. "It is an act of creating power out of nothing, preforming acts that should be impossible. Like your maiden abilities; you use power stronger than dust without actually using dust, you literally create energy out of nothing, which is why Remnant tries to deny it; with semblances there's a cost that can be gauged but with magic it's kind of… limitless as long as the user can control it."

Amber nodded. "Yes, also our magic has a requirement; the way mine must be passed on to a young female with the willingness to both be kind beyond measure and kill without hesitation. You already know that Qrow uses transformation magic, shapeshifting which means to use it he had to inflict pain on his own body, even if it's something small like biting the inside of his cheek. Every type of magic can be taught to someone with the potential of magical energy within them; it's just a question onto what it takes for the power to surface each time."

Ruby slumped back in her chair, taking another swig of Coffee it to relax herself. "You're right, I know you're right it's just… frustration that I don't know what triggers my own magic."

"Well that is only natural," Ozpin soothed." Your magic is perhaps even rarer that Amber's. We haven't and the opportunity to study it conclusively. But we at least have a theory that strong emotions cause it. Now if you can learn how to call it without those emotions then you should be able to wield it."

She had to agree, being able to wipe out Grimm like that would be a very useful thing to control. But for now…

"So what happens next?" she asked.

The Headmaster smiled. "Next, you will get some rest, talk with your team a bit more and study. This is still a school Ruby, and I expect you to keep up with the other students. You best catch up with them."

Ruby nodded, standing slowly as she finished off her coffee and gave a mock salute. "Yes sir!" she grinned. She gave Amber a hug before stepping into the elevator and waving as the doors closed.

Ozpin watched the door for a moment longer before sighing.

"Are you sure Amber?"

She nodded. "Yes sir, I'm sure."

Another sigh. "Then we had best get you prepared."

…

…

Blake watched her partner eat carefully. The seven of them were in the cafeteria, sitting together at one of the tables near the windows.

There was a low hum of conversation as most students socialized. Most students, apart from Blake and Yang.

The secret Faunus wasn't because she preferred reading to actual conversations, easily seen by the book in her hand.

And Yang because… well, Blake wasn't sure, but she had a thoughtful look on her face that made the dark-haired girl wonder.

"Is there… something wrong?" she tried.

Yang blinked out of her own thoughts to realise she had dazed off. She gave a strained smile. "Nah, it's nothing, just… thinkin'."

Weiss added her own thoughts with a roll of her eyes. "And normally when you are 'thinking' it has something to do with your sister."

Blake hated to admit that she agreed with the Schnee air on that. "Oh look," she said dryly. "The rich girl actually pays attention to us commoners."

Weiss scowled but refused to fall for the dig.

Yang shrugged as the conversation turned towards her. "I don't know it's just… Ruby used a scythe."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Yeah so? I get that their dangerous weapons but-"

The blond shook her head. "It's not that; but my uncle uses a scythe too. Ruby was gone for five years and I only got messages from him during those five years."

Blake nodded slowly. "And you think that they were together that whole time, don't you?"

"I don't just think it; I know it. The question I'm thinking of is that if he could lie to me and dad about something like this… then what else has he been lying about. And just what the hell has my little sister been doing this whole time?"

That was something neither of them could answer.

That was when a bell rang through the cafeteria. Weiss sighed. "Well we had better go, class is about to start soon."

They nodded and stood up.

This was something they could talk about later.

And Yang was going to put a lot of thought into this.

And BAM! Done with this chapter, I'm really excited to know what you guys thought of it. Did you know that the fight scene was fourteen pages long? FOURTEEN PAGES! although it was less of a chore and just really fun to write but let me know if you think there's something I could do to improve or if you think there was something I could have just left out.

I can only improve if I'm given constructive criticism.

Welp, I hope you like this and if you did be sure to stick around.

You know the best way to find out when a new chapter comes out? (Shameless plug)

Bu following of course so... uh... do that.

Bye!