I'm having a lot of fun writing this story, so who knows, maybe it will get somewhere, anyway, here's chapter 4!

Also an added note to the guest I responded to last chapter, if you want to be taken seriously, please, learn to use capital letters. Unlike something like punctuation which can be a bit complicated, they're really, really simple.

The new character short that was released by Rooster Teeth just made Ruby's ability to scatter into rose petals canon. F*ck yes. I mean, it doesn't seem to work exactly how it works in my story but still.

PS. This chapter took a few days longer than I planned because at first I ended up writing a different fanfiction because I got an idea for it (which I guess is totally my fault) and then the next day there was a party for Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and I didn't really get a chance to write.

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(3rd person)

"Professor Peach has requested some sap samples from the trees deeper in the forest. Lots of samples. Each person will fill 1 jar of sap. Now remember, this forest has a not inconsiderable amount of Grimm, so everyone should stick with their teams and avoid getting separated. And remember, if you do get separated, the last thing you want to do is panic. Panic attracts the Grimm. If you encounter powerful Grimm, retreat and get help," Professor Goodwitch says.

"Let's go!" Ruby says.

Pyrrha, Yang, and Blake follow Ruby as they head deeper into the forest in order to be slightly away from the rest of the group.

When they stop a little ways away, Ruby hands each of the other 3 jars before grabbing the last one off the tray she was carrying them on and setting the tray down.

"I'm gonna check that there aren't any Grimm around here real quick," Ruby says before scattering into rose petals.

"She can see while she does that?" Blake asks in surprise.

"Yeah, it's like she chooses where she'll reappear ahead of time either," Yang answers.

"That's really useful for scouting," Blake says, thinking of how useful something like that would have been for the White Fang.

"What happens if she moves through fire or something?" Blake asks as she starts gathering the sap.

"Not much, the petals are resilient and if they are destroyed, new ones are created to take their place. But they're basically entirely fireproof. Like no non-Dust-based fire is going to destroy them. I don't know exactly how it works because Ruby never told me, but I have shot a whole lot of fire at her while she was doing it during some sparring matches... a disappointedly low amount of effect," Yang says.

(The only non-Dust-based fires would be things like wood fires, they don't use flammable gases or whatever because they have Dust)

"Oh," Blake answers.

A few seconds later the petals drift back and swirl back into Ruby.

"There was a couple Beowolves," Ruby says.


"Something's coming," Blake comments.

"And it has a lot of legs," Ruby adds, concentrating for a bit before saying, "8 of them."

"So a Death Stalker?" Pyrrha asks.

"Probably," Ruby answers, closing her jar which she had just finished filling.

The others also get ready.

"It doesn't sound very big though," Ruby adds, confirming what Blake was thinking.

Gamble Shroud, Ember Celica, Crescent Rose, and Miló and Akoúo̱ are all drawn, the 4 getting ready for combat.

Trees collapsing can be heard in the distance and Ruby says, "Correction. It was far, not small."

"Aren't you a little young to be going deaf?" Yang asks.

"Pfft, like you could figure that out even if you could hear it," Ruby replies.

"Even I can hear it now, not just the collapsing trees," Yang says.

Soon the collapsing trees start being visible, shortly followed by the Death Stalker itself. And it was followed by a bunch of Beowolves, which while not very dangerous on their own, would make it difficult to fight the Death Stalker.

"Pyrrha, Blake, you two keep the Death Stalker focused on you and distracted. Yang, you and I will clean up the Beowolves, we can figure out what to do with the Death Stalker afterwards," Ruby says.

"""Right!""" the rest of BYRN agrees, Pyrrha rushing towards the Death Stalker while Blake started aiming at its eyes as best she could with her handgun, shooting it.

"Yang, take the ones on the left, I'll take the ones on the right. If either finishes first, help the other, not Blake and Pyrrha," Ruby says before leaping off into the pack of Beowolves and spinning around, firing round after round to further increase her spin speed.

The Beowolves—not known for their intelligence, even among Grimm—jump straight into the meet grinder, killing themselves.

It literally took seconds for Ruby to clean up her half, her sharp, momentum based weapon with wide reach making extremely quick work of the soft, young, and practically unarmored Beowolves.

And then a few tens more to clean up Yang's half with her help.

They go to where Pyrrha and Blake were shooting (to no effect) and then dodging the Death Stalker and Blake comments, "Wow, that was real quick."

"So... how do we kill this thing?" Pyrrha asks.

"Let's start by removing its stinger, it will be a lot easier to manage then and the joint is weak," Ruby says.

"Pyrrha, could you give me a boost?"

"What do you mean," Pyrrha asks.

"I would run and then just before I get to you, you would turn around with your shield up, then I'll jump on your shield and you push then," Ruby says.

Pyrrha pauses to think for a moment before saying, "That would probably work if you didn't use your Semblance while you run at me, because if do you I won't be able to react properly."

"Yang, once I drop the stinger onto the top, I want you to try to drive it in. The stingers are insanely sharp, heavy, and dense," Ruby says.

"Alright," Yang says.

Ruby makes some distance while Pyrrha takes a few steps away from the stalker, allowing Yang to take her place.

She raises her shield and squats down, giving Ruby a thumbs-up.

Ruby nods and sprints forward, starting to spin with Crescent Rose, causing Pyrrha to wonder, 'Is she immune to being dizzy?'

Ruby jumps, landing on Pyrrha's shield, then Pyrrha pushes up as hard as she can and Ruby jumps with her Semblance, going into a blindingly fast spin and flying towards the Death Stalker's tail, Pyrrha turns and sees that despite spinning a ridiculous speed, Ruby had managed to aim the jump perfectly, her scythe slamming into the tail and cutting halfway through the joint connecting the stringer and the tail.

She then plants her feet on the gigantic stinger, trying to pull her scythe through, combining it with repeatedly firing the sniper rifle built into her scythe. With every shot, the blade jumped through a bit. The Death Stalker screeched and swung its tail, but Ruby persisted and just as it stopped swinging the tail, she finished cutting through it, dropping the stinger onto the top onto a relatively soft spot and it pierces a short way through, however before Yang can drive it in, a purple outline surrounds it, forcing it deep into the Grimm, causing it to screech and spasm before collapsing limp.

The 4 turn to where Professor Goodwitch stood with her riding crop which she used as a wand raised.

"We totally had that," Yang comments.

"What part of 'if you encounter powerful Grimm, retreat and get help' do you not understand?" she asks, obviously annoyed.

"The 'powerful Grimm' part," Yang comments.

"Shut up Yang," Ruby says quietly, elbowing Yang.

The Professor sighs and puts a hand to her forehead before running it down her face.

"Sorry Professor, I thought we could kill it," Ruby says, looking at the floor.

"Well, it doesn't seem that you're wrong in that regard, so I'll let you off this time, but be careful in the future. Grimm such as this one are extremely dangerous as a single misstep can lead to severe damage," the Professor says. She glances at the dismantled pack of Beowolves whose states of dispersion suggested having been all killed within a seconds of each other and mutters something about brutally efficient weaponry and being Qrow's daughter.

"Are you done collecting sap?" she asks.

The 4 nod. "Then you're staying where I can see you so you don't get into any more trouble."


"Team BYRN a bunch of idiots," Glynda rants in Ozpin's office.

"How so?" Ozpin asks, looking up from his work at the mention of the team.

"During the trip to Forever Fall Forest they managed to run into what was probably the most dangerous Grimm in the entire forest and then instead doing what I said and getting help, they decided to fight the thing!" she says in an annoyed tone.

"Were they winning?"

"Ehh?"

"Were they winning when you showed up?" Ozpin clarifies.

She sighs. "Yes, I suppose my interference was unneeded."

"Then how was what they did stupid?" he asks.

"Because if they had gotten hit, they could easily have gotten injured or killed!" she says.

Ozpin sighs. "They see what did happen. They don't have enough experience to see what could have happened like you do," he says.

"I suppose you're right," she says with another sigh.

"So how did the trip go?" Ozpin asks.

"Eh?"

"How did the rest of the trip go?"

"Oh, it was fine. Nothing much happened, aside from an Ursa Major that attacked team CRDL," Glynda sighs at the team of bullies name, "which was promptly defeated by team ARSN which happened to be nearby."


"Hey mom, dad!" Ruby says into the laptop which she was holding on her lap while sitting on Yang's bed, the owner sitting next to her and mimicking her.

On the screen was a video of team STRQ.

"Hey kiddo, firecracker," Qrow says, referring to Yang by her nickname.

"So how's Beacon?" Raven asks.

"Great so far! Ruby and I are on the same team and Ruby's the leader. My partner is a nice, quiet, book loving ninja girl and Ruby's is Pyrrha Nikos, who's really nice," Yang says.

Currently the only two people in the dorm were the 2 cousins.

"Pyrrha Nikos... the 'Invincible Girl'?" Tai asks.

"That one, she's about as good as you would expect. She and Ruby were sparring but they ran out of time and had to call it a draw," Yang says.

"It was in combat class, so by the time they were finished, the whole class was watching. And with good reason, it was an awesome fight. Pyrrha managed to keep up with Ruby's hurricane of steel—or titanium, as the case my be—upon seeing it the first time, she didn't get hit fully by Ruby flipping direction even once. Crazy reaction time," Yang adds.

"Well she is the strongest Huntress-in-training in Mistral, at least of her age," Summer comments.

"It wasn't the amazing," Ruby mutters.

"Ruby, too much modesty starts to sound like an insult to your opponent," Summer says.

"Have you guys gonna on any training missions yet?" Qrow asks.

"It's been a little over 2 weeks since they started," Raven points out.

"Actually we did go on a little mission yesterday," Ruby says.

"Oh?" Raven asks.

"Nothing too exciting, just gather some sap from Forever Fall Forest for research or whatever," Ruby says.

"Anything interesting happen?" Tai asks.

"We ended up fighting a giant Death Stalker, we nearly killed it before Professor Goodwitch showed up and finished it and then got angry at us for not retreating and getting help," Ruby says.

"Very Glynda like. Well, either way, it's still good advice," Qrow says.

The door to the dorm room opens and a sweaty Pyrrha walks in.

"Oh hey Pyrrha!" Ruby says, waving to her.

"Hey Ruby," Pyrrha answers.

"I'm going to take a shower," Pyrrha says.

A few minutes later, when Pyrrha came out, Ruby and Yang were still on the phone with their parents.

"Oh! Pyrrha, come over here and say hi!" Ruby calls, waving Pyrrha over.

She walks around the two and sits down on the other side of Ruby from Yang.

"This is Pyrrha," Ruby says, gesturing to Pyrrha. Each member of team STRQ introduce themselves as well.

They chat a bit and then Raven says, "Well goodnight you three, no staying up late Yang."

"That applies to you too, Ruby!" Summer says right before they hang up, leaving no room for objection.

"Your parents are nice," Pyrrha says the two.

"I think I've seen them on the news," Pyrrha adds.

"Yeah, they've gone on a few missions together fairly recently doing fairly major things," Ruby answers.

"Like they wiped out a HUGE Grimm infestation all by themselves!" Ruby says.

"Raven and Qrow are siblings, right?" Pyrrha clarifies.

"Yeah," Ruby answers.

"Aunt Raven has an awesome Semblance. In an individual exchange of blows it's useless, but if you consider a whole battle it starts to be useful and for an entire mission, it's very, very useful," Ruby says.

"What is it?" Pyrrha asks. Ruby pauses for a moment, wondering whether it was okay to reveal the Semblance. Some people actively, blatantly, and continuously use their Semblance in combat, as an indispensable part of their fighting style. An example of such a person was Yang. Blake was also such a person though to a somewhat lesser extent.

Then there were people who used it a lot, but stealthily, not letting their opponents even realize something other than normal combat was going on. Pyrrha was like that, using her magnetism to redirect attacks ever-so-slightly. She relied on it heavily, but it wasn't completely required.

There were also the people who used their Semblance blatantly, but it was more suited to being used in specific situations not generally applicable to practically any fight like Yang's, Blake's, or Pyrrha's. An example of such a person was Raven. With the ability to create portals, it could turn the tide in a battle, but it was also not something you could really hide.

And lastly were the people who hid there Semblance to the last possible moment, using it as a trump card, either to flee or finish their opponents. Ruby was like this for some parts of her Semblance and in the first category for others. In general, she mostly uses the speed part and saves scattering as a move to dodge an attack she can't otherwise and which would be crippling.

Since Raven was someone who freely showed her Semblance, Ruby decided it would be alright to say, at least without specifics. "She can create portals which other people can also use, I don't know the max time they can stay open or how far they can go though, however it is far enough to be practical for travel."

"That does seem useful," Pyrrha says with a nod.

"Ruby, you heard Aunt Summer, go to bed," Yang says.

"That applies to you too, doesn't it?" Ruby asks.

Yang sighs, "Yeah, it does."

"Well, good night you two," Pyrrha says.

"What about you?" Ruby asks.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed too," she answers.


(At the end of the first month at Beacon, Saturday)

"Hey Ruby," Jaune says.

"Oh hey! What's up?" Ruby says, skidding to a stop next to Jaune from her run. She was panting slightly and a bit sweaty.

"Nothing much. I had an idea though," he says.

Ruby nods for him to continue.

"We should have a match between our two teams. 4v4, you know, for practice," Jaune says.

"That does sound like a good idea, I'll ask my team," Ruby says.

"Thanks," Jaune says.

"So what are you doing?" Jaune asks.

"Oh just running a bit, but I actually just finished," Ruby says.

"By 'a bit' she means like 10 kilometers," Yang says, tossing Ruby a small towel.

"When did you get here?!" Jaune asks in surprise.

"I've been here the whole time, actually," Yang answers.

"What... seriously?" he asks Ruby.

"Yeah," Ruby answers with a nod.

"14 minutes 34 seconds Ruby. New Semblance-free 10 km run record," Yang says.

"Really?" Ruby asks in surprise.

"I finally beat mom!" she says, literally jumping into the air.

"10 kilometers... in 14 and a half minutes? Without your Semblance?" Jaune asks, dumbfounded.

"I did use my Aura though," Ruby says.

"Still..." he mutters.

"Ruby, come on, we promised Blake to meet her once you were done," Yang says.

"Right, coming Yang," Ruby says.


"So what did you have planned?" Yang asks the question that was also on the minds of Ruby and Pyrrha.

"I was thinking we'd go celebrate all 4 of us being in the top 5 on the first year leader boards for the whole first month," Blake says. The top 4 places in the leaderboard were filled with Ruby and Pyrrha constantly fighting over first, the other always in second, Yang in third, Weiss in fourth (which pissed off Weiss because she was beneath Ruby), and Blake in fifth. Nora was the sixth and Ren was seventh, while Jaune was 14th of the 32 first years. (16 chess pieces (no pawns), 1 per pair, 32 people)

"Alright, got anything particular in mind?" Yang asks.

Blake smirks. "Let's just say I'm sure Ruby will approve and it's near the ocean," she says.

Ruby smiles. "Fish!"


The restaurant Blake took them to was a restaurant that served fish of numerous kinds. It didn't have all the variation of most sushi restaurants with spider rolls or whatever, it served all kinds fish, but mostly relatively simple dishes with fine ingredients. Rice and fish, that sort of thing.

They mostly ordered raw fish, but they ordered a lot of it. And despite trying to order more than enough, they still ended up with it vanishing surprisingly quickly.

"Ruby, how much fish can you eat?" Pyrrha asks with a chuckle.

"As much as you give her," Yang answers. "At least, as much as I've ever managed to give her," she adds.

"Though she did feel pretty bad afterwards," Yang says.

Pyrrha looked over at the oblivious Ruby, happily attacking another plate of fish. Oblivious to their short conversation, that is.

Blake was similar to Ruby, but eating in a far more controlled fashion.

"We should probably hurry up or there won't be any left for us," Yang says with a smile and grabs some more fish onto her plate from one of the dishes they ordered.


Once back at their dorm, Ruby, rather surprisingly, didn't go straight to bed, instead she told Blake to grab her weapon just in case and meet her outside.

"So where are we going," Blake asks, still rather confused.

"We're just going a little ways into the Emerald Forest, I just want to make sure there's nobody listening in," Ruby answers.

This explains to Blake why she was asked to bring her weapon, but it also made her curious as to what Ruby wanted to talk about.

After a few minutes of walking into the forest Ruby stops and closes her eyes, concentrating.

"I don't sense anyone nearby, you?" Ruby asks after a few seconds.

"Me neither, so what did you want to talk about?" Blake answers.

Ruby walks over until she's within arms reach of Blake and stops. She reaches up with her hand and before Blake can react, her bow is pulled apart.

"Why do you hide these? From the whole school I get, but why from Yang and Pyrrha?" Ruby asks.

Blake nearly reacts angrily to her bow being pulled off but then realizes that Ruby had specifically dragged them to the middle of the forest first and she had guessed that Ruby already figured out that she was a faunus, so instead she just grabs the ribbon from Ruby's hand and starts putting it back on.

"First, you didn't have to pull it off, now I need to retie it," Blake says with mild annoyance.

"And second-"

"Yang definitely won't care, except maybe thinking they're cute. Pyrrha also won't care. She doesn't care than I'm a faunus, and I'm the leader. If she hated faunus, she wouldn't be okay with it," Ruby says.

"Ruby, I understand what you're saying, but... How I grew up, it's hard for me to trust someone so easily, even if I know I should," Blake says.

Ruby makes the most adorable expression she can and says, "Pwease."

"That's just not fair!" Blake complains.

Ruby maintains her expression.

"Fine!" Blake says in exasperation.

"Yay!" Ruby says, her expression instantly becoming cheerful.

"I think your ears are cute, by the way," Ruby says.

"Yours too," Blake says with a chuckle.

"Fine, I'll tell Yang and Pyrrha. But not right now. Before next Saturday, okay?" Blake asks.

Ruby nods. "Okay. I'll hold you to that," Ruby answers and the two head back, running into a lone Ursa which didn't even see what hit it.


And that concludes the fourth chapter of Summer Days.

Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, or followed. Please review and tell me what you thought, and as usual, any sort of requests or questions are fine. I'll try to answer all questions and at least reply to all requests.

Next chapter will hopefully be soon.