Prologue

Red like roses fills my dreams

And reminds me of deeds I've done

White is frost and always painful

A point to lead to things to come

Black the beasts that rule the shadows

Yellow beauty gone

Cold.

The battle had been raging for ten minutes. Twelve huntsmen and huntresses engaged in combat with the beasts of Grimm. And flickers of each were visible amongst the beasts, weapons flying around in practiced patterns.

A girl with a sniper-scythe, the youngest of the twelve, spun through the middle of a Beowulf pack, the recoil from each shot propelling her faster and faster as she let the blade cleave through them, one by one. Suddenly, she stopped shooting. A runic mark formed at her feet, and she flew into the air towards the thickest part of the action.

"Thanks Weiss!" she cheered. The white-haired girl didn't respond; too busy fending off a Boarbatusk with her rapier to even acknowledge her teammate as she began to spin again.

Shotgun shells and sonic flashes rang from a corner of the battlefield as a blonde launched punch after punch from shotgun gauntlets into the chest of an Ursa, the beast barely slowing with each punch that she threw.

A black-haired young woman catapulted herself over the beast, her sword easily cleaving into the back of the beast's neck as she hit the trigger. The gunblade retorted, and the beast collapsed to the ground, the head sliding further forward than it should. The two women exchanged a nod, and moved on.

Two men fought back-to-back against a Taijitu, one fending off the black half with his sword and shield, the other simply ducking, dodging and blocking with Aura against the white half.
"Nora, NOW!" He heard a brief burst of giggling, and a grinning young redhead burst from behind the beast and slammed her hammer into the joining quarter. Both halves recoiled in pain and that single moment was enough for both men to strike. The swordsman swung his blade through the neck of the black half, while the other man leapt into the air and unleashed a storm of bullets into the head of the white. Both sides collapsed at once. Jaune smiled faintly.
"Nicely done, you two. Now, let's help Pyrrha." A sharp laugh caught the trio out.
"Help me with what?" Behind her, a trio of small Boarbatusk lay dead, each with a single hole directly under the chin. As one, Team JNPR began to move back towards the other groups in the fight.

Barely two minutes after the four teams began to close the beasts in, the Grimm pulled back into the woods. The four present teams met in the centre. Ruby rose, the scythe-girl, grinned at her point in the group. All of seventeen years old, Ruby was still just as slight in figure as she had been at fifteen.

"I think that's about it. Let's head back, get a rest." Of the four members of Team RWBY, Blake was still just as practical, although she no longer hid her Faunus heritage. A few of the others nodded. Ruby sighed.
"I think we should finish them off." Of course, that was greeted with groans, and she dropped the point. Instead, she slowly trudged back the short distance to the city with the pack. Blake was in close conversation with Sun Wukong, leader of team Sentinel, and her boyfriend. Yang was annoying the third Faunus there, Noir, by trying to pinch his sunglasses. She had a habit of flirting with him like that, but the cat showed her only patience, no rewards. He was a mysterious one, Ruby reasoned. Jaune hung back, looking towards the Grimm and the woods they were hiding in.

"Getting close to the city," he murmured.

"And you won't be." Jaune froze, but Team CRDL stood in his way. All four members blocked the path back to the others.

"Remember coming here, all those years ago? We had to collect sap, and you covered me in it." Cardin hid his feelings behind a sly smile, but it was enough to make Jaune nervous.
"You threatened me. I was being so nice to you, keeping your secret, and you tried to stab me in the back." The blonde tried to draw his courage and call for help, but his oppressors were faster. Cardin struck, throwing him backwards with a single hit from his mace.

"Not gonna let you call your protector girl. See, you aren't what you make yourself out to be. You were a lie, who became what you wanted to be." Jaune started to get back up, but Lark had his pistol readied and pointed at his chest.
"This time, no easy escape." A rumbling in the forest heralded trouble, and an Ursa Major burst out of the trees. The noise was enough for the others, and they turned back to see Jaune in trouble.

"Go!" Pyrrha and Ruby seemed to speak with one voice, gesturing for the others to leave as they both turned back to help their friend. Neither knew that the other held Jaune in a higher position than just a friend, but that didn't matter. Team Cardinal broke, leaving the young man to face the beast, but not before Lark made his move. Two bullets fired in quick succession, just as the swordsman began to face the attacking beast. The first punctured through his left shoulder, the second through the gap under his arm in his torso armor as the man rotated in shock and pain. He stumbled and fell. Both girls froze, stunned.

"Have fun with that." With the final parting remark, the team vanished into the brush, a path that would doubtlessly carry them away from the city. The girls dashed forwards as a bolt from behind felled the Ursa with a single shot. The sniper dropped his crossbow. He was a member of team Sentinel, but he wasn't ready for this. All three teams were close, but this was a worst-case scenario. Pyrrha ignored the dead Ursa. Instead, she held Jaune close to her as tears streamed down her face. Ruby turned away, her face unusually dark.
"I'll get them." Before anyone could protest, she was gone, running after the enemy team. Jaune smiled weakly.
"Heh, looks like I'm still the unlucky one." Pyrrha opened her mouth to speak, but Jaune went limp in her arms. His breathing slowed, and with one last moment, it stopped. The clearing was silent, then the weeping started.

Cardin smirked to his teammates, clearly pleased.
"Should demoralize 'em enough for Red and the others to stay off the battlefield for a while. Gives the boss some time free to deal with things. You get the shots off in the right places?"

"One to the shoulder, one into the chest through the arm socket. Either gonna kill him or leave him out of action for long enough to distract." Lark remained passive, but all of the team had agreed to this. The boss would reward them well.

"Can't say the same for you." All four of them froze, and turned to see a red hooded woman approach, scythe in hand. The hood was pulled firmly up over her head, and her face was lowered so they couldn't see a thing. Cardin snorted.

"Red, you aren't tough enough to take all four of us. And there's no way we're going to surrender, so give up. If you stay there, you might not join joke-boy." Ruby lifted her head. As he expected, tears were clear on her cheeks, but unusually, the normally happy young girl wasn't demoralized. Instead her red eyes burned with fury.

"You killed him." Those three words were all she needed. The sheer pain in her voice was enough to make Dove flinch. "You killed the one I loved. And now, you receive your reward." Cardin took a step back, but it wasn't enough.

Ruby lunged.