Team RWBY's dorm,

Weiss

The day of the mountain hike

Team RWBY had all managed to get themselves awake, although everyone other than Ruby was currently groaning in their beds like a pack of traveling seals. The day of the mountain hike was a near death wish for all the students. The memories of the pain that they had endured on the last 'hike' as they liked to call it still burned vividly in their minds. They had found it difficult to exist without causing pain after the last one, and now they were being asked to climb a mountain. It was going to be at least four hours on the way up. And then came the task of getting down. You were allowed to use your own landing strategy if you wished, but if you hit the ground before you intended to, you weren't going to make it. After the herd of seals managed to get themselves and getting dressed in their combat apparel, they moved to the cafeteria to join team JNPR, who also closely resembled a pack of seals.

"Why are they making us do this? What are we really hoping to accomplish to this?" Yang complained as she buried her face into the lunch table, shaking the entire table as she did so.

"I'm really beginning to believe what Blake said is actually true." Weiss moaned, her face buried in her palms. She had nearly died after the last outing they had suffered through, and that didn't involve scaling an entire mountain. It was a small mountain, but it was still a mountain. Even with the ability to use their powers, the thought hurt her mind.

"Come on guys, it could be worse!" Pyrrha announced gleefully, trying to lift their spirits. "We could be forced to… Actually, on second thought, forget what I just said. It couldn't actually be worse." She complained as she leaned onto Jaune's shoulder, her ear resting on his collarbone.

"Well, at least when we get back, we have an entire day to rest right?" Jaune proposed, trying to brighten their moods.

"Jaune, that's simply because dragging corpses from room to room takes up too much of the professors time" Yang groaned once again.

"Good morning students of Beacon academy" Ozpin announced over the loudspeaker. "As most of you are aware, we will be climbing a small mountain today, so be prepared. You will not have to spend the night up there, but you will most likely not return until mid day. So as of now, you are dismissed from the next two days of classes, that being today and tomorrow. So if all of you would be kind enough to head to the back of the school, we will begin the hike. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Blake, I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I'm really, really sorry." Yang groaned as she stood up from the table, beginning the walk. Everyone else eventually managed to stand and follow her, all dreading the day that they had ahead of them.

Unspecified mountain

Weiss

One hour later

RWBY and JNPR had managed to make their way to the mountain intact. The hike hadn't been as tiring as they thought. It was a simple walk on mostly well kept terrain. As they reached the base of the mountain, their hopes for the future were dampened. The mountain wasn't steep. It was very manageable at least. It was just extremely rugged. One slip, one misplaced step, one accidental trip, and you wouldn't be a member of the living anymore.

"Alright students, you will have a ten minute preparation period before you are being asked to climb the mountain. This will allow you to prepare a strategy for climbing the mountain. The point of this climb is simple. You must climb to the top. That is all you are being asked to do. Once you are done, I ask that you return yourselves to me so that we may do the trek back together as a unit. Now the best of luck to you all, and safe climbing." He dismissed, walking away from the group of students for a better angle at the mountain.

Teams RWBY and JNPR sat around, looking at each other. What had he meant by a strategy? You climbed the mountain. It couldn't be that difficult, it would just be tiring. You were also allowed to use your weapons and equipment to assist you in the scaling of the mountain, which removed most of the difficulty. That was in theory though. Once they began to climb the mountain, they noticed that the use of your weapons wasn't that logical. The jagged mountainside proved a difficult opponent. If you tried to use your weapons and equipment to climb, you'd have to return to the mountainside eventually, which would prove lethal if you tried. Weiss tried to use her glyphs, but suffered the same issue. She had to return to the mountainside eventually, and based on the jaggedness of it, would prove fatal. The eight students slowly made their way up the mountain, ensuring that their steps were all placed properly and carefully. Every step took around ten seconds to place, making the journey to the top a slow and gruelling process. It didn't help that the sun was now completely overhead, heating them up to uncomfortable temperatures. Sweat glistened on the brows of everyone, making the time needed for heat exhaustion to begin kicking in shorter and shorter. They knew that at the pace they were going, they weren't going to make it on time. Around halfway up, they found a small clearing in the jagged rocks, allowing them to rest in comfort. A large boulder blocked the sun, giving them much needed shade.

"Ruby, how much longer is it going to be until we make it to the top? I'm all for trying to get to the top of this mountain. Well, my brain is. But I'm not as strong as you guys. I'm not going to make it up there. You guys might have to do it without me." Jaune announced gloomily as he collapsed in the shade, the heat and treacherous climb having clearly taken their toll on his body. His muscles all stung, his stomach feeling uneasy. He was covered in sweat, his face starting to lose colour. Dehydration and exhaustion were clearly setting in on him, but also for Pyrrha and Nora. Ren had managed to endure thus far, but his concern for his partner was visible.

"I'm not sure we're going to make it any further Ruby. If we keep going and TRY to reach the top" Ren emphasized, his monotone voice holding true. "We're not going to make it back to the bottom safely."

"We're sorry Ruby. But this is where we stop. We have to get back to the bottom before we collapse. We wish you the best of luck, and may you reach the top safely. We will see you back at the bottom." Pyrrha announced sadly, clearly willing to continue, but lacking the power to do so. Ren could've continued, but his concern for his partner and team forced him back down. They began their trek back down the mountain, leaving team RWBY alone behind the boulder.

"Are you guys good to keep going?" Ruby asked cautiously, afraid they'd also be exhausted and forced to go back down. She had enough energy to make it to the top, she was certain. But she didn't want to have to climb the mountain. That was only going to end poorly. No Grimm had appeared yet, but that could change in an instant. And alone, on this kind of terrain, she'd be overwhelmed in an instant, but to her surprise, her whole team nodded. They had the power and determination to follow their leader higher, all of them nodding proudly.

"We're not going to let you climb this mountain all by yourself sis. We're going with you all the way." Yang announced proudly, giving her fist a quick shake for emphasis.

"Your sister is right Ruby. If you're going to keep going, we're going with you." Weiss added sternly, but Ruby knew she meant it kindly. Blake didn't have anything to add, so they continued their trek up the mountain. About two thirds of the way up, and around three hours in, a quick rockslide forced them to scatter, hiding away from the rain of death that came from above them. Weiss merely through up a blue glyph, which bounced all the debris away. But the other three were forced to take other ways to defend themselves. Blake attempted to nimbly dodge her way around every one, but small, unavoidable shards were forced to be blocked by her aura, wearing it down. Yang had taken the more head on approach, choosing to smash her way through the boulders, but suffered the same damage as Blake. She failed to dodge the small chunks of rock that wore down her aura to the red. Ruby had chosen to launch herself into the air, deciding that landing would be an easier fate than trying to deflect the rocks. The debris quickly passed by, allowing her to return to the ground. She spotted out a series of flat rocks and tried her hand. She managed to land rather safely, although she nearly fell as she did so. Quickly thereafter, team RWBY managed to reassemble, although two of the members were questioning whether they should keep climbing.

"I'm sorry sis, but I don't think that Blake and I are going to be able to keep climbing. Our auras are too low. Another hit like that and we're not going to make it. Good luck though." She told the saddened Ruby as they began their trek back down to the bottom.

"You're going to stay with me right Weiss? I don't want to climb this by myself."

Weiss let her partners words stay in the air for a while. She wasn't really sure she wanted to keep going. Her legs were beginning to ache, and the sun was beginning to beat down on her.

"I'm not sure Ruby. I really don't think I have the power to keep climbing either. I'd love to keep going, but every step I take up is a step that I have to take back down. I'd rather just quit while I'm ahead. Good luck though. I have faith in you." She tried to cheer her partner up, but cheering people up was never one of her strengths.

"So you're leaving me too huh? Well, I hope you make it back down safely Weiss." She sighed, clearly saddened by her whole team abandoning her all at once. She wasn't sure if any other tam had made it up this far, but certainly some of them must have.

"I'm sorry Ruby. I just really don't think I'm strong enough to keep going." She reasoned, hoping to raise the girl's morale.

"It's fine Weiss. You're strong enough to take care of yourself right?" Ruby recalled as she headed back up the mountain, beginning to leave Weiss behind. She was going to get to the top of that mountain, whether it was with her team or not. Weiss began her trip back down the mountain, guilt hanging on her soul. She didn't want to leave Ruby behind. If Weiss had been in her situation, Ruby would have followed her to the end of the world and beyond. But she had just abandoned her because she was getting uncomfortable. What kind of a friend did that make her? Ruby only had about one quarter of the mountain left to scale. She could make it. She was strong enough. But why was she continuing? What was going on inside her innocent partners mind? A disgruntled scream came from behind her, causing her to turn on her heel. Wind screamed through the crevices in the mountainside, creating the noise she had heard. But the wind didn't stop there. The sudden turn had caused the heiress to lose her balance, her left foot catching onto a small, loose rock. The wind threw it out from underneath her, her balance failing. The wind began to pull her away from the safety that she possessed, her form slowly tilted further towards the base of the mountain. Her screams of help were muffled and carried away by the wind, joining the melody of disaster. Behind her, jagged outcroppings of rocks filled the mountainside. She tried to draw myrtenaster, but her flailing prevented her from drawing it in time. One final gust of wind threw her over, her body connected solidly with the ground. Spikes of pain found their way to her mind, the pain in her back shutting out her thoughts. She slid several feet, approaching the rocky outcropping with every second. She came to a lurching stop several seconds later, her body freezing. She opened her eyes to see the smiling figure of Mark, his hand wrapped firmly around her own.

"Going somewhere princess?" He asked jokingly, a smile across his face.

A panicked breath escaped Weiss's lips. She hadn't expected Mark of all people to be here right now. Why was he even here?

"Do you think you can pull me up?" She asked kindly before being yanked to her feet.

"So are you heading back down? Because if you are, I'd be more than glad to tag along." He asked proudly before getting a response.

"Yes, I am heading back down. And yes, you can feel more than free to accompany me down." She replied, grateful for some company. They began down the mountain as she threw her gaze behind her, spotting Ruby in an outcropping, crescent rose already drawn. If Mark hadn't have been there, she would've been. She quickly dismissed the weapon and continued back up the mountain, leaving Weiss alone with her companion.

Bottom of the mountain,

Weiss

The trip down had proven successful for Weiss until the final minute. She had gotten too distracted in her conversation with Mark and had forgotten to watch the path in front of her. Her foot had lodged itself between two rocks and twisted, causing intense burning pain. They had managed to get freeze her ankle, reducing the blood flow and swelling to her foot, and even though they caught it early, a pulled muscle was going to hurt for a few more hours minimum. Mark had been kind enough to carry her to the bottom of the hill and she strangely felt safe in his arms. She wasn't sure why she didn't trust him yesterday, but she certainly trusted him now. Ozpin refused to talk to any of the other students, merely nodding when they told him that they were safe and back down. Some of them had told him that they had made it to the top, to which he dismissed them with a nod. Several students came down shortly thereafter, dropping something in Ozpin's hands, to which he checked their names off on the notepad he held. Ruby still hadn't arrived at the bottom two hours after they had reached the bottom themselves. The sun was only a few hours from setting. Mark tried to comfort the semi-afraid Weiss, who was beginning to think that something had happened to Ruby. Ozpin asked who was missing anyone, and only three people had yet to check back out at the bottom. The other two students arrived later on, but Ruby had yet to appear.

"What do we do Mark? What do we do if Ruby's missing?" Weiss blurted as she began to freak out, afraid of the wrath of Yang.

"She's not missing. She'll be down here any minute now. How's your ankle doing anyways?" he asked as he pointed to her left ankle.

"It's getting better, but I really should stay off it for at least another few hours." She determined, having suffered many of the same injury during her practice sessions.

"Hey Weiss, would you be interested in going on a walk with me tonight?" Mark whispered, trying not to attract any attention.

"My partner could be missing and you're concerned about yourself? That's rather self centered of you Mark. I really expected better." She scolding, not believing him when he told her that her partner was safe. She pulled out her scroll containing her team's aura strengths for the hundredth time that night. A sudden dip in Ruby's aura caught in her throat. She had been just fine until now. Nothing had changed! It had been a constant full green and it just suddenly dipped into the yellow. The bar drained once more, hovering on the line of red. She looked up at the mountain, nothing out of the ordinary catching her eye. She stood up and began to run towards the mountain as if that was going to change something. Suddenly, a crash from behind her took her attention as bits of earth sprayed up. Ruby stood up from the small crater, one hand on crescent rose, the other on her forehead.

"Hello Miss Rose. That was a unique entrance if I've ever seen one before." Ozpin greeted as he approached her.

"Here's what you sent us up there to find" she acknowledged as she took several small pins from her pocket and placed them in his hand.

"I'm impressed. Congratulations to all of you." He announced. "You are free to head back to beacon whenever you please. That is all, and good night." He turned back to face the mountain, looking it back over.

Ruby tagged alongside Mark and Weiss the whole way back, listening to their elegant conversation. Mark had mentioned something about going on a walk with her later tonight, to which Weiss accepted. Her ankle appeared to be in pain, but she walked on it regardless. Her slight limp only got worse the closer and closer they got back to Beacon, before she had to be carried back by Mark. He had returned her back to their dorm, but blocked Ruby's path in with his arm. After making sure Weiss was safe and inside, he pulled Ruby by her shoulder back down the hallway.

"So Ruby, Weiss and I are going to hang out tonight as you know. I just want to tell you that she probably won't be coming back home tonight." He announced with reddening cheeks. "I just don't want you to be afraid if she's not in her bed tomorrow morning. Seeing as there's no school tomorrow I decided that I'd treat her to something…" He paused for a second. "You know what I mean."

The realization hit Ruby like a truck full of concrete.

"Oh! So that's what you guys are doing. Huh" she quickly calmed down after the rush of excitement. "Where will you guys be sleeping tonight?" She asked innocently. After a few seconds, Mark replied.

"We'll be at my dorm tonight. My squad will be out doing something else tonight, so we'll be alone."

"That sounds believable. Just make sure that you don't hurt her. The threat that I made earlier, I wasn't lying. I will chuck you off of Beacon's cliff. You guys might have a thing, but she's still my partner, she's still my teammate, and she's still my friend. So if you do anything to her and I hear about it, they won't be able to find your corpse with a magnifying glass." She threatened. A sister like Yang really rubbed off on you huh?

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for your compliance Ruby. I'll be back in a few hours to get her. Make sure she's not asleep for me." She dismissed sternly. She wasn't sure if she scared him, or what. But she was suspicious. She'd have to ask Weiss tomorrow how it went. She returned to her dorm room and placed her head to her pillow, taking in the cold. Her adventure off the top of the mountain had truly scared her.

"Hey Ruby, what was Mark saying? Did he say anything about me?" Weiss asked gleefully. That was out of character for her. Maybe they were really actually good together.

"No, we just wanted to get some things cleared up." She replied. Yang was really rubbing off on her.

"Did he say when he's coming to get me?" She asked again, happiness in her voice.

"He just said that he'd be back in a few hours. That's all he told me." She answered. She was telling the truth. That was all she honestly knew about when he'd be back.

"Hey Weiss, do you actually like Mark? You guys have only known each other for over a week now, and you're happy when someone even mentions his name. And it's not you caring about him. It's you being happy that scares me." Yang called from her top bunk, sparking a response from the heiress.

"I'm allowed to be happy sometimes Yang. It's just… He's the first real date I've gone on, and he said he had a surprise for me tonight is all."

Yang and Ruby shot wide eyed glances at each other. The girl was really clueless wasn't she?

"Anyways, I have a question for you Ruby. What exactly happened once we turned back and returned to the base?" Yang questioned, trying to get off the subject of Weiss.

"Well, I climbed to the top, grabbed the pin thingies, and launched myself at the base of the mountain. That's basically how it went." She replied, leaving out the part where she watched Weiss nearly die.

"But I watched your aura spike down right before you crashed. What was the deal with that?" Weiss questioned, bringing silence from her partner.

"I don't know what you're talking about Weiss. Must've been a problem with the machine. I don't remember anything spiking down my aura." Her partner assured her. "Anyways, I'm going to get some sleep. Climbing a mountain isn't as easy as it looks you know."

"Sleep well Ruby" replied the trio in unison, silence pursuing afterwords.

Team RWBY's dorms,

Weiss

Two hours later.

Weiss had been awaken from her near sleep state by a sudden knock on the door. She looked at herself and noticed that she wasn't dressed to go out. She wasn't even dressed properly. She ran over and opened the door, revealing an equally unprepared Mark.

"Are you ready to go Weiss?" He asked quickly as though he was in a rush for something.

"No! I'm not even dressed to go out right now!" She replied afraid. How could she have drifted off?

"It's fine. You won't need it for what we're going to be doing." He replied, grabbing her by the hand. She quickly closed the door and walked beside him, hand in hand. They strolled over to the Beacon Cliffs before sitting down.

"I always love these cliffs at this time of night. It's always so relaxing." He said, keeping the heiress's hand in his own.

Weiss didn't know how to respond to that. Would she reply casually or romantically?

"Hey Weiss, do you trust me?" He asked, allowing her to avoid the last response.

"Well of course I do. Why would I be out here with you all alone if I didn't?" She replied suspiciously.

He shook his head, his facial features bearing an obvious burden.

"Weiss, I really want to let you know that…"

A second voice cut through the cold night's air, freezing the ice queen solid with fear. The voice sent shivers down her spine, her limbs refused to move. She turned her head slowly towards the source of the new sound, her body trembling.

"Well well Mark. It's nice to know that you kept your end of the deal."

A/N: Boom! Cliff hangers for the win! Sorry for the less than average opening, but I hope that the end makes up for it. I just really wanted to write the ending to be honest. I might go back and give it some spicing up later. But right now, I'm just happy to be getting this chapter out, and I really hope you guys like it.

Question of the day: Who do you guys think that the voice is? Feel free to leave it as a review or PM me. And guess before you read the next chapter if you're from the future. If you guess correctly, I'll give you an internet cookie or a shoutout or something.

Now onto our shoutouts. Also, you guys have left seven reviews on the two newest chapters, and that's completely amazing. Keep it up you guys!

Tatya1999: I got your name right this time. Woohoo for me. But anyways, thank you for your constant reviewing. I love reading your reviews, and it's always nice to see your name pop up once a new one is posted. I hope you enjoy this one. And also, that's what I'm trying to do with this story. Update it extremely often so that the plot isn't forgotten. I read a lot of fanfiction, and that's a major peave of mine. But anyways, thanks for the review again friend.

Shadowmanji: The fight makes sense in your mind if you imagine what happens. It's basically she runs forward, swings, misses, gets flipped over, and is out. Four seconds is realistic for the amount of stomping that Ruby gives her. Also, I love that you love the story. Your constant reviews are always welcome here.

Rwbybomb21: It doesn't matter if you review late; it's nice to have you here. Anyways, good job sniffing out his suspicious behaviour. I can't tell you what happens in the next chapter, but I guarantee you that it will be amazing.

Undoingtech: Welcome back tech. Good job catching onto the wordplay I used. I used poked as a metaphor of sorts. I might give you a better definition on the next chapter. But until then, thank you for the constant reviews.

Yellowsign: Welcome back yellowsign. It's nice to see that you're still kicking around with me. And while I guarantee you that Mark isn't a journalist, it really made sense when I read it. I really felt your thought process. It's honestly an amazing guess. The next chapter should shine some light on it though. Also, thank you for the compliment on the Weiss/Ruby relationship. I really worked hard to try and capture their personalities properly. So thank you very much.

Cowjumpmoon: You give me a review, I give you a shout out. So here's another one. I wanted Mark to give off bad signals. Only the next chapter will truly tell though.

Agent224: First off, thank you for (I think) your second review on this story. Thank you for complementing me on my uploading habits. It's not easy to get the ideas, write the chapter, edit the chapter, think of the shout outs, re read the whole chapter, and then upload. It's not as easy as it seems. Also, I'm glad you're enjoying me not rushing white rose. It was really the first thing I was aiming for when I started writing this. Also, I haven't even begun to develop the characters. This is kind of a basic rubric of each character. They're going to fan out a lot more once I get into it. This is just for starters. At least that's what I have planned. I'm glad it doesn't feel like I'm dragging it out. It's nice to know that you like my writing and pacing. It's a great feeling as a writer. It's the reason I keep getting a new chapter up every night.

Anyways, that was a lengthy shout out section. Longer shout outs get longer shout outs because there's more to comment on. If you want a shout out, just leave a review, or state it in a PM. If you PM me and don't say that I can shout you out, It'll be private between us. I haven't gotten one yet. I will be waiting…

So anyways, have a great morning, day, evening, night and as always, take it easy.