Team RWBY's dorm,

Ruby

The same dream continued to plague through Ruby's mind. She stood in a field of roses, opposite to an unmarked tombstone. The wind continued to blow through, scattering rose petals to the wind, a vivid display of red. As she approached closer and closer to the unmarked tombstone, the wind picked up, tearing more petals from the floor, revealing only darkness beneath them. She continued until she reached the tombstone, still seeing nothing. She had seen nothing written on that tombstone for over a year. Yet still she checked every time. The final petals were torn from the ground and she awoke in a lurch, safe in her dorm. The sun had set behind her, the moonlight bouncing off the floor. She tucked her head down and checked for her partner, before remembering she was gone.

"I hope Weiss is enjoying herself with whatever she's doing right now" she thought to herself before climbing down off her bunk. Blake and Yang slept like rocks, unaware to their team members awakening. She slid out of her pyjamas and slid into her night ware, ready to head out for a quick breather. Nights like this didn't happen all the time at Beacon, and she loved to take the best use of them that she could. She slid into her combat skirt, threw on her boots and slowly opened the door, holding her breath like it mattered as she did so. It creaked as she opened it, causing her to force it open. She looked back terrified that she would have woken up her teammates. After several seconds of silence, she slid out the door, checking to make sure crescent rose was still on her. The door creaked close again, causing her to shutter. She quickly locked the door with the key that all of them had been given, and made a dash to the courtyard. She passed by a ton of closed doors, the thought of what Weiss could be up to filling her mind. What were they doing right now? Was she enjoying herself? Was Mark behaving himself? He seemed kind of off the last time that they had met. What was he thinking about doing tonight? If she found out that he had harmed Weiss, even in the slightest, Beacon cliffs was no more than a hop, skip, jump and a throw away. The courtyard doors opened proudly, the Beacon insignia stamped on the front of them. Several other students occupied the courtyard, not surprising for a day off. Most of them alone, although one couple sat next to the hedge on the right hand side. The cool night air filled her lungs as well as cooling her body. She felt her mind clear as she stepped outside. It was only her and the night right now. She was completely alone in her mind. No Weiss to worry about, no Yang to watch over her shoulder, no Blake to jump at her from the shadows.

"I'm not lying! I really don't even know who she is!" Came a panicked voice from the hedges, clouding Ruby's clear mind with thoughts that she didn't quite care about. She continued walking, absorbed by the feeling of the night air against her skin.

"Oh, of course you don't. That's what they all say. You're a terrible person. I trusted you, and you let me down. You tried to be all kind to my friends, tried to be all kind to me, and then the moment that I let my guard down, you stabbed me right in the back. You're a filthy human being." Replied a clearly furious female voice, although what she was talking about confused Ruby. Had he cheated on her? That would explain why she was so angry. Dismissing the thought, she continued through the courtyard. A girl by herself at this time of night wasn't an unseen occurrence, but it certainly wasn't normal. Then again, people being out in the courtyard at this time of night weren't normal either.

She continued her nightly stroll through the courtyard, abandoning the couple and their bickering alike. Maybe one day Weiss and Mark would be like that. Maybe one day they'd have a fight like that. Why was she thinking about Weiss anyways? What kept drawing her back to her? Why did her thoughts always end up at Weiss? It wasn't because she was her partner, or team mate. It wasn't because of Mark. Something kept on drawing her back to her white haired partner. She always felt responsible for her safety. She had always felt like her safety was her number one priority. Thoughts of her mother came back into her mind, causing her to stop in the middle of the courtyard. She turned around and began to leave the courtyard, heading to the one spot in Beacon that reminded her of her mother.

Beacon cliffs,

Weiss

The voice had cut through the night air like a hot knife through butter. Chills shot up her spine as she looked towards the source of the noise. Four figures had appeared from where they had come from just minutes ago. Her legs refused to cooperate, her heart sinking. She'd been betrayed. Mark stood up and approached the four figures before he began speaking.

"Alright Helion, I kept my end of the deal. I brought the girl here without alerting anyone. That was the deal that we had. Now you're going to leave me and my team alone right? I kept my end, you keep yours." Marked exclaimed, a slurry of emotions lining his words. Nervousness, pride, fear.

"Speaking of your team, where are they exactly? I thought I told you to bring them here with you." Helion replied, his voice continuing to terrify Weiss into immobilization. His broad shoulders, tough face and six and a half foot height freezing her to the ground. It was only made worse by the fact that she no longer had her partner to protect her. She began to crawl away, but even though the section of the cliffs was large, she would eventually be chased down. She could try to jump off the cliffs and hide in the forest, but that was like trying to hide a steak in a dog's food bowl. It was at least a fifteen minute walk back to beacon, and she didn't possess the endurance to make it all the way back in a sprint. Her movement was noticed by Helion, who shouted at Mark.

"If your team is here, tell them to stop her Mark. Otherwise the deal's off." He threatened, the pride in his voice refusing to falter. Mark made a quick gesture with his hand, and suddenly, three more figures appeared from the forest, causing Weiss to freeze in place. She contemplated screaming, but that would do no good. They were way too far away from Beacon for anyone to hear them, and all that it would accomplish would be angering her captors. She froze in place and began to weigh out her options. She could try and run, but that would only get her caught. She could try to bribe her way out, which may just work, or she could try and jump off the cliff, which would almost certainly result in her death.

"Good. Now tell them to bring her to me." Helion threatened once more, causing Mark to make another hand gesture. Weiss was picked up by her arms and drug over, kicked and flailing as they did so. Once they stopped, she felt a solid hit connect with her face, causing her whole body to jolt to the side. A deep burning pain remained in its place, the pain remaining. She looked around. Helion and his three team members stood in front of her, mark to her right, one of his team mates to his left, and the other two behind her. She couldn't remember their names, but that wouldn't matter.

"What do you want from me?" She pleaded, trying to find a way to get out of the situation that she was in. "Do you want money? I can get you as much money as you'd like."

"No. I don't want money. Let me tell you what I want. The other day, your little friend made a fool out of me in public. She shamed our names by standing up for these punks and beating us. So I think I'm going to get back at her. I was going to try and get at her directly, which would definitely have been better if Mark had wooed her instead of you."

A burning pain erupted in her chest, threatening to tear her apart. She had trusted Mark. She had trusted someone in her life, and she was immediately let down. Maybe her father was right. Maybe she was too foolish and childish. She should have seen this coming. No one truly loved her. She had been soothed into a false sense of security and immediately stabbed in the back the moment her back was turned.

"So, we're going to get our revenge on you. Mark here let us know that she has a thing for you. We know the way she looks at you, the way that she protects you. So we're going to hurt what is dearest to her. And then when she finds you out here, the autopsy will tell them that a Grimm had gotten to you when you went out on a hike one night. An unfortunate fate indeed."

Weiss's mind raced. Autopsies were only for the dead. They were really planning on killing her. Why? Were they so prideful that they were going to kill someone to get back at someone? And Mark was willing to go along with this?

"Helion, this was never in our agreement. I bring her out here, you show her a lesson, and we all go back happily. That was what we agreed on. I'm not killing someone to fuel your grudge. That's not in the deal. If you're going to try and kill her, then the deal is off." Mark defended, his tone becoming more serious.

"Well what do you think we should do Mark? Do you want to give her a slap on the wrist and send her back? That's not how the world works. This world is a harsh place, and you can only get along by being tougher than those around you. You should know that after what happened to your parents."

Mark seemed to reel back at the comment, but recovered.

"I don't know. I don't know anymore. You know what, the deal's off. She's coming back with us to Beacon." Mark announced as he waved his hand back, dragging Weiss away. "You guys are sick. I can't believe I ever agreed to work with you. I'll never do that again."

"Hey Mark, you really shouldn't have done that." Came a female voice from the woods. "You really should've just stuck with the deal."

Four more figures emerged from the forest, their figures clearly female.

"You see Mark; we wouldn't have had to do this if you had just stuck to the deal and listened to us. Now we have to shed even more blood tonight."

"You guys are sick. Why are you guys even doing this?" Mark asked as they retreated away from the new figures, bringing them closer and closer to the cliff.

"You see, our friend Roman torchwick really doesn't really like little Ruby Rose either. We're just here to carry out his dirty work. It's nothing against you, you were just so easy to manipulate that we couldn't pass you up. You think you're tough, you think that you're all that. But you can't even keep your own squad out of this. You're just pathetic. At least you'll serve as good food for the Grimm down the cliff though. So at least you can say you died with a purpose."

Mark's squad pulled Weiss closer and closer to the cliff before only several feet separated them and the drop. Their breathing was panicked. They'd been played like pawns. Their team drew their weapons, dropping Weiss to the ground. Kaitlyn possessed a massive sword and shield, double the size of Jaune's. Selanin drew two handguns, holding them close to her sides. Adrian drew a large rifle, pressing the butt up to his right shoulder.

"You're going to try and fight us? Mark, you're really not catching on are you? You're outnumbered, outgunning, and out of room to run. So here's the deal. Tell your team to put their weapons down, disable their auras, and we'll make this quick and clean." Helion taunted, drawing his war axe. He fired a shot off at MASK, which was easily blocked by Kaitlyn's shield.

"We're not going to go down without a fight Helion. If you want her, you'll have to take her from us." Mark said heroically, drawing his submachine gun.

"You know what, that's really not as bad sounding as you think it is." Helion joked as he brought his axe to his side and charged in, gaining momentum. Mark squeezed off a few rounds into him that were easily deflected by his aura. His black aura flared as he did so, revealing his semblance to be polarity. His team began the fight, but they were outnumbered. The four girls from their right charged in, all wielding simple swords. Adrian loosed off a few rounds, but their attackers simply weaved, causing his shots to miss. It was hard to hit a moving target, let alone a smart one. MASK began to open fire, releasing as much ammo as their trigger fingers would allow. They managed to weaken the aura of one of team HEAT before they were overrun. They have the range advantage, but with no where to run, they were swamped by their melee attackers. They fought valiantly, but the numbers advantage, lack of preparation and nowhere to run all favoured their assailants. They were drug away from Weiss and placed in the middle of field.

"What should we do with them Helion. They know that we were here and they know who we are. But if we shoot them here, they'll know that we killed them." One of the girls asked, concern in her voice.

"It doesn't matter. We cannot go back to Beacon at this point. We just have to cause as much damage as we can before we leave. Starting with the princess. She's the only thing that we can do here that can actually affect our target, so she goes first. Bring her here. I want to do this personally."

The girls nodded in cooperation and moments later, the petrified Weiss was brought to his feet. Her body refused to function at this point. She had been betrayed and deceived by the one person that she had trusted. Tears streamed down her face, her body nearly convulsing she was shaking so hard.

"I would tell you that I'm sorry Weiss, but I'm really not. Your family has done some pretty terrible things to us, and we're just returning the favour. I guess we really hit two birds with one stone huh? I guess Mark actually did do a good job tricking you into coming here. And I thought he was simple and easy to manipulate, and he managed to fool you. What a shame you must be to your family. I can see why your father hated you."

Helion was tearing open newly healed scars. She had returned to Beacon with the intention of starting anew. She was going to impress her father. But now she was going to die like a bug under a shoe. Helion was right. She had trusted someone, and she would die for it. Her father was right. He really did deserve someone better. She was a shame to the Schnee name.

"But that's enough talking. Can you keep crying for me Weiss? It'll make me killing you that much more interesting. Now on the count of three, you'll die like the pest you are."

Tears streamed like waterfalls from the heiress's eyes. She was on her knees, her face buried in her chest. Warm streams had built themselves down her neck and chest, their warmth unwelcome. The taste of salt filled her mouth, her composure destroyed. Helion had caused more emotional pain in one minute than her father had caused in one summer. Even if she were to live, there was no way that she would recover from the emotion scars he had dug back up.

Helion relished in the moment. He was about to kill the heiress of the Schnee dust company. The company that had forced his brothers and sisters into forced slave labour. He would cause a dent to the company; bring hope back to his people. His finger tugged back on the trigger, the loud echo of his sfaira cracking through the night sky. Weiss rolled to her side, shocking her attacker. Myrtenaster appeared from its hilt, her animal instincts kicking in. His teammates kicked into action, but he ordered them back.

"The little kitten has claws. I don't need you guys to help me. I'm going to take great enjoyment from this." He reasoned as he charged in, sfaira held at his side. Red dust clicked into myrtenaster, the blame shining with a faint red glow. Small orbs of fire shot out, but Helion continued his charge. Weiss channelled yellow dust into myrtenaster before nimbly leaping over his attack. She took a thrust at his back, but he used the weight of his weapon to swing his axe around behind him, causing him to turn around in the blink of an eye, catch myrtenaster right along the blade. She managed to maintain her grip on her rapier, but felt the muscles in her arm begin to tug and sting. She leaped backwards, channelling light blue dust into myrtenaster before sending out a wave of ice that caught Helion in place. Purple dust locked itself in next as she slashed towards her immobilized opponent, slashing directly across his chest. The hit caused him to lurch back, the effects of hit showing on his face. He fired into the ice, causing it to shatter into small shards of dust. He readied sfaira once more, charging back at his opponent. White dust channelled its way into myrtenaster, prepared for the final strike. She charged back, expecting her final blow to be enough. She was quickly caught by the weight of the flying axe, causing her to reel back. She was suddenly smashed over by her attackers much larger form, crashing into the ground. His legs held down her own, his hands pinning hers to the ground.

"I thought you'd be a difficult opponent Weiss Schnee, but all you proved was a waste of time. What a waste of time. But I guess that's the story of your life huh? But I guess that's a waste of time too, seeing as you've heard it all from your father time and time again. He's such a better person than you. He's ruthless, cold hearted, greedy. I guess those are the only traits you really got from him huh?" He snarled, forcing tears back from the heiress. "And now you're crying. You really are a waste of time and energy." He grabbed sfaira from off the ground beside him, raising it over his head. He began the swing before a loud crack filled the air, whipping sfaira from his hands once more, launching it against the ground several feet away. His eyes rose from his victims to spot out the source of the attack. On the other end of the field, a small red outline appeared in his vision before rapidly approaching. In less than a second, she had closed the entire distance, appearing only five feet away from Helion.

"I don't know what you're doing here Helion, or what's going on for certain. But if you don't leave by your own will, you'll leave on mine." Ruby threatened, her normal innocence and compassion missing from her tone.

"There are eight of us Ruby. There is one of you. I really don't think you understand the situation that you got yourself into. But seeing as you're who we came to kill, I don't think that we can just let you go kindly." He threatened as he stood up from his moping foe. He quickly charged towards her, not giving her time to draw her weapon. She managed to block his hands with her own, but his sheer size began to push her down. Sweat began to form on their faces as they struggled against each other, despite Helion's sheer size advantage. Ruby eventually managed to claim victory by twisting her body, launching Helion down the field with surprising force. She quickly drew crescent rose, impaling the tip onto the ground in front of her, showing her intentions. Helion quickly stood back up and waved his arm towards the cliff, signalling the other seven to leave. They quickly fled the scene, leaving Ruby, Weiss, and MASK behind.

Ruby quickly stormed over to team MASK, crescent rose being drug behind her. She approached the terrified team leader who knew that this was bound to happen eventually. They were all standing upright now, after the initial wave of shock had passed by.

"All of you leave. Right now. Before I start second guessing myself." She threatened as the petrified squad took off, fleeing the cliffs. She could've ended Mark then and there, and a part of her wanted to her. But she had more important matters to attend to. She walked back over to her sobbing teammate, lifting her to her feet. The heiress barely possessed the strength to stand up on her own, her voice removed by her constant sobbing. She collapsed into her partners arms, burying her head into her shoulder. The emotional pain that Helion had brought up was destructive. He had torn open emotional scars that had just healed up. Thoughts that she had been trying to bury away and forget. Her mind traced back up to her scar on her eye, a visible weakness to everyone around her. She had been trained and raised to be perfect, and she had failed. Not just that once. She wasn't living the life of a heiress. She was living the life of a damsel in distress. Someone in constant need of saving. She was someone who needed to be constantly watched over, like a newborn child. Her trust had been shattered and spat upon, her self worth crumpled and torn, used to light the fire that burned her being at the core.

"Weiss, I'm sorry that I let you down. I shouldn't have trusted him. I shouldn't have left you alone. I did and it nearly cost you your life. No apology I can make will forgive what I've done." She said drearily, Weiss's sadness spreading over.

"You… You couldn't have done anything differently Ruby. You trusted me, and I just let you down. I'm just spare luggage that you drag around. I'm something that you don't need, but you keep around just in case." She muttered in between constant sobbing, spilling herself upon her partner.

"Weiss, it's not your fault. You've been denied the proper caring that you've needed as a human being. It's normal that you reached out to him. You needed someone who could care for you, and you took the first person you could find." She announced, dropping her partner's mood even lower. "But please, let me the person that cares for you. Let me be someone who you can lean on, who you can scream out your troubles to. Let me be the one who cares for you when you're sick. Let me be the one who protects you when you're weak. Let me be the one who saves you when you're stranded. Let me be the light in your darkest moments. Let me be your home Weiss. Please"

Her tears began to pour out like a newly destroyed damn. Her form completely caved in as she collapsed into her partners arms, completely unable to support herself upright. Her partner was right. She was looking for a bridge, a moral support, and she had jumped into the arms of the first person who had offered her that. But she had never seen the one who was there for her all along. Who took care of her when she was sick, who defended her, even when it meant standing up against her own family, who carried the weight of her whole team through the thick and thin, who had risked her own life to save her partners without even considering herself, the one who comforted her when no one else would. The one who carried the warmth for the both of them. She was the one who had made her smile when her world was caving in around her, the one who would have fought to her own death to ensure her safety. The one who woke up in the middle of the night when she heard her partner's pain, the one who looked out for her partner's best interest before her own. The one who had bared the storms and pushed through. The only human being in her life who really cared about her.

Ruby Rose.

A/N: There we go. There's the chapter that I had in mind when I first started writing this story. The one that I've been waiting to write for a week now. I really hope you guys are impressed. I spent my entire day off writing this chapter, and I don't regret a single second of it.

Question of the day: how do you guys think that I did on this chapter? Did it bring upon a major wave of feels? Because I'll be the first to admit, I took a break writing this chapter because I was so caught up in it.

Also, it wasn't Cinder, despite what most of you guessed. She'll be in the future, trust me on that.

Shout outs:

Tatya1999: Thank you for your constant reviews my friend. I didn't mention why her aura was spiked down because I had brought too many feels already. That will be for next chapter. Also, good guesses on who it was, but unfortunately, they were all wrong. I guess I'm too unpredictable.

Rwbybomb21: Welcome back! It's nice to know that I haven't scared you off yet. Anyways, thank you for the guesses. They were all what you'd think. But the answer was so simple and deus ex machina'd that you couldn't really guess it. But hey, it made sense still right? Right?

Yellowsign: Welcome back my friend. I don't quite understand what you meant by laid back, but I'll take it as a compliment. I tried really hard to avoid the over powered OC's that I've seen before. Some of them are so absurdly strong that you wonder why they have to get out of bed to make the world bow. But anyways, Mark kinda took a spin in this chapter huh? But you knew that something was going on with him all along. He was too kind. Also, I completely forgot about what you wrote in the ending, but you called it out completely. You were also the only person who guessed the OC as the voice. So wow, are you reading my mind or something? I love the formatting of your review. This shout out is just a mess of ideas huh? But anyways, I'll keep trying my hardest to get some good chapters out, and thank you for your constant reviewing.

Undoingtech: Welcome back tech. And no, it wasn't because the rest of his team was still in their dorm, but good guess. It could've fit into the story just as well as my idea. Maybe it would make more sense actually…

Anyways, I was trying to create internal conflict when I put that Mark line in. I was trying to pull you guys both ways, making you wonder if it would actually happen. There will be more in the future as well.

Metimesthree: Nice to see that you've come back friend. And good job on the guessing, you're on the same train as everyone else. And then there's me on a completely different train heading in a circle.

Shadowmanji: Welcome back. As stated above, the dips in her aura are going to be explain next chapter. Also, about the cliff hanger thing, here's the story behind it. So I was writing the last chapter, but then I got sidetracked off the RWBY wiki and onto a video that had Barbara in it. And I guess that she rubbed off on me too much and I had to include a pun somewhere in there, and that's what it turned out being. That's the reason why that's there. I had to do it, don't ask why.

Cowjumpmoon: Welcome back friend. You were craving another chapter, so here it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

So that's the shoutouts for today. New and old reviewers alike are welcome here. If you're new, don't be afraid to drop a review. I quite enjoy interacting with my readers, and I'll give you a shout out and a reply at the end of each chapter. And no, I don't bite. So don't worry about that. I get notifications on my phone when this story gets reviewed, and when I see that I've gotten a new one, it makes me feel all warm and giddy inside.

But any ways that's it for tonight, and as always, have a great morning, day, evening, night and take it easy.