A/N: There aren't really any words I can say that will excuse the pitiful state this story has ended up in. I started this a long time ago with the best of intentions, ideas flowing like water and motivation gushing from my every pore. Then everything changed when writer's block attacked. It doesn't excuse the massive delay, but I really did have the worst kind of writer's block. I had ideas for this story. Great ideas, ideas that would make the strongest of men weep, and make the most miserable of people smile, at least for a moment. But I was scared. I'd had a taste of success, of popularity, with Red Stained Remnant, and I felt scared of messing it up. This story was going in a completely different direction, one that I'd never touched on before in anything I'd written: the problems of being human. I didn't know if I had it in me to do what I'd set out to do, what I had planned. So, using the excuse of oncoming classes and a need to work more on Red Stained Remnant, I chose the easy way out. I stopped writing. I'd finished chapter 3 before I quit, and it's been sitting on my computer for months, waiting to be posted. I just couldn't work up the balls to do it. Posting this would be like saying that it was back on again, that I'd worked up the courage to try, and I knew that I hadn't. So I apologise to you for my weakness, I apologise for giving into my fear

No more

Something called to me the other day, in the midst of planning other RWBY related fan fic things. I don't know if it was need for procrastination, or a need for something RWBY related to write while I plan and plot and wait for my allocated release date. Either way, I decided to revisit. I read over what I'd done. I listened to the Volume 1 soundtrack all over again. And it hit me again. The inspiration. I remembered what had inspired me to write this in the first place. The music. That was all it was for. So I decided that it was worth giving it another shot. So I've started chapter 4, I've picked up where I left off, and I'm posting this so that I have people hounding me for more. Don't expect a consistent release schedule just yet, unfortunately. This is going to take me a while to write. I'm delving into some dark issues—places I've never explored before as a writer—and I want to make sure it's as good as I can make it, for your sake. So forgive me my delays, forgive me the wait between chapters. Just know that I'm trying, really trying, to push myself into this. This story could really be something amazing if I can do it right, and I never settle for anything but my best. So know that, while you wait for the next chapter, I'm slaving away, making it as good as I possibly can. Both for myself, and for you

Anyway, blah, blah, blah. Shut up, K. No one cares.

Here is the very long-awaited chapter 3, for your reading pleasure

"That was awesome!" Ruby squealed as they walked into their room. The concert had gone on for two hours, and had only gotten better as it went on. Ruby collapsed on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"That was pretty good." Blake said as she followed Ruby through the door. Ruby bolted upright on her bed.

"Good?" she yelled.

"Okay, it was very good. But I have seen better."

"Oh come on Blake," Yang said. She stepped up next to Blake and elbowed her in the ribs. "Let her enjoy it." Ruby toppled over, back onto her bed.

Weiss followed Yang in, closing the door behind her.

"So, we start classes tomorrow?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah," Yang said with a sigh. "Tomorrow it all kicks off."

"Are you guys still okay with working on a song with me?" Blake asked. "We'll do it after classes of course."

"Yeah!" They all replied exuberantly.

"Great," Blake said with a smile. "I guess we'll start work on it tomorrow?"

"Definitely," Ruby said.

"Well we should probably go to sleep." Weiss said, pulling her pyjamas out of the closet.

"How am I supposed to sleep after that concert?" Ruby whined.

She rolled over on her bed and pressed her face into her pillow and kicked her legs in the air. She bounced up, off her bed, and landed next to Crescent Rose. She opened the case quickly, pulled her guitar out and leapt back onto her bed, leaning back against the headboard.

"Ruby, do you have to?" Yang asked as she pulled her pyjamas out. "We're going to go to sleep."

"Please!" Ruby asked in a high pitch voice. "I'll be really, really quiet." She whispered, holding a finger over her pursed lips. Yang rolled her eyes.

"Well I'm not the only one who has to be okay with it now: we have roommates to worry about." Yang said, pointing over at Blake and Weiss.

Her face fell as she saw Weiss putting ear plugs in and Blake pulling out her bass. Blake gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," she said. "I haven't played at all today."

Yang rolled her eyes. She pushed the bathroom door open and headed in to get changed. Ruby grinned at Blake, who gave her a small smile in return. They both settled back and played their instruments, quietly, as Yang came out and tucked herself into bed.

Their first day at Beacon began with a sun-filled dorm room. Ruby's eyes cracked open, she squinted against the sunlight streaming in the windows. Sitting up, she rubbed at her eyes.

"Good morning!" Yang yelled, wrapping her arms around Ruby. "Are you ready for our first day?"

"First day?" Ruby asked. She scratched her head and stretched, yawning. "What're you talking about?"

"Our first day at Beacon, silly," Yang said.

Ruby stiffened as she remembered. She'd forgotten where she was, she was still waking up. But it all came back now. They were at Beacon. It was their first day. And they were forming their own band. They were on their way to accomplishing their dream.

Ruby grinned up at Yang, hugging her back. The two of them giggled as they squeezed each other excitedly.

"Come on you two, we need to get going." Blake said as she walked out of the bathroom. Ruby and Yang looked at her, blinking vacantly. Blake sighed. "Get up, get dressed. We need to go get breakfast before our classes start."

Ruby and Yang both leapt of the bed, dashing to grab their clothes before hurrying into the bathroom. Within seconds they were back out in the dorm room, grabbing their gear and dashing to the door.

"Come on, Blake, Weiss, we've got to go!" Ruby said, hopping from foot to foot in excitement. Blake rolled her eyes before following them out the door, with Weiss in tow.

They wandered down the halls, heading to the cafeteria. Ruby, who was in the lead, had managed to get lost, so they didn't have as much time to eat as they should have. After a hurried meal, they dashed off to class. Weiss led the way this time, she didn't want to get lost again and be late.

The classes on their first day were mainly introductory lessons. Briefings and outlines on what they would learn over the semester, with some introductory content. The four of them shared classes for Musical Theory, Musical History and Tech Management. They each had their own class for their instruments, so Ruby went to her Guitar Technique class alone. She sat in a small group with three other students, listening to the tutor explain the lesson set-up for the semester.

Ruby left the room feeling dazed and disappointed. There were no guitar lessons on the first day. Each student was to be assigned a tutor, who would take them for one-on-one lessons. So my first lesson isn't 'til tomorrow, she thought as she walked back to the dorm.

When she walked back into the room Blake and Weiss were already back and both of them were setting up their instruments.

"Hey," Ruby said, closing the door. "What're you guys doing?" Blake looked up at her with a faintly annoyed, but amused, look.

"We're getting ready to work on my song." She said. "The one you said you'd help with?"

"Oh! Sorry, slipped my mind." Ruby blushed, rushing over to her gear to set up Crescent Rose.

"So where's your sister?" Blake asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since we split up earlier." Ruby answered as she pulled Crescent Rose out of its case.

Blake frowned, plucking at her bass strings impatiently. "Well I hope she gets back soon."

Almost as if on cue, Yang burst in the door, panting.

"Hey, guys." She said in between breaths. "Sorry I'm late. I just had a uh… Never mind. Let's get to it!"

"Okay," Blake said. She walked over to her bed and grabbed a few sheets of paper. "Here's what I've written out of the song so far, you guys should look it over."

Ruby took a sheet, reading through it. "There's a vocal part here." Ruby said. "Are you singing it?"

"Actually," Blake said, giving Ruby a crooked smile. "I liked your voice yesterday. Would you sing it?"

"I'd love to!" Ruby said with a smile. "I assume you want to do the backup parts then?"

"Yeah," Blake laughed. "There are a few parts I'll do. But you can do the leads."

"Sounds great," Ruby cried.

"Well then," Blake said, clapping her hands together. "Let's get started!"

Their first weeks at Beacon flashed by in a blur of lessons, laughter, music and fun. The four of them grew closer over the weeks, all becoming fast friends; though Blake still refused to join their band until at least after they finished her song. It took them quite a while to finish it: parts had to be modified, removed or written. But it was all fun. Ruby's favourite part of her day was finishing her classes and spending the evening playing music with her friends.

Yang had grown used to hanging around with Blake. In fact the two of them had become good friends. Ruby enjoyed spending time with Blake and Yang, but she also found herself spending a lot of time with Weiss. The snow-haired girl fascinated her. Weiss was so reserved, closed off and unwilling to open. She was out-going enough when they were playing, and she was always the first with her hand up in class. But as soon as Ruby steered the conversation towards Weiss herself, or her music, she closed down.

It piqued Ruby's curiosity. She didn't pester Weiss; she was too nice a person for that. But she spent more time with her, trying to figure her out. Eventually Weiss began to open up more, to Ruby at least, but she still kept her past as much of a secret as possible. But Ruby wasn't just hanging out with her for curiosity's sake. The more Weiss opened up, the more Ruby genuinely grew to like her. She was calm, intelligent, talented and hard-working. Ruby had never seen anyone so devoted to anything as Weiss was to her studies or her music.

Initially Weiss had spent all of her free time either studying or practicing. Ruby had struggled to become friends with her simply because whenever she tried, she was getting in Weiss' way. Eventually Weiss had agreed to spend an afternoon with Ruby, getting to know each other and, in time, she began to relax, taking time off to just have fun now and then.

Blake's song was coming along smoothly. The girls had all the composition done at least. They began spending their afternoons rehearsing and fine-tuning it. Any errors were worked out, any parts of the song that fell flat were rewritten, until it reached the point where Blake was perfectly happy with it.

From Shadows, Blake had titled it. Ruby had asked at one point what it was about, the lyrics were decidedly dark.

"It's a protest against human tyranny over Faunus." Blake had answered matter-of-factly. "It's about the oppression we Faunus went through—are still going through—in my home town."

"Was it that bad?" Yang had asked her. Ruby and Yang and been raised around Vale, where Faunus and Humans were almost equal. They'd been raised to think of Faunus as equal, so mistreating them was almost unimaginable.

"I uh… I come from a bad neighbourhood. Well, a bad city. I know things are better around here but, where I come from, humans hated the Faunus. And I mean openly hated us. We were subjected to discrimination and hate, violence and abuse. Faunus were forced to live on the street, or in rundown houses, working dead end jobs and having very little support in the community.

"Some people were supportive of us, giving us better jobs and helping us out, but not enough; so many of us had to resort to petty crime and theft simply to be able to eat. White Fang, the original members at least, began as a protest band. We wanted a way to make a stand against those who were so adamantly against us. We were subtle about it, the lyrics of our songs never openly called out the human populace. They were songs about fighting back against injustice, but you can pick up the references now and then.

"I guess that's how we became popular," she'd said with a sad smile. "Lots of people have their own injustices they want to stand up against, and we became their anthem. So when Grimm signed us on, we became huge. I was overjoyed at first: this meant that we were able to pass our messages on to even more people. Over time, I had grown to like the idea of supporting anyone and everyone through their troubles, not just the Faunus. So I liked knowing that even more people would be inspired by our work.

"But then the royalties started coming in. Our band—which was supposed to stand for Faunus rights and standing against injustice—jumped on the capitalist bandwagon, despite my best protests. And with money came the hubris. Adam, our front man, got cocky. He felt on top of the world, and no one could drag him back down. He lost his way, forgot why we started the band in the first place. He started pandering to the masses, aiming for more popularity and money. This song, I know I've been prattling on for ages, was attempt to bring us back to our roots. But they refused. I couldn't stand to remain in a band that had forgotten their way like that. People back home are still suffering. I couldn't understand why they would ignore that. So I left. Nice story huh?"

Ruby still thought back on that conversation, using it to motivate her singing of the song. She couldn't begin to understand what Blake had been put through as a child, but she was determined to help Blake fix it in any way she could.

"From shadows," Ruby sang loudly, bending her strings to match the melody of her voice. "We'll reclaim our destiny!"

Her fingers flashed over the neck of her guitar, running up the neck before she played a series of long, bending notes. Hanging her head over the guitar, panting, Ruby held the notes out, letting them die. The song ended with a low dying of all the music. She waited for the drone to fade away, trying to catch her breath.

Suddenly Weiss' piano started. Ruby looked up in surprise, they hadn't written any piano piece for the end of the song. Weiss was improvising, looking intently at her keys as her fingers brushed over them. She played a low, repeating hook before flowing up the keyboard. A beautiful, descending progression washed over them, sending Ruby into rapture. In the entire time she'd known Weiss, she'd never played anything like this.

The piece rose even higher, lower notes blending into it. The music continued for several seconds, raising goose bumps on Ruby's arms, before slowing down and ending on one last, powerfully haunting chord that sent a chill up Ruby's spine.

Weiss looked up, smiling shyly. "Sorry, I just felt like adding a little something at the end."

Ruby just gaped at her in shock. That had been one of the most powerful pieces of music Ruby had heard in her life, and Weiss sitting there smiling like it had been nothing! Weiss' smile faltered as she saw the shocked expressions on their faces, all of them staring at her. Ruby looked at Blake and was shocked to see a solitary tear roll down the Faunus' cheek.

"W-what?" She stuttered. "Was it that bad?"

Blake took a step forward, pulling her bass over her head and leaning it against a bed. "Weiss," Blake said slowly. "Can you remember what you just played and write it out?"

"I…" Weiss mumbled, confused. "Yeah, I can remember most of it. And there'll be a record of what I've played recently saved into my laptop. Why?"

"Good. We're keeping that."

"What!"

"That… Weiss…" Blake seemed lost for words. "That was beautiful. I don't want to know where you got the inspiration for that. All I know is: that was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard and we're keeping that in the song."

"R-really?" Weiss asked, her cheeks turning pink.

"Definitely," Blake patted Weiss on the shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. Blake reached up and wiped the tear off her cheek before turning to Ruby and Yang.

"Well," she said with a grin. "The song's done. Great job guys."

"So does that mean you're going to join us?" Yang asked hopefully.

"Were we good enough to convince you?" Ruby asked. Ruby had really enjoyed writing with Blake, she wanted Blake to join them and continue playing with them.

"Ruby," Blake said. "You're my singer. I can't leave you and get someone else to sing this after hearing you sing it."

"So you'll join us?" Yang and Ruby yelled in unison, their voices both filled with joy. Blake smiled and rested a hand on her hip.

"You guys have got yourselves a bassist."