Hmmm. This Friday's chapter is pretty poorly written. I feel like I added too much detail, but I can't figure out how to write it any differently. Well, I could, I just don't have the initiative to do that. I'm getting better at fight scenes, though. I'm learning! So, expect better in the third installment... which won't come out for a while. Enjoy Chapter 8, guys... Review if you don't enjoy it, review if you do. Win/ win for the writer...

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Chapter 8: Taking Action

Just Before Midnight: Ravena

We're all in our places, and so far, nothing has happened. Jack was right about the mine. He had been doing his recon before White Fang grabbed him and tried to get him out of the way of their operation. 'Thank the gods, those idiots were new, or they would've had his head for being a deserter.' I'm at one of the lowest points of the fenced in area, being that my weapon is close range. Weiss, Winter, Jack, Zamin, and Yang are all at low points, too, due to the limited range of their weapons as well. Ruby was assigned to stay at the top of the hill directly behind Weiss, while Azura was stationed on the hill directly behind me. Both of them are to keep their distance and act as snipers if combatants crowd around us. Blake is put in position about halfway up the hill behind Yang to act as a defence, just in case she gets surrounded. Zamin and Winter are only about twenty feet apart, so they act as each other's backup. Corinthe insisted that she participate in tonight's plan, so we have her as Jack's backup. Everyone is in pairs and ready to go.

Winter gave us all these wicked cool earpieces that sync with our scrolls, so we're all in the loop together. Everyone can hear everyone else even though no one but Zamin and Winter can see any of the others. I hear a slight crackle in my ear indicating someone's about to speak. Winter's voice comes in soft but clear. "Alright, Jack… Cori, distraction one is a go."

With that, I see the blonde haired girl is thrown over the fence followed by an almost blinding light that ends in an explosion. I cover my eyes to keep from going blind. An excessive amount of guards from the mine are led straight to Jack's brand of mercy. One after another, they fall to his might. None of them are left standing.

Then comes the fun part. I smile to myself. I get to be distraction two. Over the comm, I hear WInter whisper, "Two, go." I use a glyph to jump the fence, shoot fire dust in the opposite direction,causing a small fire in one of the buildings, and rush by the buildings toward the slave quarters. Upon my entry, majority of the Faunus that are in there startle.

I hold my left hand up, my right hand still holding my weapon. "I'm not here to hurt you. My team was sent here to set you free." I look back at the door as a large explosion shakes the air. "That's the White Fang. Okay, we need to work fast. Line up, and I'll get the collars off." One by one, they come up to me and I unlock their collars with my thumbprint. 'Idiots. That bastard CEO has no idea that all Schnees are programmed into a system. He probably only removed Weiss and Winter's prints.'

Only one teenage boy even questions how I'm taking the collars off. I smile at him. "Because that bastard doesn't keep track of all his relatives." He laughs at me and continues on. When the last one was off, I turn to one of the older people. "Are there more of you?"

"Yes, there is one more building. There are only about two hundred fifty of us, give or take a few. Most of the first ones died. There were about a thousand of us before the accidents." He bows her head in sorrow. "The equipment failed. But now, now you free us. Thank you."

I nod and shake his hand. "We need to get to that other building before the White Fang can capture you. There are nine other people out there that are putting their lives on the lines for this operation to work. Do you think you could help us?"

He rubs his chin thoughtfully, raking his hand through his gray beard. "I don't know how many of them have any training at all."

I sigh deeply. I stand up straighter and make myself louder. "Who of you can fight?" About half of the group raises their hands. "Okay, who of you have formal academy training?" Two-thirds of them put their hands down. I turn toward the old man. "I think I can work with these." I turn toward those with their hands raised. "Alright, if need be, you that have your hands raised may need to jump into the fray." I turn to the old man again. "I will not force you, because your opponents will be of the White Fang. Just keep your group from being apprehended because they want to force you to serve their cause. A revolution is brewing. Be sure to keep them together. I don't want to be the cause of your deaths."

I pivot on my right foot and leave them to head to the next warehouse. I perform the same process as the other warehouse, but, in this one, there was opposition. A man in the back of the line is the first to question how I get the collar off. "Because I have magic thumbs!"

"Bullshit! Only Schnees are coded for these collars! How can you unlock them?" The man starts to get irate, and others begin to see his reasoning, and their eyes start to shine with hatred.

"Okay, you got me, I'm a Schnee. I'm also here to free you. I don't want a fight. I just want to unlock your collars and let you go. So, can I get on with it?" I put my hands on my hips.

I reach for the closest woman, trying to press my thumb on the fingerprinter on the collar. She shies away from me. "No! Get away from me."

"Godsdamnit!" I point at the man who started this. "Do you see what you've done? They won't let me help now!" I throw my hands in the air. "I can't free you if you don't let me help!"

The man makes his way through the crowd. "I will not be touched by a fucking Schnee!" He raises his hand so strike me, and before I can dodge, an arrow of pure energy lands in front of the man. He pauses, and we both look up at the source. Azura was floating in the corner nearest the door.

"Thanks, babe!" I blow her a kiss and wink. I turn toward the dumbfounded man. "You may be a head taller than I am, but I have an amazing girlfriend ready to shoot you." I give him a sarcastic smile. "Do you want to take that chance?"

The man looks from me to Azura and back. Just then, someone crashes through the door. Cori, with Jack not far behind rushes in. "We're getting surrounded. Ruby's out of ammo, Blake lost her ribbon, I've lost all of my knives, Weiss and Winter is out of Dust, and I think Jackey-boy's injured. We need to get going!" Corinthe seems to notice the precarious situation I'm in with the man standing in front of me. "Uhhh. What's going on here?" She flicks her finger back and forth between us.

"Well, ya see, Cori. This guy," I point my thumb at him, "has a problem with being touched by a 'fucking Schnee.'" I shrug my shoulders.

The man begins to walk up to Cori, oozing a fabricated charm that makes me gag. "Well, baby. What's a Faunus like you doing with a Schnee?" He grins, and I swear he expects his teeth to do the glare thing that happens in movies.

A look of disgust overtakes her earlier confusion. "Don't call me that, you flee bag. And these Schnees are better people than you'll ever be."

Anger flies off the wolf Faunus in waves. A growl escapes his throat. Through gritted teeth, he mutters, "I am not a fucking flee bag." He clenches his fist and crouches low, as if he's readying for a fight. He raises his fist, and almost too fast for the eye to see, goes for a punch. Just before it would have connected, it's stopped by Jack.

Jack's eyes flash dangerously. A ferocious growl escapes his throat, and jaws all around the room drop. The other wolf Faunus backs away slowly, and if he had a tail, it would probably be between his legs in fear. I look at one of the Faunus to my side. "What just happened?"

Slowly, the woman closes her mouth and lifts her eyes to mine. "He basically just told him to back off his mate. That one overstepped his boundaries when he threatened the girl. We, around here, respect that. And because they're both wolf Faunus, it gets a bit harsher than most of the rest of us. The dark one is really protective."

I look over at Jack with wide eyes. "Mate? Cori? What?" I throw my hands up in confusion.

Jack shrugs at me. "They'll cooperate now. Go ahead and finish. We have to leave before Schnee catches on." He, then, takes Cori's hand and pulls her out of the warehouse.

I turn my attention back to the multitude of Faunus that have lined back up, including that rebellious wolf Faunus. I make my way through the line, releasing every last Faunus in the room. "Alright, guys. I don't know what the situation outside this room is, but we need to get out of the fenced area." I start to leave the room, but flames encase the doorway. I throw up a glyph on instinct.

Azura lands beside me. "I think that the building's been caught in the blaze. We need to get everyone out of her."

I nod. "Weiss, Ruby. We need to contain the flames for as long as it takes to get these people out. Do you think you can do that? Cause, ya know, I can't. The best I am is fire proof."

Ruby nods and turns to Weiss. "I'm out of bullets, so we can't use Iceflower. Any good ideas that won't get us killed?"

"Uh… I have a full ice dust chamber, so, i can just freeze a wall?"

Ruby shakes her head. "No, that won't work. The ice'd be too thin." She bangs on her head with the palm of her hand. "Think, Ruby, think." Suddenly, her forefinger points into the air. "I got it! I'll make a hole in the side of the warehouse with my sweetheart and you can use small bursts of ice dust to keep the flames at bay while we get the people out. Do you think it'll work?" She turns to Weiss with a hopeful expression.

Weiss thinks it over for a second. "I think it might do the trick." She leans in and pecks Ruby on the lips. "Go make the hole and tell me when I have to start my part."

Ruby nods and rushes off. She stands about six foot from the wall and readies her scythe. She plants the tip of the blade into the ground and starts to twirl around the handles, picking up momentum as she goes. Suddenly, her flipping stops as she drops to the ground, and with enough force, lifts the scythe easily, swinging it in a beautiful arc over her head. The blade slices through the tin as if it were made of butter, creating a tall, diagonal line. She plants the blade again and repeats the process, but this time, her blade goes in the other direction, creating a triangle in the metal. She, then, kicks the metal, bending it downward until it touched the ground, creating an entranceway. Flames start to trickle in through the newly fashioned door.

"Weiss, now!" Weiss points Myrtenaster at the hole and lets loose a small stream of dust, which turns to ice, battling the flames. "Now, people! Move!" They start to run toward the exit quickly. Almost a fourth of them makes it out before them ice melts, and the flames return full force. Weiss repeats this process until all of the Faunus are out of the building, leaving only the four of us inside the burning warehouse.

I breathe a small sigh of relief before turning to Weiss. "Alright, one more time, cousin."

Weiss points her rapier at the opening, but all that happened was a sharp click. Weiss startles at the sound. "No, no, no. Not now! Godsdamnit!"

I look at her, concerned. "What's happening?"

Weiss looks down in defeat, closing her eyes tightly. "I'm out of ice dust. We're trapped." She sinks to her knees.

Ruby rushes over to her and takes her in her arms. "We can't be trapped. We just… just have have to… to think of a plan. Yeah. We just have to think of a plan." Ruby pulls Weiss in tighter, burying her face into Weiss' shoulder.

I turn to Azura. Tears stream down her face. I walk up to her and pull her into a tight hug, laying my head on her shoulder to mask my own tears. "What plan? What could possibly save us now?!"

Azura returns my hug, squeezing me tight. "Hush, love. We will make it out. We just have to stay calm and think." She strokes my hair, and tisks under her breath. "What is it with you Schnees and being so pessimistic?"

I laugh through my tears. "It runs in the family. Must be a genetic disease or something."

We all share a laugh. Weiss wipes her eyes and sits up. "That is entirely plausible. But, I think that we should try to end that family tradition, genetic or not." She stands up, Ruby still attached to her. "We both have Glyphs, right?" I nod, wiping my tears and pulling away from Azura a bit. "Well, I think that we should make a box, one that would protect us from the flame. Our glyphs are solid forces." She makes a fist, like she's crushing something. "I think this is our best shot at escaping this death trap."

I grin at her plan. "Yes!" I hit the side of my head with my palm. "How did I not think of it before?"

Weiss gives me a smug smile. "Because I'm a genius, that's why."

I crack my knuckles and prepare. "Let's do this. I'd rather not die. I was already planning our one year anniversary." I give a lopsided grin to Azura before conjuring multiple glyphs. "Alright, get in."

All of us squeeze into a little four foot by four foot box made of glyphs. Weiss' white glyphs overlap my red ones, creating a sealed barrier. We start to walk toward the opening, cringing slightly as the fire licks at the makeshift shield protecting us. We make it outside to see the warehouse blackened. The beams that support the tin siding are beginning to melt under the intense heat. In a matter of minutes, the building has totally collapsed, of which a deafening sound is created when it hits the ground.

Ruby whistles in amazement. "That could have totally been us, guys."

I shake my head at her. "I'm just glad that it wasn't." I grab Azura and pull her in for a kiss, one that emphasizes all my love for her. I pull away and press our foreheads together. "I love you."

She gives me a goofy smile. "Love you, too, babe."

The clang of metal on metal bring us all to reality. Not fifty feet from us, Winter is facing off against at least ten White Fang acolytes. Zamin isn't far from her battling his own group of hooded fiends. Winter yells as one of the lackeys slashes at her arm and connects. They start to gain on her, but Zamin runs in and stomps his foot, creating a small quake that topples the nearest enemies. I unsheathe Blaze and charge in to help.

I click over to the next chamber of red dust, lighting my blade. I parry the nearest blade from Winter, then lunge forward, stabbing through his chest where the dust discharges and explodes his chest cavity in a spray of blood and bone. My formerly white tunic dress is now dotted with his carnage. I move on to the next enemy, avoiding thinking about the disgusting fact that I just got sprayed with that man's vital fluids.

I slash at the little minion next to me, slitting their throat. They fall to the ground, clutching their neck, then die. Ruby and Weiss are right behind me, on the ground. Ruby performs acrobatics with her scythe, cutting through man after man. Weiss uses the same style I do, lunging, parrying, and slashing at those nearest to her. An arrow flies by my face, hitting an acolyte that I hadn't noticed sneaking up on me. I look up to see Azura firing off energy bolt after energy bolt, being as precise as possible so as to kill in one hit. I jump back into the fray, protecting Winter ferociously.

Wave after wave of White Fang members come at us from all over the surrounding area. Airships descend from the sky, dotting the hills. Their numbers escalate innumerably. For every one we kill, ten more take their place. Winter is on the ground, unable to fight, with Zamin hovering over her protectively, killing anyone with audacity to get near them. Running toward us are the other four, fighting their way slowly toward us.

Azura lands and separates her bow into twin knives. We stand back to back, trying not to leave each other's side. I yell over the constant clanging. "We need to retreat. Winter's down, and I'm pretty sure that the majority of us are so low on Aura that we'll collapse as soon as the adrenaline wears off." The rest of the group agree over the comm. "Now, how do you propose we do that?"

Over the radio, Jack gives a deep sigh. "The best chance we have is if we make a hole and just run for it."

"This is no time to reenact old movies." Blake chimes in.

Yang's voice booms through the connection. "I'm game!"

"Yang, we talked about this." Blake chastises her girlfriend.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. No stupid stunts that might end in my death. I know, but this isn't too stupid, and it's really the only idea that we have."

Zamin's grunts come in. "It… could work. Let's… try… it."

I shrug as I stab the lackey in front of me. "Let's just get it over with."

"For this to work, we all need to be working closer together, or we'll all get separated. Everybody, head for the far fence!" Ruby's voice sounds in my ear.

We all start to run, ditching the enemies we are combatting. The White Fang members seem baffled for the moment, but soon gain their bearings. They begin to pursue us. With most of my remaining Aura, I throw up a barricade of glyphs to block their access to us as we retreat. The farther I get from them, though, the weaker they become. Eventually, they'll disappear completely. We're almost to the fence when an explosion knocks us off our feet. I open my eyes and attempt to get up. I make it to my knees when I see a new airship fly and hover over us. I stagger to my feet and look around our group. Only Winter is completely down, but I can feel my adrenaline wearing off. Soon, I won't have the strength to continue. I gasp in air, trying to steady my breathing from the running and battle.

Two figures drop from the sky unexpectedly. "Goodwitch! Ozpin! Thank the gods." I breathe a sigh of relief at their appearance.

Goodwitch throws some kind of spell at the gaining White Fang members before turning toward us. "Expect the lecture of a lifetime, children. Now, get on the platform." She creates a purple platform with her magic, or whatever, about a foot from us.

I grab Azura around the waist, and she does the same. We help each other to the platform. Zamin carries Winter, and the others step on. We're all hoisted into the air to the airship still hovering above us. When we're safely on board, Ozpin and Goodwitch give us the lecture of the century, criticizing our utterly foolish actions.

When they finish, I look up at them. "Thank you, though. Even though we were the most idiotic bunch of first years you've ever seen, I still appreciate you coming after us. So, thank you."

Ozpin sips his coffee. "You are, by far, not the most idiotic first years I've ever had. I believe that Qrow, Taiyang, Summer, and Raven beat you there. But, what you did was irresponsible beyond belief. If I had known that this was what Winter needed Team RWBy for, I would have never been cowed into agreeing. You can be certain that this won't happen again. But, I will congratulate all of you on your efforts to right one of the most heinous crimes I have witnessed. You freed those slaves, and they are now safe and secure in an undisclosed location. They will integrate back into society when they have been totally rehabilitated. And now, we have more intel on the White Fang than we've ever had before." He takes another sip of his coffee.

Goodwitch steps up. "For this, you will be awarded time off from school work. But, you will be required to take your semester finals. I expect you to learn from your mistakes." With that, she turns on her heels and walks away, Ozpin not far behind her.

Jack looks at each of us. "I think we deserve a rest now. What do you think?"

I nod and yawn. I, then, crawl over to Azura, pull her close, and settle down for sleep.

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A/N: You know, this seems both rushed and too slow at the same time. How did I accomplish that? Anyhow, this isn't the best chapter I've come up with, but it does have a few good qualities. I hope you enjoyed it. :) Favorite, follow, review.