Chapter 4:

"I'm back." Ruby announced walking calmly into team RWBY's dorm room, discarding her empty water bottle in a waste basket. Blake, Yang, and Weiss were all seated on their beds. "Oh why don't you all sit on Blake's bed, I'll sit on Weiss's bed. That way when I talk to you I can see your faces."

"Okay sis. Say is this about the assignment?" Yang Ruby's sister asked.

"Yes and no. This will be more of a motivational speech." Ruby sat on one bed, while her three teammates sat, facing her, on the other bed. "First I wanted to ask you all a question. I want each of you to give an honest answer. Are you committed to this team?"

"You don't have to ask that question. My answer is a definite yes." Yang, surprising Ruby, answered first.

"As long as we support each other, I will stay as long as I can. My answer is also a definite yes." Blake answers second, not wanting to disappoint her leader.

Weiss leaned forward thinking. Getting up from the bed she sat next to Ruby. Besides the proximity doing wondrous things to her insides, Ruby was nervous. Weiss suddenly made it better by putting an arm around Ruby's shoulders. Ruby blushed, again the proximity of her crush rendering her speechless. She thought that she could hold herself together, and get this blasted speech out of her system, if Weiss sat opposite her. However now that Ruby's said white haired crush sat next to her, it rendered her speechless.

"Ruby my friend I will always stick by you no matter what happens. Regardless of anything I will be there by your side supporting you. I may have great confidence in this team, but I have all the confidence in the world riding on you, my redheaded adventurer." Weiss's reply stunned Ruby the most. It sounded like Weiss had feelings for Ruby. 'Oh if only it were true.' Ruby thought. She hoped it was, she wanted it more than anything.

"Do you guys know about the assignment?" Ruby asked her voice soft but filled with conviction. They nodded; Weiss gave Ruby's shoulders a squeeze. Ruby continued, trying to compose herself, "Guys we as a team need to never give up. And I mean never give up. I don't want to see any of you out there in the following weeks giving up. Going down on your knees because you're too tired, you can't focus; you've run out of aura, or semblance. None of this is acceptable to me, none of it at all. You guys need to keep fighting till you die, or it becomes physically impossible to even move."

"What about you?" Weiss asked.

Ruby waved a hand dismissing the question, "And that's another thing. Never lose sight of yourself out there. Worry about yourself. If you find yourself changing because of the way you feel, the way you act, or even the things you that you do, don't freak out. You must think about these changes. If the changes feel right in your heart, accept them with open arms. Never lose sight of yourself, but more importantly never lose sight of who you will become." Ruby paused; she had never talked this long about something so important. She wondered if she was confusing her friends, sighing she then decided to continue. "Two things that are of equal importance. Your weapon, it's precious, it can save your life, it can take lives, and it can also save lives. Knowing how to use your weapon is important. Not knowing how to use it can be deadly. We must all in the coming weeks get to know our weapons better, and how to use them better. Another question, are any of you scared?"

"No!" Everyone answered immediately. Everyone except for Weiss, she stayed silent.

"Well that's not good. You should always be afraid. After all we are human. We all must learn to control our fear. It can help us in the coming battles. One last piece of advice then; we need to prepare. When you find yourself facing a dangerous problem always find the best possible way to create a solution. Never take any suggested ones, always create your own. This way you will have more confidence in your own planning abilities, and not in the planning abilities of others." Ruby finished with a hard love in her voice. She was getting to be more like a real general every day.

"Well everyone heard what she said. No need for her to repeat. Let's prepare ourselves. Speaking of preparing, what will be getting ready to do?" Weiss asked. Ruby went over her conversation with the professor, telling them everything that he had told her.

"Well if that's everything I guess we'd better prepare ourselves." Ruby said with finality, she stood up for effect. While walking toward the door she pulled up her hood and slung her satchel over her shoulders. The others gathered their stuff as well, following close behind. They walked toward the locker room where their weapons were stored. After selecting and equipping the appropriate gear they headed out.

As the team walked across campus, towards the gate, Yang said something that broke the tense silence. "Well, well, well. Ruby I sure didn't think you had such flair. But I guess it's since you're the leader. You may be my sister but you sill surprise me sometimes."

"Aw well I'm just doing my job as it is. And guys? I really meant all the things I said back there, every word." They were walking in what Ruby would have called a square formation. Ruby walked next to Weiss in front. In back walking side by side were Blake and Yang.

"How long do you think this assignment will last?" Blake asked a little hesitant.

"I don't know exactly. That's the one thing I'm worried about." Ruby said in response.

After several minutes team RWBY was now coming upon the front gates. There in front of them stood the professor. Standing behind him were team JNPR, MACE, GILZ, and MOVE. Each team behind the professor was already had their respective weapons and gear equipped. "Ah there you are. Now that the lead team is here we can finally begin. Don't worry the instructions that I will give to you will be short. However the time it takes to follow these instructions may be longer than their delivery. Team JNPR, MACE, GILZ, and MOVE you will all provide support to the scouts. Your job is to map out targets for team RWBY. You four teams must find and eliminate your own targets, just enough to call yourselves warriors. Team RWBY your main focus will be going into the heart of these creatures, literally. A word of advice the fastest way to kill them would be to go for the heart. There are other ways of course, if you can discover them. You will also be taking on the heaviest responsibility. If you fail, the creatures of grim could overrun Beacon. As parting words to you all, find and kill these damned creatures! Now move out soldiers!" The professor shouts with finality. "Oh and also the headmaster has given me permission to send you out. I worked long and hard on this speech. Good luck to you all."

The teams moved out of the gates. The other four teams fanned out moving in different directions toward known grim infestations, scouts joined them. Team RWBY stopped. The team was wondering where to go, after deliberating they turned to their leader for a suggestion. "We shall take a route that loops around forever fall, and cuts through to the cliffs that overlook the forest. My objective is to get atop the cliffs." Ruby says pulling a detailed map out of her satchel.

She traced a path that would take them through heavily grim infested areas.

"Wait why would be going near the heavily infested areas?" Asked Blake wanting clarification.

"Well if we stay close to the known infested areas, we have a better chance of find the creatures of grim we're looking for." Ruby said. "Also it would provide us with slightly easier target practice."

As team RWBY set out on their perilous journey, dark forces stirred. Reports were coming in through the scouts of a dark energy emanating from deep within forever fall. Ruby hoped that if they could get to the cliffs they would be able to find this dark energy. If only the redheaded team leader knew the price she would have to pay in order to accomplish her goals.

…

Thank you for reading chapter 4. Fell free to leave your honest and fair reviews. As always tell me what I should and/or shouldn't change.