Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.

I finally begin wake up after Yang knocking me out, and I realize that I've been out for several hours. I look out the window to see the sun is beginning to set, and find myself in the infirmary. A nurse comes in to check on me.

"Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Peachy, despite feeling like someone just hit me across the head with a sledgehammer."

"So just a headache?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. We ran some tests while you were out, and it says you don't have a concussion, so there's the bright side."

I begin to get out of bed, still a little off balance, "Yeah...I guess so." I pause for a moment. "Does that mean I'm good to go?" She nods. I then take my equipment that's laying on the table next to the bed, and head for the door. I thank her as I head out.

I begin to head for the dorm, but I decide to change course and head for the shooting range. It's been a while since I've had the chance to practice, and I probably need it. I enter the range to see no other students around, so I go to one of the ten firing lines. I set up three targets, side by side, and set them to a ten meter distance from where I stand. I decide to practice the "1-5 drill."

The 1-5 drill works like this; Three targets in front, positioned side by side. You draw your weapon and put one round into the left target, two in the middle, three in the right. Then start working your way back by putting four rounds into the middle target, and finishing off with five rounds in the left target. This is done as fast as possible while still maintaining control on your weapon and achieving the best accuracy possible.

I do the drill once, my time; 4.21 seconds. I do it again; 3.97. Again, 3.74. I repeat the drill over and over again until I finally achieve 3.01 seconds, currently my fastest time. Just as I prepare to do the drill again, I sense somebody watching me. I lay my pistol on the table and turn to see Professor Ozpin observing.

"Hmm...very impressive, Mr. Carbon."

"Thank you, sir."

"So, Mr. Carbon. I wanted to do a follow up on you. How are things going for you at this Academy?"

"Very good sir."

"Have you had any problems?"

"No, sir. Although I did have a minor altercation with Team CRDL on my second day."

"So I've heard." He takes a sip of his drink. "I understand that you uttered several threats towards Mr. Winchester and his team."

"Yes sir, but in my defe-" He raises his hand to silent me.

"But from what I also understand is that you did it to protect one of your peers. Ms. Scarlatina was being harassed, and you made the decision to intervene. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir. You are correct."

"Very well. I'll be sure to keep note of this and keep a close eye on Team CRDL. I appreciate that you were honest with me. If there's anymore problems, don't hesitate to inform me, and the proper punishment will be administered," as he begins to walk away.

"Will do, sir" I respond as he leaves and closes the door behind him. I go back to the firing line and do the 1-5 drill one last time before I head back to the dorm; 2.90. A new record. I unload my handgun, disassemble it, and quickly clean it up. After I'm finished, I reassemble and holster it. I head for the door, then make my way to the dorm room.

I arrive at the dorm room a short time later, just as the girls are getting into bed.

"Look who decided to finally wake up," Weiss says. I just give her a smirk in response.

"Shane, are you alright?" Blake asks with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. They said I don't have a concussion, but my head feels like I got hit with a sledgehammer. I appreciate your concern though." She starts to blush.

"Yeahhhh...sorry about that. I'm kinda protective of my hair. It's a force of habit." Yang says, as she rubs the back of her head. Obviously, she feels bad for what happened.

"Don't worry about it, Yang. At least I know now, so hopefully there won't be a next time."

"A-and...Blake and Weiss told Ruby and I about what happened to you; Y-you know...about The White Fang? I just wanted to say how sorry I am." She says as she comes up to me and gives me a hug.

"Me too." Ruby says as she does the same.

Yang looks at my vest with curiosity as Ruby hugs me. "Hey, what's that inside you're vest?" as she starts to poke the front portion.

"Huh?" I look down at the vest, and realize the ballistic plate shattered during the fight. "That's the ceramic plate you managed to shatter when you punched me and sent me flying into a wall."

"Oh...sorry about that." She starts to blush from embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," as I take my vest off and dump the pieces of the broken plate into the trash can. "Good thing I brought spares" as I reach into my duffel bag and pull a new plate out. I insert the plate, and throw the vest over the arm of my chair.

"Listen, girls, I really want to thank you for your sympathy. I'm very fortunate to be able to call the four of you my friends. I really am." Their faces begins to light up. I pause for a moment, "Just one thing, though; Can we... just put all this stuff about the White Fang behind us, please?" They all nod.

"Wait, what's all that black stuff on your face?" as Ruby points to me.

I wipe my face and some of it comes off on my hand, "Must be gunpowder. I decided to take a detour to the shooting range before I got here. Figured I'd brush up on my marksmanship."

"Jeez, you must have been shooting a lot for that to happen," Yang says.

"Yeah...it's one of my favorite hobbies." I begin to smile.

"Well, we're going to sleep now. Goodnight!" Ruby says as she tucks herself into bed, which is literally hanging from the ceiling by rope. I certainly don't trust the way it's set up.

We all then exchange good nights to each other, and the girls go to sleep. I go into the bath room to get washed up, and get changed into my sleep attire – Just a pair of black track pants with white stripes down the side of the legs, and my grandmother's wedding ring hanging from a chain around my neck. When I come out, I take a seat in my chair and read a book for a while until I'm at the brink of passing out, then I set the book aside, and go out like a light.

There's darkness and silence to begin with. Suddenly a light appears that becomes blinding, but I can't raise my hands to shield my eyes. I look down to find myself tied down in a chair. Soon, I see a silhouette moving towards me, and I call out to it, but it doesn't answer. It continues to approach me, and is soon close enough to where I can distinguish distinctive features: A black trench coat with red details, red hair, horns, and...a white mask with red designs. I recognize the person – Adam Taurus. He was the one responsible for overseeing my torture while I was in captivity, but now, for some reason, he's here in my dream. He just stands there for a moment...staring at me, and grinning. He then draws his sword, and positions it as though he has it to a hostage's throat...but no one is there.

Suddenly, Blake appears in his grasp, tears rolling down her face, and Adam's sword to her neck. I call out to her,

"Blake? What are you–"

My question is cut off as Blake suddenly becomes Weiss, then Yang seconds after, then Ruby, each transitioning to one of the four at random...but faster each time. Before I know it, the transitions are so fast that they become a blur of red, white, black, and yellow. Suddenly, it stops at Blake – And that's when Adam begins to cut her throat.

"Adam, don't! This has nothing to do with her!" I yell to him as I struggle to break free of my restraints. He begins to give a demonic laugh, as her blood and tears trickle down her body, and she cries out in pain to me,

"SHANE!"

"NO!" I yell just as I awaken, and I throw myself out of my chair. I stand in the middle of the room panting, drenched in sweat, and scarlet red all across my body. My heart is racing to the point where I think it's gonna explode. I begin to shiver from the mix of adrenaline pumping through my veins and the chill of cold sweat. The girls awaken and sit up to see what the commotion is. They begin to see the fear and panic in my facial expression. Blake slowly gets out of bed,

"Shane? What's wrong?"

I can't respond. For some reason, my mind won't allow me. Instead, I turn and slowly walk out the door with tears building up in my eyes.

"Shane? Where are you going?" she calls out to me as I enter the hallway, but I keep walking and head to the roof. Once there, I take a seat near the ledge and just stare out into the night sky, trying to clear my mind.

Minutes pass, and soon Blake comes out to the roof, still dressed in her sleep attire. 'Man, she is so beautiful.' She takes a seat next to me and rests her hand on my shoulder,

"Shane, what happened back there?" I remain silent. "Shane, please..."

I give a sigh, "I had a night terror..."

"A night terror?" She looks at me with curiosity.

"It's...it's hard to explain. The best way I can put it is when you wake up from a nightmare that was so bad, that you...panic and scream.

"Has this happened to you before?"

"No...t-this is the first time. The only reason I know anything about it is because I've done some research on it before."

"Do you know what causes it?" she asks.

"Yeah...post traumatic stress disorder."

"What's that?" I let out a sigh in response, before providing an explanation.

"It's an anxiety disorder that people can develop after exposure to a...traumatic event."

"So...y-you have that...d-disorder?"

"Yeah." I begin to bow my head in shame.

From there, we begin to sit in silence, just staring at the night sky.

Minutes pass before Blake breaks the silence.

"So...what happened in your dream?" I give a brief pause before I respond,

"I – I, it...you...you were harmed, and I couldn't do anything to save you. All I could do was sit there and watch...him...harm you."

"Who?" I remain silent for a moment. "Shane, who was harming me?"

"It was the man that oversaw my torture when I was imprisoned...Adam Taurus. "

She freezes in place, just staring at me with widened eyes. I look ahead towards the night sky. Blake and I sit there in complete silence once again. Only the sound of crickets fill the cool night air. I finally look to her and break the silence.

"Blake, I-uh...I've been wanting to ask you a question for quite some time." She looks to me, with curiosity in her bright amber eyes. They begin to sparkle like the stars above us.

"Are you...a Faunus?" Her eyes begin to widen. "Because one time when we were in Grimm Studies, I saw your bow twitch, and I've also seen it when you're sleeping. I have yet to see you even take your bow off, which I find quite...odd." She sits there in silence. "I've wanted to ask you this since the night we met, because you also seem to get very...emotional when we talk about the White Fang or the Faunus race."

She lets out a sigh. Tears start to build up as she reaches up and undoes her bow, gritting her teeth in pain as she does so. As the bow comes off, she reveals violet colored cat ears. She then rests her hands on her thighs, bow in hand. I look at her in amazement.

"Yes...it's true. I'm a Faunus." She begins to break down in tears.

"Blake, what's wrong?" I put my arm around her to comfort her.

"It's...it's just that all my life I've been subjected to discrimination and hate because of this" as she points to her ears. Quite frankly, I don't see anything wrong with her having cat ears. As a matter of fact, I think she looks even more beautiful with them.

She's silent for a moment. "Please, don't hate me for saying this – I know how much you hate them, but...I was once a member of the White Fang."

I look at her with shock. "You? You were a member of the White Fang?"

"That's right...I was a member for most of my life, actually."

"Does that mean you...knew Adam?"

"Yes...he was my mentor." She bows her head in shame.

I look to her, "Blake, I'm gonna ask you one question, and all I want is for you to answer truthfully - Are you still affiliated with the White Fang?"

She looks up at me to where our eyes meet. "No. Not anymore. I left long before I ever came to Beacon." Tears continue to roll down her cheeks. "I was tired of using my skills to aid in their violence...so I left." I see it in her eyes – She's being truthful.

"Well–" I rest on hand on hers and the other on her cheek. I begin to use my thumb to wipe away her tears, "–I still think you're the smartest, most beautiful girl I have ever met, and I am absolutely blessed to have someone as special as you in my life."

She looks up at me, her eyes beginning to sparkle, "R-really? Even after keeping this secret from you? Even though–? Y-you still think I'm...b-beautiful?"

We stare at each other for a moment, lost for words. We close our eyes, and begin to slowly lean in to kiss.

*BOOM!* Suddenly, an explosion erupts outside the school's perimeter, interrupting the second attempt at a kiss. 'CRAP! So close...AGAIN!'

We look towards the origin of the sound. "Oh no", I say as we witness smoke beginning to rise over the school.

Beacon Academy is under attack.

*NOTE: I just want to take a moment to thank everybody for their support in this story. You're reviews and positive feedback are truly appreciated, and are what inspire me to continue this series. It's truly an honor to be able to bring entertainment to each of you, regardless of where you are in the world, both far and near. Every time I look at the traffic graph, I am amazed to see the list of nations which have read my story; Many of those include my fellow Canadians, the USA, Ireland, Romania, Australia, the UK, and many other great nations. Again, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your support, and I look forward to keeping you entertained in the time to come.

Kindest regards,

-S195

P.S. - If you could take a moment out of your time to check out my good friend "redjoker27," that would be greatly appreciated! Be prepared for an upcoming crossover with his story, "Genesis III Project." Him and I have been working diligently in order to prepare for this, so stay tuned for more to come from the both of us!