Ruby

The sun was edging its way over the rooftops of Vale as we ran through the packed streets. The third and fourth year students of Beacon Academy were littered throughout the streets, guiding the seething mass of near-panicked citizens to safety. The air was filled with frenzied talking, shouting and the sound of wailing infants. It was crowded, hot, and loud and—worst of all—no one seemed to be getting anywhere.

We'd left Beacon ten minutes ago and we were still a stone's throw from the gates. I ground my teeth in frustration. We had just under an hour until the attack would begin, maybe even less for all we knew, and here we were, stuck in what was effectively a human traffic jam.

"What the hell is going on?" Yang muttered. Her hair was beginning to shimmer and a light haze of smoke was beginning to drift upwards.
"These people really should be evacuating faster," Weiss said as she stood on her tip toes to peer over the crowd. "At this rate, they'll be packed in the streets like lambs for the slaughter when the attack comes."

I jumped up and down several times, trying to get a view of what was going on down the street. But it was too packed in, I couldn't move freely. As I tried to jump, I bumped into someone on my left and nearly fell over. I apologised as I heaved myself upright.
"Watch where you're going!" the man I'd bumped into yelled. "We're all trying to get out too, you know!"
"Okay, okay," I said. "I'm sorry, I just need to get through as soon as I can."
"Oh, you need to get through?" he shouted angrily. "What about the rest of us? I've got my family to take care of, why should I move out of the way so a little girl and her friends and get out before my children?"

I twitched in anger and stared blankly at the man. Little girl? As I opened my mouth to shout back at him, Weiss cut in front of me.
"Who are you calling a little girl?" She said heatedly. "I'll have you know that we are students of Beacon Academy, sent by Professor Ozpin on a mission of the utmost importance!" I stepped back as Weiss scolded the man. I felt myself bump into someone else and I turned around, an apology already forming on my tongue, before I realised it was Yang. Yang smiled slightly and wrapped her arms around me, giving me a reassuring hug from behind. I smiled at the warmth of her arms; it had been a long time since Yang had held me like this.

"Okay," I heard Blake say. "We need to get out of here." We all spun around, Weiss tearing herself away from her latest victim, as we heard the sound of a gunshot. Blake had fired Gambol Shroud at the top of the nearest building and was now holding onto the ribbon like a rope. She looked back at us with a sheepish smile on her face. Yang burst out laughing and clapped Blake on the shoulder.
"That's awesome. Why didn't we think of that earlier?" she chuckled.

We all grabbed on to the ribbon and forced our way to the side of the street, so that we stood at the foot of the building.
"Okay," Blake said. "Let's start climbing." And so, using Gambol Shroud as our anchor, we scaled the side of the building. I heard a few shouts, a mixture of alarm and amusement, as we climbed. I heaved a sigh of relief as I clambered onto the roof.

We had a clear sight of the wall from the rooftop, and a straight path to it. I shot a grin at Blake as I grabbed Crescent Rose from my back and deployed its wicked blade. With a cry of excitement, I fired a shot at the ground behind me and launched myself across to the next rooftop. I heard another excited yell as I landed, and looked around just in time for Yang to land next to me. We both grinned at each other and launched ourselves off again, across the rooftops and towards the wall.

We made it to the wall within minutes and turned around to wait for Blake and Weiss, who were still a few rooftops behind us. We stood on the last rooftop before the wall and gazed upwards at it, towering above us.
"So," I asked. "Anyone know how we're gonna get up there?"
"I think I can solve that little problem." Yang said with a grin. "Ruby, do you want to go first?"
"Why? What're you going to do?"
"How well do you remember your thirteenth birthday?"

I gaped at her. She couldn't really be planning that. Even I knew how close things had come to ending in disaster that day. Yang just grinned.
"Oh good," she said. "You remember."
"Yeah," I mumbled. "I remember. Are you serious?"
"I'm always serious." She said, with a not-so-serious grin. "Come on, it worked out fine last time." I looked at the wall, studying the gap between the rooftop we were on and the lip of the wall above us. Then I sighed. She was right: it was the fastest way up there.

"Okay, fine." I muttered. I put Crescent Rose away and stood ready at the far end of the rooftop.
"Wait," Weiss said in a slightly worried tone. "What're you two doing?"
"Watch and learn, Snow Angel." Yang said with a grin.

I ran at Yang as fast as I could, while Yang readied Ember Celica. When I was three feet away from Yang, I jumped as high as I could. Yang cocked her fist back, looking up at the sky. I fell towards her with one foot extended downwards. That foot landed on Yang's fist just as she pivoted and heaved upwards. She fired Ember Celica's Gravity Dust shell as she punched, and the impact sent me rocketing towards the lip of the wall. I swung Crescent Rose out as I flew through the air, firing a couple of rounds to keep me going. As I sailed over the lip of the wall, I stabbed the blade into the stone, bringing me to a sudden stop in mid-air and swinging me back down, onto the walkway atop the wall.

I hopped up onto the parapet, quickly sheathing Crescent Rose and giving my silent audience a bow. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I couldn't believe that it had worked. I jumped back onto the walkway and leant on the wall, catching my breath. I heard another shot ring out and, a few seconds later, Weiss landed lightly on the walkway in front of me.

"Well hi there." I said. "Just dropping in?"
"Ha ha. Very funny." She said, rolling her eyes.
"I thought so." I grinned at her, making her roll her eyes again. "Good to see you made it alright."
"I really don't know what's wrong with the pair of you." Weiss said with a small smile. "You both do the craziest things."
"Yeah, well. What's the point in being a Huntress if you can't make it exciting?"
"Isn't it exciting enough already?"
"Well, I can always make it better." I said with a smile, one that Weiss returned.
"Yes," she said quietly. "Yes you can."

I pulled myself to my feet and peered over the wall at Yang and Blake. They were still standing on the rooftop below us.
"Wait, how is Yang going to get up here?" I muttered.
"I think Blake has a plan. Just watch." Weiss said as she moved to stand next to me.

Blake ran towards Yang, the same as I had, and was launched across the gap, towards us. Then, in mid-air, she spun herself around to face Yang and shot Gambol Shroud back to her. The blade of the sickle sank into the roof at Yang's feet. She yanked the weapon out and wrapped the ribbon around her arm a few times. Then, firing Ember Celica, she launched herself as far as she could. But even I could see that it would never be enough to make the jump to the top of the wall. The recoil of Blake firing the weapon had been enough to send her over the lip of the wall, and the tension in the ribbon was enough to pull her back onto the walkway. When she landed, she set her feet against the parapet and heaved on the ribbon.

"Come and help, you two!" she cried out. "We need to pull Yang up." The three of us reeled the ribbon in as fast as we could until Yang clambered over the parapet and slumped onto the floor, breathing heavily.

"Well," she panted. "That was fun." She grinned up at us, making Weiss roll her eyes once again. "So," Yang continued. "Back down the wall now?"
"Yep," I replied. "We have to get down to that tunnel somehow."
"Right," Yang said as she leapt to her feet. "Let's do this."
"Guys," Blake said as she peered over the wall at the forest. "The trapdoor's not here. I think it's further down."
"So I guess we go look for it, and then back down the wall?" Yang asked.

So we set off, following the gentle curve of the wall that encircled Vale. We kept one eye on the forest, searching for the tunnel, and one eye on the city, waiting for the attack.
"I hope everyone gets out." I said. Silence was the only response. We all knew that, at the rate people had been moving, that everyone getting out would be a miracle. Vale was built to be defendable, and easily evacuated, but a few hours' notice wasn't enough time to get the entire population out of the city. It didn't help that they were trying to fortify the city at the same time.

We ran until Blake spotted the trapdoor on the ground below us.
"I guess this is it." Blake said as we readied ourselves to jump down.
"This is what?" Yang asked.
"The moment when we find out if he's there or not," Blake replied. I realised that Blake was still worried about Myrka's semblance. And she was probably right to. We didn't actually know if he was still there or not.
"Well," I said in a calm voice. "There's only one way to find out!" Then, before anyone else could say anything, I threw myself off the top of the wall.

The wind tore at my hair as I fell. I could feel my cape flapping frantically behind me. I swung Crescent Rose as I plummeted towards the ground and slammed the point of the blade into the wall. Crescent Rose cut through the wall like a scythe through stone, and I eventually slowed to a halt just above the ground. I kicked off the wall to wrench Crescent Rose out and rolled as I hit the ground. I sheathed Crescent Rose as I stood up and looked around for the trapdoor.

I froze as I saw it was about a foot away, waiting expectantly for the whistling to hit me again. But, to my relief, it didn't. Nothing happened at all. I turned and watched the other three follow me down and grinned at them as they landed.
"See?" I cried excitedly. "There's nothing to worry about!" Yang slapped a hand into her forehead at my words.
"Why did you have to say that?" she asked. "Now we know something's going to go wrong!"
"Sorry, sorry!" I held my hands up, half to calm her down and half to protect me. "I take it back! I take it back!" I cringed in expectant pain as Yang stomped towards me. I closed my eyes as I waited for her to hit me; and opened them in surprise as I felt her pat me affectionately on the head. She was grinning from ear to ear, almost laughing, as I looked up at her. I knocked her hand away in mock anger and pouted. "That wasn't nice Yang."

"Can we be serious about this now?" Weiss asked. "We're at his hideout. We have a job to do." That brought me up short. Weiss was right.
"Okay," I said, turning serious. "Yang, you and Weiss should lead the way in. You two have been in there before." They both nodded in response and, after lifting the trapdoor, they headed down the stairs. Blake and I shared a look before we followed them into the darkness.

It was pitch black in the tunnel, I couldn't see anything at all. So I followed the sound of Yang's footsteps, sliding a hand down the wall of the tunnel. All of a sudden, the sound of Yang's footsteps stopped. I kept walking, opening my mouth to call out to her, and walked straight into her back. I stumbled back a few paces, rubbing my nose.
"Hey, what'd you stop for?" I whined as I regained my balance.
"Can you smell that?" Yang's voice whispered from somewhere in the darkness. I sniffed the air and, as Yang said, I found a strange scent hanging in the air.
"Yeah, what is that?" I asked, sniffing again. "It smells like…"
"Smoke,"

As one, we took off running. We sprinted down the tunnel as fast as we could, hoping that there'd be something left behind for us to find. We came out of the tunnel in a massive, cavernous room. I looked around, amazed at the sheer size of it. Then I began to cough as the smoke that was filling the room began to fill my lungs.

The entire room was ablaze. Flames covered the floor and licked up the walls.
"No, no, no." I heard Yang mutter. "This can't be happening."
"Well, it is." Weiss said sternly. "And we just have to deal with it. Look, the office over there still looks intact. If we can get over there before the flames hit it, we might be able to get some papers out." I followed Weiss' gaze and saw the 'office' she was talking about. A high, raised platform at the far end of the room, covered with tables, chairs and the like. At the far end of the room. The room that was now covered in fire. Actual fire. That burns things. And people. Namely us.

"How are we going to get over there?" I asked.
"The same way Yang and I got out." Weiss replied. She pointed upwards, at the rafters criss-crossing the ceiling. As I gazed up at them, Yang fired Ember Celica and sent herself soaring upwards, landing lithely on the bar above us. I couldn't help but grin as Yang took off running again, running as fast as she could along the narrow bar. I swung Crescent Rose out and sent myself soaring after her.

We ran along the rafters, crossing the room as fast as we could. I held my sleeve over my face, trying to filter out as much of the smoke as I could. I was still coughing. We were at the top of the room, right where all of the smoke was going. The flames had reached the base of the platform, and embers were flying onto the top. We dropped down as we saw several pieces of paper begin to catch alight.

We scrambled to grab as many papers as we could, but the flames spread quickly. I grabbed a handful of papers before they could catch and shoved them into my pocket. The others were desperately trying to quell the flames, but the flames spread despite their efforts.
"Damn it, damn it!" Yang yelled as she beat at the flames. The flames spread too quickly, and we were beaten back by the sudden heat.

"Damn it!" Yang yelled again. "Did anyone get anything?" Weiss and Blake both shook their heads. I raised my hand.
"I got a couple of sheets before they caught." I said.
"Oh thank you!" Yang cried. She lunged towards me and wrapped me in a tight hug, kissing me on the forehead. "You're amazing, I love you, now let's get out of here."

Escaping with our prize, as small as it was, we leapt back up to the rafters and fled. The smoke was much thicker as we left, making it very difficult to breathe. Black spots starting swimming in front of my eyes, and I felt myself tilt over to the side.
"Ruby!" Yang yelled from behind me. I felt her arms wrap around me as I toppled over. She slung me over her shoulder and kept running, without even slowing down.

My head spun as Yang carried me, everything was a twisted blur. The room around me was a swirl of colour: red, orange, yellow. Heat beat at me from all sides. Then, after a stomach wrenching fall, the colours faded to darkness. I tumbled, lost in the darkness, for an age. My head continued to spin, though the spinning slowed down a little. Just as I felt my head begin to calm down, and stop hurting, we emerged into a burst of blinding light.

"Ruby, are you okay?" Yang asked as she put me down.
"Hm? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I mumbled as my head spun. I could feel it getting better, but I still couldn't quite see straight. "I just can't quite… Did you change your hair colour? I could've sworn it was yellow… Now it looks all… Not yellow."
"Uh, Ruby? You're looking at Blake."
"That would explain it then. No wonder your eyes are suddenly yellow, Yang. Shiny too… Like a cat…"

"Okay…" Yang mumbled. "I'm just gonna take the papers out of your pocket, okay? Weiss, can you take care of her? She should be alright in a minute." I saw a blur of movement as Yang moved away and Weiss took her place. Slowly, her face began to come into focus.
"Ruby, how are you feeling?" she whispered.
"Just dandy," I grinned.

We sat quietly while Yang and Blake read the papers I'd picked up. My head eventually stopped spinning, and I could see Weiss clearly. Soon after that, I was back to normal. I gazed up at the sky, breathing in the fresh air, relieved that we all got out okay.

I sat up as I heard Blake shouted, as if trying to get someone's attention. Yang was kneeling down, poring over the papers I'd managed to save; while Blake stood next to her, waving up at the top of the wall. I followed Blake's gaze up and saw two guards making their way along the wall towards us, each carrying long ropes. I breathed a sigh of relief, I'd wondered how we would get back up. Jumping from the roof of a building is one thing, but from the ground? That would be something else entirely.

Weiss helped me to my feet with a smile as the watchmen began lowering the ropes down for us. Weiss, Blake and I began walking towards the wall to grab the ropes. I glanced back at Yang, she was still browsing the papers.
"Hey, Yang, did you find anything?" I asked. I walked over and stood next to her, peering over her shoulder at the papers. She got to her feet, somewhat unsteadily, and turned around to face us.

Her face was deathly pale, and she was shivering slightly.
"Yang!" I cried. "What's the matter? What's wrong?"
"We told Ozpin that the attack was coming from Forever Fall, right?" she mumbled.
"Yeah, you guys said Myrka was attacking from the forest."
"And he said that was where they'd focus the defence?"
"I think so, I'm not sure. It would make sense to though."
"That's what I thought."
"Yang, what's going on?"
"We were wrong. He's not attacking from Forever Fall, he's attacking from the Emerald Forest."

I heard a gasp from behind me, but I wasn't sure who it was from.
"But, what about the cliffs?" I asked. "How can he get them up there?" Yang waved the papers at me.
"Maybe he has Nevermores," she said. "Or he can make them climb when they normally wouldn't. I don't know, these don't say, but he's doing it somehow. The point is, he's attacking from our blind spot, and we've got no defence prepared."
"We need to get back," Weiss said. "We need to tell Ozpin before the attack starts."
"We'll be cutting it very close." Blake said. "We need to go now."

As one, we turned and ran at the ropes. We all grabbed a rope each and ran up the wall, pulling ourselves up while the guards atop the wall hoisted us up as well. We made it over the lip of the wall within a minute, all four of us panting. I perked my ears, listening to the city.
"I can't hear anything, maybe it still hasn't started." I said.

As if on cue, the ground trembled, knocking us all off balance. A pillar of smoke rose from the southern face of Beacon Academy, and the streets below us began to fill with roars and screams. The attack was beginning. We were too late. We'd fallen into his trap. And now the war had begun.