Chapter 7: We're In This Together

While Yang was returning to her dorm to tell the remainder of her team the news, Ruby received a message from Ozpin through her scroll, urging her to see him immediately. She had been talking and joking with Torchwick for the better part of a half hour, and now she parted ways with him to see her superior. She had seen Ozpin on a regular basis lately during team leader meetings, and she noticed that he was becoming fatigued. She hoped that he may have returned to taking better care of himself and that he wasn't overworking himself like he was wont to do.

She made her way to his office and knocked. "Come in," came his calm, nerve calming voice. Ruby entered and was somewhat saddened to see that his hair was still unkempt and that his stubble hadn't been shave. She had to admit silently, however, that if he cleaned up his hair and maintained the scruffy look he'd be more handsome than he was before. She paused on that thought and silently locked it away, feeling somewhat strange having thought such a thing about her former instructor. "Hello, Ms. Rose. It's nice to see you again."

She nodded. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"Yes. Would you please have a seat? I have something I would like to discuss with you." She nodded again and did as she was told. "Did you run into your sister on your way here?"

"No. Why?"

"Good. I wanted to tell you before she did; she made a request involving your team's assignment, and I approved it. I do apologize for not coming to you, as the leader of team RWBY, but I felt that the end result would have been the same."

Ruby was confused. "What did she ask for?"

"She suggested that team RWBY be sent on a recon mission to the Emerald Forest to investigate the possibility that the Grimm may still have a hideaway within the forest."

Ruby felt her chest tighten. Didn't this happen before? In the dream? "What's today's date?" Ozpin handed her a small pocket sized calendar and pointed at the date. Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. That particular event didn't happen for another four months. "Thank you." She returned the calander.

Ozpin took it, but raised an eyebrow. "This mission lines up with your premonition, I presume?"

"No, thankfully. What I thought this was doesn't happen for a while yet. There's still time to avoid it."

"Good," Ozpin answered. "I wanted to know if you already knew about this mission, and if you knew the outcome. Do you?"

She shook her head. "No. We never bothered to check the Emerald Forest after they moved to Vale. We did return eventually, but only after we saw them migrating back."

"I see. Did you ever find out why they returned?" She shook her head again, keeping the mission's outcome to herself.

There's plenty of time between now and then. I can still save her. Ruby silently prayed that she would have the strength to change the outcome. "When do we leave for this recon mission?"

"The day after tomorrow." Ozpin looked over to a nearby shelf; the clock he fixed in Ruby's presence ticked away. "It is getting late, Ms. Rose. I do hope you aren't too upset at your sister. Ms. Xiao Long was only doing what she thought was for the best."

"Not at all. I'm not all that upset," she smiled. "I would have liked it if she had consulted me first, but we'll be ready. What should we do tomorrow?"

"Rest," he answered. "With or without Grimm, the Emerald Forest is very big, and very tiresome. I'd hate to see your team go in at anything less than full strength." Ruby nodded and stood to leave. "One more thing, Ms. Rose."

"Hm?"

He looked at her grimly. "Your sister is very strong, both of mind and body, but even she has her faults. Her heart is in the right place, but don't let her do anything too reckless. We need all of you to come back to us unharmed."

She nodded quietly, choosing not to verbally respond, before turning on her heel and leaving Ozpin's office.

"You think Ruby's gonna be mad at me?" Yang asked somewhat sadly. The walk to her dorm made her think back on her decision to ask Ozpin for a recon mission, and she realized partway back that she didn't have the right to make such a decision without her leader's approval. That very same leader is her little sister, whom she cherished more than anything else in the world, and she didn't want to receive her wrath. Not because Ruby was terribly frightening or anything when angered, but it would be emotionally damaging to Yang to have her little sister be well and truly angry.

"Yang, this is Ruby we're talking about. She doesn't get that angry at anybody," Blake reasoned.

"Yeah," Weiss agreed before she paused in thought. "Except for the time that she got mad at me and cut a tree down with Crescent Rose." The two other girls slowly turned to face Weiss.

"W-what did you do to make her do that?" Yang asked, surprised.

"It was around the time when we first met." 'Oh' and 'That makes sense' came from Blake and Yang simultaneously. Weiss blushed. "I suppose I was a little unreasonable at the time."

"A little?" Blake teased.

"Watch it, cat lady."

"Hey! No fighting! We're supposed to be worried about me over here, not whether or not the princess was a raging bitch when we first met her!" Yang interrupted.

"A raging what? I'll have you know that...that I choose to ignore that statement and refuse to comment." Weiss pouted in a way, causing Blake to silently chuckle. "In all seriousness," the heiress added. "You shouldn't worry. Ruby will forgive you instantly, I'm sure." The door slowly opened. "Ah, and here we shall see what happens."

Ruby stepped into the room. "Hey girls," she greeted casually. She looked over to Yang and gave her an exaggerated pouting face. "If you want to go on a mission, would it really be such a bad thing if you ask me for permission first?" Yang was about to apologize for her actions, but Ruby silenced her with a smile. "Our orders are to rest up tomorrow and leave out the day after! I expect nothing but the best from team RWBY! Understood?"

Weiss smiled and crossed her arms, standing proudly. "But of course."

Blake gave a light smile and nodded slightly. "Understood," she said.

Yang gave a sigh of relief; her sister wasn't angry with her in the slightest, and that made her happy. "Understood," she replied.

"Alright! Everybody to bed! If we're going to be resting tomorrow, then I want a head start on it tonight!"

The city echoed with howls as night blanketed Vale in its fluid shadow, allowing the horrors within to seemingly cast shadows upon darkness itself. Beacon, less than five miles away from the city, sat on its cliff side precipice in pseudo peace, the instructors and former students keeping watch or resting as they waited for their darkest fears to either pass on without a trace, or to find them at their weakest moments. The guests of Beacon, neither instructor nor student, rested in relative calmness throughout the night, ignoring the sound of death and damnation that was seemingly upon their doorstep.

Except for Roman.

Once more laying upon his couch within his makeshift room, he stared at the dark ceiling above him. Hat and coat resting upon the nearby rack, shoes laying haphazardly in the floor, and his cane leaning against the wall were his only companions as his mind wandered into places he'd rather it stayed away from. What if? he kept thinking. What if the Grimm attacked now? What if nothing happened? What if this had never occurred? What if he didn't believe Ruby? What if he'd been fast enough to save Cardin before he bled to death? What if? What if? What if?

Different variations using the same question haunted him, and he didn't understand why. He had high hopes for the coming months. He already congratulated Ruby for saving so many lives, which he believed shifted the difference between success and failure for all of them. Even if the percentage of coming out on top was below One-Percent, but still above Zero, then he would have hope. That's just how much of a change he believed Ruby's premonition caused.

And yet, his very soul was riddled with doubts, fears, and constant worry. He looked over to the clock that hung on the wall; just after midnight. He sighed. "I'll never get any fucking sleep at this rate." He stood and donned his shoes and coat; he didn't need his hat for a walk. He grabbed his cane just to be safe, and left his room.

Beacon's campus, he realized, looked completely different once the sun set. What looked like a safe, pleasant school environment in the light of day, looked like a scene from the most frightening horror movie in the cover of night. The moon in the sky was shattering in its regular cycle as it should have been, and the weather felt normal for this time of year, but the lingering darkness accompanied by the howls of the Grimm made the already deep pit in Roman's stomach fall even deeper.

His gaze shifted to the general direction of the City of Vale, staring into the blackness of night. He breathed deeply, trying to calm his nerves. "What am I so fucking worried about?"

Morning came too soon for some, and not soon enough for others. Militia Malachite, the younger of the twins, ate her breakfast silently and alone. Her sister, Melanie, wasn't a morning person like she was, and as such was still sleeping in their shared room. Militia didn't mind, really. Every waking second the sister's experienced was spent together, so breakfast was one of the few moments where they were separate for any period of time. Such is the life of inseparable twins.

These rare moments were fascinating to Militia. It gave her some time to herself to think and ponder. Often she would wonder about what her twin might be thinking in those same moments, or how the two could be so different even though they were born at the same time and look the exact same. She would think about where she would be in life were it not for her older sister taking charge all the time, or about what kind of job she would have if Junior hadn't hired them to be bouncers. With her timid nature, she wondered what kind of occupation would suit her best. Maybe she could run a bookstore? Or maybe work from home somehow? Her body used muscle memory to eat her breakfast since her mind was miles and miles away.

She was startled, of course, when Sun quickly and loudly sat himself in front of her with a tray of food. "Good morning," he greeted, followed by a quick apology. "I, uh, didn't mean to scare you."

Militia, being shy as she was, couldn't meet Sun's eyes as she replied. "No, it's alright. I was spacing out." She blushed slightly from embarrassment. "W-what are you doing up at this hour?"

Sun shrugged. "Didn't sleep as much as I would have liked to. Once I wake up I can't get back to sleep, so I figured I might as well get breakfast." He peeled a banana and took a bite. "What about you?"

"I'm always up at this time. Melanie likes to sleep in, though. We seldom spend out mornings together."

Sun nodded. "So, how is the younger of the bouncer twins doing this morning?"

She blushed. "I only agreed to take that job because of Melanie, you know." Melanie explained to Sun yesterday what their lives were like before the comet had arrived. Sun seemed impressed at their profession. "You probably wouldn't like it very much."

"Well, I'm sure I would like it well enough. Good pay, free drinks, the opportunities to kick someone's ass every now and again. As a girl, I probably would hate it. Thank God for the Y-Chromosome, I guess." He laughed.

Militia gave a small, shy smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I don't really care for it, though. Drunk customers can get a little...touchy, I suppose is a nice way to put it."

"I'd imagine that your sister wasn't very keen on that."

"No. That made the job easier to deal with. Anytime someone would...well, make physical contact with me, Melanie usually booted them from the club. In more extreme cases, that would be literal." Sun laughed heartily, drawing forth another smile from Militia. After a few seconds, she had to laugh too.

Sun inhaled, trying to catch his breath, and took a sip of his morning tea. "This is nice," he commented.

Militia calmed down as well, tilting her head to the side with her precious smile still adorning her face. "What is?"

"This," Sun repeated, motioning to himself and Militia. "Being able to tell stories and laugh. Not pretending to be happy, but actually smiling and laughing from the heart. It's nice."

She nodded. "Yeah, I suppose it is." She glanced over to the nearest window and saw the faint, black glow of the comet come from just out of view. "How much darker is the world going to get before the light comes back?"

Sun sighed. "I dunno. But what I do know is that we're all in this together. Nothing can stop us." A beep escaped from his and Militia's pockets; their scrolls that Ozpin had given them. Both pulled them out to see what it was.

"Looks like the recon list has been updated," Militia stated.

Sun read it. "Tomorrow...team RWBY is going into the Emerald Forest?" His stomach felt odd, and he lost his appetite. "Why...do I not like the sound of that?"

The day seemed to be passing slowly for some. For Yang, every second felt like an eternity. When all of team RWBY had awakened, the four of them went and ate breakfast. They were joined by Sun and Militia, who had just finished eating and had found out about their recon mission that was to take place the next day. After they parted ways, Weiss and Ruby left together to polish and clean their weapons. Blake offered to go stay with Yang, but the blonde politely refused, saying that she wanted to be alone for a little bit. Blake said that she understood, and promptly departed to attend business of her own.

A few hours later, and Yang still stood where she had went to after she parted ways with her team; she was standing before Cardin's grave. Cardin was cremated, but they still felt the need to erect a tombstone of sorts. A small stone slab was placed on the precipice above the Emerald Forest, just beyond the defensive wall. It wasn't far enough away to be a dangerous spot, as the wall was directly behind Yang and still well within view; should any Grimm attack here, she would fight them off successfully for a minute or two before backup arrived.

A gentle breeze rolled up the cliff face, making Yang's hair sway softly in its soft tendrils. The stone slab before her was simple, yet elegant. The words written upon it, however, were a constant reminder to her that some no one should try to play to role of God.

Cardin Winchester

Honor bound, the Promise is sacred.

Yang didn't know who wrote Cardin's epitaph, but she felt that it was fitting. She felt a smile spread as she read it once more. It was a gentle, sad smile; one filled with pain, sorrow, and regret, as well as faith, hope, and determination to set thing right. "Oh," came a small voice from behind. Yang turned to see Velvet holding a single, red rose. "I didn't expect to see you, Yang," she said with a smile.

Yang nodded as the rabbit faunus approached and laid the rose down before the memorial. She knelt before the stone and clasped her hands together as she held her head low; Yang realized that she was praying. Yang chose to respectfully remain silent while the girl prayed, watching over her with mild curiosity and care. "How long have you been here?" Velvet asked suddenly.

Yang was about to answer, only to find that she didn't actually know. She pulled out her scroll and gazed at the time listed and was shocked; it was noon. She had been standing in front of Cardin's grave for four hours. She laughed weakly. "I didn't realize I'd been here for that long."

Velvet stood and faced Yang with concern. "That's not like you to stand still for too long."

Yang's smile faltered before she dropped it altogether. "I guess...I just feel sort of responsible. I know the alternative was for you to...well, I guess there are some things you just can't win at."

The faunus nodded. "I also feel responsible. I could have saved him had he given me the opportunity I needed. I am grateful that he saved me, and that you told him that I would die, because now I'm alive. Events changed."

"Not by much though," Yang pointed out sadly. "Someone still died."

"But maybe his sacrifice will help change things for the better."

Yang shook her head. "Ruby told me that he still would have died. One year from now, he would have died in a massive battle. The same battle that Ruby and Blake are supposed to die in."

"What about you? Are you supposed to die?" Velvet asked.

"Ruby said that most of us died. Very few survive." She looked into Velvet's eyes. "I sincerely hope that we can prevent that."

Velvet smiled. "I'm sure we have. Cardin was supposed to die in a year, you said? Well, he died early to save my life. What if that set a change in motion that would alter the outcome of this mess?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if I survive long enough to participate in that battle? What if I am one piece on the board that was meant to be gone, but remained and thus helped to turn the tides around?"

Yang smiled. "I suppose that's the best we can hope for."

"I'm sure that enough has changed at this point. Cardin's death won't be for nothing, Yang. I can feel it!"

The blonde felt a single tear roll down her cheek before she quickly wiped it away. "Oh, come here, you!" She grabbed Velvet and gave her a tight hug.

"Gah!" Velvet squealed. "Ms. Yang! I can't breathe!"

Yang let go and stepped back a little bit. "I'm sorry, but those were the words I needed to hear right now. Thank you, Velvet."

Velvet smiled. "Anytime, Ms. Yang."

The blonde turned to the stone. "And thank you, Cardin. I'll make sure that your death means something. We'll stop this calamity! I promise! Just you wait and see!" She turned and began to make her way back to the heart of Beacon, her stride full of power and confidence.

Velvet smiled. "Look at what you've created, Cardin. In the wake of your fall, a phoenix has risen from the ashes that burned you." She knelt down once more, and recited the words that she had hand carved herself. "Honor bound, the Promise is sacred." As she echoed those words, however, a strong gust of wind picked up the rose that she had placed on the stone and carried it over the cliff, red petals scattering. Something about the sight made her feel sad, and she felt a pit form in her gut.

The next day, team RWBY had gathered at the top of the cliff; the same place where their initiation had started. "It feels different," Weiss pointed out as she looked over the massive forest from on high.

"It has been different," Ruby stated, shifting her gaze to the comet above. "Ever since the day the world went away." She sighed, unsure of what to expect from the forest before her. "Ready girls?"

Her three team mates gave an affirmative, and the four of the dove off of the cliff. Weiss used her glyphs to gently set all of them down, not wanting to let the others use gunfire like they had before; stealth was their only ally in this forest, and they needed to keep it close. Yang immediately deployed Ember Celica, ready to fight at a moment's notice without any delay. "Let's head out," Ruby whispered, and the four of them began their hike through the woods, praying silently that the Grimm were all in the City of Vale.

Ruby remembered from her premonition that there were Grimm hiding within the forest, but that was long ahead from the now that they were in. Four months away from now, to be specific. It was entirely possible that the Grimm had been hiding here the whole time, or maybe they had all left, and then a few had returned to help bolster their ranks. That was a possibility, because Ruby also remembered that it wasn't long after their failed Emerald Forest mission that Beacon would come under attack, and others would die in that battle. Far too many would die.

Including Ozpin.

She shook her head to get the image out of her head. There was plenty of time before then. There was time enough to plan properly for the invasion, and time enough to save even more lives. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about the "what ifs" and the "what could be" moments that haven't happened yet.

The comet had come, as Ruby had foreseen, and brought hell with it. She hoped it had been a nightmare, but the howls that erupted from the forests that lasted for weeks reminded her that it was reality. The darkness was real, and she had to have hope that she could bring forth a light strong enough to send the shadows away. Then, and only then, would the nightmares be replaced by sweet dreams once more.

Blake, who had been given point due to her heightened faunus senses, froze and raised her hand; the signal for them to stop in their tracks. She had heard something. She motioned up to the tree tops, silently telling her team that it would be best to climb up and look down from here on. Team RWBY did just that, and they proceeded slowly until Blake told them to stop once more.

The non-faunus members of team RWBY held their breath as they focused all of their attention to their ears, waiting and listening for any sound to be heard from the woods around them. Snarl, snap, growl. There were Grimm about. They moved up, expecting to see a handful of Beowolves or Ursi. Ruby had to keep from gasping loudly, Weiss's eyes went wide, Blake's jaw dropped and her ears flattened in fear, and Yang was unable to process what they were looking at.

Before them was a clearing that seemed to be about a mile around, and every inch of it was covered in dark, monstrous creatures. Their red eyes scanning everything around them, looking for some sort of flesh to feast upon.

"How can there be this many Grimm hiding so silently in plain site?" Blake whispered in confusion.

Weiss shook her head. "It shouldn't be possible. Twice this many Grimm have been spotted in Vale."

"And half of that is standing in front of us," Blake quipped. "That being said, I still can't count them all." The ground shook as another Grimm entered from the far side of the clearing. Three of them had never seen anything like it before. It was the biggest Grimm had ever seen, and no record of its existence was written anywear. It's four paws were bigger than the largest Ursa, and each of its three heads was the size of a Bullhead. "W-what the hell is that?" Blake asked, suddenly much more frightened than she had been before.

"No..." Ruby said quietly. "It's too soon."

Weiss barely heard her leader's whisper. "What is that thing, Ruby? Did you see it in your premonition?"

Ruby nodded. Cerberus! she thought. "We need to go. Now."

"You know," Yang said. "For once, I'm not gonna argue that point. Running away sounds like a viable solution right about now." The four girls turned to leave, and at that moment a the tree branch that Yang stood upon snapped and fell. Yang managed to catch herself and land on another branch, but the damage was done. The small noises that the Grimm were making became silent as the grave upon hearing the new, alien sound. "Shit," the blonde whispered.

Then came the howling, growling, snarling, and snapping of jaws, followed shortly by the sound of feet pounding the ground in a sprint. "Run!" Weiss screamed.

Team RWBY leapt, sprinted, and dodged as they began their escape. All the while, the Cerberus looked in their direction, not caring to move at all. It seemed almost as though it was content to let the lesser Grimm do the hard work. A layman, in fact, would have sworn that the beast was smiling. A deep, monstrous sound could be heard coming from deep within its body. One would almost say that it was a laugh.

We're In This Together - Nine Inch Nails

Author's Note

Cliffhangers! Do you hate me yet? I hope not, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised. I would like to point out that I don't just sit down and say "Hey, I'll write this!" I actually go through a lot of processing and consideration before I make any major decisions with this story. In fact, this is as much of a roller coaster for myself as it is for you guys. I actually had something happen to me during the writing of this chapter that I can't tell you about yet. TT_TT If I remember to add it, I'll tell you about it in the NEXT Author's Note.

Why the next one? Because the next chapter is a critical piece of the story that I've had planned for a very, VERY long time. I'm excited to finally get around to it, while at the same time I'm worried. I don't want to fuck it up.

So, I was reading my outline for this story, and I realized that I have alot of chapter's potentially planned out that are named after Nine Inch Nails songs...damn you Trent Reznor for making such amazing music.

Also, I apologize for taking so long on this chapter. I'm working again, as I've said, so I don't get a whole lot of free time. In fact, I've only written on this chapter for about two days this week, today being most of it. I spent 3 days at work pouring concrete, which is hella exhausting. I'd come home and immediately pass out. I still haven't mowed my grass because of it. I should do that tomorrow if it doesn't rain...but I also need to write the next chapter.

What is the next chapter? Well, I've been planning it for so long that I'm tempted to tell you what it will be called...but, I shall not. It won't take me too long to write it, in theory. At the risk of making a liar of myself, I'll say that you should see it in a few days.

Till next time! (Really don't want to be lynched!)