The two teams made their way through the corridors in an unrushed manner, talking amongst themselves. Pyrrha and Yang led the group, discussing topics as varied as fighting tactics, hair-care and even relationship related questions. Yang of course was completely normal about the entire subject, but Pyrrha was a little more reserved. They were followed closely by Weiss and Jaune, though there was no conversation between those two after Jaunes initial attempts were eviscerated with the first icy stare from Weiss. Behind them were Ruby and Nora, neither coming up for breath until they absolutely had to. Much of their conversation was incomprehensible, such was the speed at which they changed subjects, questions and answers. At the back, things were much quieter. Ren and Blake walked side by side in silence, each far more content to listen than speak. It was only when Nora stated something erroneously wrong that Ren corrected her.
They reached their separate dorms after a little while, occasionally moving into single file to allow other students to pass them. Pyrrha and Yang both opened their respective doors at the same time, giving a cheerful wave and a beaming smile before they disappeared out of sight, followed by Nora and Weiss, then Ruby and Jaune, and finally Blake and Ren. They said nothing as they left, each happy with the company they'd taken on the journey.
As Blake shut the door behind her, Yang was already busying herself, rummaging through the untidy mess of papers and belongings she kept. Ruby was preparing to climb to her bunk, and Blake observed Weiss calmly sit on her own and stare. Blake remembered Yangs attempt at socializing with her, and noted the bad reception.
The evening wore on in normality, everyone was quiet for a change. Blake was reading, Yang was studying, Ruby was flipping through a large book and making notes, and Weiss was quietly cleaning Myrtenaster with a white cloth. All four of them had faded the constant backdrop of the rain and wind outside into nonexistence, engrossed in their activities. The only sounds were the page turns of Rubys book, the writings by the sisters and the occasional click as Weiss checked her dust chambers to make sure they were functioning as they should.
None of them noticed a small, neatly folded note slide gently under the door, nor the muffled footsteps leading away. It was only when Yang hopped off her bed, grabbed her pyjamas and started making her way towards the bathroom did she take notice of it. "What's this?" She asked, largely to herself. Her three roommates all looked up from their individual occupations, listening intently as Yang read aloud. "It's from Prof. Ozpin, 'says that if we agree to take the mission, we should meet him outside his office at...five in the morning?! He wants us to be awake and ready that early?" It was though the sheer suggestion of getting up before sunrise horrified her. Blake voiced her reasoning before Weiss could deliver her own opinions.
"Perhaps he'd rather not alert any of the other students to the problem? There's no sense in creating unnecessary unrest. As Ruby said, it could be a false alarm." Yang responded with an uncharacteristically panicked tone.
"But five? Five AM? How am I supposed to be awake, let alone up and ready at that time?!" She was flailing her arms around, still clutching the note and her pyjamas. Ruby sat slightly dumbstruck.
"Sis, aren't you overreacting a little? You've been up at that time before." She gave Yang a smile and scratched the back of her head out of habit, just as Yang had done to Blake earlier that day.
'They may not be related by blood, but there's definitely a bond there.' Mused Blake as she watched the two. Weiss kept calm, restraining herself for the benefit of everybody. Yang spent another three minutes stammering and wailing about her early start to the day before throwing her arms in the air in protest, letting the note fall to the floor and marching into the bathroom. Ruby sighed to herself as Weiss turned back to her maintenance.
Ruby hopped off her bunk, picked up the discarded note and read it herself. She handed it to Blake, and then to Weiss, before re-folding it and putting it underneath her bullet clip, away from prying eyes. She re-assumed her position on her bed, cross legged with an open book and a pad next to it. She was reading about the various types of Grimm, and putting her anatomical studies to good use. She listed all the possible weak points where maximum damage could be dealt, and where to avoid should it prove too dangerous.
She had even took the liberty of categorizing them depending on what weapons or defenses said Grimm possessed, ranging from flight to armour plating. Rough sketches and diagrams accompanied each point, followed by a short description and explanation. She was taking this very seriously, something which didn't escape the attention of neither Blake nor Weiss. They were both used to her studying furiously, but that was usually for a class of lecture of some sort. It seemed she wasn't going to take any chances with this, and that was reassuring.
Yang returned in her night clothes, threw her usual attire onto her pile and returned to her studying, while Weiss finalized her weapon check. Everything seemed normal, but there was a distinct sense of unease. Blake could feel it. She guessed that none of them were going to sleep very much that night. They continued on, Ruby taking more notes and making more sketches, Yang writing page after page, Weiss performing an equipment check on her various dust containers and Blake nearing the midpoint of her book.
Nobody said a word, perhaps too focused on their current duties or considering the task ahead. Regardless, it was some time before Ruby called for everyones attention. She gathered up her sketches and notes, placed them on the large desk to the front of the room and asked for everyone to gather around. She outlined her plans for a smooth takedown, detailed her reasonings and explaining just how they would successfully take down their target, no matter what it was.
"How do we know it won't just kill us?" Asked Weiss cynically, both hands on the table she leant over.
"We don't." Ruby replied simply, still showing different pages of research. The way with which she spoke prevented Weiss from continuing, everybody could tell what her priorities were. 'Team first, enemy second.' Ruby repeated in her head. This was the first truly dangerous encounter they would have since the Nevermore two months ago. The scene was still fresh in her mind, and since then she had applied everything she'd learned about combat and defeating larger enemies into this one night of preparation. She had immense faith in her teammates, but she wasn't about to take any chances.
The rest of the evening went much the same way, with everyone taking in the valuable information Ruby had provided, memorizing precisely what the papers said in a quick, easy to remember fashion. There would be no room for mistakes, they couldn't afford to waste time trying to remember a page of text. Yang asked the majority of the questions, usually relating to the level of risk involved with getting up-close to the various dangerous weapons that Grimm possessed. Weiss questioned the efficiency of dust, while Blake inquired about wounds. The entire team discussed strategies, tactics and battle plans, bouncing ideas off one-another until they reached a conclusion for each major variation of Grimm. One for flight, one for strength, one for armour, and so on.
They each eventually retired to their respective beds, bar Ruby, who had taken her findings to the library and sat on one of the benches near the window by herself, spreading out her research material and books. She had the idea to use some of the books in the library to act as a prop for her scroll, which she used as a makeshift lamp. She didn't think to take one with her when she left the dorm, too preoccupied with the mission ahead. She read page after page on paralyzation, concussion and fatigue, trying to work out a way to implement them into a battle strategy. She reasoned that if the creature, whatever it was, could be rendered vulnerable to attacks by their weapons, it would be far easier to defeat. She gave a large amount of consideration to defensive strategies too, there was no guarantee that they'd even be able to slow it down if it chose to retaliate. It was much more trying than she imagined, but she was determined not to give up.
She yawned, pulling across an ornate styled book across the table to in front of her. The cover was decorated with faded gold inscriptions and emblems. She opened it and flicked through the pages, stopping to read the descriptions and detailed analysis's of each different species. She wrote everything she viewed as valuble down, sketching her own drawings of the multitude of illustrations on each page. She copied limbs, weaponry, anatomy and even internal organs, anything that would give her an advantage. The rain was yet still pounding at the tall windows to her left, but she ignored it. Nothing short of sleep would stop her from studying. And sure enough, that's what did.