Interlude - Fading Light

"Can your children fight a war?"

"I hope they never have to."

Optional Music – Time to Say Goodbye

"I'm beat." Ruby said, collapsing face first on the steel belly of the dropship. "I fwink I cwan shweep fow a week." she said, mumbling against the floor.

"Ruby, that's disgusting!" Weiss chided. "We stood on there this morning!"

"Don't care. Wake me up next month." Yang said, joining her sister with a crash, and Weiss had to admit she was feeling the same way. Blake was already out on one of the seats. They were all covered in bruises and scratches, their auras too drained to heal their bodies. The furious battle they fought in a few minutes ago was the most vicious of them yet. A quartet of Nevermores had nested too close to a village and since the veteran Hunters and senior Huntsmen were occupied with the increasing frequency of Grimm raids, team RWBY were dispatched to take down the flying monsters. Nevermores are part of the higher class Grimm and Ozpin would never resort to sending second year students to dealing with the winged Grimm, but desperation forced his hand. The girls assured him that it was fine, and that they could handle it, but Weiss saw how unwilling the headmaster was in letting them go for such a difficult task.

The dropship reverberated as the engines whirred to life, and they soared off into the air. The heiress enjoyed the soothing breeze of Vytalian summer and felt her body relax. It has been a hard day and there were bound to be more in the future.

They'd fought Beowolves and the occasional Ursa like every other team, but being assigned to dealing with four of the winged Grimm was getting out of hand. Combat policy dictated that to take down a Nevermore a full squad should be present, or at least two graduated Huntsmen. Were things getting that desperate?

The past few months were full of escalating skirmishes. It started out as a mild increase, with fourth years being sent to the field earlier than usual. Soon third years students were called to help control the exploding Grimm population and eventually the second years were finally ordered to battle as well. She heard Ozpin threatened to leave his position if the Council even so much as suggest implementing first year students into the conflict.

Like every other student, Weiss relishes challenge. That said, the unrelenting stream of missions they were forced to fight in is becoming ridiculous - and, though she won't admit readily admit it, exhausting. As prodigious and skilled she was, battling high class Grimm daily isn't something a second year student should be doing. Other teams weren't doing so well; if the rumors in the mess hall this morning was true, the second year had suffered their first casualty. And there were more bound to come.

Surprisingly enough, not a single person complained about the rising intensity and quantity of missions. It was what they signed up for, after all - even Jaune was working overtime. The clumsy idiot had grown to a fine warrior under Pyrrha's tutelage. The only person who's truly enjoying the surge of assignments would be the ever energetic Nora. Dust knows how Ren kept up with her.

Weiss smiled. The Grimm are stirring, the war is escalating and the whole damned planet is spiraling into chaos. But as long as she had her teammates next to her, she wouldn't have it any other way. She allowed herself to rest and descended into a fitful sleep.

The dropship landed in Beacon's shipyard with a light jolt, waking team RWBY from their slumber. Weiss rubbed her eyes and yawned. Ruby woke up groggily and helped pull her groaning sister to her feet. Weiss shook Blake awake gently, passing her a bottle of water which the cat faunus accepted gratefully. They stepped off the plane gingerly and sighed happily. The combat had ceased for the time being and they intend to use every second of their spare time to relax.

"Hey Ruby!" a cheerful voice greeted. "How'd the hunt go?"

It was then that the crimson cloaked Huntress realized that there was an entire team standing before them. Ruby smiled in response to the warm greeting and gave the girl a high five.

"Awesome! Kind of tired, though. What are you doing here, Beryl? You first year kids

"I'm the same age as you are!" the blue haired girl said rebelliously, extending her tongue to mock her upperclassmen. "And we're here to help!"

"Don't tell me." Blake frowned. "Ozpin authorized first year students for combat?"

"Professor Ozpin has been.. demoted." Beryl mumbled, her cheery demeanor gone. "The Council took over the academy. General Onyx is temporarily in charge."

The entirety of team RWBY gasped in surprise and outrage.

"WHAT?!" Ruby shouted, gripping her cloak so hard her hands paled. "THEY CAN'T DO THAT!"

"We must." a new voice said. A man appeared from the hallway leading to the shipyard. He was a well built man, imposing and intimidating, his figure straight and unwavering. Numerous medals decorated his black suit, which was only slightly darker than his gray skin. He nodded his head towards the blue haired girl.

"General Onyx." Beryl greeted courteously.

"Ms. Indigo" the general replied. "I suggest you get going on your mission. Those Beowolves are not going to kill themselves."

"Y-Yes, general." Beryl said, saluting the elder general. She gestured for the rest of her team to board the dropship. They look scared, but determined to do their duty.

The moment the dropship took off, Ruby exploded.

"How DARE you steal headmaster Ozpin's place!" she yelled, undeterred by the rank the man before her held. He merely looked on, silent in the face of the young girl's tirades.

"Ruby!" Weiss warned.

"Sis-" Yang said worriedly.

"Who do you think you are?" Ruby seethed, hands twitching over Crescent Rose. "You think you can come here and just walk around like you own it!? Beacon doesn't belong to you!"

Yang moved to restrain her sister before she could lash out.

"I know that full well, Ms. Rose." the general said. Despite Ruby's tone, the older man seemed to hold no grudge for it. "Believe me, I did so out of necessity, not out of want."

"Speaking of which, what do you want, general?" Weiss took over, concerned that Ruby would explode in anger again. "People of your rank do not waste their time welcoming second year students, especially not these days."

"As frank as usual, Ms. Schnee. Very well. I come here to ask you all a favor"

"Shove it." Ruby said. "Not interested."

"Let me rephrase that - an order." Onyx repeated menacingly, but then softened. "Your skills are exceptional, all of you. As you well know, we are in a time fraught with danger and disorder. The Grimm are on the aggressive and every village outside the Kingdoms are under constant attack. All four Hunter battalions are working overtime to eliminate their threat, but frankly we are horribly outnumbered."

"How bad?" Ruby asked, eyes shut trying to contain herself.

"For every Hunter we have, we estimate a hundred and ten Grimm." Onyx said truthfully. "Believe me, we would never consent to letting first year students to war but the casualties we have sustained forced us to do otherwise."

"Nothing forced you to do anything." Ruby insisted.

"You saw 'em." Yang said. "They're just kids. They're not ready."

"Going for child soldiers, huh?" Blake hissed. "And you call yourself a general-"

"You have NO IDEA!" the general exploded. A gray aura exuded from his body and the four Huntresses took an involuntary step back."The steps I took to stop them! How I pleaded and begged!"

He took a moment to regain his composure and sighed. The macabre aura receded into his resolute stature, and he inhaled deeply before continuing with a sad voice.

"My daughter is a first year student in Mistral. Her partner died two days ago."

"I'm.. sorry." Blake said. She couldn't bear the thought of losing Yang. Boisterous and raucous she may be, but the passionate blonde was the one person she refuse to lose. She could only imagine her daughter's plight, her grief. "I didn't know."

The general's terse expression eased at the apology.

"It is of no consequence, Ms. Belladonna." Onyx replied. "We are all running on fumes lately. The truth is, I volunteered for this position because sooner or later, Ozpin would be demoted. He is a good headmaster, but he has been defying the Council's orders far too long. I am here to make sure they wouldn't go too far. I will make sure of that, I swear on my daughter's life."

"But that's not why I'm here. General Ironwood and I have compiled a list of exceptional Hunters, unparalleled prodigies in their field. All four of you have qualified. I know of the mission you undertook today - taking down four Nevermores is something only veteran Hunters could do. Truth be told, a lone team of second year students against Grimm only veteran Huntsmen should be fighting and winning without a single casualty is a miracle in itself."

"Of course we could take on a few oversized birds." Ruby boasted.

"My point exactly." Onyx agreed. "I am here to personally extend an invitation for your team to transfer under my command. I am creating a new division outside the four existing Hunter battalions, Ms. Rose. A handpicked few who I believe have the power and resolve to turn this around. You four are among the youngest qualified."

"What makes you think we'll accept?" Weiss interjected.

"Because if this situation keeps escalating, we predict the loss of every village outside the four Kingdoms within the year." Onyx said. "The harsh truth is that the Council is getting desperate enough to consider recruiting Combat Schools. The last meeting we had regarding that matter ended with five in favor and seven against, but that may change soon."

"Unbelievable." Blake said.

'I have a plan, Ms. Rose." Onyx said with an air of finality. "A final gambit. And with your help, we can end the Grimm once and for all."

'Once again I implore you - will you join us?"

"Do we even have a choice?" Ruby asked weakly. "We'll come."

"I am pleased you made the right decision." Onyx smiled wanly. He raised his closed hands and revealed four badges within. They were small and sleek, matte black with a simple insignia engraved on it - a single red line. The girls received them warily, and the general stepped back.

"Team RWBY.. Welcome to the Ranger corps."

/START FILE

Encryption Cypher Nine

-FOR YOUR EYES ONLY-

FROM: Sable Shade

TO: Gatekeeper

FILE NAME: BLACK TIDE

It's awake.

/END FILE

A/N: I love teasing you guys.

Lovely reviews people!

Fourze: I'm not sure what you meant by Ruby Rant, but judging by the emoticon it seems that you are saddened by the events that have befallen poor Ruby.

Good.

Erik Graves son of Death: I just looked up Zabimaru. Cool weapon. Wait no more! *Twirls Nivalis*

Torqueo: Slow clap - best review yet! I am glad to know you're enjoying this so far! As you may know there's a small teaser in this chapter concerning the Tide (which will explained thoroughly, just wait!). And yeah.. Ruby just can't get a break, poor soul. As for your Yang.. *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*.

I am not a crook.

Lordmarc: Well.. Ruby technically counts as someone, right? Hehe.

Nameless guest reviews: I will keep going as asked.

-Deathwhisperer.