My apologies for disappearing for some time. So now that we have Sierra with someone, onward to the start of the year!

"C'MON DELTA! QUIT HALF-ASSING AROUND!"

I sighed, raising my head again, leaning back as another flurry of knives flew towards me. The blades struck individual drops of sweat that had flown off of me as I kick jumped back to my feet, deflecting several more knives. I then glanced to my left, seeing Sierra flanking me, setting her knives up around me. She was about half-way done until suddenly, a full circle surrounded me. I jumped as she snapped her fingers throwing my swords back down as another circle appeared around me. I quickly snapped to my other sword, now lodged in the ground as she suddenly appeared in my face, causing me to pull it out and jump back, deflecting the impending knife that would've normally slit my throat. I then shot a glance at the knives scattered throughout the room, focusing my aura around them, willing them to raise up.

With a wave of the hand, they all flew towards Sierra, who had set up a knife wall of her own. The sound of metal hitting metal filled the arena as I dropped down to my knees, gasping for air. However, Sierra wasn't giving me the luxury.

I instinctively rolled to my left, seeing several more knives fly and hit the ground I was just on.

I did a windmill, landing on my feet, raising my sword again as she threw more knives. The blades bounced off my sword as I deflected them, throwing one of my swords towards her.

Only to see her right up in my face.

Teleporting, I gripped my sword, swinging at her. Or at least, where she was standing. I whiffed, spinning out of control as I landed on the ground back first. I opened my eyes, seeing Sierra hovering over me with a knife in her hand, intent on throwing it at my head. I grinned, my sword instantly floating over and pointing at her neck. Sierra's eyes, glowing that intense red, finally relaxed as she grinned herself, putting the knife away as my sword dropped onto the ground.

"Had enough?"

"…You…bet…," I replied, feeling my shirt press uncomfortably against my skin, drenched in sweat. She stuck a hand out to me, which I gladly took, taking the helping hand back up to my feet. Only to be brought into a hug, which caught me by surprise.

"…Sorry. You just reminded me of Echo," she said, pulling away from me. I blinked, picking up my swords as the doors slid open.

"You guys done yet?"

"Pretty much," Sierra replied as Hotel walked over, looking me up and down, and then looked at Sierra. She sheepishly grinned as he said, "You really like working his ass off, don't you?"

"Damn straight," she replied, undoing her ribbons that kept her braids in, letting her bangs fluff downward. I glanced at her as she shook the sweat from her head, captivating me. In all honesty, this was the first time I've ever seen her without he ribbons. I quickly shook the thought out of my head as Lima suddenly appeared, sniffing me up and down. I glanced at her as she said, "…shower…."

We all burst out laughing afterwards.

"Yo, Delta!"

I turned, seeing Echo walking up to me with his sweater on, his hands in his, what I call, "belly pockets."

"Hey," I replied as he caught up to me. He looked me up and down, then said, "Dude, you look like shit."

Tell me about it.

I sighed and replied, "Well, ask your girlfriend for details."

"Oh? Sierra did this to you?"

"You bet," I replied, wiping my drenched bangs out of my face as I continued onto the team dorm room. That is, until he followed me and said, "Man, she really likes pushing you guys, doesn't she?"

"Damn straight," I replied, finally reaching the room, swinging the door open as I turned back to Echo and said, "The rest of the team will be back shortly if you want to hang out."

"Nah," he replied, "Gotta go do some team examination or some shit like that."

"Well then," I replied, "have fun."

The memories of the Emerald Forest came flooding back to me as I closed the door behind me, grinning at the sounds of the guys who didn't pass the exam screamed at the feeling of getting flung into the air. Give or take, it was kinda nerve wreaking, but it was fun afterwards.

I sighed, the steam floating out of the bathroom as I finished my shower, wiping the towel against my head as I heard Sierra say, "'bout time you got out."

I glanced up, seeing the rest of the team huddled between my and Lima's beds. I blinked and walked over, taking a seat on the side of my bed as Sierra said, "Alright team! Welcome to our last year here!"

…I keep forgetting that we're graduating early….

"So," she continued, "Today's the day when we get a ton of rookie teams coming in. Now Hotel-," she turned to face him, "—this doesn't mean you get to fuck around with them."

Hotel grunted his response as a knock on the door caught our attention. Lima's ear perked as she motioned for me to open it. I raised an eyebrow in suspicion as she leaned over and whispered something to Sierra, whose face quickly turned into a devilish grin.

Okay…this is really suspicious.

I unlocked the door, swinging it open.

Only to have Ruby mash her lips to mine and tackle me to the ground.

I could hear Sierra laughing in the background as I heard Yang say, "Damn Ruby! Calm down!"

She pulled away, smiling sheepishly down at me as I sighed and said, "When did you become straight forward?"

Just then, Sierra pulled her off of me as she said, "Now then…so now that we can get to talking about our mission…."

Ruby smiled, still sitting on me as I sat up, picking her up with a heave.

I never had to heave before…!

Setting her on my bed, I turned back to Sierra, who looked around, then asked, "Hey…where's Kitty and Ice Queen?"

Kitty? Must be Blake I guess. Ice Queen must then be Weiss.

"Hey!"

I glanced behind my leader, seeing the white haired heiress and the black faunus standing outside the door. Immediately, Lima left her bed and jumped on Blake, sniffing her all around. The older faunus girl looked even more annoyed than ever at the gesture, but then sighed and smiled, patting her junior on the head. Weiss began pouting as Sierra laughed and replied, "Aww, stop fretting, Icey!"

I felt Ruby wrap her arms around my neck as Yang walked up to Hotel, sitting on his lap, causing him to look up at her as she said, "It sure has been a while, babe."

"That it has," he replied as she readjusted herself to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her as I turned back to Sierra, who said, "…Anyway, as I was saying-."

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

I could see her visibly get annoyed as she yanked Weiss into the room as a cloud of dust filled the hall, as well as a feminine voice yell, "EXCUSE ME!"

I suppressed a laugh as Sierra closed the door and said, "…okay, now if I may be able to speak, we're clearing out the Emerald Forest again, people!"

Again…?

"Damn straight, Delta," she said as if she read my mind. I flinched, looking away as Ruby giggled, turning her face back towards me and kissing my cheek. I felt a blush creep in as Sierra continued, "This time, though, it's gonna be a bit different."

"Different?"

I heard Hotel shift around as Sierra said, "A Goliath decided to take refuge in there. Male. And from what I got from Ozpin, in musth."

"…It's horny…," Yang said in a bit of a disgust.

"And pissed off," Sierra finished off, "so we're gonna have two extra teams with us. JNPR's one of them. And the other…well…."

She glanced at me, catching my attention.

Oh no…this isn't going to be good.

"Even though I tried, unfortunately it's SWRD."

Instinctively, I ripped Ruby tighter, hearing her gawk a little. I felt my chest flare up as Sierra glanced away and pulled out a knife. Ruby turned back to face me, stroking my cheek comfortably. I sighed, resting my head on her shoulder as Sierra said, "Not that it'll matter cuz I'm putting Ruby and Dagger with you."

I looked up in surprise as Sierra said, "Don't worry; she won't do anything. Besides; I think she'll learn how to use her semblance by watching you."