"Hey snow angel." Weiss looked up to find Neptune standing above her. After Winter left, Weiss had decided to do some light studying. While the free time had been much appreciated, Weiss still wanted to maintain her perfect scores, so she had shooed a pouting Winter out the door.

"Neptune." Weiss memorised her page number and placed her textbook on her bedside table. "How was your talk with the Colonel?"

Weiss noticed how Neptune winced upon hearing the words talk and Colonel.

"It went great snow angel." Neptune replied. "Cassian is a persuasive talker."

"He beat you up didn't he?"

"...Yes." Weiss laughed. After a moment, Neptune did as well.

"Well it seems like we both got beaten up today." Weiss said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Though, I'm glad that the two of you are getting along."

"Yup." Neptune scratched his chin. "How was your talk with Winter? Have a good heart to heart?"

"Fun." Seeing Neptune's raised eyebrow, Weiss pouted. "What?"

"That was not a word I expected to hear from you."

"Hey! I can be a fun person!"

"Of course you can snow angel." Neptune patted Weiss' shoulder. "Now, about that dance...?"

"Very well." Weiss said, placing her hand over Neptune's and giving him a smile. "You can escort me to the dance Neptune."

Perhaps it was time for Weiss to try and find her own love.

Cassian flicked through his scroll, checking the news sites for any Faunus-related incidents. While he knew that Schokolade and Cacao were very good, it didn't mean he was going to let his guard down completely.

Other than a few articles about a doctor in Menagerie, there wasn't anything that caught Cassian's intere-

Suddenly, his scroll begun to vibrate. Looking at the screen, Cassian felt a smile grow on his lips.

"Hey Winter." Cassian spoke, glancing around to make sure no one was around. "Have a good talk with your sister?"

"Very good. She smacked me with a pillow and threw me out so she could study." Cassian wondered exactly how that constituted a good talk, but Winter sounded happy so he let it slide. "How about you and Neptune? Did you make it clear what would happen if he messed with my baby sister?"

"Of course." Cassian briefly thought back to Winter's idea of using aura to seal away Neptune's libido. It had been difficult to persuade her otherwise. "He'll be nothing short of a perfect gentleman at the dance, I promise."

"That's good." Winter was silent for a moment. "I don't think I'll be attending however."

"Why not?" Cassian, fully aware of the reason, decided to tease her a bit. "I'm sure there are many Hunters and Huntresses alike who wouldn't mind a dance with you."

"Colonel Cassian Gray, are you teasing me?"

"Maybe." Cassian smiled, knowing full well that Winter was begrudgingly smiling as well. "But it would be incredibly improper of a mere bodyguard to even dream of taking his mistress to the dance."

"What if the said mistress ordered him to take her hmm?" Winter's voice was teasing, but at the same time completely serious.

"Well, then I'd have no choice but to obey would I?" Cassian laughed, before trailing off as he realised something. "Oh my Oum, it's actually a kink thing isn't it?"

On the other end of the phone, Winter was doing everything she could not to roll on the ground and howl in laughter.

"Why did you do that Schokolade?" Cacao asked his silent partner. The two of them were standing on a building top somewhere in Vale. "I mean, it seemed kind of out of the blue."

"..." Schokolade didn't vocalise his answers, but Cacao could somehow understand the big man's feelings and intentions simply through observation. "...?"

"I suppose." Cacao sighed. "I still keep forgetting about that. Wonder knows what the boss man was thinking when he hired him."

"..."

"Well yes, I'm aware that despite appearances, he has a rather ruthless and sick sense of humor when it comes to Faunus."

"..."

"That makes sense I guess." Cacao shuddered at his partner's theory. "Still creeps me out to no end regardless. Mr. Schnee's got a mean streak that even I find disturbing."

"..."

"OK fine, I admit that I was feeling a bit sorry for those two as well. And yes, I think it's a nice gesture." Cacao groaned, sensing that his partner was smiling at Cacao's reluctance to admit his true feelings. "Now shut up and get to work! If they're going to have a good night tomorrow, we have to make sure there isn't a single White Fang anywhere in this city!"

"Friend Ruby!"

"Yah!" Ruby shouted, her arm flying into the air in surprise. Her cookies were sent flying into the air, only to be skillfully caught by Blake. "Penny! Don't scare me like that!"

"Here." Blake said, handing Ruby back her cookies. "I need to go...talk to someone." Before Ruby could say anything, the Faunus was gone.

"Friend Ruby, greetings and salutations!" Penny said, waving at the young team leader. "How are you on this fine day?"

"I'm good, Penny." Ruby gave the robot girl a smile. "How about you?"

"I am well, thank you for inquiring!" Penny returned Ruby's smile, albeit with much more enthusiasm. "Are you looking forward to the tournament, friend?"

"Yes!" Ruby's eyes begun to sparkle at the thought of battle. "We've been training really hard and working on all these super sick secret moves. Oh, but I can't tell you anymore about those moves because it's meant to be a secret and you're a potential opponent and Weiss will get really mad if I do but they're so cool and awesome and will totally rock your socks off if we ever get to use them on you and your team." Ruby blinked, realising she had been rambling. "Oh, sorry about that Penny."

"It's fine. I like listening to my friend's stories." Penny replied.

"So, where's your team anyway? I don't remember ever meeting them."

"Um…" Penny fidgeted, something Ruby had never seen her do before. It was very out of character. "The General says I can't talk about them with other people."

"Oh." Ruby wondered just what was so mysterious about Penny's team (who would be participating in the opening battles the day after the dance) that Penny couldn't even talk about them. "Well, can't be helped I guess!"

"Are you mad at me?" Penny asked, a worried look on her face.

"Of course not!" Ruby gave her friend a reassuring look. "Everyone has their secrets and that's fine-" Ruby gasped as Penny enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug. "P-penny. Ribs. Crushed. Dying."

"Oh sorry friend." Penny immediately released the poor girl, allowing Ruby to breath a sigh of relief.

"It's ok Penny, just...not so much strength next time alright?"

"Yes ma'am!" Penny shot off a salute, making Ruby giggle. "Oh, that reminds me! I heard that you met Mr. Colonel."

"Uh...who?"

"Colonel Cassian Gray?" Penny tilted her head. "The General said he was here and that Team RWBY had met him."

"Oh!" Ruby exclaimed, realising who Penny was referring to. "Weiss' sister's bodyguard right!"

"Yes." Penny nodded her head. " Ruby, a word of caution. Mr. Colonel is scary."

"Scary? He seems pretty nice."

"He's-" Penny paused, as if trying to find the words. After a moment, she decided to try a different method. " Ruby, in the Atlas Military, there are two ways to move up the ranks."

"O-k?"

"One is through experience, like General Ironwood. The other is through combat. Mr. Colonel was one rank beneath the General ranks when he left the military at 22."

"So you're saying he's good at fighting than?"

"Ruby, Mr. Colonel is-"

"Penny!" A girl's voice shouted out, interrupting the girl. Both Ruby and Penny turned around. Standing a few meters away was a girl with green eyes and brown hair. "There you are! We need to go report to the General now!"

"Ah." Penny turned to Ruby and bowed profusely. "Sorry friend, but I must go."

"That's fine. See you later Penny." Ruby watched as the girl ran over to her friend. "Well that was weird."

"We have a request for you, Ms. Schnee." General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin were currently escorting Winter Schnee to her airship. The two of them had run into the elder heiress as she'd left the medical bay, and had insisted on seeing her off.

"Go on." Winter replied, somewhat intrigued. Not that it was noticeable in her tone or expression.

"We'd like you to be a guest professor at tomorrow's combat class. After today's spar, a number of the students expressed interest in being taught by you."

"Why not." Winter had to admit, she was flattered by the offer. Beacon professors were considered to be the cream of the crop, even back in Atlas. To be offered a guest position did wonders for Winter's ego. Plus, she wouldn't mind seeing the skills of her sister's team. "Very well, I'll accept your offer. What time tomorrow?"

"Would 4 in the afternoon suffice? I'm sure you must have a busy schedule." With a start, Winter realised that she had no idea what she had to do tomorrow. Cassian had mentioned that they'd be busy every single day, but Winter couldn't remember the exact details of each event.

"Hmm." Winter made a sound as if she was considering. Inside however, she was panicking a bit. If she said she wasn't sure, it would be a blow to her facade. At the same time, if she had to cancel, it would be a blow to her pride. Winter decided to give an ambiguous answer, in order to save face."That will-"

"-be most acceptable." Cassian finished for her. He had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, scaring the three of them. "Good afternoon General and Headmaster. My mistress has nothing in the afternoon save for preparation for the ball, which should take but an hour and a bit." Cassan turned his gaze towards Winter. "Mistress, you must make sure to sufficiently rest tonight, as you have an early meeting with the train operators tomorrow about the new security protocols."

"As he said gentlemen, I will take charge of that class tomorrow." Winter made a mental note to thank Cassian later. "Now, I must be returning to my hotel. Good day gentlemen."

"They were definitely staring at your butt." Cassian teased, the moment they were in the privacy of their car. "I will bet fifteen lien they were staring at your butt when you stepped up onto the airship."

"S-shut up!" Winter blushed crimson. She had felt the stares of not just the professors, but the students milling around the air strip. "Ugh I hate my outfit sometimes…"

"Why? It's incredibly attractive."

"You think so?" Winter couldn't stop the smile growing on her face. "Thanks Cass."

"You're going to call me that as well?" Cassian asked, lightly bopping Winter on the nose. Winter giggled and swatted his hand like a cat.

"Yup." Winter replied. "You should come up with a pet name for me as well."

"A pet name hmm?" Cassian thought for a moment. "Nah, Winter's already so cute that I can't possibly come up with something better."

The two of them flirted and teased each other for the remainder of the car ride, only to be interrupted by a soft cough from Fred.

"Ms. Schnee, Colonel. We're approaching the hotel and there are paparazzi waiting outside."

Winter and Cassian immediately separated, both of them fixing themselves in preparation for the intense media scrutiny that they were about to face.

Before they came to a stop, Winter gave Cassian a quick peck on the cheek.

"Love you Cass." Winter mumbled, a small blush on her face. Before Cassian could answer, Winter stepped out of the car.

After a moment, Cassian followed suit, doing all he could to prevent a massive smile from growing on his face.

"I need a smoke." Cacao moaned, plopping himself on one of the few unbroken crates in the warehouse. "Schokolade, do you have any cigarettes?"

"..." Schokolade ignored his partner, choosing instead to survey the destruction that the two of them had caused. Dead White Fang members littered the room. Some had their necks broken or faces caved in, courtesy of Cacao. Others had been strangulated or bleed out or simply diced into pieces, courtesy of Schokolade.

"Eh, though you didn't." Cacao patted his clothes, eventually finding a crumpled up cigarette in his pocket. "Got a light-"

Something swished past Cacao, causing his cigarette to light up. Cacao placed the now-lit smoke in his mouth and inhaled.

"Much better." Cacao sighed, letting a puff of smoke out. "Now then, did you keep one of these scum alive?"

Schokolade indicated a solitary figure with his head. The White Fang member was leaning against a steel pipe, his head lolled to the side.

Cacao wandered over to the man, before bending down and placing the palm of his hand on the man's forehead. Cacao's hand glowed for a moment, before the White Fang member's eyes flew open.

"Hello." Cacao gave a cheery wave. "What's your name?"

The White Fang member's answer was to throw up, the smell of blood and death too much for the Faunus' enhanced senses.

"Yuck." Cacao muttered, taking a step back. "That's pretty gross."

The man continued to retch and puke while Cacao and Schokolade watched. Eventually, he stopped.

"W-what did you do?" The White Fang member gasped after emptying his stomach. "M-my comrades?"

"Dead." Cacao replied, taking a seat on the ground a few feet away from the prisoner. "Kicked the bucket. Six feet under. Met the maker. And all the other synonyms."

"W-why..." The prisoner's eyes widened upon seeing the insignia on Cacao's breast. "Pale Horse?!"

"There's your answer!" Cacao said gleefully. "Now then, my turn to ask questions. You can choose to take the hard way or the easy way-" Cacao leaned in, a psychotic grin on this face. "-but between you and me I hope you pick the former."

The White Fang member whimpered and soiled his pants.

"Crap." Cacao said, looking at the now-dead White Fang prisoner. The interrogation had been a success, even if the prisoner had died in the process. "Crap." Cacao repeated the word, as it accurately summed up the situation at hand.

"..." Schokolade pulled his scroll out, only to find that it wasn't working. "...!"

"Crap." Cacao allowed himself to curse one more time, before forcing himself to concentrate. They needed to get this new intelligence to Team SHYD and Cassian. "They've cut our comms?"

Schokolade nodded. At the same time, an ominous rumbling came from below them. The two of them immediately recognised the sound as being the sound of explosives.

"Was that…" Cacao trailed off, remembering a little tidbit of information regarding the city of Vale. Specifically, what the industrial district was built over. "RUN!"

Neither of the two Vanagandr members however, managed to take more than five steps before the ground collapsed underneath them, sending them tumbling into the Grimm-filled labyrinths beneath Vale.

"Huh." Cassian looked at his scroll. He was dressed in his sleepwear, his hair still wet from the shower he had just finished. "That doesn't look good."

"What's up?" Winter asked, stepping into his room. She was dressed in a white negligee, her hands using a towel to dry her white locks.

"Explosion in the industrial district. Secret White Fang lair. Lots of dead." Cassian showed Winter the video. A pillar of smoke, with numerous police and firefighting crews on the scene.

"Isn't dead White Fang a good thing?" Winter asked, taking a seat next to Cassian. "Means less things we have to kill."

"You mean rehabilitate." Noticing Winter's lack of reply, Cassian sighed. "Winter…"

"You know how I feel about the White Fang." Winter curled up so her chin rested on her knees. "They killed a lot of my family, even the ones who weren't involved in the business. I can't accept that, the killing of all Schnees simply because of their bloodline."

Cassian couldn't help but concede that point. It was true that a number of people affiliated with the Schnee family had been murdered for the sole reason of being related to the aforementioned family.

"Not all of them are bad." Cassian said softly, knowing this was a touchy subject. He thought back to the girl that he had seen on the train. "Sometimes all they need is to see the truth."

"And how many people have to die before they see that truth?" Winter placed her head on Cassian's shoulder. "Cassian, I don't really want to talk about this. I just want to relax tonight." Winter gave Cassian a sultry smile. "Unless of course, you prefer to do some exercise instead?"

"You're incorrigible, you know that?" Cassian pulled Winter to the bed, the Schnee squealing in delight.

"So you're going with Neptune?" Yang asked. Team RWBY were getting ready for bed, all members being thoroughly exhausted from the day's activities. "Damn, I was hoping for a sisters-bodyguard love triangle."

"Yang, you're a sick, sick woman." Weiss looked at the blonde brawler with disgust.

"Hey, Blakey agrees with me!" Yang looked at the cat-faunus, who was flipping through another book. "Right Blakey?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny Yang's accusations." Blake replied dead-panned. "Though, such a relationship does resemble that of-"

"I don't need any perverted fantasies regarding myself, my sister, or her bodyguard." Weiss shuddered at the thought, while Blake simply shrugged and returned to her book.

"Are you sure? Because the three of you are pretty hot, and the three of you together would be-"

"Yang!" Weiss yelled, cutting the blonde off. "Did you forget your sister is here!?"

Yang looked at Ruby, who was trying to comprehend exactly what the other three members of her team were talking about. Luckily, Ruby was rather dense when it came to sexual matters, and hence had no real clue about what they were talking about.

"Ruby, why don't you bring Zwei for a walk?" Yang asked kindly.

"Nope!" Ruby shook her head. "I want to learn about whatever you guys are talking about!"

"Ruby, this is adult stuff. You're too young to know about this-"

"Like the stuff you did with Nox back in Patch? Because I could hear you guys all-"

"Ruby!" Yang hissed, her face red. "That was meant to be a secret between sisters!"

"Ooops." Ruby grinned and scratched her head, while Weiss and Blake laughed in the background. "Sorry Yang."

"So we're in charge of security tomorrow?" Silvers asked. The four members of Team SHYD were standing in the bridge in Atlas' main Capital Ship. Through the observation windows, the team had a perfect view of Vale and Beacon.

"Correct." General Ironwood was seated in the control seat of the bridge, his legs crossed and his chin resting on the back of his hands. "We cannot have another infiltration like at the previous dance. Other than the increase in patrols, I'd like two of you to guard the CCT."

"Davina. Helaine." Silvers said simply. The two girls immediately nodded their heads in agreement.

"The remaining two will be monitoring the dance and the main entrance respectively. Regarding the alternative entry point discovered by Cassian, Atlas Paladins and Knights have been deployed to maintain a security blanket over the area. The moment something out of the ordinary happens, it'll be transmitted to your receivers."

"If something is amiss, what is the procedure that we will be following?" Yin asked, his voice level.

"You mean, whether you will shoot to kill or subdue?" Yin gave a curt nod, General Ironwood having correctly deduced the actual question. "We only need one person to get the necessary information."

"Understood." Yin gave General Ironwood a salute.

"Permission to be excused?" Silvers asked. "My team needs to prepare."

"Granted." General Ironwood dismissed Team SHYD, who filled out of the command centre.

The moment they left, Penny stepped into the centre, having been silently monitoring the entire conversation on the General's orders.

"Where are the Vanagandr members?" Ironwood asked, turning to the diminutive girl. "I assume the explosion in the industrial district with all the White Fang was their doing.:

"Unknown sir." Penny replied. "No one has seen even the slightest trace of them. We can't get into the blast zone either, since there are a huge number of Grimm who had escaped the area. We're working on containing the invasion at the moment."

"So they're either dead or stuck in the labyrinth beneath this city." Ironwood looked at the sparkling lights of Vale. "To think that such a beautiful sight could conceal such darkness underneath."

"My father used to say that those who look down from above will never see the true darkness that lurks in the corners of the world."

"True." Ironwood looked at the glittering cityscape. "Where there is light, there will always be shadow. And it is in shadow that the evil will dwell."

I'm back! Was busy moving into...well something. It was long. And hard. But fun. Updates will be a bit slow for a while as I try to get used to a new environment. The next chapter will be preparations for the dance, from both the good, the bad and the bad-ass.

Rate and Review and Favourite!

Ferris.