"Sis, they have no idea what we've gone through. Why do I have to be friends with them?" I sighed, sharpening my sword in a private corner of the library idly. "And one of them is… Her."

"Relax, Luna. She's a teammate, and she'll never find out that we were Shiro Kiba." Blake said lowly, low enough only they could possibly hear and even then they needed their Senses to do so, As well as knowledge of Japanese, and turning a page in her book. "Besides, you feel guilty for what you did to her family and company? Make it up to her. Protect her, help her."

"Even so, it's the principle behind it. But… I guess you're right, and if anything I can make sure the Schnee doesn't find out about us." I glared at a passing human slightly when her eyes stayed on us for more than a few seconds, until she turned and walked away quickly. "I don't like being here, Blake… Too many eyes, and too many of them on us."

"You could have always worn a bow and tucked your tail away." Blake murmured with a shrug, shaking her head at me derisively," I get why you didn't, but if you were going to dislike it so much to be looked at, why didn't you? Would have been rather sensible to cover your tail, pun not intended-"

"Or forgiven."

"-to do it." Blake finished, glaring threateningly at me while I fought laughter. "I get too much of that as is, you know."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't make great puns too, right?" I teased, smiling thinly at her and twerking my ears delightfully when she pouted adorably and shoved her nose in her book," Ah, don't be like that, sis."

"I know, Yang does that a lot too…" She murmured in a suffering way, sighing saly," Always trying to grab my behind too. Annoying." I laughed quietly again, though it was loud to the two of us, and sighed when she glared at me," It isn't funny."

"Sure it is." I argued, smiling brightly at her after her glare intensified," You need more people chasing your tail, you're a teenager. It's kind of in the job description. Besides, at least it isn't a guy this time."

"There you two are!" Ruby squeed happily, hurting both Faunus' ears due to the unexpected volume and pitch she managed to make before she smiled brightly," Why are you two hiding in here?"

"I'm making sure my blade's sharp, obviously. And she's reading, which is just as obvious." I snarked back, lacking the bite that would have made it an insult due mostly to the adorableness of the small girl. "Anyways, Leader, what do you want?"

"Well, wanted to know where my teammates were. Maybe get to know them! You know, boring leader stuff." Ruby said hopefully, smiling and waving her hands in an exaggerated dismissive way as I smiled. "Was kinda bored waiting too, and sis was being so annoying."

"Well, you came to the right place, I guess. I'm Luna and you've probably met Blake already." I gestured at the other Faunus with my foot, and the small girl nodded happily.

"Yes, I did. She introduced you to all of us while you were sleeping." She said simply, smiling politely and obviously fighting a smile.

"Blaaaakkkkkeee. Wake me up when I'm being introduced, you daft tit!" I whined, glancing at Blake. Suddenly, it hit me like a brick on the head, and I sighed sadly. "Did I make myself look stupid again?"

"You looked very adorable while your ears were twitching in your sleep." Blake commented, smiling derisively and flipping a page in her book.

"You'll look very adorable with my foot up your-." I scowled, as Ruby interrupted me with a chuckle.

"You two sound like my Uncle Qrow and my Dad. I like it." I blinked in surprise, canon giving me no idea of how Qrow and Taiyang interacted with each other. Apparently, they affectionately argued. "Anyways, We have our dorms now, but our things won't be sorted out until tomorrow…"

"So we're supposed to wear our new uniforms when we wake up…" Blake muttered, grimacing slightly for an unknown reason. I got up, putting my sword into the locker and closing it as we started going to our new dorm.

"It was custom tailored, if you forgot, Blake." I said with a bright smile. "They'll probably be the best clothes we've worn. Ever. Especially since we can customize it and such, it's worth waitin' for." When the three of us had arrived, Weiss and Yang had long ago gone to sleep, the clock reading a decently late 10:30 for the first day of Beacon tomorrow, especially considering everything we'd had to go through to get here.

"Wait…"

There were four beds here, one for each of people on each of the normal teams, and even then it was quite cramped in the rather small room. So four beds were more than enough for a four-man team… But I was the fifth person, in a room meant and stocked for four.

"So, Blake…" I said uncomfortably, rubbing the back of my neck and smiling sheepishly. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Kick me out of my bed like you usually do and you're sleeping on the floor." Blake threatened, glaring a very much unamused way, and that was that.

XXX-XXX

I smiled sleepily, curling up closer against the familiar warmth of Blake and relaxing in the morning sun peeking through the window next to us, just glad to have a nice, soft, warm bed to sleep on. It was nice, sleeping in warm covers in a place I knew I was safe and could rest up in peace. We'd not had this for years, and I was determined to enjoy it thoroughly before I'd have to get up. But sadly, the gnawing in my stomach was annoying, and eventually I left to go grab everyone food for the morning. What I returned to was… Honestly what I should have expected.

"What the fuck is this?" The bunk beds were a total surprise to me in my now seventeen years of life since I had last seen RWBY, the animated version doing nothing compared to the sheer Euclidean insanity I was seeing before my eyes, even though it was exactly the same thing. Same books, same ropes, etcetera.

"This was Ruby's idea- to make bunk beds. Oh, and yours is in the corner." I looked to the side, seeing that, yes, a fifth bed was in the corner, the small shelf holding Blake's books leaning against my footboard like some sort of support to hold the blasted thing up. "She took some of my books to do it too…"

"Hey now, Weiss Crispies, everyone likes bunk beds!" Yang said loudly, and happily, from the top of one of them, yanking her sister into a hug," They're awesome!"

"Yang! I can't breathe! Stahp!" She squealed, flailing uselessly against the infinitely stronger blonde woman's grip," Weiss! Help!"

"Unbelievable… Just absolutely, completely, unbelievable!" Weiss sighed to herself as I picked up my class schedule, seeing a note on the bottom addressed to me.

'Miss L Belladonna-

Please report to the Headmaster's office at 9 am to discuss your agreed upon duties. The teacher of your first class, Professor Port, has already been informed that you will likely miss the class.'

"Okay then… You guys can just… handle this shit on your own, I guess. Gotta run." I said to myself, buttoning my jacket and looking at them staring at me in confusion and sighing. "Ozpin wants me to go do some shit-"

"Language!" Ruby interrupted, pouting heavily enough I almost laughed," Potty mouth!"

"Yeah, don't cuss in front of my baby sister, ya cunt." Yang said in faux-chastisement, smiling until Ruby hurled a pillow into her face and knocked her over with a yell of 'potty mouth.' I sighed in amusement, turning to the door and slipping out while I could pull it off and not get caught up in the impromptu pillow fight.

XXX-XXX

"Welcome, Miss Belladonna. Glad you could make it, and I do hope you do well in your role at our academy." Miss Goodwitch greeted, smiling as warmly as she was wont to ever really do, Ozpin giving a nod of acknowledgement as the elevator doors closed behind her. "Before we begin, are any of your team, including your sister, aware that you are a Student Teacher?"

"No, just myself. Was I supposed to tell them?" I asked in concern, reaching down to pull out my Scroll," I can text if ya want me to, ya know."

"No, I would prefer it if you didn't. A hunter must be prepared for anything-" Ozpin beckoned me forward and handed me a small device bearing information I could only assume was for me. He leaned back in his chair before continuing. "-For example, a serial killer."

"Anonymity will aid greatly in that avenue." Glynda added, smiling in a sort of off-happy way, likely eager to be teaching anything she found useful.

"So you want me to be that serial killer." I said, putting two and two together quickly enough, nodding my head ever-so-slightly in understanding. "And this will be part of the next class?"

"Exactly. This will all be run in state-of-the-art simulation, with no real possibility of harm being done. Thus, we expect you to not hold back. You are a competent enough fighter, so use that skill against them. Our scenarios will help you easily enough. We prepared everything ourselves, with the required curriculum being outlined in each." She pulled out her Scroll, smiling. "I'll show you."

XXX-XXX

"Hey, Blakey." My sister looked up from her book, blinking at me in surprise.

"Luna? Where have you been?"

I sighed. "Oh, you know… Ozpin's job took longer than expected. Just a little manual labor."

Her eyes narrowed. "He didn't make you do anything weird, did he?"

"Weird?" I raised my eyebrows. "Like what?"

"Like… You know…"

"Blake, what kind of person do you think he is?"

"I… don't. I just think it's strange that the headmaster of the school gives you work while the rest of us are off with other… wait." Blake's eyes widened. "Does he know about… our old job?"

"He, uh…" I didn't want to give away what I had been doing. It might be problematic later on. But still, Blake did have a right to know about that. "He knows something, yeah."

Blake stared at me for a moment in mild terror. When she spoke, it was subconsciously a whisper. "Luna! What are you thinking?! If he learns too much, it's going to be a disaster!"

"Relax," I sidled up next to Blake, smiling reassuringly at her. As I spoke, I brushed my hand against her ears, concealed behind her bow. "I'm doing this work precisely to throw him off the trail. You know I'm good at that, right?" I continued to stroke her head, and a low purring told me I was getting where I needed to be.

"You… You swear he isn't a threat. Right?"

"I promise. He's willing to give us a chance. And what I'm doing is helping keep it that way." Not altogether untrue, I thought. Blake sat still for a moment, leaning into me slightly. "You trust me, right?" I whispered.

"Yeah, I trust you. Just don't do anything… stupid."

"Good." I backed away, watching in amusement as Blake's face went from a look of bliss to one of dismay.

"I can't believe you just did that," She mumbled, fumbling with her bow to re-conceal her ears. "What if someone walked in?!"

"Oh, you like it," I teased. Secretly, I was happy she was mad at me. It meant she wasn't going to push the subject further. Confirmation came as I saw her scowl at me, then sink deep into her 'Don't-bother-me-I'm-reading' pose.

I quickly grabbed the papers I had come into the dorm for. With one last apologetic glance to my sister, I allowed the door to swing shut behind me.

XXX-XXX

"So this is what they've got us doing, huh?" Yang wondered out loud. Her breath drifted visibly. "Not that I'm complaining, but is anyone else surprised how they managed to make it so freaking cold?"

"I-it's a little ch-chilly, yes…" Weiss's teeth chattered.

I smiled at the heiress, mildly amused. "You? Cold? I thought you'd love the snow." I stretched, trying not to give away that my ears and tail had already become stiff from the wind shear. "If we get inside somewhere soon, there shouldn't be much - EEEEK!" I blushed brightly at my outburst, face hot despite the wet snow that had been slung at me finding its way into my shirt. It sent a new wave of shivers down my spine. Ruby, the little pipsqueak, laughed brightly.

"Yeah! Snowball fight! Snowball fight~!"

I was going to enjoy torturing her lat-Oh, wow. I was already slowly reverting to my White Fang personality. For now, though, I decided it was best to act natural. "Why you goddamned, slippery little-!"

Ruby squealed, dancing behind Yang for defense. "Yang! Protect me~!"

Yang acted as a shield long enough to give me a sly wink, then backed into Ruby, forcing her into a large snowbank. An earsplitting surprised shriek let me know that Ruby had indeed gotten the karmic backlash she deserved. I smiled thankfully at Yang before turning back to the others.

"Anyway, it's likely that they dropped us off near the hideout, so should we go over the plan one more time?"

Pyrrha and the rest of team JNPR gathered with our team, everyone trying to stay close together as we walked. Team CRDL had dropped back a bit, seemingly too "cool" to be seen hanging out with us. I couldn't help but think how satisfying it would be to catch them in some deathtraps later.

"We're looking for the hideout of notorious terrorist and serial killer, 'Stark White'." Pyrrha summarized, breathing on her hands for warmth.

"Wait… hideout?" Blake piped up. "So he might still be around here?"

"They said he's long gone, that patrols spooked him into fleeing. So there's something in there we need." Ren added, ignoring the fact that Nora, grinning stupidly, had attached herself to his arm and refused to let go. Pyrrha nodded.

"Right. The intel we have says the entrance is somewhere in the area, and once inside, we need to secure anything that may help bring to light future plans. Or hopefully, something that may aid in his cap-." She stopped in surprise, pointing forward to a mound of red snow.

Well, that's my cue. I thought. Feigning concern, I walked over to the carefully concealed explosive charge. "Someone's hurt." My foot sank into the bloody patch, hiding the landmine that I had planted beforehand.

Click.

Five seconds till Showtime. I bent over, checking the pulse of the long-dead corpse. "She's gone!"

Boom.

I barely caught a flash of light and concussive wave before my mind was forced out of the simulation. Threads of light wove their way through my vision, the room all the team-members' unconscious bodies lay in slowly came into focus as my own sim-pod opened. Before me stood Glynda, hand extended to me. I took it, shrugging the last of the drowsy feeling off.

"An excellent start, Miss Belladonna. I don't think any of them have any reason to suspect you yet."

"Good. Where do I go from here?" I glanced at the other pods; Everyone looked to be in a deep sleep, eyes twitching under their eyelids, and the occasional jerk of an arm or leg. It was kind of pathetic, and I really hoped I looked more photogenic while I was out.

"We have a pod in another room set up, so as to not attract attention when more students exit the simulation." We walked as we spoke, down a long corridor filled with maintenance equipment. It was clear they weren't taking any chances of discovery, because the room we ended up at was quite obviously a custodial closet; it still smelled like cleaning solvents and mildewy mops. I gagged a little as we entered. There in the center of the room sat the sleek metal pod, shininess completely at odds with the dingy setting it had been placed in. I looked at Glynda in mild dismay. she smiled mock-pleasantly, ushering me into the pod with her riding crop.

"Off you go."

I nodded, reclining back in the seat. "Where am I headed? And any explanation?

"A control room, where you'll get your gear. We will have closed-channel communications with you inside the simulation, so you are free to ask for anything you for the explaination- You are getting lunch for everyone." Glynda motioned an 'OK' to a camera in the ceiling; I felt a slight jolt of electricity, followed by the strange sensation of falling as my eyes fluttered shut.

XXX-XXX

"Someone's hurt." Luna said, bending over to check the person's pulse. Cardin arrived with the rest of his team, scowling. " What's the Fox doing?"

"Checking on a body."

"She's gone!" Luna yelled, as something detonated. Blake blinked, dirt, dust, and snow going into the air. Ruby gulped, looking up at the area she was standing, wiping snow from their faces.

"Sis?" Blake said, a hint of panic in her voice as she momentarily forgot that this was just a simulation and she cautiously climbed the hill, looking at the clear area.

Luna lay on her back, laying perfectly still, as the reason was revealed- One of her legs was gone to the thigh, sections of her chest torn apart by shrapnel, and her left arm was connected to both her shoulder and elbow by the tendons alone. The contacts were useless as a disguise at this point- as half of her face was gouged out, her right eye included, and the left side of her face had the beginnings of a surprised look.

"Oh god." Yang said from beside her, as Blake shook her head, clinging to the fact that this was only a simulation even as she shuddered in fear and sorrow over her 'dead' sister. Yang noticed it, turning to Blake with an empathetic grimace, "Blake…"

"Damn…" Cardin said with an audible gulp, turning and walking away a few steps and covering his mouth. "Good thing this is only a simulation, nobody should die like that… Not even a Faunus deserves something like that..."

"... Let's just go." Blake said softly, ignoring Cardin's semi-racist comment and turning to the large entrance and going down to the others. "We need to get out of here, so let's get going."

The three teams were silent as they opened the blast doors, which easily opened with a groan as they entered.

They stepped into the room, a large entryway, and as they looked around Ruby suppressed a shiver at it's cold atmosphere. Though the air itself was warm, the very building seemed to dislike their presence.

"Creepy…"

XXX-XXX

I grunted as I shot up off the bed in the small, dark room, grasping at my chest in pure reaction to the faint sense of pain that was going through my body. Looking around, I took in myself and the room.

I looked much like I had before, save for the fact that I was wearing something completely different. My hair was dyed a bone-white,for one, and my eye color was my true eye color, the scanner easily penetrating the contacts I wore. A porcelain mask rested on the desk, completely blank and featureless save for two eye holes. Unbuttoning my jacket, I exposed the plain white T-shirt underneath, revealing my gender instead of being a androgynous mystery, and my hands slipped into my jeans' pockets as I looked down at my boots, tugging my gloves a bit.

"Fits great… How'd they get my sizes down so well?" With that done, I took a look around the surprisingly well-cleaned room as I sat at the computer and relaxed into the seat, seeing a map layout form pop up on my screen almost immediately, showing the entire building the sim took place in along with everyone's locations using their symbols as their markers. "Alright then… shotgun trap here, percussion scythe here, maybe a pitfall there… This might actually be fun."

X-X

"So," Yang said quietly, looking at everyone around her and biting her lip somewhat nervously, "What do we do now?" No one answered right away, looking at each other nervously and curiously in equal amount, "C'mon, guys, someone has to have some kind of idea what to do."

"Well, obviously, we should start by trying to figure out what the test is and leaving." Weiss said haughtily, sighing when everyone just looked at her and gesturing at the door, "There is only one door, you twits!" True enough, the barren, grey room had nothing in it, and only one door leading further inside.

"She's right. Who volunteers to check out the hallway, or whatever, on the other side?" Ruby asked brightly, if nervously when Weiss turned to give her a look with a raised eyebrow.

"It was my idea, you dolt. I will not be losing the credit for it because you or anyone else showed my initiative." Ruby shrank under the harsh words slightly, sliding closer to her sister who glared at Weiss angrily and hugged her younger sister protectively. Seeing no one willing to argue, she walked towards the door herself, grumbling about dolts, and casually threw it open, turning with her back to it and opening her mouth to tell them to 'come on'. A loud, almost deafening, bang startled both Weiss and everyone else, the others jumping and staring at her in concern for several seconds before she spoke again, "What's everyone-"

"Weiss, don't move your head, and just try to relax, okay?" Ruby said meekly, walking towards her slowly and calmly, hands shaking slightly in spite of herself

"Why would I not be-" Weiss's voice caught in her throat as a spell of dizziness hit her and she blinked a few times, "I don't feel so well…" She tried to reach up with her hand to press her left hand against her head and steady herself, and blinked in surprise when nothing touched her head.

"Don't look, Weiss!" Yang tried to warn just as Ruby practically leapt the last couple feet towards her, the pale girl falling at the same time as she looked at the stump where her elbow used to meet her lower arm in surprise.

"Oh, gods, my arm's gone… My arm's… gone…" Her voice lowered and slowly grew quieter, her eyes involuntarily closing as the accelerated bleed-out function of the simulation saved her the agony of a fatal wound. Her remaining hand hit the cold ground with a feeble slap, the rest of the group staring in somber silence.

Yang was the first to speak, though her voice cracked a little as she found her words. "O-okay, just… everyone, just stay together. Everything's a group decision from now on, okay?"

Pyrrha nodded in concurrence. "We should keep each other in line from here on out. I'm not sure what's going on in here but…" She looked back at the gaping hole in the recently inconspicuous door and shuddered slightly, grimacing. "I don't think that's the last time we'll see a trap like that."

"So we just need to open doors from the side from now on, right?" Ruby pointed out. "Then any traps on the doors will be useless."

"Yes, that might help…" Pyrrha said thoughtfully.

"But door traps aren't all we're going to see," Ren said, subtly trying to shake Nora off his arm. "I don't know how we can plan for whatever else is in there."

"Just be cautious. Moving fast in booby-trapped areas is suicide, anyway." Blake sighed. "Stuff like this comes with the territory of dealing with terrorists. They're fear-mongers. It's in the title."

"Two down, and we're practically at the front door? This is brilliant..." Cardin mumbled, adjusting his grip on his mace nervously.

"Hey, maybe someone should wait out here… Y'know, if we get attacked from behind?" Russel offered, perspiration noticeable on his face.

Yang groaned, turning to glare at the man in a clearly unamused way. "Can it, loser. Everyone goes in and we're working as a team."

"I think all Russel was saying was that we can work as a team… separately?" Dove tried to cover, but shrank away from Yang's heat-powerful glare.

"Guys… Are we getting anything done right now? We've got a job to do." Jaune motioned at the ominous door before them.

"Jaune's right. We're not going to succeed if we're too afraid to step forward." Ruby said, moving slowly to the entrance and peering in. "And it's just a long hallway here. I don't see anything that looks trappish." The group looked at one another for objections. Finding none, the eleven participants filed into the dim hallway, Ruby at the head, followed closely by Pyrrha and Yang, the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR, and team CRDL meekly trailing behind. No one spoke; the dead silence that surrounded them befitting the catacomb-like complex that sprawled before them.