There was silence in General Ironwood's office. Classes had been dismissed for the day in memory of the team Jet had ruthlessly slaughtered. What made the situation worse was that Ruby had gone with him, which meant that even if she had survived the encounter, it was impossible to survive that deep in the forest.

Ironwood was not alone. Stood before him were the remaining members of teams RWBY and LIJN, along with Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch. Weiss, Blake, Nouvelle, Izzet and Goodwitch all wore similar expressions of stern appraisal. Yang's eyes were red and she looked livid, and Lilac's anger burned just as strongly, though she did not show it through her aura. Ozpin held a calm gaze, but his eyes showed deadly malcontent.

"…And that is where we stand." Ironwood finished. He had just explained the situation about Jet to the people in front of him.

"Let me see if I am correct in stating this, General." Ozpin asserted. "Not only did your application of extreme force to the situation not save the team sent to capture Jet, but it failed to capture him in their stead, and has continued to fail to find him, let alone make another attempt at capturing him. Is this the general gist?"

"…It is." Ironwood replied. Izzet turned to Nouvelle, and the two made eye contact, before they both turned again to face Ironwood.

"Izzet tells me ze following: Of course it would fail! You 'ave no idea who you're dealing with! I am one to agree with her – your military might eez great indeed, but nothing short of a small army of those machines will stop him." Nouvelle said, in her strong accent.

"Yeah." Lilac piped up, her voice shaking with repressed anger. "Even alone, when his eyes turn black, Jet's more than a match for a whole team of hunters and huntresses, as we witnessed first-hand."

"Perhaps." Ironwood said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Which is why I wish to make a proposal to you all. Working in close corroboration with my latest combat models, I propose that we conduct a thorough sweep of the Emerald Forest. As soon as contact is made with Jet, we will use overwhelming force to take him down."

"What about Ruby?" Weiss and Blake asked as virtually the same time.

"Until we know about her true position in the matter, if Jet hasn't killed her, we must treat her the same as him, regrettably." Ironwood replied. This statement pushed Yang's temper over the edge.

"You bastard! Ruby is NOT like Jet!" Yang moved to punch Ironwood, but Izzet held out a hand and froze Yang in time. Ozpin and Goodwitch silently thanked her for this interception.

"I believe I speak for all of us when I say we all consent to this plan?" Goodwitch asked the others, who all gave signs of ascent, except for Yang, who still could not move.

"In which case, I will convene with Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch. As for you six." Ironwood said, thinking.

"You will be lead by Weiss Schnee in the search for your leaders, and we will refer to you temporarily as team WINBLY. That is all. You are dismissed."

"Flux! Come out NOW!" Jet yelled.

He stood atop a snowy Sunset Hill, with snowflakes dancing in the wind of the dream world. Jet was furiously scanning the surroundings for his other half. He looked the same as he did in the real world, minus his wings and control machine.

"Here, Jet." came Flux's reply as she materialised in front of him. She was a humanoid type of Grimm, fur everywhere, claws sprouting from her fingers and Jet's wings were on her back. Her red eyes gave away her fear as Jet rounded on her.

"Before I tell you what you've done to Ruby and I, let alone the people that you killed, perhaps you can explain yourself?" Jet sternly asked the grimm, arms folded.

"I… I'm sorry, Jet." Flux whimpered, and tears appeared at the corners of her eyes. "It was the hunger. Normally, I can control myself, but if I'm not fed, I go berserk. I ran into the forest to find something to kill, but then that team arrived. One of them had cut themselves, and the smell of the blood… well… you know what happened."

"I thought Dark Ultimatum feeds you." Jet said, confused. Flux seemed to sigh.

"It does. But I need death, remember?" she replied.

"If we get out of this, then I'll arrange something." Jet said.

"Regardless, you must awake now." Flux muttered, before vanishing.

Ruby awoke to the sound of birds chirping. She was immersed in warmth, and she was cuddling into Jet, though she couldn't see by the fact that they were cocooned in his wings. It was immensely comfortable, given the circumstances, but Jet needed to wake up so they could find some more food. With her stomach growling, she gently shook Jet awake. His eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"What, is break time over now?" he asked sleepily. Ruby gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and with a sigh, Jet unfurled his wings. Looking around they saw that nothing had changed in the cave, which Ruby was pleasantly surprised about. Jet, however, motioned to a corner of the cave, in which a human figure was snoozing. Ruby approached the figure, with Jet readying Pain and Agony as he walked behind her. With a shock, she recognised the figure.

"Penny?"

It was indeed her, curled up in a ball, wearing her customary shirt but her skirt was replaced with black trousers with green highlights. Her eyes opened, and she smiled at Ruby.

"Salutations, friend Ruby!" she said, getting up. "But, wait, what are you doing here?"

Her eyes found Jet, and they immediately narrowed. "You're the one I'm looking for! Ruby stay back!" Her customary swords deployed from her backpack as she pushed Ruby to the side.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up!" Jet yelled, backing up as Penny advanced on him. "Penny, is it? If you're a friend of Ruby's, then you're not my enemy!" he said, retracting his claws.

"He's telling the truth, Penny!" Ruby said, running between them. Penny stopped advancing, but still kept her swords pointed at Jet.

"I've been ordered to capture you, Jet." Penny said.

"Would you really attack a guy who was loved by your best friend?" Jet asked, challengingly. "And who loves her?" he quickly added.

Penny blinked. "No." she said, eyes wide. "That's impossible. You're only capable of destruction!" she said, voice rising.

"It's true, Penny." Ruby said. "If you killed Jet, or captured him, I would never forgive you." she continued quietly, and her voice scared Penny.

"Ruby." Penny took a step back as she spoke. "Is Jet a good man?"

"Yes. He was manipulated into doing what he did."

Behind Ruby, Jet raised an eyebrow. Penny's swords retracted, and she walked calmly past Ruby towards Jet, and extended a hand.

"I hope you can accept my sincerest apologies, Jet. I thought you were an enemy. But if Ruby sees you as a friend, then you are no enemy of mine." Penny said solemnly. Jet gave Ruby a smile, and she replied in kind.

"Apology accepted, Penny. Now," he beckoned to Ruby, "we have much to discuss, it seems."

"Yes." Ruby and Penny both replied in unison, and Ruby added "Sir", which earned her a laugh from both Penny and Jet, who ruffled her hair playfully as the three sat down on the cave floor.