Hey guys I couple of answers before we start!

Radeish: Beacon Academy is an institution designed to train the future generation of protectors of human kind. This place comes from the series RWBY, created by Monty Oum. The series is quiet good if I say so myself. Though I haven't fully watched it. Sorry if I didn't conveyed this information correctly. And about the bunny trip, I found it very relaxing actually.

Chapter 12: The Calm before

Part 2: Hunters in training

Darkness; that fearful yet calming place where one goes once the light extinguishes before our eyes. Some embrace it, others hate it. For Ren Lien, it was more of the latter.

As he opened his eyes, he found himself deep inside the White Fang facility they had entered a while ago. His memories were vague, but if there was one thing he remembered, was his battle with Alina. After destroying the generator he recalled pulling himself up somehow, sealing his wound with what little aura he had left and just walking away. He only remembered fragments of it but one think he knew for sure was that he was hidden inside a floor grate.

He needed some time to breathe. Every time he did, he could feel the slash across his chest and torso burned his skin. It was a grim reminder that he had little time to rest.

His battle had weakened Alina, the red-head assassin of the Black Cats, but the teen was sure she would come back soon enough.

Ren needed to find to put some distance between her and his friends. He needed especially get her away from Nora. The teen was going to move but a series of explosions, not far from his current position, stopped him momentarily.

He would recognize those sounds anywhere; those were from Nora's weapons, Magnhild.

Ren immediately got out of his hiding place. He had to make sure that Noras was ok. Thought alarmed, he tried his best to stay quiet, he couldn't be sure that Alina wasn't watching. He arrived at the place where he thought the explosion came from and started looking around. At the distance he saw Nora's orange hair. She was alright; his Nora was alright. The magenta-eyes' worries were far from over however.

In the pipelines, just above where Nora was, Ren saw a little flicker of light; like a reflection from a metal surface. The moment was quick, but he recognized what the source of the reflection was; it was a knife. His mind went to the worst case scenario and only a person appeared on his mind; Alina.

Ren didn't think, he just ran towards Nora. His body was screaming him to stop but he didn't care. He got to Nora and pushed her out of the way. He felt a sharp pain around one of his legs but he had no time for that. Both teens rolled on the floor. The boy kept Noras as close to him as he possibly could the whole time.

After a moment or two they stopped.

The magenta-eyed panted. Air was difficult to grasp but at the moment he was conscious. He let go of Nora to look at his leg. There was a knife in his calf. It didn't matter. He immediately looked back at the girl. His face turned pale once he laideyes upon her.

Nora had a knife buried on her chest.

Ren tried to look for any sing on life but it was too late. There was not pulse. His hand shook uncontrollably as it tried to touch Nora's face. Her skin was ice-cold.

He screamed her name but there was no response.

The teen just hugged her love's body as the shadows around him started to grow bigger and bigger until they consumed him.

Ren suddenly woke up, sweating and disoriented.

His eyes were darting everywhere. Even though he wasn't in that dark place anymore things weren't any better.

For some reason his body wasn't responding to his commands. This only served to agitate his already altered state. His eyes only saw a white ceiling. This slowly helped him understand that he was no longer in that dreadful place. The boy erratic breathing started to subside as he analyzed his surroundings. Little by little the teen started to calm down. As much as he tried, he could only move his neck which was starting to get frustrating. He put his head back against his pillow to try and relax

-It was only a dream- He thought. Now calmed, he turned his head around and found a clock. It seemed to be little over midnight. Now that he took a look at his surrounding he seemed to be in the medical facility of Beacon Academy.

He felt a bit more at ease.

Out of the blue, he felt a faint movement on his lower torso. Ren was a bit bent upwards, so it wasn't too difficult for him to look down.

What he found was a sleeping Nora. Her head was resting on his chest while her arms and legs were wrapped around the rest of his body.

An overwhelming happiness took hold of the boy. -It was only a stupid dream- The boy thought as his mouth contortedinto a smile.

The teen tried to use his left hand to try wake Nora up but the limb wasn't responding. At that moment he noticed that it was also being used as a pillow for Nora's comfort. He turned his head to look at his other hand but it seemed to have an apparatus connected on his fingers that at the same time, connected to a screen near his bed.

-No luck there either-

He had to face the facts, he was immobilized. He considered his options and opted to go for a different approach.

"Nora" He said.

"…"

"Hey Nora, wake up".

"…."

Ren sighed. "Is that pancakes what I smell?"

The girl's eyes opened slightly. Her head look up a little and her eyes made contact with Ren's for a second. Then the girl just crawled back to her original position.

"Joz a faw mre mintes" She said. Her head went back to his chest.

As if practiced a thousand times before, Nora suddenly sat up on top of Ren. Her eyes fixed on the boy.

"R-Ren…REN!" Nora threw herself to the young man and hugged him. The hammer wielder wasn't someone who cared about other's opinion and this was no different. She only cared about Ren right now.

The magenta-eyed boy just stood in silent smiling.

"The doctor…. The doctors told us that you had lost too much blood…" Nora said between sobs. "And that… they… they didn't ... They didn't know when you would-"

"Nora" They boy tried to use his left arm to comfort her but it still wasn't responding. He hadn't noticed until now but he was dying to feel Nora's hair between his fingers. "Don't worry, I'm alright now" He smiled.

"YOU ARE NOT FINE!" Nora's eyes were red and full of tears. "YOU HAVE STICHES AND BANDAGES ALL OVER YOUR BODY! YOU NEEDED 2 BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS! YOU…. You…. you almost left me alone".

Ren's arm finally moved and it immediately wrapped around Nora, pushing her to his chest. The girl was surprised at first but then welcomed the gesture.

"I promised I would never do that". He said. They just stay there for a few moments. Just making sure that neither of them was dreaming.

Nora separated a bit from the boy's embrace. She wiped some tears and looked him in the eye. "You pull a crazy stun like that again and I'll break your legs for sure this time!" She muffled "And you owe my 50 pancakes as compensations too!"

Ren couldn't help but laugh at her demands. "I can handle that". It actually calmed him to see Nora like this.

With their situation more at ease, the young man's eyes wandered off to take a better look at the girl in front of him. Something he did notice at first was that Nora was on the sleeping clothing she usually wore; a black shirt with the word boop and her pink shorts with little lightings all over them. Ren was used to seem her like this; given the fact that they shared a room.

This time however, his disciplined and collected mind started to wonder about other topics that others may consider… inappropriate. They kiss they shared came to his mind. In a flash, his mind was started to create scenarios. Scenarios that, if he we were honest, weren't very PG-13.

Thankfully or maybe unthankfully his mind stopped working as a sharp pain shoot through his torso. He groaned and held his chest with the hand that was previously holding Nora. He could feel an acute pain that went from his chest all the way to his abdomen. It was probably the wound that Alina inflicted upon him.

"Ren! What happened? Are you alright? Should I call a doctor? I'm gonna call a doctor" Nora said as she intended to go the entrance's door. The young man grabbed her by the wrist before she could leave the bed.

"I'm…." he panted a bit "I'm alright…just…. Stay with me, ok?"

Nora wasn't sure what to do. Her eyes just darted from Ren's to his chest and to the exit door.

At the end she agreed to stay.

The girl slowly turned her head to her wrist and saw Ren's hand around it. Suddenly Nora felt a bit self-conscious of her current attire and position. Unconsciously, her other hand adjusted her shirt. In other situations it would have been fine. I mean, she was on top of Ren all the time. They have always been together since they were children! They were best friends!

... Weren't they?

An image popped into her head, the kiss they shared just hours ago. Nora blushed. A deep crimson appeared on her cheeks.

Ren seemed to realize this as well as he quickly retracted his hand from hers.

Looking for anything else to talk about, the magenta-eyed boy asked the first think that came to her mind.

"How did I end up here?"

Nora just tilted her head in confusion. Then her mind made the connection

"Oh! a-about that. It's kind of a long story".

"I have time".

"O-OK".

Nora proceeded to explain Ren everything that happened after they excited the cavern. She told him of the Atlas airship that came looking for them and how the masked hero took an arrow for Blake. The young man just listened, trying to take in every detail. Nora informed him that everyone was treated but they had gone to their room after that.

-At the very least everyone is alright- He thought. At the end he was caught up with everything that happened; at least everything that Nora knew. Another question then popped on the boy's mind.

"Hey… Nora".

"Yes?".

"So hmmm…. How did you managed to stay here with me? I mean, everybody left and it is way past visiting hours".

Nora's face brightened up again. Her head turned slightly away from Ren. "Oh… I… I convinced….. the doctors to let me stay".

Ren just look at her for a moment "…You threated to break their legs, didn't you?".

"….. Maybe?".

"Nora!".

"What?".

"We talked about threating people!".

"But I was worried sick about you!" Nora pouted her lips and stared at Ren. "It is your fault for getting hurt!". She said turning her face away.

Ren stood in silence for about a minute and then he sighed. The teen knew there was no point on arguing with the hammer wielder. "Ok ok. Look I'm sorry if I made you worry but don't do that again ok?"

"… Ok. You own me more pancakes now". She looked at him in the eye.

Ren nodded and laughed inwards. He wouldn't admit it to her face but Nora looked adorable doing that pouty face. Her thoughts transitioned again to that cell underground. Their kiss. Simply remembering it made the boy red as a tomato.

"Nora… about that kiss… back in the cell…" Ren immediately shut up. What was he doing? Was he seriously bringing that up? Maybe the drugs hadn't worn off and he was just saying stupid things. Was he really gonna tell her best friend that he loves her? That nothing made sense if she wasn't part of it? The boy felt like an idiot. An idiot that was just staring those beautiful turquois eyes.

"Yes…. Ren?" was Nora's response. She couldn't concentrate either. Flashes from that kiss bombarded her mind. The girl moved forward a bit. She arranged her hair behind her ear. This just made her look extremely sexy to Ren. That wasn't helping think straight.

"I…I just wanted to say…" Ren leaned a bit too. Nora's breath hit him. His free hand started to go up the orange-haired's back. Her skin was a bit cold and his finger were hot He wasn't sure what he was doing but hell, he wasn't stopping now. Would he dare kiss her again? Yes, yes he would. He would go through every Grimm in the emerald forest just to get a kiss from her.

Ren leaned a bit more and kissed Nora. His hand traveled from her back to her head so he could hold her. While their first kiss back in the cell was full of insecurities and fear, this was not. This one was filled with passion and happiness. The happiness from discovering that you fears of rejections were no more and the kind of passion only possible with that special one. That was this kind of happiness. The teen separated for a moment just enough to breathe.

Maybe he was caught in the moment, maybe it was the rush but Ren was starting to feel a little bold. He moved his free hand to Nora's back, pushing her towards him and making the distance between their bodies almost non-existent. The orange-haired girl didn't stay behind either. She immediately kissed him and her hands started to go down the boy's chest. Though it was covered with bandages, Nora was still able to feel his well-tuned muscles. His skin was still sensible for the stiches and a bit of pain appeared as she touched him but Ren didn't mind. Actually, scratch that, he was starting to like the sensation.

Their little game would have lasted more had a nurse not entered suddenly to the room to check the boy's irregulars signals that they were getting. To say that everybody was caught off guard was an understatement.

2 floors below, was Blake's room. Contrary to Ren, the cat faunus wasn't awake because she had a nightmare, she just couldn't sleep. The blankets on her bed were just covering up to her waist as the night wasn't that cold.

She was just looking at her scroll. The light from the device illuminated her face in the darkness of her room.

On the screen, the image of a man was been displayed.

He was middle age, with orange hair covering one of his eyes. He also had a little hat and a cigar on his mouth. Blake's eyes transmitted no good will towards him. His smug look annoyed her the most.

Under the picture was a caption reading "Roman Torchwitch, Wanted Criminal".

The name brought eerie memories. Blake and her friends had had close encounters with him before. The fact that he was associated with the White Fang just made Blake's heart ache. How much damaged the ideal of equality and understanding that she once fought for had taken? The organization she was once proud to be part of, was now influenced by hatred and pain.

She spent the rest on the night just looking at her scroll.

Glynda was sitting on the middle of the fairly empty underground research facility. The few workers and scientists kept the place from feeling deserted. The professor had passed part of her morning giving her self-defense classes and now was in one of the central computers waiting for some incoming reports from the Emerald Forrest. Her mind would wandered offevery so often, thinkingon the events of their previous night.

Following their capture and subsequent escape from the White Fang Facility, the professor and the teens were brought back to Beacon, alongside and the hero known as Spider-man, to be taken care of in the medical building. Everyone got separated into different groups, so the doctors could check those with the most urgent injuries. Glynda stood behind with the group that wasn't in immediate need of assistance; namely herself, Weiss, Nora, Jaune, Ruby, and Pyrrha. The teens were of course worried for the statetheir friends were in, so they didn't mind to be checked last.

Glynda was informed over her scroll that Peter and Ren were currently on a surgery yet she just informed her students of the latter. Regarding the former, she just told them that the hero was being attended in another floor. The teen insisted to stay the night at the building but their petition was denied. Only Nora was able to stay just because the doctors couldn't keep her away from Ren's room. The professor, however, did assure the students of their companions' well-being, which made the group a bit more at ease.

Ren and Blake would have to stay under observation but Yang, given how she didn't need any king of surgery, would go back to her room once her arm was treated. Ruby and the rest insisted they would wait for her.

Glynda accepted.

Like that, the group waited and waited and after a couple of hours, the blonde brawler walked into the waiting area with several bandagesaround her arm. The professor walked the students outside the medical center not before informing them that they could return by noon of the next day to see if they companions could return.

An alarm on her scroll brought Glynda back to the present. She had just received the documents from the Emerald Forrest

-Let's give this a look- Glynda said. She spent the next 30 minutes looking at different photos and other files.

The reports spoke of everything going on. From the condition around the mountain area from where she, the students and the hero entered into the facility, to the efforts of the different field agents to enter into the underground compound. She sighed.

Next to her, was the general Iron Wood who was waiting for other reports

"You are not gonna like this James" The professor spoke.

"Try me" said the general closing a file on his hand.

"Look at this" Glynda displayed a couple of photos that were sent to her.

On them, pieces of Atlas weapons covered in dirt could be seen.

"These were sent by the digging team at the Emerald Forrest, near the cavern were the White Fang facility was" The blonde looked away "I'm sorry James but I told you, your weapons were there". Though her voice had the I-told-you-so attitude, it also carried a trail of regret.

The general just stared at the photos; analyzing them, looking for any detail that may indicate forgery but there wasn't any. He closed his eyes and took a long breath.

"I know you told me. I guess I just…. didn't want it to be true." He rested his head on one of his hands. "I…. I'll send someone to identify them. Maybe we can find a distributor or maybe a manufacturer".

Glynda stood closer to him "Look James, I know it's not easy but we have to work together so we can figure this out. You don't have to do this all by yourself".

The general looked at her and smiled "Well, we are both working together right?".

"You know that's not what I meant"

James' smiled immediately turned into a frown. "I don't trust him Glynda, I already told you".

"Why not?"

"Because he takes justice into his own hands, without answering to anybody! The White Fang are a perfect example of what I mean. They just act thinking they can do as they please"

"You can hardly compare the action of a terrorist group to the actions of one man"

"He is a vigilante!"

"He got in the way to save Blake's life! Isn't that enough for you?"

The two adults were just staring at each other. Neither of them willing to give up their position.

"Like it or not" a calmed and familiar male voice spoke from behind them "This is the hand we've been given general. We can only do our best with what we have".

Both Glynda and James turned around. They would recognize the owner of that voice immediately. He was carrying his cane and his characteristic mug cup.

"Ozpin" said the general first "Always the one for speaking in metaphors"

"It is part of my charm" responded the headmaster of Beacon in her usual calmed demeanor followed by a zip of his coffee. "Good to see you, professor Goodwitch".

The aforementioned nodded.

"So any new advances?" Ozpin asked

"We recently confirmed the present of foreign weaponry in the Emerald Forrest" Glynda responded. She quickly glanced at James. "Regarding that other thing" The blonde went back to her computer and pressed some keys. The hologram, in the middle of the room, changed and showed a familiar sight for the trio; the room where Spider-man first appeared. On it, a mass of flowing, red energy could be seen.

"We picked up this energy signal this morning. We are still are unable to identify it though."

Ozpin just looked at James rather confused.

"My subordinates informed me that they are unable to get hold of any sample" spoke the general "So we are still in the dark".

"We should bring Spider-man in to see if he has anything to say about this" commented Glynda

"You do have a lot of faith in that vigilante, don't you?" said the headmaster of Atlas.

"Please James, don't start again"

"Seriously!?" James turned to Ozpin so he could have Glynda and the headmaster in view "Don't you find it suspicious how since his arrival the population of Grimm had grown exponentially, not to mention closed in proximity to the academy?"

"As difficult as it may be to believe general" started Ozpin "Our guest has given us no reason to cast any suspicion on him" He took a zip of his mug "Thought I agree that his arrival may be somehow connected".

"I still don't buy his innocence. I don't even know his name after all" The general throw an accusing look at Glynda. The professor on the other hand didn't seem to be affected by it.

"Against my better judgment, I allowed your people to surveil him. I believe that's enough".

"Ozpin don't be naive. Knowledge is power on times of war"

"We are not at war, general. Not yet"

"I still believe he should have a look at it". Glynda said.

"I'm afraid that's impossible" Ozpin said. "I received a message earlier from him saying that he was going to Vale"

"And you just let him leave?!" James almost yelled.

"I thought it as a test, to prove his words outside Beacon"

The general started to walk away

"James we are you-"

"I'm going for fresh air!" He said without turning back. "And just so you know Ozpin, I'm sending my units to keep an eye on him while he is outside"

The white-haired man just took a zip from his mug.

With that, James Ironwood took the elevator and exited the room. As he rode the elevator to the surface, he went for his earpiece and informed his units of their next assignment. He got them a physical description of the hero and ordered them to keep an eye on him the whole time.

"I want to know everything about him. Understood!?" those were the general's last words before leaving.

Back in the research facility, Glynda massaged his temple."Why are all men so f&%$ stubborn?"

Ozpin approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Coffee?"

"No thanks" Glynda responded. She then threw a curious look at his mug "How many have you had?"

Ozpin just looked at her for a moment. "Four….ish"

Glynda sighed. In all the years she had known Ozpin he had come to a conclusion; his caffeine addition had more chances of killing him that any other beast on the Emerald Forrest.

She began to massage her temple again.

After all of this was done, it may be a good idea to take those vacations she had led slide the last few years.

"Are you ok?" Ozpin asked

"Yes, yes I'm fine" Glynda let her shoulder sunken a bit "Just business as usual".

"I imaging" said Ozpin "I have something that may cheer you up. The doctors informed me that Mr. Lien and Ms. Belladonna were picked by their teammates a few minutes before my arrival.

Thought a bit worse-for-wear, Glynda's face certainly birthed up. "That's good to hear"

"Would you like to check on them?"

"It would be nice but I still have to check some more information about the excavation on the Emerald Forrest, I have to plan my next classes and not to mention-"

"Glynda just go, me and the rest of the scientist here can take care of the work here".

"Headmaster I can't just"

"Glynda, I insist"

"….Thanks". With a genuine smile, the blonde stood up and began walking out.

Visiting hours came quickly to the healthy members of teams RWBY and JNPR. Thought they would usually go out on Saturday to distract themselves from all their homework and assignments, in their minds there was only one action to be taken, go to the medical facility.

They greeted each other with a rather down mood but entered into the building nevertheless.

Asking around, the group easily found the two rooms were their friends were. The teens decided that each team would look for their respective members, so they'd save some time, so they went their separate ways.

Blake was just looking through a window on his room. Her night wasn't the most restful but she had managed to get some sleep nonetheless. Her sensitive ears picked up the present of people outside his door. She turned just in time to see Ruby jumping right into the bed, followed by an always cheerful Yang and a trying-to-keep-her-cool Weiss.

The girls immediately cried after being reunited again.

On another floor, Ren got a bit more surprised as he was found by Jaune and Pyrrha while Nora was giving him some kind of hospital food. The blonde and red head only smiled as they saw their companions healthy again.

There was a bit of silence at first until Pyrrha started to laugh.

Both Jaune and Ruby were informed of their companions' condition by the doctors and were advised for them not to assist to classes for a few days. They agreed and took everyone back to their respective room. They used wheelchairs to transport them back as the medical staff was quite insistent on using it.

The trip back to their room was rather short. As they walked Jaune and Pyrrha noticed that Nora was being a bit too clingy with Ren but the pair decided not to ask any question at the moment though they had a pretty good idea what was going on.

Both teams entered into their respective rooms and agreed to meet for dinner.

On teams JNPR's room, the orange-haired, the redhead and the blonde did everything they could to move Ren around the room so he could lay on his bed comfortably. The young man politely insisted that he was able to move on his own but a rather serious Nora was quick to dismiss him. Debating on what to do next, the group settled for leaving Ren to rest on the room as the doctor explicitly ordered him to be in there as much as he could. He didn't want to be a burden to his teammates so the young man suggested them to go out and enjoy the day. Again, Nora jumped (quite literally) into volunteering to stay to keep an eye on their friend. Jaune and Pyrrha eyed each other knowing that there probably more to Nora's good nature that she was letting on so they decided to leave to practice a few combat moves that they weren't able to finish prior to the mission.

"If anything happens, please go to RWBY's and let us know" were Jaune and Pyrrha's last word before going out.

For team RWBY the situation was a bit different. Ever since Blake was taken from the hospital, there was something in her mind that was troubling her about her friends. Don't get me wrong she was happy to see them all well and good but inwards there was a heaviness to her heart she wasn't sure how to express.

Their room helped her relax though. The rather grim and serious attitude of everyone at the beginning of the day was a bit more at peace now that the quartet of girls was in the room.

The group went directly to the beds. Blake, with a bit of help, sat on the lower end on the bunk beds next to Ruby; while Weiss and Yang set on the one across from them.

"So, we are finally here" Ruby was the first to speak. She released a bit of breath she was holding. "How do you feel Blake?"

"I'm alright Ruby….." The faunus said. Her legs hurt her a little but she didn't want to worry her teammates. Looking for something to divert the conversation Blake looked around the classroom. "….Did you clean?"

"Yeah" Yang answered "We left the room a bit disorganized before we went on the mission yesterday, so we thought it would be a good surprise for you to find it neat and tidy for a change"

Blake smiled at first; the gesture was appreciated. Then the memories from the mission flashed on her head. The faunus lost her smile. This did not go unnoticed by the others.

"Blake….. was wrong?" Weiss asked "Do you want to go back to-"

"NO no no, it's nothing. I just…." Blake put her head on her hands and sighed.

A minutes passed, then another. No one was making a sound. The red reaper, the brawler and the ice-queen; all of them were thinking the same.

-Let's wait for Blake to talk-

Another moment passed and the aforementioned finally lifted her head a bit.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I'm sorry I put you all in danger"

"Blake, don't say that you didn't do anything to-" Ruby was quickly cut off by Blake.

"It's not true Ruby!… first the warehouse… then yesterday at that facility….. we could… we could have just turned back and then Yang and Ren wouldn't…"

"Blake stop" Yang stood up from the bed and walked slowly to Blake. Once she was in front of her, she crouched down and put a hand on her teammate's shoulder. "What done is done." The blonde lifted her right arm. "Are you worried about this? Come on girl, I thought you thought better of my, this is nothing"

"…." Blake looked at the arm for a moment but then averted her eyes.

"Though I don't totally agree with Yang about her arm, I think she is correct. What happened happened" Weiss said holding both of her legs close to her chest. "Nevertheless, I believe that letting you get interrogated was stupid and reckless"

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled

"What? It's the truth. Have we known that they were going to torture her, we would have never, I repeat NEVER, approved of that plan".

"That's why I didn't tell you" Blake replied

"So what? You are going to lie to us when it's convenient?!"

"It's not like that Weiss!" Blake jumped out of the bed, making Yang almost stumble.

There was a moment of silence in the room.

"I just….. I just didn't want to believe they had sunken so low".

"Who? the White Fang? Blake We've been to this before" Spoke Weiss again.

"Not them…. the Black Cats"

Ruby stood up and imitating her sister's gesture, the little red reaper put a hand on Blake's shoulder. The faunus reacted to this and looked at her leader's silver eyes.

"Blake….. Who are the Black Cats? For real this time. There is nobody around, just us…. your team….your friends."

The pale girl looked at her leader and the faunus could feel how a heavy weight been lifted from her shoulders as she decided to tell the girls the truth. The young woman sat back on the bed and tried to put her ideas in order. The other waited patiently.

Finally, Blake was ready.

"As I told you" Blake started "The Black Cats were a mercenaryteam that sometimes was employed by the White Fang. They would gather information and keep guard for any hostiles forces towards faunus. They never meant to achieve peace but didn't provoke violence either. Back home, they were well recognized and even admired so….. when I decided to join the White Fang to try and find peace…I joined the Black Cats to train".

"And your parents were cool with that?" Yang asked

"Let's leave that for later Yang" Weiss spoke. Yang nodded. "Continue Blake"

"Thanks" Blake nodded to Yang and proceeded "I trained with the Black Cats for the better part of a year; that's how I knew about Felicia, Yuri, Valencia and Alina"

"So…. You trusted them?" Weiss asked

"Yeah…. But now, it's hard to tell. I guess I thought I knew them better" Blake sighed "When I heard they were reporting to that scumbag Roman Torchwitch..."

"…. Do you want them lock up Blake?" The voice of Ruby came. Everyone turned their eyes from the little reaper to the faunus.

"I…."

KNOCK KNOCK

"….. Di you invite anyone?" Weiss asked

Everyone shook their heads in denial.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Girls, are you there?" A familiar voice came from the other side of the door "It's me, professor Goodwitch"

"Ju-Just one moment. I'm coming" Yang stepped forward to the door. Once the blonde opened the door, lo and behold Glynda Goodwitch was standing right outside their door.

"Good afternoon Ms. Xiao Long. How are you? How is your arm?" the professor started

"It's hurts from time to time but don't worry, give me a few days and I'll be kicking ass with it once again" Yang's usual and over-confident smile adorned her face as she finished that sentence.

Glynda raised an eyebrow with a dismissive look. She took a look at her arm, even after healing it still had a few scars on it. Hopefully in a few days they would disappear.

"So…. What brings you here?" asked Yang

"Well" Glynda adjusted her glasses "I got notified that Ms. Belladonna and Mr. Lien had left the medical building, so I wanted to see how they were doing"

"Oh, then thanks for your consideration, please, come in". Glynda nodded and walked inside

Inside the room, everyone dusted off their clothes once they heard the professor was coming in

"Hello young ladies" Glynda said upon laying eyes on the rest of the team "Weiss, Ruby, how are you feeling?"

"We are ok professor" responded Ruby.

"We are doing fine" answered Weiss

"That's good to hear. How about you Blake?"

"I… doing fine" the faunus said.

"Good. I hope for your safety Ms. Belladonna that you are not doing anything harsh. And I expect that your team makes sure of that"

Yang adopted a military position "Like a hawk Ma´am"

Glynda smiled and turned to look at all the girl on the room for moment. Then she sighed.

"Girls…. I know yesterday's mission was… rough and for what is worth all Beacon is proud of your behavior in that difficult situation. So please, as your teacher and if you want it, as a friend; please be careful"

All the girls nodded.

"Well, it seems that everything is alright so, I'll be taking my leave" Glynda looked at Blake "Ms. Belladonna don't worry. Just leave the rest to us." Before she exited, she turned back to all the girls "By the way, is team JNPR in their room?"

"Yes, at least I think so" answered Blake.

"Thanks" Glynda said before closing the door behind her.

A few seconds passed before Yang spoke again. "Well, I guess that settles it, right?"

"What settles it?" Weiss asked

"The Black Cats. With all due respect Blake, they are lock up and soon they'll be outside of the continent. I don't think you or we should worry about them anymore"

Ruby stepped forward "Yang, I don't think it'll be that-"

"She is right Ruby. I have to learn to let go of my past as difficult….. as difficult as it may be"

Weiss walked to the faunus. "Blake" The ice-queen looked into Blake's eyes "Remember you don't have to do that alone".

Blake smiled. She turned to her right and looked at Ruby's cheerful smile. One the other side, she saw Yang giving her a thump up. They all hugged.

As they separate, Yang stretched a little bit. "Well, I don't know about you, but this bombshell needs to sleep, who is with me?"

Weiss yawned "Oh my… sorry. I guess I'm tired as well. I'm on board for a little nap"

One by one the members of RWBY started to go to their designated beds. It was close to 2 or 3 pm yet, none of the girl felt hungry for some reason. Maybe they would get a bite later.

A few moments later, all the girls were asleep

Well almost

"MS. VALKERY WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MR LIEN?!, HE JUST GOT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL!" was the voice of a certain professor the quartet heard from their side of the room

The hour grew late as the rest of Beacon spent their day as they saw fit. With everyone back to their room and some kind of normality, Jaune Arc had one thing less to worry about; well, except for the shield coming right to his face.

The leader of team JNPR and his training partner (or more like master) Pyrrha Nikos had started sparring ever since they left their room. She was wearing her red and golden corset-like armor and he was using her metallic chest-plate. They would usually train on a rooftop but Jaune insisted on practicing near the perimeter of the academy, in a clearing near some trees.

They would have a break to have some lunch and rest but then it would be right back to training. The young man had certainly improved ever since the redhead agreed to train him on what seemed like a lifetime for the blonde.

Regardless of his gratitude, he had been out of his right mind since they started. The memory of yesterday's mission was really messing with him and Pyrrha, who arguably knew Jaune's fighting styles better that anyone, noticed this after a while. His movements were sluggishand his sword play was becoming more aggressive; thus just giving the redhead more and more opportunities to catch him off guard when his attacks failed.

Now near sunset, they were in their last round of the day. Pyrrha had just parried Jaune's vertical attack and as a result, she was able to disarm him. Now, the blonde's sword was lying on the grass.

Based on their previous lessons, the right thing to do would be for Jaune to retreat, pick up his weapon and rework his strategy; but no, the blonde just dropped his shield and went for an attack with his bare hands. Pyrrha; a bit surprised be this at first; dodged the attack and hit him in the head with her shield.

This officially ended their training.

The redhead sheathed her sword and put her shield back in her back

"Ok Jaune, what's going on?" Pyrrha asked.

The blonde, who was on the floor holding the side of his face, took a second or two to respond. "Besides me biting the dust again? Not much really" He groaned a little "I hope my aura can fix that quickly"

"Jaune, I'm serious. You just disposed of your only mean of defense AND tried to attack me with your fists. Weren't you paying attention in our last lessons?"

"Of course I was it's just…. I wanted to try something different, alright?"

"Jaune, you are a good strategist, you should know better than to try to take me on a hand-to-hand combat" Pyrrha giggled.

This however, didn't seemed to sit well with the blonde "So what? I can't possibly defeat you, even if I try? Is that what you are saying?"

"What? No! It's just that you've always been outstanding at-"

"At What? Getting my ass kicked? Hiding behind my friends? Letting everyone do the work while I just step back!?" Jaune got up clenching his fists.

Pyrrha took a step back. This wasn't the Jaune she knew.

The blonde eyes' opened wide realizing what he was doing. He looked down at his hands for a moment and then let them loose. Jaune sat next to a tree that was near him. "I'm sorry Pyrrha ….. please forgive me I just…."

Pyrrha shook her initial impression and walked slowly to him and sat down, legs crossed.

The grass was a bit cool to the touch.

"…..You want to talk about it?"

"…."

The redhead just looked at him, she knew better than to pressure her leader, so she waited. Then, Jaune turned around to see her.

"I….." Jaune started with a little more than a whisper "I was just the strategy guy again Pyrrha"

"…. You mean in yesterday?"

"Yes….. I just stayed back while Nora, you and even professor Goodwitch did all the work with those guards"

"Jaune…. You know that's not true, you battled alongside all of us in the emerald forest, didn't you? "

"I know Pyrrha but that was different, we were doing a formation that we have practiced thousands of time. Beside, you had to rescue my at one point"

"Jaune, everyone has their place in their battlefield, I know it, Nora knows it, Ren knows it; you are leader, you are supposed to command. That's always been your role"

"I got it yet why do I feel like this? I feel like I can't contribute as much as you, as much as Ruby or Yang or like Ren and Nora"

"Jaune, when Yang needed help with her arm, you didn't hesitate one second when treating her. I didn't want to show it but as soon as I saw Yang's arm bleeding; I freaked out"

"You really did?"

"Of course, but you didn't. I saw it in your eyes, that determination to help others and to support your friends. That's why I lo-" Pyrrha stopped herself from talking further.

"That's why you what? I couldn't hear you"

"Th-That doesn't matter!". The young gal cleared her throat "The point is: you can't compare yourself with others. There are things we can improve yes, but don't let the skills of others detract you from excelling at what you do best."

Jaune seemed to be internalizing her teammate's words for a moment. Suddenly he laughed

"I have a lot of things to improve, don't I?"

"Well, you still have to fortify more your legs, so…"

"Well, that's because you keep Jaune hitting me there. If you keep doing it, you gonna have to take care of like Nora does to Ren".

Pyrrha smiled "I wouldn't mind that at all". A little blush appeared in the redhead's cheeks.

Jaune simply smiled back, not really getting the meaning behind those words. "Thanks Pyrrha….. I couldn't ask for a better sparring mate"

"Always Jaune"

Maybe it was the lack of adrenaline, the cool of the night or just his brain not functioning for 30 seconds, but in that moment Jaune just tilted his head, and rested it, alongside part of his body, on Pyrrha's shoulder.

To say that Pyrrha could have screamed of excitement was an understatement. Their constant sparring had always been towards one goal, helping Jaune became a better fighter but unbeknown to the blonde, Pyrrha also took advantage of these occasions to spend some alone time with him. Perhaps this was just a small moment that didn't mean anything to him but for the redhead, the moment would be unforgettable.

"Jaune..? Are… Are you ok?" The redhead found herself unable to stare at Jaune for much time, his sleepy face was too cute for her.

"I'm fine… I'm just tired" The blonde say without really noticing how close he really was to her teammate. For some reason, though tough and maybe a bit sweaty, Pyrrha's armor was conformable for Jaune.

"…You smell nice"

Ok, this did it. Pyrrha could have screamed from excitement if it wasn't so embarrassing. Nora would be so proud of her if she could see them like this. How knew that the hyper-active Nora would be the first to notice Pyrrha's feelings for Jaune, which meant that Ren found it out soon enough and even team RWBY would as well. Every one of her friends knew this. Well, almost all of them except from Jaune.

How could someone be so ridiculously cute and dense at the same time? She didn't know and she didn't care.

There peaceful rest was short lived, at least for Pyrrha, as Jaune suddenly stood up, apparently recovered from his tiredness.

"Well, that was just what I needed" the blonde stretched a bit "I think we should go, I bet Nora and Ren are worried about us"

"Yeah…." Pyrrha said. -Hopefully we don't interrupt anything when we get there-

The teens were grabbing there things when something caught Pyrrha's attention. Inside the forest she saw something; a little spark. Whatever it was, it was quick, like a shadow through the trees.

"Hmmmmm"

"So….. is it really a good idea to call her in?" Pyrrha asked

Following a rather short discussion about whether or not following the spark Pyrrha saw, curiosity won over the redhead and she and the blonde decided to investigate. They searched the area around were the little light was and the pair found several foot printings and other marks around the trees. The marks seemed to go deeper inside the forest, but there wasn't anything in there as far as they knew

Before the pair went deeper, Jaune took his scroll and texted a message to Ruby informing her of what was going on.

Jaune: We may need some help here in the forest, can you come?

Ruby: Sure thing. Should I bring the others?

Jaune: Nah, it's probably nothing.

Ruby: Cool then. I'll be there in 10 minutes

Jaune: Great. I'm sending you our coordinates.

Ten minutes passed and the blonde and the redhead stood together in a spot were the tracks just stop before entering into an open area of the forest.

"Are you sure you saw something?" Jaune asked Pyrrha trying to keep a low voice.

"Yes, I am" Pyrrha said looking at the open area

"All I see is an empty field. Are you sure it wasn't a firefly or something?"

The redhead tried to focus her eyesight into something, anything that could be strange but her eyes couldn't see anything.

She sighed "I don't know Jaune. I just don't feel right about this"

"Well, Ruby ought to be here at any second, Maybe she can give some in-"

"What's up Jauny-boy?" The voice of Yang ringed behind the heir to the Arc family. The young man would have screamed, had Pyrrha not put her hand in his mouth just in time.

"Phew, that was close" commented Pyrrha. She turned around and saw not only Yang standing behind them, but Ruby and Weiss as well.

"Jaune, I thought you only texted Ruby" The redhead removed her hand from his friend's mouth

Jaune breathed a bit before responding "I did, what happened Ruby?"

"Well…" Ruby just started to play with her fingers

"Long story short" Yang started "Ruby tried to sneaking out from us but my sister-sense alerted me of her intentions"

Everyone just looked at Yang with a look of uncertainty.

"Ruby bumped into a table we have and that woke us up. She told us what was happening and we decided to come"

Pyrrha nodded.

"But what about Blake?" Jaune asked

"She wanted to come but we convinced her to stay" Ruby said

"Yeah, it's probably the best" Pyrrha commented

"So… what are we looking at? Ruby continued

"We are not sure; we've been staring at this are for a couple of minutes but nothing is-"

At that moment a blast of electrical energy shut out from somewhere on the forest, hitting something in the middle of the field. The electricity traveled erratically around some kind of invisible structure. After a minute of sparks going in and out a mysterious structure revealed itself.

Similar to the one that picked them up in the Emerald Forrest a day ago, an enormous aircraft; a good 50 foot radius; appeared in the middle of the field. On two turbines that it had on its side, smoke began to come out, probably from a malfunction. A door, appeared from its front side; opening forcefully and colliding with the ground.

From it, two guards in body armor came out. They held their guns and started to check on the perimeter.

Two shadows jumped out of the tree and descended on the two guards throwing them to the floor. They guards didn't move after that.

All the teens hiding several feet from the action were greeted to a familiar sight. White Fang soldiers were coming out of the tree and entering into the airship. A group of 5. One by one they entered.

The teens observed until the last one entered. They look at each other after

"We are coming in, right?" Weiss asked

"You bet ice-queen" Yang answered.

The teens advanced one by one, making sure to go after everyone had entered. They checked on the guards on the floor and discovered that they weren't human. They were actually robots. Memories from the underground came immediately to everybody's mind.

Ruby turned to Weiss, who just looked at her leader and nodded. This was enough confirmation, this were Atlas' androids.

Shaking their thoughts the group pushed forward, trying to stay as quiet as possible with Pyrrha and Weiss in the front line, Jaune in the middle and Yang and Ruby at the rear. As they walked along the enormous ship they found more and more mechanic soldiers. Some had pieces blasted from them and some others appeared to have been cut in half. The interior walls of the ship looked advanced, yet none of the lights were working. They were just able to navigate through the aircraft because of dim blue lights along the walls.

-If the auxiliary power is the only thing working, then that ray did more damage than I thought-Weiss reasoned. The heir to the Scheen family then turned to the others. "Let's be careful guys. Whatever they did to this thing, it completely took it down"

Everybody nodded.

They continuedmoving along the ship until they arrived to the upper level.

According to Weiss, the command center should be around the corner, so the teens were extra careful to not be heard.

Around the corner, a hall extended until it met a busted door, opened from side to side. Inside there were five figures. Two were on what you would call the wheelof the giant aircraft. One was on the computer and 2 more were to the side.

"How long until take off?" One of the figures asked.

"In a moment Sr." One of the soldiers in the computer said. The voice seemed to be female

"Make it quick" The figure responded. He was wearing a similar to that of the White Fang but he also had a white jacket on him, which gave an air on authority. "Let's see who we have behind door number one" He said as he walked to a corner of the room. On it, there were four cylindrical jail cells. The figure approached the one closest to him. Inside, he saw a female figure with long silver hair and clothing torn a bit.

"Well well well, if it isn't the leader of the Black Cats herself, the evasive Felicia. You don't look so good if I say so myself. Rough night?"

The silver-haired just smirk at the man "Not at all. And here I thought they would send someone more capable for our execution"

"Oh, believe me love, We're quite capable. We are just deciding what would be the most fitting end for a being such as you". The figure snapped his fingers and the other two soldiers came to his side. They took out their hand guns and aimed them at the other cells.

"Come on man, if you are going to do it just do it!" The voice of Alina could be heard for one of the cells

"Is it possible to die of boredom?" Yuri asked

"I don't know bluehead" Valencia responded "Wake me up when this is over ok?"

"Ok then" The officer took out a rifle from his jacket and aimed it at his target. He had had enough. He aimed directly at Felicia

"Sr. We are ready to take off" One of the soldiers at the computer said.

The man kept his position for a moment and then lifted his weapon for a moment. "I guess that's a fitting end for you and you associates" He aimed the gun again at Felcia "But not for you".

BANG

The rifle was pushed from the commander's grasp as Ruby shota bullet from Crescent Rose.

"Ok I don't know what the hell is going on, but I need to see some ID" Shouted Yang.

The officer grabbed his hand in pain for a moment. He turned to his to his subordinates on the main computer. "Do it"

Suddenly Ruby, Jaune, Yang and Weiss felt as the whole aircraft started to propel upwards. They had to catch up to not fall to the ground. As they tried to stand up and exposition came from the main room, filling it and the entire hall was filled with smoke.

The teens tried and tried but couldn't see anything. Once the smoke cleared out, the room was empty and just some drops of blood going back the way came gave them an indication of what had happened.

"Damn it. They are fleeing" Weiss shouted. The white-haired stood up, ready to give them chase.

"I think we have a bigger problem than that!" Felicia said as her jail cell depowered and she exited from it. Her gaze was on the control panel.

It was destroyed.

The group would reason later that the explosion had to do with that. However, they were concerned with another thing.

Without controls, they had no way of steering the airing the aircraft. As the machine went up the students and company felt how the floor started totilt downwards and to their left.

From the outside, the massive Atlas aircraft was going down toward Beacon tower.