Chapter 5) Some Assembly Required

A/N: I'm back! Oh man, this was so much trickier to write than I thought it would be. Action scenes are not my strongest point, I guess. I hope it's at least easy enough to follow what's happening.

High, high above the crumbling ruins of the old stone tower, the giant Nevermore beat its enormous wings. Even at such a distance, the powerful gusts of wind generated by the Grimm as it flew around could be felt by the four as they sprinted across the cracked and broken bridge that led to the tall structure in the centre of the vast canyon.

Ren was the last of the group to reach the tower. Following the lead of the other three, they quickly ducked low and crouched beside one of the few pillars that were still mostly intact, making themselves as small as possible in order to conceal themselves in the shadows. It wouldn't keep them hidden from the Grimm for very long, but it was better than standing out in the open.

Briefly, Ren considered using their Semblance to hide them completely, but dismissed the idea after a moment's consideration. Were it just themselves and Nora it would be easy enough, but trying to mask four people at once would likely be more than they could manage right now.

Not for the first time, Ren cursed their pitiful Aura reserves for being such a detriment.

"Alright you three," whispered Jaune, getting everyone's attention and snapping Ren out of their thoughts. "We're only gonna have one shot at this, so we need to make sure we time it right. Get set up and wait for my signal, then bring it down."

"Jaune, are you sure about this?" asked Pyrrha, concern evident in both her voice and her face. "There are so many ways this could go horribly wrong. Maybe we should try something else?"

"There's no time!" Jaune hissed back. "This is our best chance!"

Ren said nothing. They didn't really think that this was a very good idea either, but Jaune was right, time was not on the team's side right now. Sooner or later, the Nevermore was going to resume its attack, and they would not be able to outrun it forever. If the four of them wanted to get away with their lives, then they had no choice but to stand their ground and fight.

This would not have been my first choice of action, but I suppose these are dire circumstances. Or maybe spending so much time with Nora has somewhat desensitised me to insane plans with marginal odds of success.

All told, as crazy and potentially suicidal as Jaune's plan was, Ren had to admit that it was impressive just how quickly he had managed to come up with it while they had all been running for their lives. If nothing else, the blonde boy was remarkably observant and resourceful, having taken into account not just what the four of them had on their persons, but also what was available in their surroundings as well.

None of that made Ren feel any less apprehensive, of course. This was still an insane plan with a worryingly high chance of getting them all killed. At the very least, Ren was fairly certain that the Professors were going to take issue with what they were about to do to the important-looking historical monument they were currently sheltering underneath.

SKRAAAAW!

Another powerful gust blew through the area, buffeting them with much more force than before. The Nevermore's patience had evidently run out, and it was beginning to prepare for its attack run.

Jaune rose to his feet, standing poised on the edge of the shadows, ready to step out onto the second bridge that led deeper into the canyon towards the cliff. Ren watched as Jaune muttered something under his breath, but they couldn't quite make out what the boy was saying. They saw that the boy's hands were shaking slightly, causing his shield to rattle against the arm brace that it was fixed to.

"Jaune," Ren began. "If you don't want to do this, we could-"

Before Ren could finish, Jaune sprinted out onto the second bridge, yelling loudly and slamming his sword against his shield to create as much noise as possible.

"Never mind," Ren muttered.

They didn't have much time. The Nevermore would be on Jaune in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, they would not have to worry about a second salvo of feathers anytime soon. That was a trick the Nevermore could only do once, lest it run the risk of de-feathering itself to the point it could no longer remain in the air. If it wanted to attack now, it would have to dive and make a full-on attack run against its prey.

They had maybe a half a minute at most before it did just that.

"Nora!" Ren called, holding up their hands. Nora was already unloading Magnhild and taking some of the grenades out of the chamber. Two were tossed to Ren while another pair were quickly handed off to Pyrrha, who wasted no time placing them in the appropriate places. Ren copied her, and Nora completed the set-up with two more that she placed herself.

In short order, six grenade rounds had been positioned around the base of the tower, each one placed up against the side of a pillar.

SKRAAAAW!

Ren looked out at the bridge. The Nevermore had begun its attack dive. Its wings drawn back and angled behind it, the giant black bird hurtled towards Jaune with its beak open, ready to snatch up its prey.

"NOW!" Jaune yelled.

Ren raised StormFlower.

Nora hefted Magnhild.

Pyrrha lifted her rifle.

All three took aim, and opened fire with everything they had.

Bullets and explosives slammed into the side of the Nevermore's head, throwing off its trajectory and causing it to veer to the side. At the same time, Jaune leapt out of the Grimm's path and began to sprint back towards the tower. Behind him, the body of the Nevermore crashed onto the bridge with a shriek of fury and pain. It had been dazed, but it was still very much alive.

"Go go go!" Jaune ordered as he sprinted past the three of them and made his way back towards the forest. Ren followed suit, and Nora and Pyrrha did likewise.

Just as the team made it halfway across the first bridge, Ren and Pyrrha both spun around and took aim at the grenade rounds that had been placed at the tower's base. With a single shot each from the pair of them, two of the grenade rounds were set off, triggering the rest shortly after in a chain reaction.

Six explosions blew out the entire base of the old tower. Pillars that had stood for centuries, possibly even longer than that, were reduced to rubble in an instant, and the entire tower began to topple in the direction of the downed Nevermore.

Ren watched as what had to be over a thousand tonnes of rock and marble fell upon the Grimm. It screeched and struggled as it was crushed under the weight, until the bridge it lay upon gave out beneath it, sending the entire ancient structure plummeting into the canyon it had been straddling up until then.

The death cries of the mighty Grimm echoed in the valley as it fell. Within seconds, its now very crushed and very dead body was buried underneath the rubble of the tower at the base of the cliffs.

…

Silence settled over the area for a moment. They had done it. They had taken out the Nevermore.

"THAT! WAS! AWESOME!" Nora cheered. Ren watched with amusement as their friend pulled Pyrrha into a tight hug and spun her around, despite the other girl being quite a bit taller than Nora was.

Ren, meanwhile, found themselves drawn to Jaune, who was doubled over and panting for breath.

Using himself as bait to lure the Grimm in, even though his own weapons wouldn't have had any use if it had gotten to him before we could hit it. Either he trusted us with his life remarkably quickly…

Or…

Ren shook their head. No use jumping to such morbid conclusions so rashly.

After all, maybe Jaune was just a reckless fool. He wouldn't be the first one of those Ren had known.

Got it!

With a final click, Ruby slotted the barrel of Crescent Rose back into place. The jammed bullet had at last been removed, and her weapon was now once again combat-ready.

A whistle from her left drew Ruby's attention to the tree beside hers, where Yang was clinging to the branches like she was. "All fixed?"

"Yep," Ruby replied. Pulling a new magazine from her pouch, she slammed it home and racked the bolt to load a round into the chamber before bringing the scope up to her eye to peer down at the forest floor below. The Death Stalker had not yet caught up with them, but Ruby knew it was only a matter of time. It had already been breaking free of the ice Weiss had trapped it in when they had all fled.

"So what now?" asked Blake from her perch beside Yang. "Maybe we should just make a break for it?"

"That would probably be our best course of action," chimed in Weiss, who was in the same tree as Ruby. "We only need to get our relics back to the clifftop. There's no need to fight if we can avoid it."

Yang let out a huff. "It's already injured, it's all by itself, and there are four of us. I'm pretty sure we could take it on."

"That's not what we were asked to do!" Weiss snapped back, irritation clear in her voice. "We should just make our way back to the clifftop right now!"

"W-w-we can't. N-not yet."

Ruby flinched a little as Weiss turned to glare in her direction. "Why not?"

Ruby took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then let it out slowly. She couldn't afford to stumble over her words right now. This was too important.

"It knows us n-now." Ruby spoke slowly, deliberately, trying as hard as she could not to let her stammer get in the way. "Once it gets f-free, it'll come after us r-right aw-away. It's a big Grimm, s-s-so it could attract m-more if it chases us. If w-w-w-… If w-w-w-"

Ruby broke off to take another steadying breath.

Come on, Ruby. This is too important for you to mess it up!

"If w-we w-want to avoid m-more Grimm f-following us, w-we need to kill it."

…

"Well, any ideas how we could do that?" asked Blake.

Ruby turned to face the black-haired girl. "Uh, m-m-maybe? I mean, I th-think I have a plan?"

"Well then let's hear it, little sis. We're all ears." Yang gave her a smile.

"I suppose any ideas are better than no ideas, so sure, let's hear it." Weiss did not smile, but she didn't look like she was angry anymore.

No one's calling me stupid either, so that's a good sign.

Taking another steadying breath, Ruby closed her eyes. If she tried to imagine that she was all by herself, this could be a little easier. It was a trick her mom had taught her way back when. It didn't always work, but it was helpful from time to time.

"Crescent Rose can break its armour. Ember Ce-Celica could probably do the s-s-same. If w-we can s-stop it from m-m-moving, m-me and Yang could hit it together."

Ruby heard Weiss huff beside her. "I already told you I don't have enough Dust to freeze it a second time, so unless someone else here has Ice Dust on their person, we already wasted our one chance."

Ruby took another slow breath, and silently hoped that Weiss would not assume she was sighing out of annoyance. Quite a few people tended to jump to that conclusion whenever Ruby tried one of her calming techniques.

"Th-there's another w-way. W-we could use th-the trees."

Yang chuckled. "I think I know where you're going with this."

"Where is she going with this, exactly?" Weiss asked.

Ruby opened her eyes. "W-well…"

Blake stood in position, Gambol Shroud held at the ready in its pistol configuration. In the distance, if she squinted hard enough, she could just about make out the shape of the Death Stalker approaching her. It was far away enough at the moment that the ground wasn't yet shaking with each of its steps, but it was most definitely approaching at speed.

Blake had been far less apprehensive of this plan than Schnee had been. Crazy gambits like this were nothing new to her, and she was very much used to acting as the bait in such scenarios. Her Semblance was particularly useful for assisting with that sort of thing.

Still, I'm placing a lot of trust in a bunch of people I've only known for a day.

Strangely enough though, Blake did trust them. The two sisters had both managed to impress her in the short time she had known them, each in their own way. Yang's raw physical strength was undeniable, while Ruby's strength was more… well, Blake was certainly intrigued by the girl to say the least. All told, Blake found herself genuinely looking forward to getting to know the siblings better.

Schnee was a different story, but Blake would simply have to unpack that issue later. She had more pressing matters to deal with right now. The ground had begun to rumble, and Blake could now plainly see the Death Stalker barrelling towards her.

Taking aim, Blake began to fire off round after round from Gambol Shroud. Each bullet struck the Grimm head on, and each bullet did nothing of consequence. The hard white armour of the monster was simply far too thick to even be dented by meagre pistol rounds. All she succeeded in doing was further enraging the Grimm.

Enraging it, and distracting it.

Out of the corner of her sight, Blake watched as Ruby swung her enormous scythe and sliced clean through the trunk of one of the taller trees in the vicinity. A moment later, the sound of gunfire rang through the air as Yang, from her position up in the tree's branches, used the recoil of her weapon to accelerate the tree's fall.

So focussed on Blake was the Death Stalker, it didn't realise what was happening until it was too late. With a mighty crash, the felled tree landed on top of the Grimm's back, pinning it down as it screeched and thrashed, its one remaining claw snapping towards Blake.

But Blake had already backed away, and the claw only managed to cut the illusion that had been left in her place. A snowflake-patterned circle manifested in the air, surrounding the now outstretched and closed claw, holding it in place. A second circle likewise trapped the Death Stalker's tail.

"Hurry!" snapped Schnee from her position up in another tree. "I can't hold this for long!"

Blake watched as Ruby and Yang dashed around to the front of the Death Stalker, Ruby arriving first as she left a trail of rose petals in her wake. She pressed the barrel of her weapon firmly against the Grimm's face and fired.

The recoil of her shot sent the small girl skidding backwards. Blake quickly sidestepped to avoid being knocked over by Ruby, and the Death Stalker once again let out a screech of pain and thrashed around, its claw and tail both straining against the ethereal restraints they were bound in.

Blake had heard about the supposedly hereditary Semblance of the Schnee family. The 'Glyphs', or whatever they were called, could supposedly do all kinds of things depending on what they were needed for. Platforms to stand on, barriers to defend against attack, restraints capable of trapping even the most powerful of-

The circle surrounding the Death Stalker's claw flickered and vanished just as Yang began to dash towards it for her attack. Free from its binding, the Grimm reached towards its attacker, who had no hope of getting out of the way.

Thinking fast, Blake threw Gambol Shroud as hard as she could. The ribbon of her weapon wound around the claw and she yanked as hard as she could, straining to keep the Grimm immobilised for just a moment longer.

With a loud yell, Yang delivered her blow, a powerful punch directly into the point on the Death Stalker's head that Ruby had already weakened with her shot. With a loud crack, the white armour plating gave way entirely.

There was no final screech or last-second desperate attack. The Death Stalker simply slumped to the floor, dead, and began to evaporate.

It was over.

Blake let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding.

That was too close.

"Yeah! Go team!" Yang pumped her fist in the air as she triumphantly yelled. "What'd I tell ya White, my sis' plans always work, most of the time!"

"My… name… is Weiss." The girl in question was doubled over, panting for breath and clutching her head with one hand.

"Oh crap, are you OK?" Yang quickly made her way to the other girl's side. "What happened?"

"Nothing," sighed Schnee. "I just… need a minute."

Despite herself, Blake felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

She still can't fully use her Semblance. She hit her limit, and now she's feeling the recoil.

"Do you need me to carry you?" Yang offered, placing a hand on Schnee's back.

For the briefest of moments, Blake saw Schnee's entire body tense up at the contact. Her head was lowered and one hand was still pressed against her temple, but Blake could also see something flash across the girl's face as well.

A moment later, Schnee straightened up and twisted away from Yang's touch, and the expression on her face was now one of annoyance. "I am perfectly capable of walking by myself, thank you very much. I am not an invalid."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help," huffed Yang. "No need to bite my head off."

Blake decided to step in before things escalated. "We should get moving before more Grimm find us."

"Of course," said Schnee. "We've wasted enough time already." Turning on her heel, she began to walk purposefully in the opposite direction of the ruins.

Yang and Ruby followed closely behind, while Blake hung further behind them all. She was thinking about what she had just seen. The expression on Schnee's face when Yang touched her, the look in her eyes that she had done a good job of masking when she had stood back up, but Blake had seen it nonetheless.

Fear.

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by… Cardin Winchester!"

Polite applause filled the auditorium as the four boys in question filed off the stage following Professor Ozpin's congratulations, grinning from ear to ear despite all looking quite a bit worse for wear.

Would it have been too much to ask for a quick shower break before this? I'm certain I still have a leaf in my hair somewhere.

Weiss refrained from searching for the offending foliage, if only to avoid drawing any more attention to it if it was there. Instead, she simply stood alongside the rest of her new teammates as they awaited their turn up on the stage.

They had been the last team to make it back to the cliff, arriving just behind the team Pyrrha Nikos was on. Weiss knew that didn't mean anything, but it still irked her that they hadn't been quicker in completing their mission. She hoped that this wouldn't reflect badly on her.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie."

Weiss watched as the team in question ascended the steps of the stage, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

Pyrrha and myself would have made such a good partnership, if only I had been able to find her faster.

"The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR, led by… Jaune Arc!"

Weiss joined in the applause as the new team filed off the stage like those before them, and then it was her turn. Walking up the steps with her new teammates in tow, Weiss took her position on the stage and awaited the announcement.

No matter what happens, accept it. Even if you aren't made the leader, it's not the end of the world. You aren't here to babysit other people anyway. You have your own goals to pursue.

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY."

Wait, what?

"Led by… Ruby Rose!"

Weiss felt as if someone had pulled the rug out from under her. Ruby? Ruby was the team leader!? Was this a joke!?

Applause filled the auditorium like it had done so for every other team, but Weiss could barely hear it.

"Congratulations to all of you." Professor Ozpin spoke with a smile. "This is shaping up to be an interesting year."

Ruby!? Why her? She's just a child! Out of all of us, she should be the last person to lead a team! What is Professor Ozpin thinking?

Someone waved their hand in front of Weiss' face, causing her to blink and turn her head.

"You coming, Weiss?" asked Yang, smirking at her.

"I… Yes, of course."

I'm too tired to deal with this right now. I just want a nice shower, then a nice long sleep. All of this can wait until tomorrow.

Following after her new teammates, Weiss made her way off the stage.

Nora exited the bathroom, hair still slightly damp from the shower, and skipped towards the bed that she had already claimed as her own. "Shower's all yours, Ren!"

"Thank-you, Nora." Her long-time friend needed no further invitation, quickly entering the now vacant bathroom before anyone else could duck in.

Nora flopped onto her bed, grinning from ear to ear as she stared up at the new ceiling above her.

We're actually here! We're actually at Beacon! This is our dorm room now, and this is my bed! We really made it!

"Nora, was it?"

Nora sat up and turned to see Pyrrha sat on the bed beside hers. The taller girl had her hair down and had removed the tiara-thing she had been wearing, but was still clad in her armour.

"What's up?" Nora asked.

"Well, we never got the chance to properly introduce ourselves earlier, so I thought we could talk a little before we go to sleep."

"Sure!" Nora crossed her legs and leaned forwards. "D'you wanna go first, or should I?"

Pyrrha blinked. "Oh, well-"

Before Pyrrha could really say anything, she was cut off by the sound of a certain blonde boy's foot colliding with the corner of his own bed, followed by a loud howl of pain as he hopped around on one leg.

"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune simply nodded his head as he collapsed onto his bed, massaging the toe he had injured.

"You can dodge a giant Nevermore's attack dive on a crumbling bridge, but you can't dodge a non-moving bed in your own room?" Nora giggled as she spoke, amused at the sudden clumsiness of her new team-mate and leader.

"I'm just a little tired is all," he huffed in reply. "And there's not much space in here to move around."

"It is a little cramped," agreed Pyrrha. "We may need to rearrange the furniture at some point."

Nora waved her hand dismissively. "We can do that tomorrow." She turned her attention back to Pyrrha. "So, I have to ask: is it true that you beat one of Haven's Professors in a duel? Me and Ren heard that story a lot when we were in Mistral."

"Well, he wasn't technically a Professor there anymore, and it wasn't exactly a… sanctioned duel." Pyrrha looked rather embarrassed as she spoke. "If you don't mind, that's one thing I'd rather not talk about."

Nora would be lying if she said she wasn't a little disappointed to be missing out on that story, but she decided not to press Pyrrha any further on it. After all, everyone has things they'd rather keep to themselves.

"Huh, I guess we're all from Mistral, then," mused Jaune. "Ain't that a funny coincidence?"

Nora just nodded and said nothing to contradict Jaune's assumption. After all, everyone has things they'd rather keep to themselves. Nora was no exception to that.

"Have you and Ren known each other long?" Pyrrha asked.

Nora's grin shifted into a much more genuine smile. "Almost all our lives. We met when we were little kids, and just kinda stuck with each other ever since."

"That's nice." Pyrrha was smiling as she spoke, but something in the tone of her voice sounded a little off.

Eh, probably nothing serious.

"What about you, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, shifting her attention to the room's other occupant. "Any siblings?"

"Seven," Jaune stated bluntly. "All sisters."

Nora couldn't help but let out a whistle at that. Jaune's parents certainly went above and beyond when it came to growing the family it seemed.

Nora almost made that comment out loud, but decided against it at the last moment. It was probably a little too early to be making jokes like that.

After a few more minutes of chatter, Ren exited the bathroom, and Pyrrha got up to have her own shower.

"Nora, I'm going to bed. Don't wake me up for anything less that the school burning down."

"D'you want my headphones again?"

"Yes."

In short order, Ren had buried themselves underneath the blanket of their bed with Nora's headphones over their ears, and in mere moments they were completely out cold.

Ren didn't usually fall asleep that fast. The day must have taken a lot out of them.

Well, I'm nowhere near tired! I could stay up all night! In fact, I think I will! I might even go for a run around the campus later, get a real look at-

Nora's train of thought was broken by a yawn that suddenly left her whole body devoid of any energy. Perhaps Ren wasn't the only one who had had a rough day.

"Good night, Ren," Nora mumbled, laying her head down on her own pillow as her eyelids began to feel heavy. "Good night, Jaune."

"See you in the morning, Nora," she heard Jaune reply.

Just before she drifted off entirely, she mumbled out one final sentence:

"Night… Pyrrha."

Yang had never really been one for turning in early. She was a night owl, through and through, someone who loved to stay up late doing whatever took her fancy on a given night. But after the day they had all had, even someone as energetic as Yang Xiao Long was feeling drained enough to desperately crave a full night's sleep.

But before that could happen, they needed to get the beds set up properly.

"That really doesn't look safe," said Blake, staring with no small amount of worry at the pair of monstrous bunk-bed-hammock hybrids that they had cobbled together.

"You worry too much," dismissed Yang with a casual wave of her hand. "They'll be fine."

"Are w-we gonna get in trouble f-for n-nailing the ropes to the c-ceiling?" Ruby didn't look much more confident than Blake. Yang watched as her sister gave one of the beds an experimental push, causing the whole structure to creak loudly as it swung in the air.

"OK, so maybe it's not the best system in the world, but it'll do for a few nights until we can figure out something more permanent." Yang would not be dissuaded. As far as she was concerned, this was a job well done.

"You can have the bottom bunk, then," quipped Blake. "Since you're so confident in your carpentry."

"Fine by me," Yang replied. She turned to face the other two occupants of the room. "What about you two? Who's having what?"

Weiss looked like she was about five seconds away from strangling someone, while Ruby was continuing to eye the beds with worry. Hearing Yang speak, she turned to face Weiss and held out one closed fist.

"Uh, r-rock paper s-scissors?"

Weiss turned her glare on Ruby, who quickly withdrew her hand.

"N-never m-mind, I'll have the bottom bunk."

"Thank you," said Weiss simply. "Now can we please go to sleep? I am very tired."

A loud yawn prevented Yang from saying anything to Weiss, so she simply trudged towards the bathroom, grabbing her pyjamas as she went so she could quickly shower and change.

Ten minutes later, she was clad in her shorts and top and settling into her bed, ready to sleep the entire night away. The mattress was nice and comfy, and the room was just the right level of cool without feeling chilly. The bed above her may have been a potential hazard to her health, but Yang didn't care. If it fell on her in the night, then that was just bad luck. She was fairly confident that she could survive a bed falling on her anyway. She had taken bigger hits than that.

Closing her eyes and letting out a sigh of contentment, Yang felt herself begin to drift off.

"May I borrow your hair dryer once I'm done with the shower?"

Yang cracked one eye open and saw Weiss standing at the foot of her bed.

"Don't have one," Yang muttered.

Weiss raised an eyebrow at that. "I find that hard to believe, considering your hair is already clearly dry."

Yang just shrugged. "It dries quickly on its own. I think it's some sort of side effect of my Semblance of something, at least that's what Ruby thinks."

"I have one you can use," offered Blake. "It's in my case."

Weiss accepted Blake's offer, grabbing the aforementioned hair dryer and taking it into the bathroom with her. She closed the door a bit more forcefully than was probably necessary.

Someone's cranky.

Yang rolled her eyes at the shorter girl's theatrics and once again settled back into her bed, closing her eyes and beginning to drift off once more.

"Uh, Yang?"

Cracking her eyes open yet again, Yang's mounting annoyance at not being allowed to sleep faded as she saw Ruby beside her.

"What's up, sis?"

"Do you h-have a pen I c-could use?"

Yang smiled. "Wanna write in that journal of yours a bit before you turn in?"

Ruby nodded. "I can't f-find m-my own. I think I l-left it in the h-hall."

Yang may have been dead tired, but she could always find the energy to help out her sister. Rolling out of bed, she went over to her bag and dug around in one of the side pouches until she found the pencil case that dad had no doubt packed for her before they left.

"Here you go." She tossed the case to Ruby, who caught it without issue. "Knock yourself out. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna knock myself out and sleep."

For the third time, Yang settled herself back into her bed and closed her eyes, beginning to drift off once more.

Until the bathroom door loudly opened and banged against the wall, jolting Yang out of her doze.

"The shower is free if anyone wants it," Weiss called as she strode across the room, Blake ducking into the bathroom as she did do. Stopping as she arrived at the pair of beds that now belonged to her and Ruby, Weiss cast her gaze up at her own bed-hammock.

"How am I supposed to get up there?"

Yang could feel her annoyance beginning to grow again. "Just grab the ropes and pull yourself up, genius."

Weiss was silent for a moment, staring up at the bunk that she had claimed as hers.

Yang felt a smirk tug at her lips as she realised the other girl's predicament.

"You can't reach, can you?"

Weiss whirled around to glare at Yang, who almost started laughing at the expression on her face.

"You made it too high up!" she snapped indignantly.

Yang fought to supress her mirth, and prepared to offer to lift Weiss into bed. The mental image of the girl's potential reaction almost broke Yang's poker face-

"Do y-you w-want m-me to help you up?"

Yang's supressed chuckles faded as she turned to look at her sister, who had gotten out of bed and was holding out her arms as she made her own offer.

Yang watched with trepidation as Weiss rounded on Ruby. She was fine with the pampered rich girl getting mad at her, but if she lost her temper with Ruby again…

"I would appreciate that, thank you."

A few moment later, Weiss was up in her own bed-hammock, having been boosted up with Ruby's help, and Ruby herself had gone back to writing in her journal.

Guess I was worried over nothing.

Not that she was about to stop worrying anytime soon. So long as Ruby was still her sister, Yang would always worry about her, even after she became a world-famous Huntress.

But for now at least, there was nothing to really worry about. So, after making a mental promise to pour salt into the cereal of the next person who interrupted her attempts to get some sleep, Yang closed her eyes once more and once again began to drift off.

This time, she was able to drift all the way to sleep.

"I never wanted this!" Ozymandias raged. "I never asked for you to be in my life, in my mind!"

"I did not ask for this either," the Voice said calmly, slowly, echoing in the distraught man's mind as it always did when it spoke. "But this is the way things must be. Now, I will ask again: cede control of our vessel to me, and I will take care of this for us."

Ozymandias seethed at the Voice's audacity. How dare it demand such a thing of him! Surrender his own body, his own free will? How could this parasite upon his very soul think he would ever allow such a thing? No, Ozymandias would not give up his autonomy so easily.

"Our vessel? There is no 'our' vessel. There is only my body, and you have no right to any of it!"

Ozymandias' mind was silent for a moment, save for the tempest of his own emotions within. Then, the Voice spoke once more.

"If you will not cede control willingly, then you leave me no choice."

PAIN! Agonising pain, unlike anything he had ever felt before, crackled through Ozymandias' entire body. Darkness ate at the corners of his vision, and the sound of the world began to fade. He was falling, down down down into a void within his own soul.

No. He wasn't falling. He was being pulled down.

And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Ozymandias screamed, but made no sound. He cursed the Voice, but his protests went unheard, ignored. The Voice did not care.

He was fading, his own thoughts drifting away from him as the darkness dragged him down further. Even his own name faded from him.

…

They did not care. This was the way things had to be. Any obstacle in their path needed to be dealt with, and that included the one they now inhabited.

The Voice, now in full control, stood up and walked out of the hall.

They had a job to do

…

Blake marked the page with her bookmark and placed the book underneath her pillow. She decided to save the last few chapters for another time, lest she stay up too late and pay the price in the morning.

Rolling over and making herself comfortable, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. It had been a long and tiring day. A good night's rest would do her the world of good.

Especially since she actually had a proper bed to sleep in for the first time in a while. It may have been a tad precarious, but it was a lot more comfortable than the tent floors she was used to.

Being far away from him certainly helped as well.

Creak…

Blake shot up, eyes scanning the room, searching for both the assailant and any possible escape routes she could take. Her weapon was up against the wall on the other side of the room, so she would need to be careful in she wanted to avoid-

"S-s-sorry!" Ruby squeaked. "I-I didn't m-m-mean to w-wake you up."

Blake blinked. The younger girl was frozen on the spot, staring up at her with wide eyes as she waved her hands and stammered out an apology.

For the second time in one day, Blake let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding, and allowed the tension to leave her body and she relaxed. She wasn't at the camp, she was at Beacon. No imaginary assailants were trying to break in.

"Don't worry about it," Blake whispered in what she hoped was a reassuring way. "I hadn't really fallen asleep yet anyway."

"W-w-well, I'm s-s-sorry f-for dis-s-sturbing you anyw-way." Ruby was stammering a lot more than Blake felt she was before, and she could see that the girl was hugging herself and shaking a bit where she stood.

"Hey, are you OK?" Blake asked, concerned by what she was seeing. "You don't look very good."

"I'm f-f-fine," Ruby replied, not sounding convincing in the slightest. "I just n-n-need to use the bathroom."

Blake debated what to do. It was clear that something had upset the younger girl, but Blake didn't really know what she could do to help. The last thing she wanted to do was make things worse by prying if this was something personal.

Her sister would probably know what to do.

But Yang was fast asleep, her soft snores indicating that she was out cold, and Blake got the feeling that neither girl would appreciate it if Blake were to wake Yang up over this.

"Well, goodnight then. See you in the morning."

Blake laid back down as Ruby made her way into the bathroom, resolving to mention this to Yang in the morning instead.

Ruby gripped the edge of the sink and willed herself not to throw up as the image from her dream continued to loop inside her head. The stinger of the Death Stalker ramming into her body, her flesh burning, her body melting as the venom ate her from the inside out…

Calm down. Breathe slowly. In… out… In… out… Think about something else…

Her sister's words from times in the past when Ruby had felt sick came to her, and she followed the old advice, slowing her breathing and counting backwards from a hundred silently.

By the time she reached zero, her stomach had stopped lurching, and her body was no longer shaking. Relaxing her grip on the sink, she stood back upright and took one more deep breath, held it for a second, then let it out.

"I'm fine," she whispered to herself.

The near-miss had shaken her, there was no denying that. Had Blake not arrived when she did, Ruby would be dead, that much was certain.

"You're just a kid!"

"I bet she gets killed by a Grimm within a month."

Ruby hugged her arms around her waist again and squeezed her eyes shut, but she did not dwell on those thoughts. She pushed them aside, focussing instead on something else.

I need to be better. I need to be better than this. If I'm gonna be training here, I need to be better.

I can't be this pathetic.

Hello to everyone who read all five chapters in one go. And to those of you who waited for this one to come out, hello again, and my apologies for the delay. A lot has been going on, but now that I have all of that sorted out, I have more free time for writing.

This chapter was way more challenging than I thought it was going to be, especially the first part. I wanted the action scenes to feel different enough from what they were like in canon, but I think I need to accept that I need a lot more practice writing action.

As for the rest of it, well, everything after Nora's POV section came to me in one go, and I wrote it all in one night, then went back and tidied it up a bit the following day when I was a bit more awake. I'm quite happy with the result if I do say so myself, but do let me know what you think in the comments if you are so inclined. I'll try to respond a bit more in the future as well.

Next 'chapter' will by my designated World of Remnant chapter for Volume 1. The actual Chapter 6 will come after that, and it will be an entirely Weiss-centric chapter as we dive into her head a bit more. She has a lot going on, as do all the cast, so I hope you'll be looking forward to that.

Until next time,

Not Scot.

P.S: If you think Ruby needs a hug now, just you wait. [Maniacal laughter]