Crescent Rose flies into the air before clattering on the ground. Ruby groans in frustration as she walks back and picks up the scythe, before taking out her scroll and replaying the video. She's sweating heavily from the training she has done

"So you want to do the Whirlwind," Qrow said with "cheesy" music playing in the background. "Whirlwinds are a mainstay of any scythe user worth their salt, but- important-." Ruby impatiently skips forward to the part that she needs the most. After another transition slide, Qrow appears and flashes the "trademark Signal grin". His unnatural cheesy smile sent a chill down Ruby's spine. "You need to maintain a good grip on your scythe, and then move your arms constantly clockwise. Once you've done that, you want to loosen your grip and move around so your scythe moves around you like water."

"But if I do that, my scythe will fly off my hands!" She screams in frustration before sitting down and sighing. She shifts Crescent Rose to Katana form and thrusts it into the ground, resting her head on her hands in a praying pose. She's wearing new clothing designed for the gym, tailored purely for her, she's covered in sweat and takes a bottle to cool down from all her training. To build on her skills and release pent-up anger.

Though she doubts that the faculty would like another AK-130 training bot destroyed, she grimaces seeing sparks from the wrecked automata, her mind imagining more paperwork.

"You ain't gonna learn it from watching my uncle's cheesy teaching videos." Yang's voice echoed in the empty arena.

Ruby saw Yang in gym attire alongside Sun, who whistled at her. "Gods, I want to know what you've been eating for you to be built like that?"

"I've been eating what they serve…in the dining hall~."

Sun looked at Ruby, and then Yang, and back to Ruby, and back to Yang. He smirks and opens his mouth, but Yang punches him in the arm before he can say anything.

"Ow!"
"Ignore him, he has more muscle than brain in that head of his."
"You don't even know what I was about to say!"
"I could guess."

Ruby laughed at the two but was curious about Yang's statement. Yang hands her a water bottle and she accepts as the duo sits beside her

"What doth thou mean by that, regarding Qrow's…videos~?"

"I'm saying that Qrow's videos are as effective as Weiss trying to be a nice person."

"Oooh~...So I've wasted my time then~."

"Not really!" Sun chirped in. "Any training is good, say, what moves can you do with that scythe of yours?"

"Well…besides my arts…I know the executioner, the three-slash strike, and the jumping circular saw~." She cringed upon saying the names. Yang laughs.

"Yeah, I made the same face when I heard those names." She laughs.

"I just don't know how he does it~. He makes it look…so easy~."

"Well, Aura does that to a person. How else do you think some people here at Beacon can use their weapons?"

"Oh…so it's impossible for me~?"

"Not impossible, though your lack of aura will make it harder."

"Wait, you don't have an aura?!"

"Yes~."

"WHY?!"

"Because…I don't have an aura~?"

"She's my special little girl ain't she? Gotten so far without no aura giving her a crutch!" She stood on the bench and gave Ruby a noogie on her head.

"Ah~! Yaaang!"

She groans in embarrassment as she tries to get Yang off her, making Yang laugh. The blonde latched onto her neck and resisted Ruby's attempts to pry her off. She eventually lets go and Ruby crosses her arms and pouts at her.

"So, Silver, when you get hurt, it hurts a lot a lot…right?"

"Yes…though I have managed~."

"How?"

"Through intense study…determination, training-~"

"And a broken regeneration power." Yang chirped in.

"What?"

"I can…regenerate my wounds~. It's how I am still…alive~. Thou want a demonstration~?"

"As much as I want to see…yeah sure! Let's have a little, easy duel!"

"A duel~?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I heard about it last time, and I promise you. I won't do anything those guys did to you in front of the school.

Yang could've sworn she saw Silver's eyes go pitch black for a second when Sun mentioned the failed duel between CRDL. However, Silver's face didn't betray any emotion to the pair as she just… stared at Sun for an uncomfortably long time before she took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Take your position~." Silver takes out her scythe. "Yang, would thou do the honors~?"

The two take positions across the field. Sun has a mischievous smile and twirls his strange-looking bo staff.

"3!"

He's mocking her, more indignity suffered by the hands of people like him.

"2!"

She sees…someone, and time halts for her perspective.

A faint clock ticking can be heard in the back of her head.

Someone unfamiliar yet familiar to her appears beside Sun, and a white cloak seems to cover him. Their hand carcasses Sun's face, as if analyzing him before they drew their index finger slowly across his neck. As if they are savoring the idea that they are putting forth, an idea that Ruby realized deep down she would enjoy partaking in.

The figure seems to like that response. Their hood shifted with the nonexistent wind, revealing a portion of their head. A surge of pain flares in her head as she sees a thin, long, black smile form on their face.

"1!"

Ruby collapses from the strain and lets out a moan of pain. Sun and Yang quickly rushed to her and helped her get back up.

"Are you ok?!" Yang worriedly said while pulling Ruby up.

"Y-yes… I am… fine…~"

"You sure?" Sun said with worry. "You just dropped-."

"I said… I am fine~. I just… don't want to fight someone~." She takes a deep breath and sighs. "Not yet anyway."

"Well…what now?"

"How~..." A deep part of Ruby is still longing for combat, for her to sink her teeth into anything and listen to its painful howls. She almost feels like a Grimm… Grimm…

"How about…we hunt Grimm~?"

"Grimm"

"Yes… Grimm~. I haven't engaged with the Grimm beyond… Port's classes~. Besides," She points at Sun. "It would be wise for thee to know the surroundings… before thy partake in any combat~." She then pointed at Yang. "Thou shall finally learn… how to ride and tear the skull off of a Beowolf~. We can depart to the Emerald Forest when we are ready~."

The two reacted positively to her suggestion, Yang especially took heart to her suggestion of Beowolf riding. It isn't a rare technique, just dangerous due to the pack nature of Beowolves. As they walked to their dorms to prepare, something within Ruby relented, and she felt something lift off her shoulders.

She was satisfied… for now.


Weiss was prepared.

In front of her was a notebook, the computer in the room, and her scroll containing Xavier's translated pages of the barbarian's diary. Written in her notebook were the words: "Lusus: Silver's mother. Too many titles. Strange skin and eye markings. Human or Faunus?"

She takes a deep breath before taking out a pencil. This library area was secluded, so no one should know that Weiss was even here.

"Ok, now where to start." She looks at her scroll. It would've been easier if she had the diary with her right now, but she'll have to contend with the Rosetta translations Xavier provided her. She sees a note left by Xavier.

To Weiss Schnee: Enjoy your blackmail, I hope you too will enjoy the insanity of what lies within the Grimm Angel's mind.

She scoffs, this isn't blackmail, she is just gathering information against an unknown foe. Every Huntsman worth their salt knows to do this against their enemies. She looks at the Table of Contents: Diary Logs (BS, AS), People, Sketches, Important Notes, and Organizations.

People…? She's been keeping track of the people here? Oh, now that has got her curiosity. She tapped on the link and saw an entire collection of tabs and people. Teams RWBY(WBRY), JNPR, CFVY, Lusus, the Ravens…oh. New names, new identities.

Right, Lusus. She wanted to read about her, especially given her unique… appearance. She wonders if there's somehow a Faunus monarch. A genuine monarch, not whatever is going on in Menagerie. But, there's that tab about her team, and she wonders what she truly feels about Blake, Yang, and her.

She tabs to Team WBRY and sees the names of her teammates. Let's start with the author of the book.

Ruby Lusus

Ruby Lusus…that confirms it. Silver Rose isn't her real name, it's Ruby Lusus like Xavier said. Opening the page, she was greeted with an image of Ruby Lusus herself…

She shares the same characteristics as her mother. Jet-black sclera, with black veins streaking on her face. She has the same hair color too, she didn't even bother changing her hair color or style, though the self-portrait shows her wearing a different circlet than the one she wears from time to time. Like her mother, the inhuman appearance doesn't contrast with her appearance, though instead of red, her eye color is blank. Which Weiss quickly deduces to be representative of her silver eyes. But there's one thing that Weiss notices from Ruby's portrait.

She's smiling.

It looks so… uncanny, especially with someone reserved as Ruby. She hardly saw her face smiling unless it was after a verbal jab at her, but this? They might as well be two different people. She decides to read her description.

"It's me! Ruby Lusus, the one and only Dusk Princess of Yggdrasil!"

"How do I describe myself? I've spent a good day pondering this, and asking Mother didn't help. 'Oh just talk about thyself, I'm sure thy inspiration will come soon.' Well, it didn't and I've been pulling my hair ever since the False Moon dimmed. Dusk Princess, Dusk Princess. Royalty. I am Royalty yes, but how do I use that to describe myself? "Oh hello peasant who has not heard of me. I'm Ruby Lusus, your future leader once my mother steps down." A normal person doesn't sound like that. Even my will leaves me whenever I try, and I often go play with my toy automata and scythes in my room. Oh, speaking of scythes I've actually-."

Childish. That was her conclusion of this. The remaining parts of the paragraph were dedicated to a childish tangent about scythes, and how they're "marvelous to look and use". It does mention her history with weapons though. Near the end of the page are two addendums.

"Addendum one: Note to future me: Get some clearing ink and fix this incoherent rambling of a description. After that, get Mother to write thy own section since thy struggles to formulate the words necessary for a proper biography. It's been three cycles already, stop delaying! ;( "

Yeah, that confirms her suspicions. Considering how it's still there, she's surprised to see that lumbering oaf has a lazy bone in her. Cycles though, she guesses that's her outdated way of saying years.

"Addendum two: I can pass off as a Lightborn now. Though the official term they call each other on the surface is 'human'. I thank Professor Ozpin for doing some part to stop people from looking too deeply at my origins.

"What…!"

Pass off as Human?! She would've burst out laughing at the audacity of such a statement if it weren't for the fact that she was a Schnee… and that was how one of her cousins was murdered by the White Fang.

Paranoia was starting to creep in. She has to know more. She took a moment to calm down and took a few deep breaths to clear her mind. She decides to follow the order of her team and takes a look at her page.

Weiss Schnee

(The Snowflake)

Ruby's depiction of her was not flattering to Weiss. While it was still drawn with quality, her depiction with a sinister look with slight splatters of blood on her dress and lips was a bit much in her eyes.

"Hate is a strong word. Hate is a corrosive word. Hate led to the destruction of my people, the scaring of my Mother, and the end of the First Era. So I will state that I don't hate Weiss Schnee. I, however, LOATHE her. I loathe her shrill voice, I loathe her wretched family, I loathe her bossy faux noble attitude. Out of all the things that have ever occurred to me, she is the most ear-grating and dangerous person I have met. If an accident were to occur to her, I would have faux sympathy but would be rejoicing internally if it eliminated her for good."

Not unexpected, but still. Her paranoia was slowly inching towards her mind again. This behavior is similar to those held within the White Fang. Considering her extreme aggression, her uncouth behavior, and the fact that she wrote that she passes for humans and deceived Ozpin into protecting her. She might as well have been a…

A chill went down her spine. That night, the night of the duel. Beacon's dorms are somewhat cramped, and with the way Blake and Yang had their beds set up. Even with Myternaster in her hands. She was well within arms reach of Ruby, and she knew what those arms were capable of.

She closes her eyes, and her mind starts to drift.

Like before, the two get into an argument about the duel. The barbarian tries to defend herself. Like before, she dared to insult her mother in front of her.

Like before, she was stunned by the slap. But instead of entering a trance-like state, her silver eyes gave her a death glare. Before Weiss could react, the barbarian grabbed her by the neck and lifted her while squeezing. She imagines those silver eyes boring into her, her face twisting into one of hatred and pleasure as she squeezes her to the point her neck snaps. Her body drops to the floor as she lets her go, and she imagines her just mocking her dead body before running away.

She was a hair's breadth of being murdered by someone who despised her, and she's only alive purely because she triggered some response by slapping her.

Weiss leans back in her chair, she can feel her heartbeat racing. She starts taking panicked breaths. How could she be so stupid to engage with her in that way?! She could've been killed! She stupidly hid her rapier in an attempt to be clever, but even if she had it on her. Ruby would've powered through it and still killed her.

She starts writing down in her notebook, trying to think of what to do, and what plans to come up with. But she comes up with nothing, this infuriates her. Then she looks at the scroll again.

She has to learn more. She must, yet she feels so tired mentally. But she has to push on, or she will never achieve her goals.

She grabbed her scroll and went to Blake's page. One more before calling it a day. When the page loaded, she was shocked at what she saw.

…Blake's portrait has cat ears.

Blake Belladonna

"A quiet, reserved mutant^ Faunus that I met on a train. Blake is slightly peculiar when it comes to her behavior. Despite passing off as aloof, she is shown to be quite intelligent when it comes to studies or history. She has also displayed strange knowledge in avoiding the city guard. While I might find that strange, it did help me escape the authorities at a time when I couldn't speak Valean when we first arrived in Vale. She's also pretty, maybe Mother would approve if she wasn't commoner."

"She is my first friend, and I am happy to have her around. Even if the student body wants nothing more than for me to disappear, she, Yang, Teams JNPR, and CVFY have been my beacons in the dark. I do wonder though: Why does she hide her ears, and how did she manage to get to my section of the train? I heard a fight when I woke up that day, and later, when I was more accustomed to Beacon. I read that most of the train was stolen. I'll ask her when the time's right."

Weiss took a moment to process what she read before going to the computer and typing in the words "Train dust stolen". The first article didn't do her any favors. It was the exact train that her father angrily ranted about right before she left. The media and the SDC pinned the heist on the White Fang cell in Vale, but this not only confirms it but reveals a horrifying truth.

Half of her team was White Fang.

It explains so much. Ruby's outward hostility, Blake trying to protect her, their strange origins, their reserved personalities, and the fact that both of them dislike her to some extent. This was all some elaborate scheme to kill her! Ruby was the pretty face to serve as PR and to trick everyone that they were innocent, while Blake worked behind the scenes doing who knows what.

"Those two-timing, double-crossing, backstabbing degenerate murderers!"

Ozpin won't believe her, she already burnt that bridge. But… General Ironwood might. She could already imagine the headlines: "Weiss Schnee foils assassination plot in Beacon." She'll need to build a case, gather evidence, and then think of a plan of action. Any interactions with Ruby would fail, but Blake. She can smooth talk her, and if that doesn't work, an anonymous leak to Lisa Lavender would work.

Weiss quickly packs up and heads to her dorm. When she enters, she sees Blake reading one of her books on her bed, but not Yang. Good. That's good, but no, she's rushing it. She doesn't have her weapon, and White Fang assassins always carry a hidden weapon on their body. She just needs to play it cool.

"Where's Yang?"

"She, Sun, Ruby, and Jaune went to the Emerald Forest for some practice. Why do you ask?" Her eyes stared directly at her.

"Well… uhh… Look," She sighs, both to feign sympathy and to clear her mind. "We've gotten off on the wrong foot."

"Clearly."

"Don't fall for it" "But the fact of the matter is, I want to change that, and I want to know my team better so we can be a team."

"Even Silver?"

"Especially Silver. But she's the most difficult for me to talk to, so I want to start with you. I want to change, seriously, for the better."

She places her book bag down and gets closer. She subtly her aura in case she tried to strike now. Blake looks at her curiously, most likely thinking about her words.

"How about this, we'll do what those four are doing right now. You and me vs. the Grimm. We'll get to know our combat styles, improvise on strategies, talk and get to know each other, and after that. I'll take you out for dinner… sushi. There's a highly-rated sushi restaurant in Vale, I'm a Schnee so you don't have to worry about the lines." She gave a comforting smile to her.

Blake was contemplating before, but the second she mentioned sushi was when Weiss fully had her. Hook, line, and sinker.

"Sure…why not. I didn't know you liked sushi."

"Oh, I love sushi, especially the Mistrali Dragon roll. It goes great with some milk coffee."

Blake seems to be more receptive the more they talk about food. It feels nice to talk to someone with similar tastes, but it's sad to know that she's just another assassin. But besides that, she couldn't believe it was that easy, not only would it just be the two of them, but she'd finally be able to use that strange Dust that was in Ruby's trunk.

Everything is going exactly. As.


"Planned. This isn't going as planned!"

Jaune was kneeling on the ground, panting heavily. A Beowolf sees the opportunity and pounces at him before its head is blown off by a powerful round.

"Jaune~!" Silver angrily shouted, before dashing towards him and picking him up. "Art thou hurt~?!"

"I'm fine. I'm just fine." There was disgruntlement in his voice, his tone quickly changed when he suddenly rushed behind her. She turns around and sees another Beowolf colliding directly with Jaune's shield, a reverberating clang is heard as its head smashes against the shield. With the Beowolf dazed, Jaune drops his shield and forms a posture taught by Silver. With a yell of exertion and a mighty thrust, he plunges Crocea Mors into the neck of the dazed Beowolf. His arms shook as he dragged the sword out of the Beowolf, freeing it and letting loose a short-lived geyser of Grimm blood.

Jaune again falls to the floor, kneeling on his sword. He lets out an excited giggle upon seeing the nearly-beheaded Beowolf dissipating.

"I… I did it. I did it! Sure the plan was a bust, but I did it!"

Silver smiled and helped him up. She was ecstatic about what Jaune had done. Sure the posture was basic, but the stab into decapitation. His growth is showing, and she feels proud of him. The two of them watch as Yang and Sun finish off the rest of the Grimm pack. Silver thought to join in, but the sound of something heavy thudded through the forest.

A Petra Gigas alongside an Alpha Beowolf tore through the trees. Yang lets out a laugh as she reloads her gauntlets, eyeing the Alpha Beowolf. Meanwhile, Sun looks towards Jaune with a face of uncertainty.

Before Jaune could respond, Silver slammed her scythe down and took aim, she took out a bullet with an ice blue-black color and loaded it in.

"Diamond Dust."

With a loud crack, she fired the bullet directly at the face of the Petra Gigas. Ice exploded from the impact point, skewering the body of the Gigas and destroying the host body. The bullet also released a wave of extremely cold air around the Gigas, freezing the nearby ground and the Alpha Beowolf somewhat.

Silver rushes towards Yang as she begins attacking the slightly frozen Alpha Beowolf. She darted to and fro from the Beowolf, firing shells and dodging any swipes or bites. Sounds of cracking can be heard as the armor, weakened by the ice, shatters under Yang's punches.

"Thou must be careful~! If thy grip isn't strong… then thy will be thrown off and crushed under the Beowolf's maw~!"

"Alright!" She said while dodging another swipe. "You're the expert, tell me what to do!"

"Make sure it's immobile or weakened enough~! Jump on its back and lock thy legs on its neck~! As hard as you can, grab its skull and pull as hard as you can~! Never let go, or you'll lose your arms~!"

"Gotcha!" She smiled at her before focusing fully on the Beowolf.

Darting around using Ember Celica, she smashes her fists into the legs of the alpha. The frozen armor cracked with each punch before shattering and spilling Grimm blood on the ground. Yang quickly moves to the side as the Grimm falls to the ground, before jumping on the Grimm's body. She moves across the ruined torso of the Alpha and locks her legs around the neck. The Alpha, realizing that its prey was on its neck, began to thrash wildly in an attempt to get Yang off.

Yang laughed maniacally, enjoying the danger and thrill of the act as she grabbed onto the skull of the alpha and began pulling. Popping noises can heard, and the Beowolf lets out an angry howl of pain. It thrashed even wilder, causing Yang to hunch over. She then cocked her arms and look at the Alpha straight in the eye. A wild smile on her face.

"Don't worry boy, I won't take much. It's just a little TRIM!"

With that, she fires Ember Celica. The recoil caused her arms to shoot back, and completely tear the skull off the head of the Alpha. The wound let out a geyser of Grimm Blood and sprayed Yang. The Alpha let out one final, dying howl before falling onto the ground dead. Yang got off the dissipating body, before looking at herself and grimacing. She was covered in dissipating Grimm blood.

"Ewww, It got all over me!"

Sun and Jaune were cheering, with the latter recording it on his Scroll. Silver, however, was laughing madly, clapping her hands as if she witnessed the end of a spectacular play. Yang noticed that her eyes were duller than usual.

"Marvelous, marvelous! Only since initiation did I ever have the pleasure of seeing such carnage! Such energy, such skill, such brutality! I knew there was something more to you Yaaannnggg~. Ow, my head~." She chuckled as she rubbed her head. Her eyes were back to their normal sheen.

"Are you ok?"

"Quite~. Just the rush of battle hitting me~. Thou were amazing, and perform flawlessly through ~!"

"Thanks, I learn from the best." She finger gun Ruby, which made her flustered from the admiration.

"Holy shit Yang, you were crazy!" Sun shouted with excitement. "I even got it on video!"

You did?! Let me see!"

Sun showed her the video, which Yang stared at in awe. Jaune and Silver stood next to each other, watching the pair talk about what she did.

"She's crazy, but not Nora crazy. I'd say it's the right amount to do what's right, but also fun."

"Interesting insight there~."

"I see it in you too.

"Tho-You do~?"

"Yeah, I mean it's there. Just under all that formality and nobility. That same craziness to do something fun and right. Certainly better than my planning."

"Don't weaken thy will Jaune, thou performed well~."

"My plan flopped so hard I had to be saved thrice. Port undersells how nasty those Beowolves are."

"Well… It was thy plan for me to provoke the… beast from initiation~. But it was also thy plan that allowed you to perform that beautiful execution, and allowed Yang to achieve something she desired since initiation~."

Jaune mulled over her words before he felt her stone hand on his shoulder. Warm, silver eyes looking at him, with her circlet gleaming in the sunlight. For a moment she looked like divinity.

"Let us bask in the moment of our victory for a little longer, before returning to Beacon~. The other would be thrilled to hear of this~!"

WN: Skull tearing is a semi-popular form of blood sport in Yggdrasil. The chosen fighter, usually a veteran, Oni, or Dragon-Blessed, will engage with an Alpha Beowolf. With the goal being the subduing and tearing of the skull of the Beowolf. It is semi-popular due to requiring wild Grimm to be captured and stored securely in an arena. Azure Darkborn does not provide the same amount of aggression and armor patterns featured in Wild Grimm. It is also legally dubious, as while the practice is not illegal by royal decree, the military performs raids on sites hosting Skull tearing due to the risk to public safety. Besides sport, it is a favored tactic among highly skilled Grimmomancers and Shadowblades, as the act can quickly subdue a Beowolf pack and recognize the Duskborn as their new alpha for a while.