Though she trusted her sister, she'd found herself somewhat out of place within the archives which Ruby had brought her. It was dark, only just lit enough to make out what one was reading by the chandeliers overhead, their candles providing the only light source within the shadowy room. Not only that, but the book which Ruby had taken temporary possession of had been sealed behind a very tough door. With just how strong it felt, she felt as if even Ruby with the Divisor would be hard-pressed to cut or bust through, not that the girl had any need to break it at all when she already had unrestricted access. Even if these books and tomes were ancient and irreplaceable, it just didn't well enough explain the level of security invested in their cases, as ancient literature in other places such as museums didn't have such protection. She could only wonder for now what knowledge these texts held and trust whatever her little sister said came from these books.

"My lineage is not an ancient one, tracing back only a handful of generations, but it is well-documented... even if all the information dating before my mother's existence is classified beyond what you're authorized to know." She spoke lowly, flipping through the texts and reading carefully every line of text upon every page, much faster than she could as the girl was just generally a quicker reader than herself. While she didn't make out much, she noticed the words "demon" and "devil" repeated often across the pages as Ruby flipped through them. However, this did not last particularly long, as eventually, after just a few minutes of flipping through the texts, Ruby shut the book and slid it back into place within the shelf. "I know what I am, why there's Devil's blood coursing through my veins, but I do not know where yours if from... nor do I know from when your lineage of Devil's blood began."

"How can this be, anyways? Last I was aware, devils weren't real. The only historical pieces of literature and documentation mentioning them are all fictional depictions, like with dragons and other mythical creatures." Yang mused quietly, brushing her hand across one of the cases protecting the books within. Despite the ancient appearance of the place, there wasn't even an iota of dust within the room, no buildup as normally was the case with such ancient-looking places.

"Have you ever heard the tale of Temen-ní-gùru? An ancient tower constructed by the greatest minds of evil, those who revered sin and reveled in darkness."

"Right, and atop it rested a portal to Hell. It allowed both sides to access each other freely, but the demons used it to invade our realm, that is until a nameless demon turned against his kind, drove the forces of the underworld back singlehandedly to the portal, finally enacting an intricate ritual to seal the portal and plunge the tower down into the earth, burying it for all time and sealing his own power within." Yang spoke, her brow raising slightly as she tried to figure what Ruby was trying to tell her with this train of thought.

"That's right. And after his power was sealed, the nameless demon took on a human appearance and married a mortal priestess. The supposed moral of the fairy tale being both not to judge others by their appearance but their actions, and that good might come from any of us... or so it's popularly said. The thing about myths, legends and Fairy Tales, though, is they often hold a shred of truth to them." Ruby began, turning to face her sister and smiling slightly as she did so. The way the lighting held half her face in shadows as she spoke somewhat unnerved her, as did the way her eyes seemingly glowed within the darkness. "Temen-ní-gùru is real, and it's story is more complicated than what the fairy tale lets on. This nameless demon sacrificed both it's own blood, and the blood of the mortal priestess it later both married and laid with, before using the Amulet of Apocrypha to finish the ritual, sealing the portal forevermore, but only after bringing low and binding seven great fallen angels, taking from them their names and sealing them within the tower."

"Okay, one, I didn't need to know about the demon having sex with the priestess. Two, you don't seriously believe all that, do you? Really, Temen-ní-gùru, of all things? It just sounds... outlandish. Besides, if that were all true, then logically there'd be tons of demon descendants. Y'know, since lust is a sin and those demons probably went on raping people willy-nilly." Yang tried to reason, however, Ruby simply shook her head and turned back to the bookshelf, unlocking it with what seemed to be a biometric scan and looking through the tomes once more.

"Demons of lust suck the life force from mortal partners. To lay with or be forced upon by one would be fatal for any mortal, ruling out the possibility of such descendants. No other demons had any interest nor inclination towards doing such acts... except for the one who sealed his own powers and immortality away, when he performed the ritual to seal the tower and and close the portal that linked the human realm to the Demons'."

"Okay, say all this fantasy stuff did happen. How does any of this relate back to me?"

"I suppose I shouldn't have figured a quick deduction from you, Yang, it never was your strong suit." Ruby sighed, although there wasn't much of any signs for annoyance or anger in the girl's voice as she spoke. "You, Yang. As the Demon who sealed the tower and portal was the only one to bear descendants in the human realm, must be a descendant of this Demon."

Silence fell between the both of them, as Yang's eyes widened further and further as these words played on repeat in her head. It was like everything else in the world faded out as it felt like she could only perceive herself, the book in Ruby's hands, and Ruby herself. Her mouth moved but no sound came from it, either her own or Ruby's, as the world seemed to just slow and a ringing entered her ears, dulling out everything else despite knowing Ruby was speaking, she just couldn't bring herself to understand a single damn thing that came from her mouth.

"Argh!" A sudden, sharp pain exploded across her hand as a trickle of blood seemed to suddenly be racing down it, snapping her out of her dazed state in an instant as it felt like she'd come back into the world more properly. It was not a thick stream, but it was a decent flow, and a clean cut, too, a sort that she was all too familiar with from her training with Ruby. "The hell was that for?!."

"Glad to see you've finally conscious of the world around you again. Do you still remember the bombshell I dropped nearly twenty minutes ago now, or need I remind you who you most likely descend from?" Yang gaped slightly as Ruby mentioned how long it had been, pointing her finger to the digital watch on Yang's wrist to show that it had indeed been roughly about that long.

"N-no, no there's no need for that. So, you're saying my ancient ancestor was the one who sealed Temen-ní-gùru, and his power still flows in my veins? I... I suppose that would explain things, but what am I supposed to do with this information? How the hell am I supposed to live up to that legacy? And... if I am a descendant of that Demon, then how come I can't use any, like... demonic powers, or anything like that?" She questioned, making Ruby chuckle slightly as she turned a page in the book held in her hands, an almost sinister smirk spreading across her lips as she read the contents before answering her question.

"Your powers, much like my own, are latent. They've yet to be awakened." She raised her brow slightly at the mention of some supposed awakening, but just shrugged and shook her head. A brief silence had befallen the two sisters, prompting Ruby to turn back to the shelf and sift through the ancient tomes to locate the specific book she was looking for among the vast catalogue, and though both sisters remained silent, the air remained heavy, almost smothering for the blonde. Despite her sister's apparent lack of discomfort or concern here, this place just made her skin crawl in the most uncomfortable way. This archive to her was unnerving, and she couldn't help but feel a sort of sinister aura from within the space they'd occupied, something primal and she'd dare to call evil... it was as if whatever was within this space with them was seeping through her flesh and imprinting itself upon her soul.

"Ah, I was not expecting to see you here, Ruby... even less so was I expecting to see you, Miss Xiao Long." Though she couldn't help but stiffen up as a freezing chill shot up her spine, Yang noticed that her sister seemed completely unfazed by the sudden arrival of Miss Goodwitch's unmistakable voice. While she could only bring herself to slowly turn towards the older lady with an almost cringing expression, Ruby simply sighed and shut the bookcase without anything in hand, turning her eyes towards the older Professor in an almost nonchalant manner. "I take it the Grimm Lord has been dispatched?"

"Yes, it's horde is being mopped up as we speak. It confirmed that Yang has Devils' blood coursing through her veins, and this was further supported by how she suffered no strain wielding the Divisor during the brief trade of armaments, and later it's energy absorbing into her own sword much the same as what happened to mine in Vacuo." Ruby examined Glynda briefly, before finally noticing the presence of the tome she was looking for held somewhat lazily in one hand. Wordlessly, she pushed passed her sister and stepped up to Glynda, holding her hand out to her leader and a moment later receiving the ancient texts she so desired for this occasion. "I see you did your own research."

"On Ozpin's orders. When you stabbed your sister at the beginning of her training, Ozpin felt something shift in her aura similar to the shift you'd experienced after your mission in Vacuo, and sent me down here to investigate and find answers... though I see that ultimately you and I have come to the same deduction." Glynda stepped past Ruby a moment after handing off the book and halted only about a meter from Yang, staring down into the young brawler's eyes and narrowing her gaze. Just like with Ozpin earlier, it seemed now as if Miss Goodwitch was staring directly into her soul, examining her for any chinks in her metaphorical armor. "Nonetheless, Ruby, you're now the only one in all our history to have two confirmed Grimm Lord kills. If not for the secretive nature of our work, your name would go down in history as being one of the greatest warriors this world has ever seen. Now, as for you, Miss Xiao Long, this mere existence of this library is one of our best kept secrets. There are no rumors, legends, myths or fairy tales regaling this archive of forbidden knowledge, and it must remain this way forevermore. No one but those entrusted by us may know of it's existence, and while you aren't exactly trusted by us quite yet we've decided to permit your presence here for the time being, so long as Ruby is by your side."

"I ah... I understand, Miss Goodwitch... um... If I could ask, why do you refer to Ruby by her first name, but me as "Miss Xiao Long?" It's ah... kinda weird." Yang scratched the back of her head in a somewhat awkward manner with a nervous grin, although this didn't faze the older lady in the slightest. Rather, Glynda merely shook her head and turned back to Ruby, stepping back up behind her and pointing down at something on the page she was on before speaking to her once again without looking her way.

"You are a student of mine, Miss Xiao Long, but Ruby is a peer, teammate, and a part of the family. Though you may find it strange, it is just the natural way of things within our ranks, something you may or may not understand some day depending on how you play your part in the coming days." She explained slowly, before looking back down and locking eyes with the blue-coated leader and nodding briskly, breaking off a moment later and gesturing for Yang to follow her while Ruby stepped aside and approached a stone bench outside the isles, clearly showing that this would be where their paths split for the time being. Though hesitant to follow, she did as instructed and followed Miss Goodwitch away from her sister, leaving the blue devil to her studies...


She couldn't quite help but feel surprised as she was led into a room that contained many sets of equipment that very closely resembled Ruby's own more tactical kit, to include several racks of firearms and numerous drums of ammunition. Unlike her sister's tactical set, however, these were all in various camouflage patterns, and most of the equipment seemed to be without owner. It was curious that Miss Goodwitch would bring her here, of all places, but she supposed that there were stranger places she could've brought her. Added with the fact that this room only carried the aura of a normal-ish armory and didn't have the uncomfortable feelings seeping into her like the archive had, and she was somewhat glad that this was in fact the destination.

"Pick out some equipment that fits you and gear up, Ozpin has decided on a mission for you to prove whether or not you're fit to join our organization and your current gear won't do. Additionally, on this mission you may not use any equipment or abilities that could clue in any possible observers to your identity." Glynda listed off what she was to do in here without explaining much about what was coming up, but Yang obliged nonetheless. Approaching the vast stores of equipment, she first picked out the presence of several black military-sort crates filled with neatly folded and stacked combat shirts, combat bottoms with integrated coyote knee pads, padded mechanix gloves, black socks, and coyote combat boots.

Save for the items of listed colors, the combat shirts, bottoms and gloves were all a fairly standard multi-cam camouflage pattern, and each crate held a different size for each item. It ultimately didn't take too long to find a full set of clothes that fit how she'd needed them to, and within just a few short minutes Yang had completely changed out of what clothes she was already using and into the more practical apparel before moving onto selecting a weapon. Normally she would've thought to pick out some armor first, but she remembered Ruby briefly explaining during a point in their training that she tailored her armored kit around supporting her weapon, not the other way around, so she stubbornly stuck to how her sister, who already had some experience in this field, had taught her.

It took a few minutes but she settled on a rifle of more simplistic and slimmer design than her sister's, chambering 5.56x45mm instead of the heavier 7.62x51mm Ruby preferred. The weight wasn't much different, but on it she'd equipped an AN/PEQ-15 on top of the barrel, a holographic sight with a magnifier on a flip mount behind that just over the chamber, an angled foregrip under the barrel, and a suppressor attached at the end of the barrel that appeared flush with the m-lok quad rail shroud. She wasn't as proficient as Ruby was with weapons like this one, but she understood the basics of operating and handling one nonetheless. For a sidearm she opted for a simple handgun chambered in .45 ACP with a laser/flashlight under the barrel, a suppressor, and green tritium glow sights.

Both of these weapons she could familiarize herself with in a pinch, though to her understanding as soon as they were done here Miss Goodwitch would be dragging her to the shooting range to zero her optics and laser in. Worked well enough for her, so now they were moving onto her helmet, plate carrier and battle belt, all of which, outside of the helmet being a flat olive green, were the same multi-cam as her combat pants and shirt. Like with her rifle, Ruby had taught her some of the basics, so she wasn't going in completely blind, and had a basic idea in her head of how she'd be assembling her kit.

Her plate carrier's quick-release cumberbund held slots for up to three magazines on each side, and she'd put a single stack triple magazine pouch on the front abdomen of the vest and four pistol mags over them. An admin pouch sat in the center of the chest, already fully stocked before she'd even selected it, a pistol magazine pouch on either side of that and directly left of the magazine pouches on the cumberbund she'd placed a radio pouch. Right of the magazines on the cumberbund she'd placed a decently large IFAK, and integrated into the back of the vest to sit just outside of the plate in a separate pouch was a water bladder, the tube running up and over the right shoulder and secured by the flexible nylon straps on top of the admin pouch.

Her battle belt contained a duo of flashbangs, frag grenades, smoke grenades, thermite grenades, and two canisters of VX Gas, a supposed favorite of her sister's to use (something Yang herself found to be both horrifying and morbidly interesting at the same time), a drop-down holster for her pistol that secured against the outside her right thigh, a drop-down gas mask bag containing a better gas mask she'd picked up from within this armory than what she'd picked up at the store following her first duel with Ruby back before the girl's Vacuo mission. This one had a panoramic visor as opposed to the dual circular lenses her old mask had, and allowed the user to comfortably shoulder and aim down the sights of a rifle while in use, and also had a connecting piece and mic to allow its user to like it to a headset or radio... a vast improvement over her old mask that wasn't even rated for combat. Additionally on the belt she carried two dump pouches, and a combat knife pouch on the back.

Her helmet she noted looked almost identical to Ruby's, but had slimmer M-lok rails of coyote color instead of ARC rails, and the mount for NVGs looked lighter. A magnetic chinstrap, snap-back retention system and gel pads made up the default setup inside the helmet, and if she were being perfectly honest, it suited her just fine as it was already quite comfortable as it was. However, for attachments, she opted to go about the same route that her sister had, adopting the usage of a mesh multi-cam cover, a coyote headset with gel cups and a mic attached to her rails, a multi-cam counterweight pouch on the back, and a flashlight on the right side. However, unlike Ruby she didn't opt for goggles, instead using normal ballistic glasses with interchangeable lenses. She finally settled for a pair of Gen 3 NVG-50s that viewed the world in white phosphor instead of green, attaching them onto the helmet mount she'd chosen and snapping it onto the crown of her helmet before attaching the bungee cords on her M-lok rails to the hook points on the goggles to keep them secured.

"So, how do I look?" Yang questioned with a slight grin after looking herself up and down in the mirror, receiving a quick nod from Goodwitch before the older lady tossed her a padded sling for her rifle and a coil style lanyard for her pistol to attach to her belt.

"Like an actual Professional, for once. Stock up on everything you'll be carrying in your kit then follow me to the range. We have one hour to get you familiarized with your weapons and your optics zeroed in before you're departing for Menagerie." She explained, bringing a quizzical look to the blonde as she began loading her magazines with disintegrating case cartridges, quite notably the only casing type available.

"Menagerie? Isn't that faunas territory and a White Fang safe haven?"

"It is. Tie your hair back, stuff it into the back of your shirt, throw on a durag and put your mask on, we don't leave any forensic evidence of ourselves behind. Mission details will be given upon insertion." She explained further, before grabbing a device from a crate lined up against the wall by the door and stepping around behind her. A few quiet snaps later, she felt Miss Goodwitch secure a sort of vacuum tube looking thing over her left shoulder right beside the folding antenna for her radio that was secured via bungee cord loops in her vest's shoulder straps. "Filter system. This way instead of having two large filters that can get in the way on your face, you'll have a tube attached to your mask that links it to two large filters on your back. This ones' a recent acquisition and was tested yesterday."

"Ah, got it. All better now?" Yang put the inquiry forward, her voice quite noticeably muffled as she finished the last step Miss Goodwitch asked of her. Mask on, tube linked up, headset linked to the mic in her gasmask via the port, radio linked to the headset. As soon as Goodwitch gave her a nod of approval, Yang secured the straps of her helmet under the gas mask, this time just a little looser to accommodate for the additional space occupied by the mask. "On a scale of one to ten, how intimidating do I look right now?"

"Your average civilian would be terrified. C'mon, still gotta get that weapon of yours zeroed in before we leave." Goodwitch spoke over her shoulder as she gestured for Yang to follow her out. It was strange moving around under this kind of load and equipped as heavily as she was, and breathing with this mask on, while leagues more comfortable than her old mask, was also somewhat of a strange experience. Nevertheless, she followed the Professor's lead, and mentally prepared herself for the challenges ahead...


The time at the shooting range was short, and was immediately followed by her being rushed onto a sort of aircraft she couldn't for the life of her recognize where she topped back off on ammo and waited to get close enough to the mission insertion point to receive her briefing. While she could only guess what kind of mission this would be, she had a basic idea of what was going on. Complete the objective, leave no witnesses. She couldn't use her semblance at all during this operation, so she forced herself into a state of calm and kept forcing herself to level out her breathing. It was several hours of flight until they were finally close enough to begin the briefing, and a quick look outside told her it would be a night-time op. Normally, only an idiot would run night-ops against faunas, given their ability to see in the dark... however, appropriate camouflage and NVGs robbed them of this advantage, as good camo still could evade them just the same as it would a human.

"Your mission is simple. You'll deploy along the Western coast and make your way through the jungle to the far side of the island. The White Fang has a facility deep within the desert that's off the maps, intelligence reports they may be making chemical weapons there. Your mission is to locate this facility and raze it to the ground. Several patrol groups have been sighted moving in the area, and rough timetables and routes have been provided in the recon report notebook in your left shoulder pocket. Intercept one of these patrols, stalk them back to the facility, and commence your assault. Leave no survivors or witnesses." It wasn't Glynda who provided the mission report, rather it was a smaller female who'd voided most of her kit and simply wore a black wetsuit and had a white cross on the face of her mask. No, apparently since their team had seen significant combat action earlier in the day, their mission was being handed off to Glynda, Ruby and the rest of their squad while Blake and Weiss recuperated, apparently having both sustained several injuries during the fighting. The Mt. Glenn mission would be handled solely by those five S Class Hunters and the Special Forces teams already on site, and though she was slightly miffed about their team no longer having a part in that mission, she understood and accepted that it was done out of necessity.

"Understood. Time to drop?"

"Thirty seconds. We'll only be on the ground for one second, so make sure you're ready to step off the moment we touch down." Yang nodded in affirmation as she rolled her shoulders and readied her weapons before stepping over to the door. As she was aware, the transport they were in was damn near silent even to faunas with hyper sensitive hearing within a twenty meters, and it was able to render itself invisible to the naked eye, so they weren't too concerned about the initial approach. Still, with the number of faunas in the region, hanging around at a low altitude wasn't favorable to remaining undetected, and the volume of weapons that could theoretically blow them out of the skies was enough to not risk a closer insertion. No, she was inserting into the weakest point along the coasts, the least occupied that still gave her a decent amount of cover and concealment on her approach. Anywhere else was simply too exposed for a safe deployment.

As soon as she was fully prepared, the side doors swung open, allowing her to hop out in the one second window in which they'd touched down, and drop to a knee while scanning over the area with her rifle as the transport's doors immediately closed behind her, and it began to sail away into the night sky, visible only for the singular second it's doors were open. Dropping her nods over her eyes and turning the knob to power them up, Yang rose to a ready stance and briskly advanced into the jungle. No flashlights, IR lasers only. After she was maybe 50 meters into the foliage, Yang dropped to a knee and held her rifle in a low ready, scanning over the immediate area once again as he was finally within the denser foliage where her camouflage was most effective.

"Okay Yang, time to put on your game face. Let's get this done with absolute perfection, and secure my place in this mysterious organization just like Ruby did." She mentally told herself as a small smirk crept onto her face. While this certainly wasn't her usual style of operating, she couldn't help but feel as though this would be one hell of a mission... and better yet, a night she'd never forget. "Alright, Ruby, don't expect me to sulk in your shadow any longer... Let's Do This."