Small Issues

AN: Here we are folks, the finale of the initiation test plenty of action here, so with that... I'll wish Yang Xiao Long a happy birthday and let you get on with the story itself.

Initiation: Part Three

It turned out that running across the bridge was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it got them away from the Deathstalker as the stonework was rather narrow for a beast of its size, attempting to follow the mortals would require it to be slow and careful. On the other hand, they were now exposed to the Nevermore as it banked and swooped, lowering its head and ramming through the ancient stonework with an angry screech.

The result was a nearly one hundred foot wide gap in the bridge, debris raining around the teens as those in the back- Nora and Jaune- were sent tumbling as their footing had lifted and thrown them for a loop, somehow managing to land back on the bridge.

Yang was among the first to rise and try shooting at the Grimm but it was too far and fast for her shotgun gauntlets to have any real effect. Ruby was by her side with Crescent Rose in its rifle mode, yet even with her weapons longer range and higher impact damage, she had the same result as her sister. Weiss however, had taken another approach by running ahead further into the ruins where there would be some cover from attacks.

"Hurry up!" The heiress calls to the sisters, waving them over. The pair shared a glance recognizing that they were just wasting their ammunition at this point and ran to take cover with their teammate.

Back at the end of the bridge, the trio of Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha were having trouble dealing with the Deathstalker. As big and instinctual as it was, it was smart enough to recognize that their weapons did little to harm it and it slowly advanced to push them closer to the edge of the cliff and onto the remains of the narrow bridge where they'd have no escape.

Ren had already needed to reload three times for each gun and the best he had managed to do is annoy the scorpion. Blake wasn't any better, especially since whenever she'd try to take a more direct approach with her swords, she'd be knocked back with little effort. Pyrrha was moderately more successful, her rifle scoring some decent scratches and dents in the exoskeleton and proved to be able to stand her ground better whenever a claw slammed into her shield.

Still, no matter what they did they found their efforts in vain and would need something big and unexpected to help turn the tide of the battle if they were to last more than another five minutes without possibly plunging to the bottom of the chasm or finding themselves between the pincers.

Standing up on the remains of the bridge among the rubble, Jaune and Nora looked back to see the three girls taking cover from the Nevermore among the ruins. Looking back the way they had come, they saw the plight of the other three fighting for their lives. Jaune wincing as he watched as Blake was viciously smacked away and slammed into the stone floor facedown, laying there stunned as a result.

"Oh man, we gotta get over there!" Jaune's first thought was to help others, which is quite commendable

Nora perked up at the suggestion, running to the side of the bridge and peeking over the edge, a crazy plan forming in her head along with a wild grin. "Let's do this!"

"Yeah… I can't make that jump." His voice was a combination of sarcasm, fear, and sincerity.

"Hehehe!"

"Hey, what are you-?" Jaune didn't get any further before Nora reached back to grab her grenade launcher and swung it out, smacking the blonde in the chest hard enough to knock him back towards a large crack in the bridge.

The short ginger swung her weapon, the long handle forming as the grip extended while a few curved plates shifted over the launcher to solidify the head of a large hammer.

In just a few seconds, her Magnhild was ready for melee combat… and she jumped high with the hammer held over her head.

And with that, Jaune realized exactly what her plan was and he did NOT like it but had no time to disagree. "No! No, no, no, no!"

"HA!" With a mighty swing of her hammer, Nora brought it down on the edge of the bridge and caused it to shear off of the intact side while pivoting on the support column, launching Jaune like as if from a catapult.

But the girl wasn't done yet as she grinned and rode the slab as it began to fall, twisting her hammer so the face was against the stone and stepping onto the head, she pulled the trigger in the handle to fire a grenade. Much of the explosion was contained by the head and firing chamber, acting as propulsion to send Nora across the chasm while riding her hammer.

It was honestly quite the odd sight to behold.

Especially once her trajectory launched her over Jaune just as he landed in a belly flop, knocking the wind out of him.

"NORA SMASH!" The hammer was brought down on the scorpion just behind the 'head' with her full weight and momentum behind the attack. As a result, the segmented legs buckled under the force and the body crashed to the ground.

The trio of Ren, Pyrrha, and Blake looked on with relief now that they had reinforcements and the tables had been turned against the Deathstalker.

But the Grimm lashed out with its tail, smacking Nora away. Blake had just stood up from her earlier beating, and soon found the ginger slamming into her. And while Nora's momentum was halted by the black themed girl, it would be more accurate to say that it was transferred, causing Blake to stumble backwards… only to find Jaune right behind her trying to get up. Her knees gave out once they found his armored shoulder and she fell over him, hitting the ground with her shoulders, rolled over to her feet… to find no more ground.

Acting quickly as the air rushed by, Blake switched her katana to kusarigama form and threw it up at the intact bridge, anchoring itself into one of the support columns and allowing her to change her fall into a swing.

Swinging around one of the supports, she sent a small pulse of her aura through the ribbon and into the blade, dislodging it and allowing the ribbon to retract to a more normal length.

But with it back in hand after a short flight, she threw it again higher up, and soon swung herself back up to the bridge after a few repeats of the process.

But as that was going on, Yang had the Nevermore quite distracted after switching from her usual Fire Dust laced buckshot to Explosive shells and had taken a position on top of a tall pillar.

As the massive avian Grimm circled close by, she became something of an anti-aircraft gun, punching at the beast to fire her shells at a rapid pace. Said shells erupted across its body and caused a few of its black feathers to break and burn, leaving a thin trail of smoke behind as a result.

But the girl wasn't the only one on the attack, proven as the Grimm banked sharply and flapped to gain speed as she was forced to reload. And just as she finished, it was on her with its beak opened wide and more than large enough for her to stand comfortably inside.

Yang took advantage of the moment, jumping INTO the mouth and held the beak open with one hand as the other emptied the gauntlet of shells right down its exposed throat. "I-Hope-You're-Hungry!" She quips as she does so.

The bird flew erratically from the pain and came close to the bridge again. Only instead of smashing through the stone, it wound up gaining another mortal as Blake jumped onto its head and used both of her blades to slash at its back as she ran. And she let the Nevermore pass under her so she could land on the bridge back where she started.

But her damage output was minimal in the end.

Weiss found a good position and created several glyphs through which, with the addition of Dust from her rapier, began to alternate from launching fireballs to chunks of ice and back again. The projectiles could track their target to some degree but none of them did much to hurt the Grimm carrying Yang in its mouth.

Ruby wasn't sitting idly by either, finding a decent high spot on top of the temple roof to stare down her scope and take a few shots with her rifle. One of which hit the Nevermore directly in the eye… the larger of the pair on its right side at least.

For Yang, she received the full blast of its pained screeched as she was still in its mouth, though the thrashing and cries eventually threw her out. The blonde was able to twist herself to land on her feet near the base of the temple next to Weiss.

"None of this is working." The heiress scoffs.

"We've been hitting it with everything we've got!" Yang counters.

"Maybe not everything but it looks like this might be more than we can handle." Blake had somehow heard them as she climbed over the edge of their bridge to join the pair.

"There's no way we can get back up the cliff to Ozpin with that thing still around." Yang gestures at the Grimm as it circled high, keeping its distance.

"Hey guys!" Ruby shouts as she drops down to talk to the trio. "I think I have a plan!"

Weiss and Blake glanced at Yang to see what she thought of being led by the youngest of the group, the blonde simply shrugging and looked willing to at least hear her sister out. The black and white pair followed suit.

Back on land, the group of Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were faring marginally better… at least their Grimm couldn't just fly out of reach. And the stabbing tail made sure that Jaune couldn't worry about tripping Blake so she fell off a cliff until that was dealt with.

Another stab made the stonework start to give away under his feet, forcing him to cling to the tail again. Needless to say, the Deathstalker wasn't pleased that the situation was back to how it began, just now in the open rather than in the cave meant for sacrifices.

"Jaune!" Something in Pyrrha's tone as she called his name made it clear that despite her worry for him, she too was aggravated that he was back on the tail like that. Still, she was glad that the Grimm backed up and away from the edge of the ravine in its surprise.

It was something of a surprise when Ren, capitalizing on the distraction created by Jaune, ran ahead and leapt onto the Grimm before another well timed jump brought him within reach of the stinger so he could use the blade on Stormflower to cut into the joint between the black and gold segments.

And while that elicited a shriek of pain from the scorpion and the stinger to dangle limply at the end of the tail, it was still intact and quite dangerous.

"Pyrrha!"

"Jaune!"

"I have a crazy plan! Just go with it!"

"Wait, what?" Ren and Nora spoke together. Pyrrha didn't get a chance to ask when she watched as the blonde swung himself from the black segments to grab onto the stinger. And his weight was enough to tear the remaining tethers of the tail apart, allowing him to drop onto its back where he held the stinger point down between the white segmented plates.

"Nora! Nail it!" He shouts as he looks at the girls.

"Gimme a boost!" Nora demands as she jumps towards the taller girl who quickly crouched with her shield overhead. The young Valkyrie planted both feet and the face of her hammer on the metal barrier and felt her platform rise as the Spartan beneath jumped. Likewise, Nora jumped and fired a grenade at the same time to give herself an extra boost.

While Pyrrha was slammed back to the ground by the explosion and forced to her armored knees, Nora flew high. With a small laugh at the apogee of her ride, her grin turned determined as she used her hammer to flip in the air, generating centrifugal force in addition to the fall.

Jaune pulled his hands back just in time when the hammer came down, the golden stinger being driven deep inside of the scorpions body. The shockwave also blew him away, though he was caught by Ren before he could hit the ground, but the catch put him between the knight and a large rock and the resulting impact left them both stunned.

The Deathstalker thrashed in pain from being pierced as it had, in doing so the tail smacked Nora off of it and to the side. It rose to its feet again and went after the closest target- Pyrrha.

"A tough one, aren't you?" The Spartan comments as she stares down the Grimm.

It let out a cry of rage as it swung a claw at Pyrrha, only for the girl to block it with her shield, dropping to a knee to support the pressure. The other claw swung, only for Jaune to somehow dive over the girl, roll to his knees, and take the attack on his own shield.

Ren joined in, taking advantage of the arms being relatively still and stabbed deep into the joints of each.

Once again, the beast thrashed in pain but refused to die, though both warriors with swords used their blades to worsen the injuries on the arms.

It backed away, too focused on the mortals to realize how close it had gotten to the edge of the cliff, but its opponents didn't.

Pyrrha switched her sword to a spear and threw it, bypassing the swinging claws with perfect timing, and buried the tip deep into one of its largest eyes. Nora followed that up with a pair of grenades to the claws, the explosions proving to be too much for the weakened joints and the arms fell with the stumps releasing black smoke and fluids that quickly vaporized.

"Throw it off!" Jaune ordered, running towards the scorpion with his shield raised, joined by Pyrrha, and slamming the barriers into its face.

One of the Grimm's clawed feet were pushed back over the edge and was left trying to find anything more than air to grip.

Another quick slam of their shields was enough to push another foot off but the Grimm began to push back.

Reaching up, Pyrrha wrenched her weapon out of its eye just before Ren leapt into the air and rained bullets across its face, destroying all but one of its remaining eyes. And before it could really react to that pain, Nora rushed in to deliver a massive uppercut with her hammer to the mouthparts of the Deathstalker, lifting the beast enough that the armored pair were able to force the rest of the legs over the cliff and send the giant scorpion to crash at the bottom of the ravine.

It didn't take too long for a huge cloud of black smoke to rise indicating that it had finally died.

Back in the ravine ruins, Ruby had finished telling the others her plan.

"That's the best you could come up with?" Weiss questioned.

"Do you have any ideas?" Yang asks to defend her sister.

There was a brief stare down before the heiress looked away. "Not really." Blake almost looked smug for a moment just seeing the rich girl admit to that, then it was gone. "But that doesn't change that this is crazy!"

Yang shrugged in agreement. "That I can't deny."

"Ah! Bad birdie!" Ruby screamed and points, the others turning to see the Nevermore swooping in again with its right wing outstretched and about to hit lower on the temple support columns.

Before they could react, the temple began to collapse, filling the air with hundreds of multi-ton blocks of stone falling into the mists below.

With their footing compromised, each of the girls found their own ways to get back up onto the stable surfaces of the rest of the ancient complex. Ruby used her Petal Burst in short jumps, ricocheting from one large block to another. Weiss used her Glyphs to provide platforms to jump to until reaching a new walkway. Blake was able to dodge some of the debris with her Shadow before landing on a pillar that was slowly leaning and ran up that before swinging her way even higher. Yang demonstrated a combination of great feats of strength and agility, leaping from one block to another as they fell, occasionally firing a shell or two to correct her flight path before landing on stable stone.

"Let's bring this buzzard down!" The blonde shouts as she ran towards the Grimm as it swung back around. "Come on, let's go another round Big, Dumb, and Angry!" With that, she launched herself from the bridge, landing herself onto its mask and punching its face while discharging a shell with every blow.

Needless to say, those actions left the avian irritated, especially once one of those shots took out another eye leaving it with just two remaining. And with black smoke trailing from one hole and the girl hanging onto its face occupying the other, it didn't see the next temple structure in its flight path until Yang jumped off. By then, it was too late for the Grimm and it collided head first into the pillars and brought the building down onto itself.

The blonde landed just outside of the raining debris on top of a pillar, but her force proved to be too much for it with the combination of time, weathering, and the recent frequent shaking from the multiple structures collapsing. But she rode the pillar down to more solid stonework, rolling out the momentum and dashing towards her sister as a streak of white flew by towards the downed Grimm.

The Nevermore pulled itself from the rubble slowly, cawing in pain and anger. The first to emerge was its head, shaking the dust from its remaining eyes and it barely got one wing out, losing more than a few feathers in the process, before another mortal appeared.

The girl in white and pale blues leapt off of a Glyph to the pile of rubble and Grimm, her rapier already having its revolving Dust chambers set to Ice for when she landed on the stones and plunged her blade deep, the entire pile began to freeze over. And with the Nevermore bound to tons of rock by the ice, it was most immobilized and Weiss dove backwards with a flip away from the snapping beak to land on a new Glyph. Upon landing on the bridge again, she ran back to where Blake and the sisters were waiting for her.

Back with the other three girls, Blake had extended her ribbon between two pillars not too far from the trapped Nevermore. As she held it tight, Ruby jumped onto it while standing on Crescent Rose, pulling the ribbon down under the weight until Yang grabbed hold of the ribbon and pulled back, stretching the ribbon even tighter. When Weiss joined them, she created a Glyph that altered gravity a little to make it easier on the blonde while Ruby was able to stand nearly sideways and stop holding the ribbon for support.

"I still say this idea is insane." The heiress comments once the ribbon was at its limit.

"It's been working so far." Yang shrugged as best she could while bracing her feet against a large stone to keep from sliding too much.

"Then let's finish this thing off!" The cloaked girl shouts.

At Weiss' countdown, she and Yang released their holds on Ruby, allowing the girl to rocket through the air towards the bird. The flight was short and made seemingly shorter by a use of her Semblance to correct her path and add a little more speed before contact was made- the massive blade of the scythe catching the throat of the Nevermore and digging into the feathers and 'flesh'.

But while the cut was deep, it wasn't fatal for the Grimm, even if it's head and neck were wrenched back by the impact.

"HYYAAAHHHH!" A gold streak followed the red. With a final shot from both of her gauntlets, Yang twisted herself to slam into the dull side of the scythe boots first just as Ruby fired a shot from her high-caliber rifle, the combined forces along with the blade already past the outer defenses allowed the scythe to cut through until it hit empty air.

With the sisters landing on the rubble pile, and the head of the Nevermore falling beside them, the fight was finally over.

As Jaune and the others on land looked up to where the black smoke was rising high and thick, the siblings were best described by a single word as they came around to wave at the others from in front of the black vapor pillar. "Awesome."

It took a few minutes for everyone to gather up again and for Weiss to create a path for the other teams to get onto the bridge.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Jaune was a bit skeptical as he could clearly see what lay below the Glyphs through them and he knew there was no glass or other clear surface.

"Of course it's safe!" Weiss stomped out onto one of her Aura constructs.

"Weeeeeeeeeee!" Nora slid by Jaune with Ren in tow, showing just how safe it really is.

"Trust her." Pyrrha says as she walks by with a pat on his shoulder, smiling as that was enough to get him to follow.

The climb up the cliff wasn't much easier than the fights. While they didn't have to deal with any Grimm attacking them, scaling the cliff was difficult since they were tired by the events of the day. However, they did manage to find ancient stairs, quite possibly once inhabited by the people who had occupied the structures that they had a hand in so many being destroyed not long ago. But those stairs only helped so much before they'd have to climb.

An hour later they made it to the top and found Professor Ozpin waiting for them.

"Did you have fun exploring the historic ruins of the first major settlement on Remnant?" The Headmaster asks calmly, though there was a slight edge to it that seemed to be well controlled. To their credit, the teens looked abashed about their roles in the destruction, though there was also the recognition by all parties that they didn't do so intentionally and that damage in any battlefield was almost always unavoidable. "Now… congratulations for defeating such powerful Grimm and all of you surviving to tell the tale… but it is getting rather late. Come along."

"Yes sir." Most of the group say as they begin to follow him back to the school where the lights were illuminating the slowly darkening sky as evening was setting in.

"And I do hope that you have your Relics, it would be a shame to have lost them at some point during your fights or climb." Ozpin nonchalantly tells them, getting a small chuckle as they scramble to check their persons for the items in question.

Still, he couldn't help but to feel some sense of regret at seeing the destruction of the antiquities. Those ruins had stood against the tests of time for thousands of years, surviving long after those who built them vanished. It had been the site of such life, where the Emerald Forest hadn't existed yet as the land was either fortified city or farmland. The temples over the ravine being those that held the royalty that ruled the settlement for generations and for worship of their gods. Even the Deathstalker cave had been a temple of sorts, though it was one used mostly for executions… and a small cult that grew to revere the Grimm who would sacrifice people.

But as with many civilizations, times change and weather patterns moved so crops began to fail, politics, divisions between the rich and poor, and Grimm attacks all helped to drive the once thriving city into ruin.

Since then, the Emerald Forest grew in its place, hiding the remains from most while showing that the soil was still very fertile and life could thrive in a place that once seemed desolate.

Yang had other thoughts going through her head pertaining to her past that now seemed to become clear once more.

"Yang… are you sure this is a good idea? Your dad just got back on his own feet." Her best friend in Signal asks, Iris.

"Being a Huntress is something I've always wanted to do." The blonde replies.

"But your family."

"Come on, you know we have years until we get out of this school." Yang huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest. "That means I have time to see how they are doing and if I need to stop to stay and help them."

"You… you really put a lot of thought into this, huh?" Iris seemed surprised that her tomboy friend had done so. Then again, Yang had a reputation for being as thoughtful about others as she was impulsive… the latter often on display when playing tricks with her other friends or her famous temper.

It also wasn't a secret that her family life was anything but simple. With the disappearance of her mother during a mission, Yang and her younger sister Ruby were left with a father who went through years of depression. Luckily, their uncle was able to help, having both quite a bit of money from his own missions as a Huntsman to get them through the worst of things, soon followed by taking a teaching job at Signal for a more steady source of income while staying close to family.

It took a few years for Taiyang to really pull himself together again and it was quite possibly the fact that he was given a job as a teacher at Signal that really sped up his recovery to get him back to relative normal. Being surrounded by those looking to him for advice and knowledge from the students helped to instill a sense of purpose to his life besides raising his daughters and the other teachers could watch out for him in case he slipped back into his depression, giving him immediate help when needed.

"Yeah, but this is what I want to do." Yang nods in affirmation. "Besides, imagine all of the crazy stuff we'd see and do." It was the first year in Signal that they could sign up for Huntsman classes and they were known for a high turnover rate, with half of those signing up dropping out for various reasons.

"Yeah, and I can see you riding your bike around slaying Grimm all over the world." Iris laughs, knowing that she was touching a subject that was difficult to define.

"I'm not gonna be riding Butterfly when I'm a Huntress!" Yang pokes her friend in the shoulder. Even at thirteen, Iris was the tallest girl in their year but she was also quite thin. Yang was easily shorter than her friend but was already starting to hit puberty and having the largest chest so far of their year.

Butterfly had been a gift from her family, a simple bicycle with a longer seat that she often allowed her sister to ride with her and it included a large basket in the front that she used to carry things, usually groceries or her schoolbooks. But the bike helped tremendously while her dad was recovering so she could go to and from town faster.

Between how much the bike had helped her help her family and that it was a gift to her, she had gotten rather possessive about it… even if the name came about simply because a butterfly flew by while thinking of a name for it and she was too stubborn to change it. At least she learned to take very good care of it, handling any repairs and maintenance it needed.

"If not Butterfly, what are you going to do? Walk everywhere?"

"Hmmm… maybe I can learn to fly?"

She had begun the path to become a Huntress as a way to form a life for herself, where she would be the one making decisions for her. Coming to Beacon was meant to be a small step away from her family and while it was partly because her parents had gone to the Academy that made her want to attend it as well, it was also the close proximity to home so she could run to help her family should anything happen.

It may have been luck that her sister got into Beacon with her, but for now Yang was content that she was close by.

—

Finally back at the school, the initiates were formed into their teams and presented to the rest of the school body on stage.

"May I introduce Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark, Cardin Winchester, and Russel Thrush. These four retrieved the black bishop pieces and will be known as Team CRDL (Cardinal)"

The four young men in armor, though the one with the green mohawk only had a little armor by the way of a spiked pauldron, walked onto the stage and stood proudly as their team was announced. Behind them all, a screen showed their identification pictures sliding into place before their acronym was displayed.

"They will be led by, Cardin Winchester." Ozpin's declaration made the man in the most intricate and ornate armor stand even straighter before the Headmaster waved for them to clear the stage.

"Next we have the team who brought back the white Rook pieces, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. They will be known as Team JNPR (Juniper)."

Once again, their pictures slid into place with their team name behind them.

"They will be led by… Jaune Arc."

The blonde jumped in surprise, not expecting to be made a leader for anything at all. "M-me?"

"Congratulations young man." Oz gives him a small nod and smile, though that turned into a grin he fought the spread of after Pyrrha gave her newly minted leader a playful punch to the shoulder only to accidentally knock him over. It didn't help that Nora leapt onto Ren for a hug.

"And finally, the ones who returned with the white Knight pieces, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, and Yang Xiao Long. From this day on, they will be known as Team RWBY (Ruby)."

The team name flashed behind them as Yang grinned at the name, as if her smile wasn't bright enough before that announcement even if she hadn't counted on sharing a team

"And leading them will be… Ruby Rose."

And the reactions from the team was immediate- Ruby was caught as surprised as Jaune was, Weiss looked as if she had the leadership role stolen from her, Blake smirked at the heiress, and Yang caught her sister in a quick hug (headlock).

Ozpin looked out to the entire audience. "And that will do it for tonight's events. Please, enjoy your dinners and prepare yourselves for classes Wednesday morning." He began to walk off the stage, leaving the girls to find their own way off. "This seems to be turning out to be an interesting year."

—-

"So… how's it going, Doc?" A tall thin man with his scarred chest exposed asks a colleague of his.

Said Doctor gave a huff of annoyance at his presence. Still, the man was someone to vent to. "At the moment, I'm merely poking through some of the work of other scientists to see what they are working on. Unfortunately, for now, I am unable to gain access to anything more than the most rudimentary of the firewalls."

"Rudimentary? I thought that you could…?" The man's voice was rather dramatic right now. "Wouldn't She like to know that you gave her a hunk of junk? Hehehe!"

"I could care less about that woman and what she thinks!" The Doctor slams his hands on the desk. "But… that device WILL do as intended… as I had assured Our Lady." He let out a breath to calm himself. "It just happens that the firewalls used by the military and the scientists working on the most advanced technology are on completely different scales."

"Hmmm… oh well, if anyone will be able to get through, it's going to be you."

The words of the scarred man boosted the Doctor's ego enough that the stress seemed to vanish. But the man was now interested in what was on the computer screen. "Oh? And what is this?"

The Doctor glanced back at the screen to see that it hasn't been changed and responded from memory, though summarized and without medical jargon for the sake of his colleague. "Apparently the doctor found a chemical agent to assist patients bulk up so that they would be healthy enough for more intensive treatment or to be used to counter the effects of some diseases and medications that make the patients waste away."

While nobody would really argue for the scarred man's intelligence, those who knew him well knew that he was excellent at finding… creative solutions to certain problems, mostly in ways that would cause pain or discomfort to others. Then again, intelligence comes in different forms.

"Oh! Heheheheee!"

"What is it?" Despite to boost to his ego, he wasn't in the mood to deal with the madness his 'friend' brought with him.

"What do you have to say about…?" The test of his idea was whispered into the Doctor's ear.

By the time he was finished, the Doctor's eyes were wide and he grinned under his thick mustache as all of the consequences came to mind quickly over the simple idea. "We best ask Our Lady about this plan."

"Ohohohooo! This is gonna be goood!"

—-

"Oh…. That was good." Ruby rubbed her stomach. After a long day of running through a forest and fighting Grimm and having not eaten since breakfast, she was glad to have stuffed herself.

"You said it Sis." Yang was in the same condition.

"I don't know how you two eat so much." Weiss chided the pair, still ignoring how Blake had gone nuts over the seafood, easily consuming more of it than everyone at their table did combined and then some.

"BBUUUUURRRRPPPP!"

The wind of the belch blew her hair into her eyes before she whipped around to find Nora patting her stomach with a content smile on her face.

"Ah… excuse me!"

"I… really don't want to know where you put all of those pancakes." The heiress tried to save face and mostly dropping the subject.

"Trust me, it's been a mystery for years." Ren offers as they walk past the rich girl.

"Hey, here's our room." Jaune points out and opens the door after unlocking it with his scroll as a form of ID protection.

Stacked in front of each of the four simple wooden framed beds were their belongings. On the beds, they all had white sheets and pillows covered by a red comforter. The hardwood floors are a rich honey-brown which contrasts nicely with the darker wood of the beds, wardrobes, bookshelves, shelves, and desks. The walls are painted a light beige aside from a dark hardwood accent that rose from the floor to waist high, stopping just under the windowsills.

Said windows were tall, more than enough for any of the occupants to stand in the space should they desire after opening them. The wooden slats that formed a grid pattern over the glass were pleasant to look at while being bordered by the deep red curtains that hung from the arch above the window, making both that portal and the already high ceiling look even higher.

Speaking of the ceiling, there was some thin crown molding of the same wood as the floor. The ceiling proved to be more hardwood, but lightly stained so it wouldn't darken the room. Hanging from there in the middle is a fan with four glass balls to provide light for the room.

While the door into the room is a rich, deep brown wood, there is another on the wall to the left, framed and painted white. A quick peek was all that was needed to confirm that it was a bathroom, complete with tub and shower, white tiled floor and walls and small cubicles for their toiletries.

"Wow." Jaune gasps as he led his team in, looking at what was provided for the students of this prestigious school. RWBY poked their heads in before finding that their room was right across the hall.

"Hey! We're gonna be neighbors!" Yang called over as Ruby opened the door.

"That's awesome!" Nora nearly shouts as she runs over to see the other room.

It turned out to have the same design… as expected. There was one detail that didn't go unnoticed.

"Why do you guys get three windows while we have one?" Ruby looks at JNPR standing at the door.

"Umm… good question." Pyrrha shrugs as Ren looks from one room to the other and does some mental calculations.

"Girls, your room is just as large as ours." The quiet boy begins to explain, gesturing back to his room where two of the beds were set between the windows with the final pair aside of the windows so each bed had one between them. "Our room seems to be wider but is narrower." The desks that were on the opposite wall from the beds didn't leave much space between the furniture.

Then he waved to their room. "Yours is more square." Each of their beds with their own wardrobe and desks, were in the corners of the room which left the middle of the floor open but not much space to do all that much more than walk comfortably.

"Oh, that makes sense!" Yang was quick to see the point. She walked over to where her stuff is and began checking everything. "And if you guys don't mind, I'm gonna get a shower and crash for the night."

JNPR took that as their cue to leave and do the same. Half an hour later, RWBY could hear Nora laughing about something but they weren't going to find the reason why.

AN: So... How did you readers enjoy the tweaks to the fights? And for the dorm rooms, I used Ice Queendom for references since they were more detailed than the original depictions. Plus, Yang had a previous bike that she owned and gives a few reasons as to why she went to Beacon. Next update will be for Larger Issues as there is a lot I want to cover there and I have art for it. Still, I can't wait until I finish Small so that there is a complete narrative straight through.

Reviews are welcome!