I took so long to get this chapter out that Rooster Teeth died AND came back to life... So, apologies for that. More on that later.

Ugh... my head...

Hazel woke up in her dorm, clutching her skull with her hand, a killer headache immediately ruining her morning. She looked around the room with hazy, sleepy vision for any sign of her teammates. The sight was almost worth the pain.

Skyler was laying stomach down on the headrest of his bed, his his entire body at a twenty degree angle, the top half pointing directly at the floor. Walker appeared to haven't even made it to the bed, his right arm laying on said bed while the rest of him laid uncomfortably on the floor. And Dante... was hanging upside down on the bar in the closet by the back of his knees. Hazel had no idea how THAT happened.

But then again, Hazel wasn't exactly sure WHAT had happened to get them all so inebriated to be in these positions in the first place. She had a high suspicion that alcohol was involved, but had no sufficient idea on how something like that could've happened...

Meanwhile, in a separate dormitory for visiting students...

Nathan Bourbon put on a shirt as he glanced over at his female friend, who was putting her shoes on, "I saw you pass money over to that Auriel girl last night. What was that for?"

Brittany Lilith grinned mischievously at him, "Party wasn't festive enough. So I decided to throw some intoxication into the mix. As a treat."

Nathan sighed, "I will take no responsibility for anything that might occur because of that."

"Of course not. Auriel will."

Back in Team SHDW's dorm...

It was probably Auriel taking a bribe, Hazel thought with a scowl, but was too busy nursing her aching head to care all that much.

There was a sudden crash as she caught a glimpse of Dante's body finally falling from its hanging position. The sound subsequently woke up the rest of her team snd the room was now filled with the sound of painful groans.

"What in the hell..." Skyler groggily spoke, rubbing his forehead.

"I think the punch was spiked," Hazel replied, her voice wobbly.

"Huh..." Walker said, struggling to get to his feet, "That certainly explains the headache..."

"Didn't you only have the one drink?" Hazel asked with a raised brow.

"I never said I wasn't a lightweight."

Skyler spotted Dante's new folded-in posture in the closet, squinting at it, "Why are Dante's knees on both sides of his head?"

"So many questions..." Hazel complained, pulling her face down, "I know as much as the rest of you, I just happened to wake up first."

"If... If it's any consolation..." Dante finally spoke up, his hand pointing in the air, but none of his body moving with it, "At least Ruby's not using the whistle. If that thing nearly killed us without hangovers, I shudder to think about what would happen now..."

A few minutes earlier, Team RWBY's dorm...

Both fortunately and unfortunately, Ruby had abandoned the dance in favor of action before any punch had been tainted with alcohol, so she woke up headache-free, ready to happily start the day. She hopped down from her top bunk and reached for the whistle on her desk-

SHINK!

Only for a certain rapier to skewer said whistle, shattering it into pieces, the team leader crying out, "Eep!"

Ruby slowly turned her head to where the weapon had been thrown to see a disheveled Weiss glaring at her. Her eyes were red, and her face was pale and sweaty. And when she spoke...

"You so much as look at another whistle, and my Myrtenaster will be the least of your concerns. Am I clear, partner?"

Ruby didn't know how she did it, but Weiss made that sound even more threatening through a hoarse voice. The leader nodded, making a terrified squeaking sound.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Weiss immediately dashed out of bed, slammed the door to the bathroom, and all Ruby heard for the next few minutes was retching.

"Well, in any case," Skyler propped himself up, a bit shaky but overall stable, "I believe Ozpin informed everyone of the meeting after breakfast?"

Hazel fell back onto her pillow, "Ugh... do we have to? In this condition?"

"Sorry. Mandatory."

Every single student in the hall gave a loud groan.

Breakfast was mostly uneventful, strangely enough. Then again, almost nobody was in a talking mood. Only a handful of students like Blake, Yang, and Jaune, surprisingly enough, had high enough of a tolerance to not get a hangover, aside from another handful of foreign students who either had the same tolerance, didn't drink any spiked punch, or straight up didn't go to the dance.

Of course, the key word was "mostly".

"Man, whatever they put into that juice last night was weak!" a Vacuoan girl a table or so down from Team SHDW said, "Barely felt a buzz!"

No one could tell if she was bragging or just stating a fact. Auriel took it as the former, but wisely decided not to speak up. She wasn't that stupid. She also wasn't the only one to interpret that as bragging, as most of everyone within earshot immediately began glaring in the Vacuoan girl's direction.

Thankfully, Professor Goodwitch's voice over the intercom halted the escalating tension, -All first year students, please report to the auditorium immediately.-

A number of student got up to throw away their breakfast trays and headed to the exit. The girl who spoke up went with them, along with her team, ACID, the leader of which was trying to look as small as possible with the looks people were still giving her teammate.

"Isabella, why on REMNANT would you do something like that?!" the leader whisper-yelled.

"Come on, Akira," Isabella Coyote replied with a grin, "Now people have to talk to us, and you can make some more actual friends!"

"...I hate you so much."

Once all of the first year students entered the auditorium, everyone was separated into four groups, all depending on the school you came from. Felix Scout, the leader of Team FHSA (Fuchsia), couldn't help but look at this organization with a deadpan expression. He understood the logic, but it seemed like a bit of a double standard for Headmaster Ozpin, the guy who promoted the ideal of unity, the guy who oversaw the treaty of the most recent war.

And speak of the devil, on the stage walked Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch by his side as always. He made it to the mic, the crowd quieted down, and he begun his speech.

"Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly a quarter of a century ago, one of the largest wars in recorded history came to an end."

Nathan Bourbon narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Faunus War, or rather how it was called in Solitas, the Great War, not to be confused with the war that had occurred between kingdoms nearly a century ago that the other kingdoms called the "Great War".

The most recent war was always a complicated topic, usually devolving into race relations and how they affect society today. And now the guy who negotiated the peace is gonna talk about it with no one to argue against him? This was gonna be... certainly something.

"It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for."

I suppose that's one way to put it, Felix thought, smirking at the headmaster, One of the nicest ways I've ever heard someone put the words "people tried to scientifically defy the entire Faunus population".

He took a glance at his teammates, who all were listening with rapt attention, and he couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. He was, after all, the only human on his team. He won't deny being a human supremacist a few years ago, so to hear all of this discrimination stuff being preached at him again was... an experience. Not that he wasn't trying to get better, but that objective side to him still couldn't help but criticize the words being said.

"As a result, many who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it is a trend that is held to this very day."

A few in the crowd felt particularly called out as they sweat-dropped. As much as some may have loved to chalk up not holding up to tradition to some kind of rebellion, that there was still many people who vehemently oppose the rhetoric Ozpin was spewing, the real reason couldn't be further from the truth.

Sometimes people just name their kids what they want and don't feel like limiting themselves.

"We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it."

Yeah, great job, Isabella thought sarcastically, Really, there's no bandit problem at all. Certainly no Branwen Tribe running around the planet, wrecking things for villages everywhere. Nope. No sirree.

And that was without mentioning all of the various tribes that wandered around Vacuo, often being responsible for just as many skirmishes as Grimm were. Vacuo's government liked to boast about their low Grimm attack average when compared to the other kingdoms, but never the average crime rate.

"As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

His speech done, Ozpin stepped away from the front of the stage. And with that, all of the students began conversing and filing out of the amphitheater.

"Wish us luck, you guys!" Ruby waved at her fellow team as she headed to the boards for assignment.

Skyler and Dante waved before Hazel spoke up, "Well, I guess that leaves the question: where do we go?"

"Maybe a bit west?" Walker suggested, "Less Grimm than the east, but not without potential strengthening of our skills."

"Not a bad suggestion," Skyler conceded, tapping his chin a few times, "How about-"

"Team SHDW."

All of them jumped at the address and turned around to see Professor Glynda Goodwitch. Skyler blinked a few times.

"Uh... yes, professor?" he replied.

"Come with me, all of you," she said, turning around, "We have something to discuss."

With that, she walked away, leaving only a confused Team SHDW in her wake.

"So..." Dante muttered, "Is Professor Goodwitch asking to speak to us a good thing, or...?"

"Best case scenario, she's offering to be the one to have us shadow," Walker theorized, "Worst case... she's offering to be the one to have us shadow."

"So we're screwed either way, great."

"Calm down, you two," Skyler chastised, "Whatever it is, we can handle it."

"We're what?!"

"You're staying here on school grounds," Goodwitch pushed up her glasses, "Don't make me repeat myself again."

One of Skyler's eyes twitched, "Any particular reason why?"

"Your propensity to get yourselves into trouble," the professor crossed her arms, "It seems to have become a trend for you first years to find yourselves in trouble you should have no business being in, especially when you're all together. While I personally would've preferred the team to stay to be Team RWBY, Headmaster Ozpin has... other plans. So they'll be heading southeast, JNPR will be heading northeast, ATUM will be heading southwest, CRDL will be heading northwest, and you will be remaining here."

"So..." Hazel drawled with an annoyed frown, "We're specifically being targeted for punishment."

"We're trying to avoid trouble as much as possible," Glynda corrected, her eyes narrowing, "Believe it or not, we staff did put actual thought into this. And you will not be without supervision. Another experienced team will be in charge of you. You will just happen to be staying on school grounds while doing so."

None of them actually believed her, but it's not like they could really argue.

Skyler instead just pinched his nose, "Then I guess I'll just ask this: who's in charge of supervising us?"

Professor Goodwitch nodded and gestured to the door, "Follow me so we can meet them. They just got in via airship."

"Sup, losers."

Skyler blinked rapidly at the sight in front of him before responding, "...Hey."

In front of Team SHDW was the aforementioned other team in charge of them. The first guy was tall and athletic-looking with shaved-short black hair and tanned skin, a giant sword on his back. The second person was a familiar female rabbit Faunus with long brown hair and eyes, a box strapped to the back of her waist. The third guy was a fox Faunus with dark skin and dark, messy copper hair, his eyes faded over to indicate blindness. And the last person, the one who addressed them, was a young woman with fair skin, short dark-brown hair, and dark-brown eyes, holding a briefcase in one hand.

Having just returned from their long term mission, Team CFVY was being put in charge of Team SHDW and their whereabouts.

"Well," Dante deadpanned, "This just bites."

And that's a wrap! AT LONG LAST. I'll get into why it took so long soon. But for now, history!

Myself and H20FLAME seemed to get ourselves confused on when exactly the so-called "Great War" took place, and it wasn't exactly made clear in the early show either, so that didn't help. So we came up with an unnecessarily complicated plot point that the recent war Ozpin talked about meaning different things to different people, and how some people refer to it as "The Great War", while others refer to it as "The Faunus War". It's a thing.

And yeah, that little jab at the series' character-naming convention was a bit of a self-burn, as I am not nearly creative enough to come up with names all based on colors.

But yeah, next time is Team CFVY! ...Or at least, that's what I would be saying if not for the upcoming announcement. See you then.