Chapter 24

Beacon, crack of Dawn

The light of the morning sun was barely seeping over the horizon, giving the world a pale orange glow. Yang yawns as she waits by the helipad with her other teammates and friends. She couldn't sleep, too worried for both her sister and teammates. The times she did drift off, horrible dreams of their bodies entered them. Even the thought of the nightmares sent a terrible shiver down her spine. A loud yawn to her right made her tiredly turn her head to see Nora dangerously swaying, looking ready to fall over at any moment. The rest of team JNPR wasn't much better, all with half-lidded eyes and ready to sleep. They were woken up and, after a fair amount of apologizing, informed them of their involvement in the eventual rescue mission. After being informed about what they are participating in, they spent the rest of the night preparing. The most aware of the group is Ren, standing still and eyes fully open, but even his eyes were red from lack of sleep. The blonde looks to her right to see her teammates, and Violet were very much in the same condition.

Weiss is struggling to keep her eyes open, and her head was lolling to the side. Blake's eyes were open, but she had a very displeased look on her face at the lack of sleep. Violet was asleep on her feet; a light snore could be heard from the tall girl. The cat faunus gives the taller girls then annoyingly slaps her hard on the back of her head. Violet snorts from the impact and jerks her head up, incoherently muttering, "I'm awake." Yang smiles as her friends were in the same position, too tired from worrying about their friends and anxious at the mission. She then hears a loud metallic thud; everyone turns to see Jaune, eyes wide, heaving Order onto his back. The blond boy still wasn't adjusted to the weight of the weapon he volunteered to carry.

"How does Micheal carry this thing with one arm?" the blond complains sleepily.

"Don't know," Yang answers, equally tired. Then the sound of feet approaching from behind. They all turn to see Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch walking towards them.

"Good morning," the headmaster greets politely with a smile. All he got from the group was a collective grumble of greetings, he let it pass due to their tiredness. He then stands in front of the lot, his becoming stern. The group doing their best to stand astute, but still falling a bit short. "Now before the aircraft arrives, I want to inform and remind you of a few rules," he stops to make sure they were listening, and they were awake. After a second, he contents with that they were aware of him. "First, this is an actual mission, not any training exercise you have had up till now, you will potentially encounter more dangerous Grimm than around here and ones you have never seen before. There is a chance you will encounter an extremely dangerous Grimm, almost as dangerous as the Elder Scourge, so please be cautious. Two, as this is a rescue mission, your main objective is to retrieve your charges, in this case, the missing half of team RWBY…," he stops to gaze at the half of the team in front of him. Their eyes were weary but sharp, fully intent on rescuing their friends. "So, there is no need to get into needless fights with the creatures of Grimm. Third, while team RWBY is officially leading the operation, once Douglas merges with your group, the command will be given to him, so you will do everything he says, no questions asked, understood?"

"Yes sir, professor," the group says with as much energy they could muster in unison. The headmaster smiles in response, and his ears pick up the sounds of aircraft engines approaching. He turns to see three aircrafts approaching the helipad.

"He is early," Ozpin comments to himself. Two of the aircrafts were standard military carriers, though smaller and quicker in appearance. The third was slimmer with a sleeker appearance, painted with a black and green color scheme, the symbol on its side. The emblem is a strange mixture of a sword, and a tree, the blade of the sword is the trunk of the tree with roots coiling around it, and the handle and guard are the tree canopy. All three aircrafts gently where they could, the pad was too small for all three. The military ships land on the platform, with the slimmer ship settling in the courtyard. After a minute, the ships let their ramps down, and various people walk out of them. Pilots in Vale military uniforms walk out of their crafts, walking up and saluting Ozpin. The headmaster gives them a polite nod and turns towards the group of four approaching them. He recognizes Douglas immediately in his usual combat outfit and his faithful zweihänder on his back, the trio behind him is a different story. One is a tall woman, in her late twenties, with a sharp, stern face with a slim build. She is wearing an open black leather jacket and a tight white shirt underneath, a pair of black pants with slits on the sides revealing her thighs and hips and a couple of large handguns on each side of her hips. Her platinum blonde hair is tied into a slim low-end ponytail. The other two people were men, one older and the other young. The older man is pale, tall, and thin with greying dark brown hair and a nasty scar across his left side of his face, a pair of goggles on his head. He wears a tan trench coat and vest with black pants and boots. On his back is a large rifle, almost equal in height as the man with a sword-like bayonet under the rifle barrel. The young man was short but stocky and a friendly, scar-free dark-skinned face with a head of forest green hair. He wears a plain green shirt and blue jean pants with green shoes. At his right side is a small white box held there by a black strap going over his left shoulder. On his back rests a serrated axe the size of the man's torso. Ozpin holds a hand out to greet his old friend.

"Ozzy," Douglas greets jovially, grabbing Ozpin's hand and pulling into a quick hug, a standard greeting between the two men. "It's good to see you, my old friend," letting go of the headmaster after a second. The squad students, excluding Weiss and Pyrrha, now realizing how large the veteran was, as he towers over Ozpin.

"Likewise," Ozpin says slightly annoyed at the action, but pleased nonetheless to see the old hunter. His eyes travel to his companions. "These are the people you hired."

"Yes, these people…," Douglas starting to introduce.

"Snow!" a voice rings out suddenly in an excited tone. Everyone looks to see Violet abruptly tackle the woman, knocking the woman off-balance. The other students of Beacon painfully and annoyingly grimace from the sudden noise, their brains not ready for it this early or when they were so exhausted.

"Violet?" the woman named Snow asks somewhat shocked, her voice is deep and smooth. The young girl nods as she gives the older woman a bright smile. Snow returns the smile with a warm on of her own, brushing the younger girl's hair. "It's been a while, have you been a good girl?"

"Of course," Violet says as she hugs the woman. A loud cough gets the duo attention, they turn to see Douglas and Ozpin, giving them a quizzical look.

"Friend of yours, Snow?" Douglas asks, his eyes drift to the group of weary students, looking at Violet with both curiosity and irritation. The legends eyes then wander to Ozpin with a quirked eyebrow, wondering what the contingent of pupils was doing here. His friend gave him a look that told him will explain in a minute.

"Family, she's my cousin," Snow says, gently pushing Violet away, but keeping an arm around the girl's shoulders. Then the woman's eyes drift to the other students. "I don't remember being told we were going with students of Beacon," the woman comments. Her piercing eyes were intently examining the young boys and girls as if looking for their weaknesses, faults, or an excuse to stop them from coming. The woman's eyes made them straighten in a nervous gesture.

"I'm wondering that myself, Ozzy," Douglas comments himself, crossing his arms, waiting for the response.

"I didn't come to babysit more kids," the older man says, his stern eyes only quickly glancing at the group in contempt. The group glares at the man with equal disdain.

"I am sorry for the sudden change Douglas, the task remains the same, but after three of the girls here…" Ozpin stops to look at Weiss, Blake, and Yang sternly. The veteran hunter and the trio with him staring at the young girls, making them shift around nervously. "Tried to get out there with them last night, I promised this group last night I would let them accompany you to rescue their friends, and in the case of one, a younger sister, I just hope it is not too much."

"Of course not," Douglas chirps, spreading arms out in a jovial manner. He turns to give the group a warm, comforting smile to lift the groups' spirits, which the group returns.

"Well, we could always use the extra help to carry any injured," the new older man says, his voice noticeably more comforting and his eyes softer.

"Of course, we can," the friendly young man says, his voice equaling his overall disposition with a bright smile.

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce my help," Douglas says, pounding his left fist into his open palm. He waves for the trio to stand next to him. "These are the Corvus Mercenaries, the woman is the current head of the group, Snow Corvus," Douglas says, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder. The mercenary politely shakes hands with Ozpin.

"Pleased to meet you, Ozpin, these are my colleagues," Snow gestures with her head to her companions with a small smile. "The older one is Frazier Auburn, the marksman of the team," Frazier gives a polite bow. "The younger one is one of our newer members, Forest Scale, he is our paramedic in the field," Forest beams at Ozpin with an energetic wave.

"I had worked with the Corvus Mercenaries since their conception twenty years ago, I can vouch for their skills," Douglas says with a confident air, crossing his arms.

"Pleasure to meet you all and I thank you for your help, I would talk more, but you should get on your way," Ozpin says as he turns to the group of students. Violet gave Snow one last hug before rejoining her group. Douglas and the mercenaries walk back and enter his aircraft. "Three of you know what was said last night, but for the others, you will do everything Douglas or Mrs. Corvus says, they are in charge of the operation while you are out there. If they tell you to fight, you can, but if they tell you to run, then you will obey that as well, understood," Ozpin says firmly, his eye becoming sharp as he gazes at his students.

"Yes, professor," the hunter and huntresses in training speak in unison. Ozpin smiles for a second before it drops for a somber expression as his grip on his cane tightens. Even though he was leaving them in reliable hands with Douglas, it still causes him some distress to send so far into the field into dangerous territory. It also produces a small amount of anxiety, wondering what they were going to find. He hopes that they find the three missing students alive.

"And please be careful, do not do anything rash, I want all you to return safely, this mission will mean nothing if even one of you dies," the headmaster says seriously, his features reflecting his mood. The members of the rescue squad gaze at their headmaster for a second, digesting his message. Then they repeat their previous statement with more vigor than before. Then after speaking to the piolet of the military ships, he splits the students into their teams onto the two crafts. After a minute, the engines of the three ships began to noisily power on. The aircrafts then slowly rise into the air and then speed off towards the mountain range. Ozpin stands there on the helipad, somberly watching them go, slowly taking a deep breath.

On the aircraft, the three members of team RWBY and Violet were sitting on seats against the wall, two to each side of the ship, Yang and Blake on one side, Weiss and Violet on the other. The quartet of girls just sat in silence, too concentrated on what they may potentially see. Yang's hands were tightly clenched together, her knuckles white from the grip. Her eyes were unfocused as she stares at the ground. Her mind was elsewhere, thinking about her sister and her teammates and what they were going to see. She did her best to keep positive thoughts in her head; they were going to land, and Ruby, Micheal, Hitomi were going to be okay and waiting for them. But as with these situations, darker thoughts would be seeping into one's mind, and the Blonde's grip tightens as she nervously nibbles her lips acknowledges these. The images of seeing her sister and friend's corpses, or only pieces of clothing and weapons, wouldn't leave her mind. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. Yang turns toward the owner to see Blake giving her a small smile.

"Relax, they will be fine, you are not the only one worried about them," the cat faunus says in a reassuring voice, trying to comfort her partner. The blonde eyes could see the raven-haired girl anxiously fingering the handle of Gambol Shroud. Then Yang glances at the other in the compartment. Weiss was rapidly fiddling with the pommel of Myrtenaster, eyes tightly closed, her boot restlessly tapping the metal floor, and breathing slowly. Violet was lightly and quickly rapping the shaft of her great club, leaning on the open palm of her left hand, her posture was uneasy as she sat there. The blonde eyes return to her partner. She gives Blake a small smile in return.

"Our ETA is about five minutes, I suggest you four check your equipment before we land, there's no telling what we'll see," one of the pilots calls from the cockpit. The girls did as they were told for the remainder of the trip. Then the ship came to a stop, and the four went towards the window to look out it. The ship was hovering above a plateau with a mansion against a mountain wall with broken lumber scattered everywhere along with the smooth stone. They see three Grimm on clearing all perched around a section of the mountain wall of the clearing as if waiting for something. They didn't appear to notice they were being watched.

"What are those Griffons doing? They're just standing there," Yang asks aloud, curious to the Grimm's odd behavior.

"I don't know, we are too far away to tell," Blake answers, squinting her eyes, attempting to see something.

"Do you think they are after Ruby and the others?" Weiss asks, worry in her voice, her eyes looking at her teammates. They return the gaze, wondering about the creatures.

"They're covering some cave entrance," Violet replies calmly. The trio curiously looks at the tallest of the group to see her holding a small, hand-held telescope up to her left eye.

"Can you see into the cave?" Weiss asks.

"No, our current angle won't let me," the platinum blonde girl plainly says. She pulls the device from her eye and places it in the black pouch at her waist. The craft stayed in the air, not doing anything, neither trying to land or turning to deal with the Grimm.

"Hey! Why aren't we moving?" Yang shouts curiously to the pilots, leaning back to look at the cockpit. One of the aviators turns his head and pulls his headset down.

"We're waiting for the okay from Douglas, he says one of the mercenaries is going to take care of the Grimm," he answers politely.

"Doesn't this ship have weapons? Can't you take out the Grimm?" Yang asks.

"We do, but we're saving them if more or large Grimm show up," the man answers. The blonde then looks out the window again, just in time to see the Griffons jerk violently to the side and then slump to the ground at the same time. The group watches in wonder at how quick the Grimm were killed and without a sound.

"We got the all-clear, we're landing now, I suggest getting in your seats," the pilot says.

Ground Level

Ruby had Faith raised, pointing down the hall, ready for something to enter the hallway. She knew the Griffons were outside the cave the whole time, hearing them growl throughout the night. Then she heard the distinct sound of the creatures hitting the ground suddenly and the sound of engines getting louder. Her eyes were red from lack of sleep herself, and it was affecting her physically. She was having a tough time holding the firearm straight, which was shaking the entire time in her hands, and keeping her eyes open. The sound of three loud engines and deep thumps told her an aircraft has landed. Ruby's eyes had become adjusted to the darkness of the cave; the light outside the cave was obscuring her vision. All she could see was a wall of orange light and not what kind of craft there was. She had discarded the night vision goggles as she saw the morning light at the entrance. The brunette swallows nervously as she indistinct voices from outside the cavern entrance. She was afraid it was more White Fang coming for her and her friends again. Ruby takes a deep calming breath as she steadies the firearm, ready to defend everyone in the cave. The voices were drawing closer to the entrance of the cave, with shadows of various figures taking shape. Then a shout echoes from outside, and the dark shapes bolt to the sides of the opening.

"Ruby," an extremely familiar voice, says at the entrance comfortingly tone. The brunette flinches in surprise at the tone, it sounded like her sister. She didn't lower her weapon, but she instead leans forward slightly to listen intently to the voice. She sincerely wanted to believe it was Yang calling her, but she couldn't be sure. A couple voices could be heard speaking, which devolved into arguing she couldn't understand. "Ruby, it's us, please lower the weapon," the voice says again, slightly pleading. She could hear more arguments amongst the various sounds. "Ruby, I'm coming in, please don't shoot," the person says again. Then a figure attentively steps into the mouth of the cave, obscured by the morning light shining in. Ruby's eyes strain to see the person in front of her, even obscure she could tell the person has her hands up, obviously trying to show no harm. Then the person steps into the cave, her features becoming more apparent to the brunette in the darkness of the cave. Then Ruby lowers Faith as her sister comes into focus. There was a second where the two sisters stood there staring at each other, comprehending the other's appearance. Yang's eyes widen, and she nibbles her lips as she acknowledges the two sets of stained bandages on the brunette's head and stomach, her disheveled appearance. There was a strange look in her eyes like something unspeakable happened but soon forms a warm smile trying to hide her surprise. Then Ruby places the firearm on the ground, and in the next instant, the sounds of a grunt and a thud resonate. Ruby had bolted over and tackled her sister to the ground in a tight hug.

"Yang, Yang," Ruby says in a croaky voice, extremely happy to see her sister. She knew that the team was here to get her and her friends. This ordeal was over, she was returning to Beacon. Yang tenderly wraps her arms around her sister, running her finger through her hair. The sound of footsteps getting closer made the blonde and brunette look up to see their other two teammates. Weiss and Blake kneel with relieved smiles on their faces, glad to see their leader was okay. Their eyes did wander over their leader's injuries for a second before settling on her face. Ruby got up to hug Weiss tightly, who gladly returns the hug, though nowhere near as tight.

"Ruby, are Micheal and Hitomi in that room back there?" Blake asks, gesturing with her finger to the open door. The brunette turns her head and nods at the faunus. The cat faunus got an odd feeling from her leader's gaze. The curious look in her eyes told her that something was off like she was studying her, trying to figure something out. Blake's smile didn't leave her face, but she did become apprehensive under the young girl's gaze. The raven-haired girl stands up and, a little quicker than needed, walks into the room, trying to get away from Ruby's gaze. After one last look at Ruby, who's smile widens as JNPR enters the cavern, Blake enters the room. The moment she enters the room, she freezes in pure shock and horror, her eyes widening at two of the occupants. Her eyes were lying upon two of the people that weren't her teammates. 'Why are they here?' She asks herself as her eyes linger on the two White Fang members. Even though the two appear to be unconscious, the sight of them made her want to run away, afraid they will wake up and expose her. 'Is this why Ruby looked at me that way? Did they tell her?' Then her heart begins to beat quickly as thoughts of Ruby telling her team and them turning on her cruelly form in her mind.

"Blake, are they in there?" Yang's voice requests from the hall, pulling the cat faunus from her stupor. Blake, placing a hand to her chest, takes a few deep breathes to calm her nerves.

"Yes, Micheal and Hitomi are in here," Blake answers her partner, trying to keep her voice even. The rational part of her mind told her that Ruby wouldn't carelessly say to the team something so important and potentially damaging; at least she hopes not. Blake's eyes then move towards her teammates and drops, acknowledging Micheal's condition, the bandages coving his neck, stomach, and leg, but is pleased to see him breathing. The cat faunus's eye then travels the fox faunus and sees she didn't appear to have any injuries or bandages, only some bruising on various parts of her body. Blake walks over to her friend and gently grabs her friend's shoulder, lightly shaking her. Hitomi painfully groans as she reaches out and grabs the hand, touching her, slowly opening her eyes. Her gaze settles on Blake, and her eyes widen.

"Blake!" Hitomi says happily in a strained voice. Blake moves her hand behind the rust-haired girl's back to lift her up slowly. But the moment the cat faunus pulls her up, Hitomi loudly hisses in pain, and Blake lies her back down.

"What is wrong?" Blake asks, a little panic in her voice.

"Fractured back," Hitomi groans out, eyes closed in pain. She then reaches out and grab's her fellow faunus' hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Blake returns the gesture as the information sinks in.

"How did the two of you end up like this?" Blake asks.

"We were attacked by the Grimm last night," Hitomi informs.

"And those two?" the cat faunus inquires, her eyes looking at the two White Fang.

"A group of them came to get us, but before they could take us away, Magaru came…," Hitomi explains quickly, in too much pain to give a detailed explanation. She could feel Blake's grip tighten at the mention of the dragon Grimm, obviously worried. "But all he did was destroy their ship and flew off, but then a horde of Grimm came, most of the White Fang died, we got injured in the fight after it ended we came In here," Hitomi says as she relaxes on the old bed. Then a sobbing came from the hallway, it sounded like it came from Ruby. But it didn't seem like she was happy, like before, she seemed broken up.

"Why is Ruby crying?" Blake asks, looking at the hallway for a second. Then she returned her gaze to Hitomi, frowning at the crestfallen face on her friend.

"She had to kill someone last night, the first time she has ever done so," Hitomi answers. Blake lets out a deep, mournful breath, closing her eyes at the info. The news of what happened to her usually childish, cheerful leader hurts to hear. The cat faunus hopes Ruby isn't going to be irreparably scarred from the incident, not just from her first kill but from the sight of seeing so many people die in one night. The sound of heels could be heard at the door. Blake turns, shifting her body so Hitomi could see Weiss in the doorway.

"Hitomi, you are awake, how are you feeling?" the heiress asks a mixture of joy and sadness in her voice, looking around the room. Her face morphs into a visibly furious scowl at the sight of the unconscious White Fang, the view of them causing her blood to boil for varying reasons, the new one being involving with her partner's latest issue and the unsuccessful abduction attempt. Weiss takes a deep breath, pulling her face from the criminals to look at her teammate, worried look adorning her face. Blake kept her face even at the scowl, willing to let it pass because for Ruby's sake, having a feeling that is the main reason for it this time.

"I am alright, back hurts, but I am good," Hitomi answer her teammate with a comforting smile. Weiss returns the gesture with a warm smile of her own. Then the white-haired girl looks at Micheal and her face drops at his state, she sighs as kneels by the wolf faunus' head. Blake repeats her teammate's action on the other side of her fellow faunus. Weiss reaches down and very gently shakes her fellow faunus, trying to avoid her usual method of waking him up.

Micheal was experiencing a delightful dream. He was in his dorm with his team, hanging out playing games, well more Ruby trying to explain to Weiss how to play the fighting game. The wolf faunus was sitting on Blake's bed, owner of the bunk to his right. His partner was sitting on Weiss's bunk, watching the White Rose duo with an amused smile. Yang was on the ground in front of Micheal and Blake, amusingly watching their teammates quarreling over a game. Even though for some reason, Micheal couldn't hear a single word Ruby and Weiss was saying, he was delighted nevertheless. He was home at Beacon, and his body wasn't hurting, though his left shoulder was bugging like someone was pushing on it.

Then he felt a tap on his other shoulder, turning his head to the source. But as he turns toward Blake, he felt a hand on the back of his head. Then he was pulled into a kiss with Blake. Unfortunately, like many dreams that were getting good, it would end at the best part. The shoving on his shoulder was getting worse, and he groans as he wakes, the dull aches of his hurt body return. He opens his eyes in a vain hope that he would be in bed at Beacon. Despite the pain telling him otherwise, he sincerely wishes yesterday was a dream. Though the sight that did greet his eyes, while wasn't Beacon, it was still a pleasant sight. His teammates, Blake and Weiss, kneeling above him, smiling at him. "Weiss, Blake," Micheal says weakly, but delighted tired smile on his face. His tail would be visibly wagging if it weren't for the fact it was pinned under him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Blake asks.

"Leg hurts like shit, but I'm alright for the most part," Micheal answers, looking at his friend. Then he remembers the end of his dream and averts his eyes from the cat faunus, a dark blush on his face. Blake quirks an amused eyebrow at this reaction. It was the second time she got a different response from her teammates, though at least this was more amusing. She could feel the heiress giving her a curious look. 'What were you dreaming about?' Blake muses curiously. The cat faunus did internally worry Micheal, and Hitomi now knew she was once a part of the White fang.

"I'm going to get Yang, she needs to see them," Blake says to her teammate. It was partially true, the Blonde did need to see her friends, even if just for a minute before returning to her sister. Now, this is also the chance to talk to Ruby, if she was willing, about if her suspicions were correct and Ruby now knows both secrets. She had a feeling that Ruby wouldn't care about the faunus secret. In fact, she might be thrilled in her own way. It was the White Fang part that worries her.

"Okay," was Weiss' response as her eyes return to the wolf faunus. Blake stands up and walks out of the room to see her leader hugging her sister tightly on the ground, who was hugging equally tight back, with JNPR and Violet around the sisters, all with somber expressions. The cat faunus walks over to her partner's side and places a hand on her shoulder. The blonde turns her head to look at her partner.

"Micheal and Hitomi are awake, go see them, I will look after Ruby," Blake says comfortingly.

"You make it sound like they just woke up from a coma," Yang comments. The amber-eyed girl could see her partner was extremely reluctant to let her sister go after the trauma she experienced, not that she could blame her.

"I guess I did, but it would lift their spirits to see you as well," the cat faunus says. Her partner seems to be ready to retort her comment.

"It's okay Yang, go see them, I'll be fine," Ruby stops her sister, picking her head up, revealing red eyes, that wasn't entirely from her exhaustion.

"Are you sure?" Yang asks worried, Ruby nods with a small smile, which the blonde weakly returns. The brawler smiles and gives her sister one last hug and kisses her on the head. Then she gets up and walks into the room, team JNPR and Violet following her. She could hear chatter coming from the chamber upon the group entering the room. Then the red and black look at each other in silence. Blake could feel her junior's curious eyes on her again, looking for signs of something. The cat faunus wanted to talk to her away from the rest of their friends.

"Ruby…" Blake awkwardly stops, trying to find a good excuse to get her out of the cave. "Would you like to get some fresh air?" The brunette tilts her head at the question, thinking about, trying to decipher the intent.

"Sure, that would be good," Ruby says, somewhat slowly, unsure how to bring up her question. She had been scanning Blake's figure, trying to find the source of her faunus' heritage. 'I wonder why she hides it?' Blake extends her hand to her leader, who takes. The cat faunus gently pulls her junior to her feet, and the duo walks out of the cave. Ruby had to cover her eyes in the light of the morning sun, which was slowly losing its orange glow.

"Hey, you must be one of the people we came to rescue," a friendly voice says. Ruby and Blake turn their heads to see Forest running towards them, waving at them. "Nice to meet you, I'm Forest Scale, one the people hired to help rescue you, I'm the team's paramedic," he says.

"H-Hi, I'm Ruby Rose," the brunette greets politely, if somewhat subdued, not expecting anyone else outside her circle of friends. The brunette turns toward Blake, in a silent gesture for some explanation on the new guy.

"Douglas Evergreen and some mercenaries he hired to help rescue you three along with us," Blake explains.

"Douglas is here?" Ruby inquires, wonder, and some of her usual excitement in her voice. The prospect of seeing him brought some thrill to her, she always wanted to meet him, and his presence meant they were going to be okay. The cat faunus points toward the entrance, the brunette looks in the direction. She brings hands up and gives a quiet squeal of delight at the sight for the older man. He was talking with Snow and her other colleague at the entrance, weapons in hand. Then she sees then two mercenaries walk to enter the pass while Douglas walks towards the aircrafts. "Where are those two going?"

"Checking the path for more Grimm, best to make sure none are on their way, we're just here to grab the three of you and be on our way, the sooner, the better," Forest answers. Ruby turns toward the young man. He gives her a full, friendly smile. The cheeriness of gesture made Rub smile in return. "I meant to come to check up on your conditions immediately after landing, but I had to make sure I had all my supplies in my bag," he gives his pack at his side a pat to emphasize his point. "So, before the two of you walk anywhere else, do mind if I give you a quick look over? You look okay on the outside, plus seeing as you're walking around, you don't appear to be any serious pain. But I just want to make sure, in case of internal injuries," He asks Ruby warily, obviously not wanting to make the young girl uncomfortable with the idea.

"Sure," Ruby says comfortingly, while she was wary, it was best to make sure there was nothing wrong with her.

"Now, hold still, this may feel weird, but that's just the by-product," Forest says as he places a hand on the brunette's head. The man's face became stern as his hand began to glow a dark green, the sign of his semblance is on. Ruby shivers as she felt an odd, yet warm feeling in her body. This feeling was like something slowly and attentively slithering through her body. This feeling would stop and turn at specific points, as if trying to avoid the area of her body or when it meets with a barrier preventing it from moving forward. The medic hums as his semblance was doing its job. After a few minutes, the feeling stops, and Forest pulls his hand away and gives her a cheery thumbs-up. "You're good, nothing damaged on the inside, I'm just going to change your bandages, and then you're free to go." He then reaches into his bag and pulls out a roll of bandage and surgical tape, then begins to work on the young girl.

"What was that?" Blake asks.

"It felt so weird," the brunette comments, making sure to stay still.

"Sorry about that, my semblance is a bit strange in that respect, but it's the reason I was hired as a paramedic. One of my instructors gave it some medical name, but for simplicity's sake, like just call it an injury detector. I send a sort of intangible probe into the body to search for internally injuries or check on the condition of a fracture or break, etc. Useful for medicinal reasons, useless in actual combat," he explains, trying to make conversation to distract the two girls as he did his job. Then after a minute, Ruby's bandages were changed, and with a wave, he quickly walks into the cave, toward the back room with the rest of their team. The duo stares at each other for a second, then Blake looks around, making sure no one was paying attention. She then silently gestures to the manor with her finger. Ruby nods, understanding what she wants to do.

The two teammates enter the building and shuffle to get out of plain sight of the windows and the front door. They want to make sure they weren't seen and eventually disturbed. Then they stare at each other in silence, unsure how to start their conversation, unsure how to phrase their questions. They just stood there staring for a minute, the silence between the two was becoming uncomfortable. Ruby began to digger her boot into the old wood floor, while Blake purses her lips, eyes shifting to the side, afraid of this sudden topic. Then Blake takes a deep breath, unable to hold it anymore and needed to get this over with. "Ruby, did they tell you, I saw you eyeing me oddly, so be honest with me," Blake says, getting to the point.

"That you're a faunus and a former member of the White Fang," Ruby says plainly. Blake uneasily purses her lips in response to the reply. They stood in tense silence for another minute, before one spoke up. "I haven't said a word about either thing," Ruby reassures. The cat faunus lets out a deep sigh of relief at the news. Glad that her leader was as she hoped she would be.

"Which one told you?" Blake asks, curious to the culprit.

"The bear faunus, the big one, his name is Duke Bern," Ruby answers. Blake purses her lips as she absorbs the information. "Did you know him?" Blake shakes her head.

"No, not really, I've heard of him during my time with them, but he and my partner at the time had a shared animosity between them, so I never got to meet him, I always heard he was a good man," Blake explains.

"He is, he was going to take me back to Vale and made sure none of the other hurt me, even though he didn't have to," Ruby says. "What was your old partner like?" Then Blake's features morphed into an extremely stern look. She shakes her head with a somber and slightly angry look in her eyes.

"I do not want to talk about, at least not now," Blake says in a voice of finality. Ruby got the message that this was a touchy subject and moved on from it.

"Okay, but I do want to know, why kept the fact you're a faunus from us at least," the brunette inquires, crossing her arms.

"I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am," Blake answers the question, her face softening.

"You're my friend and teammate, that's all that matters, to me at least," Ruby says instantly with a beaming smile. Blake couldn't help but smile herself, she couldn't help being happy at the comment.

"Thanks, Ruby, it is nice to hear that," the cat faunus says, but her face drops a bit. "I am sorry but for…," she starts.

"You want me to keep it a secret, for now, I know obviously the White Fang part, I think I'm the only one who knows that. Micheal and Hitomi were both out at the time, but the faunus part?" Ruby interjects with a pout, obviously saddened by the prospect, wanting her to come out with it. Yang wouldn't care. In fact, her sister would like as much as she did. Yang would just treat her the same as before, she's her partner, faunus or not. Weiss was the tricky one, while obviously softer on faunus than when they first knew her. Her tolerance towards faunus mostly extends toward Micheal and Hitomi, and her being polite with Velvet but not really seeing her as a friend. Blake nods in response, expecting the reaction from her leader. "Fine, but two things," Ruby says. The cat faunus raises an eyebrow and with a gesture with her hand to continue, curious about what the younger girl wants. "Well, three things really," she mutters, looking away, slightly embarrassed. Blake waits for her leader to speak, her features not moving. "First, you have to promise to tell the rest of the team at some point," Ruby says with a stern face, showing she meant it. The raven-haired girl sighs in response.

"Not anytime soon, I'm not comfortable enough to reveal that yet," Blake comments.

"That's fine, just tell us when you're ready," Ruby says with a comforting smile.

"Alright, well the only ones left who don't know are Yang and Weiss, Micheal and Hitomi figured out the day I met them," Blake comments.

"Second, what kind of faunus are?" Ruby asks, enthusiasm building in her voice. The previous night's event gone from her mind for the moment, allowing her to be like she was at Beacon. Blake sighs at the eagerness, but a small smile on her face. It was a good thing to see Ruby as happy as she is, forgetting her personal issues for a moment. Though Blake did shift slightly uneasy at the sudden situation, not expecting it to end anytime soon or appearing when it did.

"A cat faunus," Blake answers plainly. Ruby brings her hands up and quietly squeals, trying not to bring others' attention. She now wanted to see Blake's faunus' heritage. Blake glances toward the manor windows, making sure no one was peeping in, then she shifts a little more uneasily under her leader's curious gaze.

"Ears or a tail?" Ruby asks.

"Ears," Blake replies with a sigh. Then she sees her junior's eyes quickly move up to her bow. The cat faunus smiles nervously as her leader begins to reach out toward her target.

"Can I see them?" She asks, almost pointlessly, as her outreaching hands were trying to answer that question for her and Blake. The cat faunus leans back from her junior's hands, trying to keep her from touching her bow.

"No, not here, not now, not where others can potentially see," Blake complains, grabbing her leader's hands, preventing her from touching her bow.

"But we're hidden, and it would be just for a second, please," Ruby asks pleading, now stretching her arm as much as she could, trying to push through her friend's grip.

"I said no; we are not that hidden; besides, I highly doubt it would be just for a second," Blake complains, her features becoming annoyed at her leader persistence. The cat faunus takes a step back, the strength of her junior, causing her to start losing her balance. Then the heel of her boot steps on something, and then the sound of something cracking then loudly snapping resonates through the room, immediately stopping the duo's current action. They separate and look toward the source of the snap, curiously wondering what it was. They see something made of wood broken under a thick pile of dust and bits of debris, slightly obscured by a nearby table. Blake kneels and reaches down, careful of the sharp edges of the wood, and picks up the object. As the concealed thing leaves the ground, dust slides off, revealing it to be the back of a frame, a picture frame.

"A picture frame," Blake comments.

"Turn it over, I want to see if there's a picture," Ruby says leaning over her friend, with a slight ordering tone. She was curious if this was the picture Hitomi was looking for. Blake gives her a questioning quirk of an eyebrow, wondering why her leader was ordering her but complied. As she turns it, she sees the picture was covered in dust as well. The cat faunus blows on it, scattering the dirt to reveal the picture. The faded picture, though still comprehendible image, contains a family of four, a family of faunus.

"Are those fox faunus?" Ruby wonders aloud.

"I think so," Blake comments. There was a male fox faunus with the same hair as Hitomi and a female fox faunus with white hair with two children sharing the same hair color as their supposed father. The dad could be described as a muscular, pretty boy, and the mom looks a surprising amount like Hitomi, almost like a mirror image except for softer eyes, and her eyes were blue, except older. The kids, a young boy, and a young girl that could pass for younger version as their parents. Then Ruby sees Blake's ribbon twitch and quietly squeals, she absolutely loved the scene so much finding it cute, that the prospect that her friend just heard something didn't dawn on her. Blake turns her head towards the sound she just heard, an embarrassed blush on her face from her leader's joyful shriek. The brunette suddenly got the feeling that someone was standing behind her, she quickly turns so fast, she cricks her neck. The duo relaxes the scene in front of them, it was Douglas Evergreen behind him, handle of his sword in both hands, ready for anything. He eases at the view of the two girls looking at the picture. It was the first time Ruby got to see him in person, she never realized how tall he was, he was, in fact, taller Yatsuhashi by at least a few inches.

"It was just you two," he politely says as he holsters his sword on his back. He then leans over them and looks at the picture. "Ah, I can't believe a picture even survived after all this time," he remarks awestruck, his face showing him reminiscing an old memory.

"Mr. Evergreen, do you recognize anyone in this picture?" Ruby asks. The older man nods with a somber smile as reach around the duo and taps the young girl.

"That's Mrs. Hunters, I recognize what she looked like years ago," Douglas says. The duo looks between the picture and the legend, amazed for Blake, excitement for Ruby. Hitomi now has a photo of her family.

"How do you know? Did you visit this village before the attack?" Blake asks as she stands up, still holding the picture. Ruby and Douglas straighten up as well, the older man towering over the girls.

"No, not before the massacre, I was in the rescue party, I clearly remember what she looked like back then," he shakes his head slowly. He turns toward Ruby, a sad but fond smile on his face. "Your mom was with me at the time, she was the one that found her, it was one of her last missions, and the last one we went on together." He looks around the house and out the window as if trying to remember more of that time.

"My mom was one the people who rescued Hitomi and found her," Ruby says, a sense of pride in her mother. It was thrilling to hear her mom had found her teammate, allowing her the chance to see her and be her friend.

"Yeah, though I doubt your teammate remembers that, she was young and she passed out when we found her in the cave over there, in some sort of hole in the wall of those rooms," Douglas says, gesture with a nod to spot Ruby, Micheal, and Hitomi were in the previous night. After a moment of silence, he looks at the two, the somber smile still on his face. "Come on, we are getting ready to head out." He then walks out of the building, leaving the duo behind. They stare at the picture of Hitomi's old family.

"You know, one of the reasons Hitomi wanted to visit this place was to look for a picture of her old family," Ruby comments.

"I see," Blake remarks as she readjusts the picture in her grip. "Well, I guess we ought to give this to her, this way there is at least another silver lining to this whole ordeal," she ends with a smile. Ruby smiles back.

"Yeah, let's get back home," Ruby says with enthusiasm. Just as Ruby turns to leave.

"Ruby, are you going to be alright?" Blake asks. The brunette turns toward her friend, smile gone. It hurt the cat faunus to see that, not meaning to cause her friend distress. "About what happened the previous night…," the cat faunus stops, pursing her lips, trying to ponder the right words.

"I'll be okay, Blake," Ruby says, somewhat dejectedly. Blake grabs her leader's shoulder and gives a gentle squeeze, trying to give her sort of comfort.

"Are you sure?" the cat faunus asks, worried. She needed to make sure she was going to be okay.

"Yeah, as Duke and Micheal told me last night, it's mostly going to be up to me to get over this," Ruby says with a hint of acceptance in her voice. She then grabs Blake's hand, gives it a gentle squeeze in return, and giving her a small genuine smile, trying to ease her friend. Which did work, as Blake smiles in return. "Besides, you guys will be with me through it all."

"Of course," Blake agrees with her. Then Ruby nods to gesture them to leave. As they exit the manor, they see their friends exiting the cave, Hitomi carried by Yang and Violet, Micheal be supported by both Jaune and Ren. After them, Forest came out was carrying Virginia in his arms, and finally, Douglas and Frazier were taking Duke. After some explanation of where they were, the excuse being Ruby wanted to make sure she didn't leave anything in the manor after getting some fresh air. Which they bought, and the rescue group enters the aircrafts.

"Hitomi, I think you should have this," Blake says as she holds the picture for her fellow faunus to see. The fox faunus turns her head to see, and her eyes widen in shock, before tearing up in joy. She grabs the image, a sad smile on her face.

"One did survive," she says, sobbing slightly.

"Blake and me found it," Ruby comments.

"Are your parents like you remember?" Yang asks, moving to look at the picture. Her eyes were widening, surprised at the image of the young boy, before evening her feature, forcing a smile.

"Mostly, my father is more muscular than I remember, but it is him," Hitomi says, too distracted by the picture to notice her friend's reaction.

"Thank you…, thank you, Ruby, Blake," she says. A look of sheer joy on her face at having something to remember her family. She holds it to her chest, closing her eyes.

"If you want, I can find someone to preserve and frame it for you, this way you will always have it," Weiss offers with a smile. Hitomi turns her head and nods at heiress, unable to speak anymore, too engrossed in the picture. Blake sits down in one of the seats next to Yang, who was hugging her sister. Ruby was leaning on sister, asleep.

The Next Day, Beacon Medical Ward

"I hate this," Micheal says to the empty hospital room. He moves his hands behind his head, looking at the TV, which was playing a medieval show. It was the only thing keeping him from going insane in his current, despite the program not being his thing. The most intriguing parts about it were the overly sized wolves and the midget. He was lying on the bed, leg propped up and in a cast. Unfortunately, for him, it was a school day, and classes were going on. His team had to attend them, leaving him alone in the ward for most of the day. The only things keeping him busy, and off the loneliness, were the TV, his scroll, and the small stack of various books next to him. These were a mix of stories from Ruby and Blake, and textbooks from Weiss, because even if he was in the hospital, he still needed to keep up with his classes. At least one of the books was the encyclopedia of Grimm he's had for a month so he could study more on Grimm. Even worse, as mentioned, he was the only occupant in the room, his partner wasn't in the other hospital bed next to his. Ozpin had apparently had the smart idea of separating him from the rest of the student body and Hitomi. His fake reason being that they couldn't find him a space in the same room as his partner. The real purpose, known only between the two of them, because he was going to have another chat about his position in this world. He sneers at the headmaster's action because his visit from his teammates yesterday, Hitomi did have a roommate in her room and some she got along with. Plus, they said Hitomi's family was coming from Atlas to visit. It hurt him emotionally as he wanted to talk to his partner to alleviate his loneliness. It's not like he has family coming to see him unless they figured out a way to tear a hole through reality to visit him. The thought made him chuckle bitterly at the absurdly impossible thought. And yet, it was a thought he wishes would happen. He couldn't help but be jealous of his partner as he lets a depressed sigh, closing his eyes. He grips the sheets of the bed tightly with his left hand, gritting his teeth. The previous night's nightmare was not helping his mood; in fact, he felt drained despite sleeping. He then lets his grip on the sheets go and grabs his scroll to look at the time. It was 2:45pm, and he groans at the time. It would still be at least another hour-and-a-half until one of his teammates gets out of the class.

Then the wolf faunus' ears twitch as the click of a door resonates in his ear. He looks at the door, hopefully, wanting it's one of his team to skip class to see him. But his hopes were dashed as Ozpin steps through the doorway. His spirits were lifted as someone came to visit him, but he just wanted his team. Micheal arches an eyebrow as others enter the room behind the headmaster. Two men were behind Ozpin, one Micheal recognizes as Douglas, who he met yesterday. The other was a sharply dressed man who gave off an impressive aura of command. Micheal instinctively straightens his posture as to make a better impression, as this new person was giving him a very intense, analytical stare. It felt like he was trying to figure everything about Micheal from just his appearance. Ozpin came to stand by the wolf faunus' side, with Douglas leaning against the wall under the TV, and the new man stands in front of the bed, hands behind his back. The sudden appearance of the men threw Micheal through a loop, by no mean expecting more than Ozpin. It made him wonder why they were here and what situation he was getting forced into this time. Then the stares of this new person made him feel nervous, even if the presence he gave off was comfortable. Ozpin pat Micheal on the shoulder comfortingly, to ease him, which did help his student a bit. It did tell him the headmaster was on his side, both figuratively and literally.

"Mr. Law, these two are friends of mine," Ozpin says gesture with a hand towards the two men. "You already know Douglas," the veteran hunter gives the young faunus an encouraging smile and wave. "The one you do not know is James Ironwood, General of Atlas and Headmaster of the Huntsmen Academy there," Ozpins says. Micheal holds out his right hand.

"I would stand up to shake your hand sir, but well…," Micheal says, his eyes moving towards his leg. But he feels the general grips his hand in a firm grip and then proceeds to give the young faunus a handshake, which Micheal returns. The older man's glance being much softer than before

"It is quite alright considering the circumstances," James says in professional politeness. Micheal notes how deep his voice is, the commanding presence accenting the sound. The general notices how comfortable the boy is around him. Most people unaffiliated with military personnel would be extremely nervous, and yet this boy was extremely calm, in fact, content in his presence. He was only apprehensive under his stare. After separating his hand from the boy's, he walks back to his previous position. "You seem comfortable around me, most people…," he begins to comment.

"Find you a bit of a hard-ass or intimidating as a high ranking military official," Micheal interjects. Ozpin gives his student a slight glare at his choice of words. But Douglas smiles at the comment, having felt that way before about the general. James even let a small smile form before becoming serious again.

"Crude, but not inaccurate," James comments.

"My dad was a soldier, so I just got used to the kind feel they give off, him and his friends," Micheal explains.

"Back in your world, you mean, or so you say," the general says plainly, getting to the point. Micheal quickly turns toward his headmaster, a look of confusion on his face.

"Mr. Law, I told these two your peculiar predicament, I trust James and Douglas," Ozpin says.

"Professor, what am I getting roped into? Don't I have enough issues right now," Micheal asks voice rising slightly, becoming uneasy at the situation again.

"Nothing, we just want you to answer some questions," Ozpin says, trying to comfort the young faunus.

"But there will be more issues if you don't answer our questions, your situation is extremely dubious," James warns. That remark earns a glare from his friend, but unlike Ozpin, he didn't trust this faunus in the slightest.

"It is quite odd, a person just appearing out of thin air, not to mention this particular person is a faunus. A member of what is supposed to be extinct species of faunus, not to mention, happens to be in the exact spot to be able to attend Beacon Academy. A young boy presenting the mask of a decent person, supposedly trying to find a place to call home," Douglas says seriously. Micheal shifts uncomfortably on the bed at the plausible accusation, even though it's untrue.

Outside the room, a couple minutes before

Yang and Blake were on their way to visit Micheal, in their school uniforms. Glynda did allow them to be absent from their last class to visit their teammate. "Micheal will be happy that we got out of class early to see him," Yang comments happily. It hurt her to see Micheal dishearten face yesterday as they were leaving. She made a promise to somehow part from lessons early or skip class to give him some company.

"Yes, we will have to thank Professor Goodwitch later for letting us do this," Blake says. It was nice to give Micheal some company, but also a chance to talk with him about his semblance.

"Yep, I mean Hitomi has her family with her and Micheal has no one, if we're all he has then its best to be with him," Yang says. It did sadden her knowing that no one was visiting Micheal right now, they couldn't go because of classes, and no family appeared to show up for him. She needs to figure out a way to thank Micheal for taking care of Ruby. Even though Ruby ended up killing someone, she couldn't blame Micheal for that. It wasn't his fault, he did make sure she did come back alive, he and Hitomi. A pang of sadness ran through as the team had to experience the first of Ruby's nightmares last night.

"Yeah," Blake says, equally sad at the prospect. As they get closer to Micheal's room, which was oddly in the corner of the building, far from his partner's place, Blake could pick up multiple indistinct voices. Then once they got within a few feet, Yang could pick up the sounds as well. The partners look at each other in confusion. They lean in to try and discern what was going on, they could overhear three older men in the room, discussing seriously with another younger voice. This should have told them that they shouldn't be prying around in this discussion. But against their better judgement, curiosity getting the better of them, Blake and Yang press their ears to the door, trying to hear inside the room. The muffled voices were growing more apparent to them. The duo could pick up the sounds of Ozpin, Douglas, one other they didn't know, and Micheal talking. Their faces were becoming confused at the collection of voices. 'Why are those three talking to Micheal? What did he do?' was their shared thought as they look at each other with quirked eyebrows.

"Young man, I need you to tell me what you can remember before you woke up in our world," James requests.

"Our world?" Blake says, almost silent. The bumblebee duo looks at each other again, more confused than before, finding the request not only strange but outlandish. Micheal from another world, that seemed such a ludicrous and bizarre notion. They press their ears against the door harder than before, making sure not to miss a single word.

Inside the room

"Well, I had just woke up in my bed, and then I discovered I would be alone for a few hours as my parents were out with friends or at work, took a bath, then I sat down to watch your show…," Micheal stops, looking away for a second. "Show, before it became a reality anyway," he comments before taking a breath to resume. "As it started up, the screen froze, then I heard a roar, and the screen on my TV went black, and a giant claw reached out and grabbed me and pulled me in."

"Do you remember anything after being pulled in?" Douglas asks curiously. Micheal's face scrunches up in deep thought, trying to remember anything. His eyes were shifting slightly from side to side in an attempt to help.

"Honestly, not much, sir, I passed out not long after being pulled in, but what I can remember was that it was dark and I couldn't see anything, there was nothing, no light, no sound, no smells, nothing," Micheal admits slightly shameful. He lowers his head slightly. The wolf faunus then sniffs the air and smells something at the door. A couple familiar scents on the other side, though he could just be imagining it. Or he wanted to believe he was imagining the smell and not what a small part of his mind was thinking. He instinctively slightly tilts his head towards the door. The older men in the room quickly look at the door, suspecting eavesdropper. Douglas glances at the other occupants and places a single finger on his lips to be quiet. He gestures with his hand for them to keep talking. The legend then silently sneaks toward the door, readying himself.

"Mr. Law don't be ashamed, though I will admit I am a little disappointed that you do not have more to tell us, but you are doing what you can," Ozpin says comforting the young man. He walks over and puts a gentle hand on his shoulder, Micheal looks up to see a comforting smile from the older man. The wolf faunus couldn't help but return the smile. James crosses his arms with a stern look on his face, unamused by Ozpin's friendliness with the boy. The general thinks deeply on the outworlder in front of him. His eyes glance towards Douglas, who was just a couple feet from the door, preparing to deal with the unwanted listeners.

"While Ozpin trusts you are not a threat young man, I do not, I think some extra measures are in order until I believe you are," James says bluntly, his attention toward Micheal. Douglas uses his semblance to send a pulse to detect any nearby auras. He picks up the four occupants in the room, but he also feels a couple auras on the other side of the door, a warm one that feels familiar and yet different, and the other one was alien to him. He then concentrates his semblance on the unknown aura.

Outside the room

Blake felt a sudden overpowering feeling overwhelm her akin to someone placing a massive weight had just been placed on her shoulders. She suddenly felt weak, like someone had just ripped all her energy out of her. Her legs became heavy, like lead, as her panicking mind tells her to run. She places her hands on her knees and begins to breathe vigorously.

"Blake, what's wrong?" Yang asks, worried at her friend's sudden action. The thought of looking after her friend overpowered the idea someone may know about them. Then the door suddenly and swiftly opens inward, and the cat faunus and brawler try to back up in surprise. But before they could take a step, Douglas' large hands grab them roughly by their shirts. The cat faunus instinctively tries to use her semblance to get out of the sturdy grip but found herself unable. Yang tries to tear the hand from her but finds herself unable to pry them open. The veteran hunter throws them violently into the room. Both girls land hard on the floor of the room with a loud thud. They got the unmistakable feeling that all pairs of eyes were on them. They both shakily looks up to see James Ironwood glaring intently down at them, hands behind his back. A click informs the duo that Douglas closed the door, sealing both in the room. The legend leans against the door, making sure to block it off, also glaring at the young girls.

"Blake? Yang?" Micheal says, confused. His friends quickly look at him in the eyes with a hopeful look.

"Mrs. Belladonna? Mrs. Xiao Long," Ozpin says, equally confused. Both student and professor eyes wide in surprise at the sight, not expecting the appearance of the two. Blake and Yang were looking at Ozpin with the same look they gave Micheal. James looks at the two with a quirked eyebrow, curious about the relationship.

"You know her?" The general asks.

"They're my teammates," Micheal answers, his eyes returning toward the general. The general turns toward Ozpin, who nods in confirmation.

"Yes, both of these young girls are students here and on the same team as Mr. Law," Ozpin clarifies, his eyes never leaving the duo. 'Foolish girls, what were you thinking? Why did you spy on us?' he muses to himself. James returns his gaze towards the frightened girls.

"Stand up," He orders firmly. Micheal notes that Ironwood's commanding tone was quite overpowering, despite his calm voice. The partners slowly but steadily stand, afraid of defying the older man. She uneasily looks the older man in the eyes. Both girls swallow nervously under the man's stern stare. "Now, why were you two eavesdropping on us?"

"We're coming to visit our friend, we got out early to do it," Yang answers honestly.

"Could not have come back later once you heard us talking, realizing this may not have been something you should be snooping on," Douglas says.

"We got curious," the blonde says quietly. Yang tightens and untightens her hand into a fist, to calm herself. She mentally kicks herself for becoming curious, finding herself in a tough situation. The stare of the general in front of her and the legend behind her was extremely nerve-racking.

"Plus, I-I was coming to ask Micheal a question," Blake answers honestly. This time the cat faunus found herself in both men's glares.

"About what?" The general inquires. The cat faunus then, semi-calmly, explains the situation about Micheal's potential semblance. Micheal could see the nervous look in Blake's eye, even when the cat faunus tries to put a calm face in the face of Ironwood. He found the sight encouraging to watch, picking his spirits up a little. The sudden appearance of his friends made his heart drop. He became worried at what the Atlas Headmaster would do to them and still is. A man who probably has more power and influence than Ozpin, considering he is also the General of Atlas. Even if James believes Blake and Yang, what would he do to an eavesdropper? Though as he listens to the cat faunus' explanation about his potential semblance, he began to wonder about the situations she was talking about. Both times that she mentioned, all Micheal could remember was the stress, frustration, and pain of the circumstances. Though as his memory clears, he does remember the immense pain he felt. The wolf faunus thought that it was an especially nasty hit from Noire and Yang. But no, as he ponders the moments, it was worse, like their attacks were tearing through his body, as if they literally ripping through him. He places a hand on each area that was hit, remembering where they hit. Despite the intense agony at the time, he didn't suffer any injuries.

'That's my semblance, how strange,' Micheal muses to himself. He looks at Ozpin as if expecting a response, who gives him a quirked eyebrow in response, the older man found the news interesting himself. They could hear James hum in response.

"Couldn't wait until tomorrow?" Douglas asks. His eyes were gazing at the wolf faunus, wondering about the semblance himself. It was such a strange semblance. 'It could just be a consequence of his lack of an aura before coming to this, it just unstable and the effects are unpredictable, but still I wonder why he has one.'

"I had tried to ask him twice before to be interrupted or missed my chance, so I got a little impatient, and then I got curious when I heard you three," Blake explains, looking between the legend and the general.

"I think the saying curiosity killed the cat has some meaning here," Douglas says. He then winces slightly at the panicked expression on Blake, Yang, and Micheal's face. Ozpin gives his old friend a glare at the comment. Yang was trying to cover her partner from the older man. "I do not mean we're going to do anything to you, either of you," he adds on. "Just now you put yourself in a complicated position," the legend says, his hands raised, trying to ease the cat faunus and her partner.

"How?" the cat faunus asks.

"How much did you hear?" James orders.

"All we heard something about Micheal waking up in our world," Blake says in a disbelieving tone. She then looks at her friend and sees him looking away, a look of unease on his face. She glances around the room at the others, their faces were stern. The raven-haired girl was confused at the expressions. Yang chuckles uneasily at the looks, finding the notion of three grown men believing such a tale to be the truth of her friend.

"I mean it can't be true, I mean sure, it's out there that a lone survivor of an extinct species survived, but miracles can happen. And besides, didn't we explain this as just people seeing him as just another canine faunus," Yang tries to reason in a jovial tone. But her cheery demeanor drops slightly as the looks remain unchanged.

"It is just too unbelievable," Blake comments herself.

"It's true," Micheal says, return his gaze to his friends. They note that his face wasn't smiling or playful; he was earnest. Ozpin then pulls out his scroll, beginning to tap through the apps. Once he found what he was looking for, he walks over to the duo and hands him his device. Blake grabs it gingerly as she holds it for both girls to watch. The screen shows a street of Vale at night, all the shops were closed with a single alleyway visible to the camera. The angle of which the camera was mounted, preventing them from seeing down the alley.

"I want you to watch this, this is the night Mr. Law appears, pay close attention to the alleyway," Ozpin request politely. Blake taps the play arrow, and the video begins its footage. It took a few minutes of staring at the empty street before something happened. Out of the alley emerges Micheal, his weapon on his back, looking around confused. As he passes by a window of a closed store, he peers into it. No, Micheal was looking at his reflection and began to look himself over. At first, the duo thought he was just checking himself out, in a narcissistic sort of way, or making sure he looks good despite haven been in an alleyway. However, the thought of him being vain subsided as soon as it formed as he's usually didn't give off the vibe of being that way. In fact, what they could tell from his posture and movements, the wolf faunus appeared confused by his appearance, like it wasn't natural. Then his head sharply picks up, and then he bolts off to somewhere off-screen, more than likely where he met Ruby.

"I don't get it, professor, what are you trying to show us?" Yang asks, confused by the video. She did find it odd the way Micheal was looking at himself, but nothing seemed wrong other than that. Ozpin expecting this grabs the scroll, and after messing with the options, he hands it back to the girls. It was frozen on the image of Micheal running off the screen. Blake remained silent, trying to digest the information shown to her.

"Now watch in reverse, it will show you the previous week leading up to that point, it will be very fast, we don't have a lot of time. If you want to see it at a slower pace, come to my office another day, and I will allow it, so keep a good eye out for Mr. Law," Ozpin says. Blake presses play again to watch the same video in reverse. It was fast; they only had a second to register the silver blur that was Micheal before he disappeared into the alley. Then for thirty minutes as the week passes by through the screen, looking at the alleyway, looking for the silver blur. But nothing came out, at least not a silver haze, other shapes in other colors came out of the lane, but nothing else.

"Maybe he entered the other side of the alley," Yang says as she hands Ozpin the device. Her headmaster takes the scroll and taps on it again, looking for another video.

"The part that is dubious is the fact he appears the moment your sister just happens to be out that night fighting a group of thugs, at the right moment for Ozpin to see him and invite him to Beacon," Douglas remarks.

"He may have been in that alley for the past day or two and just came out at the right time," Yang tries to reason with the men.

"When Mrs. Rose brought him to your house that night…," Ozpin starts, then get an accusatory stare from the brawler. "I overheard them after my little talk with them that night," the headmaster explains quickly, wanting to get back to the question, and it was true, he was on his way out of the building and happened to hear Ruby invite Micheal to stay at her house. That seems to eases Yang's suspicion of being spied on by the older man. "Anyway, when he appeared in your house, did he appear dirty or unclean in some way? Messy hair, dirty clothes, what one would show after a few days in an alleyway," Ozpin asks. The blonde ponders the memory of when the wolf faunus came to her house. She remembers teasing her sister over inviting a boy, and then she remembers what her friend looked like back then. He didn't appear dirty in the slightest, nothing that would give away he just slept in an alley.

"No, he was looked pretty clean like had recently taken a bath," Yang remarks.

"Maybe he was just passing through the alley at the time," Blake reasons, finding things hard to believe despite evidence mounting. The bumblebee duo's brains were working overtime, trying to explain this situation logically. It was just ridiculous to think about, a person suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Ozpin hands them his scroll again. This time the screen was showing a different street with a single alley as well, though it appeared to be in the morning by the orange glow.

"This is the other side of the alleyway, similar to before, you will watch the week up until the same night," Ozpin says. Blake press play for the third time that session. As before, movements of people were fast and nothing more than colored blurs on the screen. It took them thirty minutes to finish the video as well, and its abrupt end at night. Then it dawned on them that they didn't see the silver blur of their teammate at all, even when the time and date matched up with that night a month ago. It really was like he came out of nowhere.

"Maybe he came from the roof," Yang weakly says, even she knew how weak that explanation was. She just couldn't believe her friend was from another world, it was too unbelievable, things like this just don't happen. He was just a faunus, who somehow managed to get in the alleyway without being spotted by cameras. He also just happened to appear at the right time to attend Beacon. Douglas snorts at the ridiculous response, he did find it a bit humorous that the girl was trying her best to explain, though he understood why this is such an unusual scenario.

"You know, I went to check out that place, and there were no ladders or stairs on the buildings, so unless he jumped down without breaking his legs, seeing his aura wasn't activated until a couple days later, then no, he didn't come from the roof," Douglas explains. Blake and Yang look between the other occupants, all of them still as stern as they were before.

"But there has to be a logical reason for this," Blake counters.

"I suggest you two accept this truth, Micheal Canus Law is not of this world, we do not know how he appeared, but he did, there is no logic you can think of to explain this," James says in a tone of finality. He sees the two looking between the other occupants one last time and then at each other before descending into deep thought, obviously processing this truth. Yang rubs her face in a way to comfort herself at the prospect. Blake sighs and closes her eyes. The general returns his gaze to Micheal and Ozpin. "As I was saying, extra measures I was going to say, first, we are going to pull you from your current team…," James starts. A look of shock and horror forms on Micheal's face. His soon to be ex-teammates look at the older man in shock and horror as well. The reckless thought of attack the general forms in their minds, but they felt a large hand on their shoulders. They turn to see Douglas right behind them, giving them a calming look, leaning down next to their ears.

"Don't do anything you are going to regret, James is not an enemy you want, shut up and listen," the legend warns them quietly. He was predicting a reckless thought to form in their head and came to a stop them from doing anything.

"But he's my friend," Yang whisper angrily back.

"I know but shut up and listen," Douglas says, his grip tightening on their shoulder to an extreme level. They grimace under the older man's immensely power grasp.

"Wait, wait, sir, please don't take me away, this is all I have," Micheal interrupts, desperation in his voice. His hands outstretched in some attempt to convince the man and convey his point. Then something new dawns on both Blake and Yang at those last words left their friend's mouth, everything from his lack of clothes, money, training, and knowledge, and finally, to his lack of a family. It truly began to sink in how little he has and how much of a struggle he is having and is going to have in his life. It made some of his decisions, like taking Weiss' harsh deal far more understandable in that sense. It was his only way to earn money even just to feed himself and learn how to defend himself. He came to Beacon, despite not having any experience, despite the prospect of fighting dangerous, because he had nowhere else to go. It was a better option than just staying on the street, starving, alone, and wondering what to do. Team RWBY, his partner, and their friends are really the only people he must rely on for anything. And yet, the worse thing is that, to them, he takes it all with a smile on his face, for the most part, unhealthily accepting it like it all.

"Let me finish, young man," James says, his voice even but powerful in its tone. Micheal flinches in shock like the general just hit him. "I am not going to remove you from this academy, you can thank Ozpin for that," his eyes glance at his fellow headmaster for a second before returning to the faunus. Micheal looks at Ozpin, who nods in confirmation. The wolf faunus gives a silent thankful look before returning to James. "I was originally going to take you with me to the huntsmen academy on Atlas, so I can keep my eye on you. But since Ozpin vouched for you, you can stay here and interact with the people you have known for this past month, but you will have a new team, one member from Vale, and the other from Atlas to keep an eye on you," James explains.

"Will they know why?" Micheal asks still sad about being pulled from the team, but content enough to be with them at Beacon. Ozpin notices his student was keeping one arm hidden as best he could, flexing and unflexing a fist, gripping the sheets. He could imagine it was an attempt to keep himself calm for the rest of the meeting.

"No, this whole conversation will be private. What has been said here will only be known by its occupants. Second, while I have a platoon stationed here to aid in the defense from the Elder Scourge, I will assign a select individual to watch over you during their time here," He explains.

"Can I ask a question," Blake interjects. James turns toward her, one eyebrow quirked curiously but politely nods for her to continue.

"How are his new team members going to keep an eye on him if they do not know why?" The cat faunus asks curiously, obviously wondering how it would work. Plus, it was a momentary distraction from the incredibly baffling questions of their current situation.

"Mrs. Belladonna," Ozpin says, getting the young girl's attention. "Does Mrs. Rose fill out her weekly team reports?"

"Yes, Weiss helps her fill them out correctly, but…," then it dawns on Blake what he meant as her eyes widen slightly in understanding. It was a simple and yet effective plan to keep their spying under wraps. James returns his gaze towards the wolf faunus. This time his eyes becoming sharp as he stares at the temporarily crippled faunus.

"Third, if you do anything to betray the opportunity provided to you, I will return and transport you to Atlas and place you in a cell for the rest of your life," James warns. Micheal uneasily swallows at warning but nods solemnly. It wasn't like he had much choice here, especially if he wanted to stay with his friends. "Ozpin, I am going to speak with my soldiers, and then I will speak with you in your office later before I depart for Atlas tonight," the general says, then he leaves the room without another word. Douglas lets go of the two girls once his companion left, no longer needing to hold the girls. Both Yang and Blake roll and massage their shoulders to ease the pain from the veteran's tight grip.

"Well, I'll be waiting outside Ozzy, I imagine you want a few words with these three," Douglas says jovially, loudly clapping his large hands. Seemingly content with his performance restraining two girls, who were barely up to his stomach, and his arms were as thick as their heads. He then leaves the room, leaning down to avoid the top of the doorframe. He quietly closes the door behind him, leaving the trio of friends with their headmaster.

"Now that you two know what Mr. Law is dealing with and the position is in…," Ozpin starts his explanation in an attempt to reiterate some of his previous conversations. But Yang turns towards Micheal, half ignoring the professor. A somber look on her face at the news, she was happy that Micheal was staying, but it upset her to know Micheal is being forced out of the team for something he had no control over. Then it made her think how lonely Micheal must truly feel at times.

"Micheal, are you okay?" The blonde says, unsure what exactly to say.

"Okay, as I can be all things considered," Micheal says with a shrug, in a defeated tone. It was apparent to the trio it was hurting him quite a bit.

"Did you ever plan on telling us?" Blake asks curiously, wondering if they would have ever learned this secret. Ozpin raises a curious eyebrow, turning towards his student, wanting to know this as well.

"At some point yes, anytime soon no, I wasn't sure how to, besides I'm sure you would have figured out something wasn't right anyway. If you didn't have three men telling you and a couple pieces of footage, would you believe me?" Micheal answers honestly with a question of his own. He knew what the answer was, but he wanted to hear or see it anyways in confirmation. The duo ponders the problem in their own way, Blake scrunches up her face, Yang's eyes roll up as she scratches her cheek. It took them a couple of minutes before they shake their heads. "I thought so," the wolf faunus say, in a knowing tone. Yang pulls up chairs for her and Blake, both getting tired of standing and knowing they were going to be here for a while. She tried to offer on to the headmaster, but he refused due to wanting to leave soon. The blonde gingerly grabs the wolf faunus's hand, giving it a firm squeeze. Micheal instinctively returns the gesture, finding solace in the feeling of the blonde's hand.

"Are you sure you're okay, Micheal?" Yang asks, in a firmer tone. The last answer felt more dismissive than it should have been. She wanted to know, honestly know, how he felt. The blonde felt a spike of anger as the wolf faunus just shrugs and, as a result, sharply increases the strength of her grip. Micheal face contorts in an extremely pained expression as his friend was crushing his hand. He reaches around in a vain endeavor to break her hold, but unable to remove the blonde's significantly firm grasp. "Don't shrug, you will be completely honest with us," Yang growls. She receives a weak and pained response from her friend in agreement, she relents her tight grip.

"I don't know how to feel right now, happy that I'm staying here, sad and angry that I'm getting forced onto another team against my will, but what can I do? I really don't have many choices here, I just have to roll with it, the last real choice I had was choosing to run towards Ruby, allowing me the chance to attend Beacon, from there I really haven't had many options, as time went on, I began to realize the problems. So, I took Weiss up on her offer because I needed money to survive. When I made that promise to you girls, knowing I needed to get caught up in my knowledge of combat and aura. I took all of it knowing what that entails, little sleep and little time to myself, which I haven't been wasting in the slightest," Micheal says, a surprising tone of anger and aggression in his voice. Blake and Yang glance at each, it was so strange to hear that from their friend's usually friendly personality. It must be a sign of things finally getting to him.

"We know you haven't," Blake says, trying to ease the wolf faunus' mood; it was a genuine response as well. The team was concerned about his unhealthy lifestyle of studying late into the night, even later than Ruby, doing the many menial chores for Weiss, and how much abuse his body takes from their regular sparring sessions. And yet, Micheal just gives them a smile most of the time and just gives the same dismissive variation of the same answer, 'I'm good.' It started to make them worry, and Weiss beginning to reconsider the terms of her deal. "I'm surprised that you haven't snapped at all with everything you have on your shoulders," Blake comments.

"Well," Micheal stops, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I have you guys, that's basically the reason why, just having you guys by my side helping me is enough to keep me sane," Micheal says honestly. The girls couldn't help but smile at the comment. "Though I do wonder how Ruby will react to this news of me being moved to a new team," Micheal muses.

"Why did you have to ruin the nice moment?" Yang says, annoyed at the statement. But the thought of her sister's reaction did cross her mind, and it sent another spike of anger through her, knowing the response. She can already imagine Ruby harshly berating herself and working even harder than before. She instinctively tightens her hand into a fist, not realizing the palm she was contracting was the one holding Micheal.

"Yang," Micheal weakly gasps out in pain, it felt like his friend was going to crush his hand into dust. The blonde realizes, and let's go with a feeble apology, scratching the back of her head.

"She already felt like a shit leader when she almost lost us last night, now Ruby really will feel like a she's terrible, probably thinking we're being removed for inexperience," Micheal remarks, massaging his hurting hand.

"Then there is how Hitomi and Weiss will react to this," Blake adds on. "While I think they will handle it better than Ruby, but I really do not know."

"I will work out details with James later, but I will have to think of a valid reason for the change, the most believable being a few single students in need of a team including a transfer student," Ozpin says. The trio jump in surprise, forgetting the older man was there. They turn towards him to see him smiling somberly. "But that said, it will not make it easier for Mrs. Rose to handle, and during this time, it will make it even harder on her to handle. It will be up to you two tell the rest of the team about what is going to happen, the sooner, the better, this way they will more time to accept it, I will say that the change will happen over the next two week," Ozpin explains.

"Why so quickly?" Micheal asks.

"Like before, the sooner, the better, more time for you and Mrs. Hunters to adjust with your new teammates, you will meet the first new member at the end of the week, and the last one next week as they will be flying in from Atlas," Ozpin answers. He then politely says goodbye to the trio and leaves the room towards his office, they assume. Micheal runs his hand through his hair, an angry frown on his face.

"Damn it, nothing can ever be simple can it," Micheal says bitterly.

"Never is," Blake comments. Then something occurs to her, something her fellow faunus said while she and her partner were eavesdropping. "You said we were a show to you, back in your world," the cat faunus remarks.

"Yeah," Micheal states plainly.

"Did you already know who we were before we met?" Blake asks.

"Yep, the whole team, except my partner, she wasn't in the show," the wolf faunus says plain as before. Two things went through the cat faunus's mind, the first being that Micheal probably knew she was a faunus from the start and not because he smelled her, and that he probably knew she was a member of the White Fang. She would need to ask him in private one day about that. The second thing was how creepy the notion was, people secretly watching her, a shiver ran down her spine at the concept. The cat faunus' head quickly whirls around, in some attempt to find the concealed cameras watching them so she can destroy them. Even Yang looks uncomfortable at the thought, giving a nervous and awkward smile.

"How many people watch the show?" Yang asks, eyes wandering around the room, repeating her partner's action.

"A lot, there is even a lot of fanart with you guys," the wolf faunus states, straight-faced. That proceeds to send a more unpleasant shiver down the girls' spines. "Most of it is pretty flattering in a good way," Micheal tries to defend some of the art he's seen.

"Those are okay, especially if they're scenes of me being badass, it's the less than savory ones," Yang remarks honestly, still a little uneasy.

"The thought of people of drawing me naked for their own pleasure…," Blake couldn't even finish her sentence, hugging herself to cover herself, and ease the feeling of vulnerability. Then at that second, both partners share the same thought; they look at each other and then furiously glare at Micheal. The wolf faunus for his part, expected this when he brought up the fanart. He just sat there with an even look on his face, unfazed by their looks, which were quite frightening.

"You wouldn't happen to have looked at any porn of us?" Yang asks, a threatening tone in her voice.

"You're going to hit me if I say yes," Micheal inquires, knowing the response. They predictably nod in response. "Then yes," he answers honestly, fully acknowledging the consequences, he wasn't going to lie because one, it's true, both intentionally and inadvertently, and two, it would be worse if he lied and they saw through him. Two resounding slaps could be heard from outside the room if one was close enough. Micheal now sports two prominent reddish-purple handprints on both cheeks. "Ow," the wolf faunus utters dully, still straight-faced. The grey-haired boy honestly expected them to punch him instead of slapping him. Yang was angrily scowling and rubbing her knuckles, an angry growl emits from her. Blake wasn't much better, minus rubbing her fingers.

"Not sure if I should respect you for being honest, or be even angrier at you that you've seen Ruby naked without her consent, though I do think my opinion of you has changed a bit," Yang mutters quietly, a furious blush on her face.

"Has it changed since you figured out that I'm not from this world?" Micheal asks seriously, rubbing his stinging cheeks, very curious to their opinions. Yang sighs, placing her hand on her hips, as she profoundly ponders the correct response, all her previous anger seeped out of her. Blake followed her partner's example as she closes her eyes and scrunches her face as she thought of a response.

"Honestly…" Yang starts slowly, giving her friend her undivided attention. "I don't know what to think, this whole situation is weird, to think that one of my friends is from another world, It's going to take me some time to form an opinion on this, but you're still you, doesn't matter where you're from," she kneels down to his bedside, grabbing his hand firmly. "But it does hurt to know how alone you truly are, and just how much you put up with everything."

"I wonder, do you ever think about the situations you are in?" Blake starts, the other two occupants look at her. "From what it seems you, just as you said, just go along with everything at an unhealthy level, I know you did not have many options, but…," she tries to explain.

"Blake, I would love for you to tell me what options I had, it won't do much good now if you have an idea on what choices I could have done to end up in a better position than now then tell me. I have little money, only the team for support, no family, no ID of any kind, and I'm up against Ozpin and James, two people who have more influence and power than me. And that's just now before I came to Beacon, I had nothing so what were my options then," Micheal states, exhaustion seeping into his voice. He could tell Blake was trying to think of a plan intensely, some idea to improve the situation. After five minutes, the cat faunus shoulders regrettably drops in defeat, unable to think of something on the spot. She then feels Micheal place his hand on her shoulder, giving a small smile. "Trust me, I'll be okay, believe me, I rather this than on the streets, as for if I do think about things, I try not to, well I'm mostly distracted with studies and training. I feel if I do think about things I really will snap from the stress and frustration of everything on my shoulders, you girls help my sanity as well," Micheal says in an accepting tone. He felt Yang lightly squeeze his hand, the wolf faunus turns toward the blonde.

"Promise us something," Yang requests.

"What?" the wolf faunus inquires.

"That you will be more open with us about, well everything, don't face everything on your own, let us help in some way if you feel the need to vent your emotions in some way, come to us, we said we're here for you, even with this…, uh, strange scenario," Yang says comfortingly.

"And, just stop accepting things as they, try and make some choices," Blake adds on before Micheal could speak.

"Okay, I promise, but for now, I think I'll have to play the good boy and just let things happen, I need Mr. Ironwood and Professor Ozpin to trust me before I can really make choices, or more potentially risky choices for myself," Micheal says. That did partially displease both girls, but he was right as far as the general is concerned. "Well, at least Ozpin is on our side," the wolf faunus comments.

"Yeah, we'll have to thank him later," Yang comments happily. Blake nods in agreement.

"Although I suggest you two be careful as well," Micheal warns severely.

"Why?" Yang asks curiously.

"That person Mr. Ironwood is going to assign to watch over me…" the wolf faunus starts.

"Will probably be watching us as well," Blake interjects, knowing where her fellow faunus was going.

"For eavesdropping on that conversation," Yang inquires, feeling that was the reason why. She was proven correct when her friends nod in response. Then a thought occurs to her "Is this why you're basically under house arrest? So, Ozpin himself can keep an eye on you."

"Now that you mention it, that could be a reason, in fact, I do remember him saying he was going to keep a close eye on me as well, though he said the other reason was because I was lying to him and I need to earn his trust," Micheal says, crossing his arm in thought.

"Does that mean you lied to us as well," Blake says, both hurt and offended being lied to.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean too, I did say true stuff as well, like my name, stuff about my family, and Julie, that's all true, if it's related to this world though, then it's a lie," the wolf faunus states looking down ashamed.

"You're going to make it up to us in time, but I understand why," Yang says, also hurt. Micheal nods at the proclamation, accepting his punishment. Though he promised to stop rolling with things, he does deserve some punishment for lying. "So, do you think we should tell the rest of the team?" Yang asks. She got sad looks from her friends, but instead of being sad, she became angry. "We're still a team until they are transferred; besides, I will still consider both of you teammates," Yang says in an irritated tone. It did lift Micheal's spirits to hear that and smiles in response.

"No, you heard Ironwood," Blake reminds her partner. The blonde sneers irritated at the response.

"Fuck him, our team has the right to know this as well, I mean what harm can there be?" Yang asks.

"Well, hard to say exactly, if we tell them, then they will want to know how we found out, then Ruby, Weiss, or Hitomi may go to Ozpin for answers. It could put them under Ironwood's radar, which can result in our team being unable to leave Beacon for a start, and only that if we are lucky. It is bad enough that the three of us are being watched, we should not put others in the same position, I think it is best we listen to Douglas' advice," Blake sternly advises her hotheaded partner, crossing her arms.

"Well, we could at least run the idea by Professor Ozpin to obtain his opinion on the matter," Micheal throws his idea out there.

"That is probably the safe idea," Blake agrees.

"Wouldn't he just say that it would be up to Micheal to tell it," Yang comments, placing her hands on her hips.

"Possibly, but it would be safer just in case, Professor Ozpin can warn us if it is a bad idea for some reason," Blake says. A hum escapes the cat faunus lips, pondering the situation. "Do you have any ideas as to why they are asking about how you appeared?" Micheal shakes his head and shrugs.

"No, none whatsoever," the wolf faunus answers.

"Did our show, man that's weird to say," Yang stops exasperated, placing a hand to her hand. "Did it reveal anything to you?"

"No, I only saw the first volume, which really only went over four months, most of it off-screen, I don't think it matters anymore anyway, things haven't been playing out the same anyways," Micheal explains.

"How?" Blake inquires.

"Well, me obviously for one, but Magaru is the other one, we shouldn't be here, and that's just the start obviously," Micheal answers.

"Well, if we have no idea what to expect, then I guess we just let things play out and inform what we discover along the way, Blake declares.

"Oh well on to a happier subject, Micheal," Yang says with a warm smile on her face. The wolf faunus looks at the blonde curious. "I need to thank you and Hitomi for looking after Ruby."

"It's more like she looked after us. All I did was get my leg snapped, along with another potential scar," Micheal says, somewhat bitter towards the end. His anger wasn't geared toward Ruby, but toward the next potential mark of his life here

"You did what you could to cheer her up, and you did save her from being eaten by a Grendel," Yang says, the last part sent a small uneasy shiver down her spine. She swallows nervously at the thought of losing her sister. "So, I have to thank you after you get out of here," gesturing to the hospital room. Micheal gestures with a finger for Yang to lean in. The blonde raises an amused eyebrow but does so. The wolf faunus moves his lips close to his friend's ear and whispers.

"Hitomi has a crush on you, so decide Hitomi's reward based on that if you want," Micheal grins as Yang's eyes widen, and a delighted smile forms on her face like someone told her it was her birthday today. "But keep it a secret between us," the blonde gratefully winks at him. 'Oh, Hitomi will make me pay for this later, but I can't wait for the news of what happens,' Micheal muses happily. What they didn't know was Blake could hear every word of it and shakes her head exasperated, planning to warn her fellow faunus.

"Can I ask you something, I'm curious about something," Yang says.

"Shoot," Micheal responds, readying himself for the question.

"Well, two but, were you always a faunus? Did your world have faunus?" Yang asks.

"No, I was a human before, my world had no faunus," Micheal answers plainly. Blake gives a look of disappointment, though whether it was because he wasn't always a faunus or there were no faunus where he's from she couldn't say herself.

"Ah, then, how does it feel being a faunus now," Yang asks curiously. The outworlder shrugs in response. He got used to it quickly, it wasn't that much different from before, just with a few additions.

"I don't know, I don't feel that different than before, I just happen to be a faunus now. I will admit that the tail is a little annoying to work with, grooming and putting pants on, that stuff, also now that I think about," Micheal says and then turns toward Blake. The cat faunus gives him a curious look, wonder what he was going to ask her.

"Why do Hitomi and me have a tail and ears? I thought faunus were only supposed to have one trait of their heritage," Micheal inquires.

"They usually do, but in Hitomi's case, it is a mutation in the genes, and in your case, you are an anomaly," Blake informs in an even tone.

"I'm not sure how to react to that," Micheal comments. He wasn't sure if it was just a statement, an insult, or both.

"Take it however you will," Blake says.

"So, anything else that's flattering about us from your world?" Yang asks curiously.

"I thought you found the whole thing creepy," Micheal comments.

"I do, doesn't mean I'm not at least a little curious," Yang answers honestly. Blake didn't seem curious in the slightest about any of it.

"Well," Micheal closes his eyes, trying to remember. "Fanfics can be flattering because they can write you as a badass as you like; some can be just good wholesome fun like you are hanging out with your friends and sister or when you're shipped with someone," Micheal explains.

"Shipped?" Yang inquires.

"They are pairing you up with someone," Blake answers for Micheal. The other two look at her incredulously for the answer. The cat faunus suddenly found the floor fascinating.

"You indulge in it yourself with your books, don't you," Micheal inquires, a playful smirk on his face. Blake didn't respond, she just blushes and smiles embarrassed, rapidly rapping her knees with her fingers.

"Okay," Yang says, slightly amused by Blake's reaction. "Who are we paired with?" Smirking at Blake's stunned reaction, blushing deeper.

"Anyone, for example, you and Blake are commonly paired," the two girls ponder the thought. Then their eyes turn toward each other, studying the other in their fullest.

"I wouldn't mind," Yang comments, eyes intently studying Blake's figure. Her smirk widens as a blush forms on her face. Micheal could only imagine her mind created an image of her and with three faunus on the team together, unknowingly imagining her own faunus harem. Blake, trying to open-minded about this, didn't seem bothered by the idea in the slightest but didn't vocalize a response.

"I've seen you two with Weiss," Micheal lists.

"She's too much of an ice queen for my taste, I don't see how Ruby deals with it, but she does have a nice pair of legs and a nice ass," Yang says with last half a bit absentmindedly, cupping her chin in her fingers.

"I don't think so," Blake says, shaking her head, waving her hand in front of her, absolutely against it.

"Also, with Ruby," Micheal lists as well.

"She is cute, I would not mind that, though what we do other than reading," Blake quietly muses to herself with a tilt of her head, trying to imagine what she and her leader would do together.

"W-W-With, my own sister, what the hell is wrong with people?" Yang says, understandably horrified and taken back at the thought, backing away from the bed with a face to match her feelings. Micheal just shrugs in response, unsure himself.

"Hey, you asked, and I answered," Micheal states. The loud sounds of feet rapidly approaching could be heard from beyond the door. Then the door burst open with Ruby giving a beaming smile and Weiss taking deep breaths behind, obviously having had to keep up with her energetic partner.

"Hello, team RWBY!" The brunette says from the top of her lungs, blissfully unaware of the previous mood in the room. She was ready to visit Micheal to give him some company along with her sister and teammates. She was jealous they got out early and bolted over to the medical wards immediate after classes ended. Blake, Yang, and Micheal look between themselves with a nervous glance, as if silently deciding who should tell her. They give her bitter smiles as they prepare themselves for her reaction to the loss of two members. The mood of her friends not lost to the reaper. "Something wrong?"

"Rubes, Ozpin was in here earlier," Yang starts, nervous to say more.

"And what did he say?" Ruby asks with a smile on her face, but she had a sinking feeling in her chest at her sister's mood.

"I'm being removed from the team and placed into a new one along with Hitomi," Micheal says akin to one quickly ripping a bandage off trying to get the pain over with. The older members of the group all stood and sat there in an eerie silence, staring at the youngest girl among them. All worried how she will react to sudden information of her team losing two members. She silently stood there, an empty smile on her face, dull eyes missing their previous happiness, digesting the news.

"Oh," was the only response her shocked mind could produce, weak, and deflated in tone.

A/N: As always, criticism is good

If I sound like a broken record, I'm sorry, it's a bit a problem I have.

So, I'm officially going on break and won't be releasing a new chapter until late February. I need time to think about this story and how to proceed, plus the need to work on the previous chapters. I need to rewrite chapters applying the criticism I received while doing the same for the new chapters. I left some ideas open for myself to use, but I think I need to settle on a theme(s) for the story. That may help me write it better, though I may have to edit a bit to fit it. Plus, I need to write down who will be the major players for the story. After the next three new characters, I will be done with new characters for a while. I need to decide how much of the volumes I want to implement because it goes along with how much can Micheal influence by himself without forcing it. I want to keep the overall lore mostly the same, with just enough deviation to fit. I still kind of want this story to be slowish if mostly to keep practicing writing.

I think I have a theme for Micheal and Hitomi's team while keeping in line with the original Monster Hunter theme, not so much team wielding large weapons but a team more wired to deal with large Grimm. At the same time, trying to write them so that they aren't better than RWBY just better at fighting this particular type of opponent. Which fine from a Grimm standpoint, but from a one-on-one against a human or faunus, I'm curious about how I should develop Micheal. If I were to give an RPG class to Micheal that I could use as a basis, I would place him as a Ranger(D&D/Pathfinder), I already got an idea for Hitomi and the other two members. Which leaves him opened ended on whether to develop him as a marksman or melee combatant or attempt to balance between the two. I think right now, it's okay for Micheal to struggle, but I can't overboard with it. I'm tempted to

A problem, one of them anyway, I'm facing as a writer, that dawned on me for the last few chapters, is linked to the fact that I'm a straight to the point kind of person. And sometimes, to me anyway, writing feels like I have to beat around the bush sometimes. This is going to come to a head when it comes to lore and worldbuilding in my own story and writing it in. I have a dislike for lore, it sometimes feels invasive to the story at many times to do nothing more pad it out and put the story on hold to explain something that doesn't matter to the story. I tolerate it if its actual backstory to the story or characters, but any more then to make me lose interest. This is why I never did mind the World of Remnant shorts because I can learn about the world when I feel interested without feeling forced or at the cost of holding up the plot. I know it stems from the original KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) in which a part of the game forced me to learn lore to progress in the game. These are things I'm going to need to overcome as I continue to write and thinking about my story.

Have a Merry Christmas, Good holidays, or whatever you do.