This is the 4th story in the series of Zwei fics in particular requested by a patron of mine by the name of ChuckleBrotherz. It starts with Overcoming Differences, then goes on to A Loyal Companion, and then to A Little Hero's Big Adventure. This will be the 4th out of 5 stories in this little saga of Zwei.

This idea was specifically requested by ChuckleBrotherz, but I've tweaked it slightly. You'll see by the end of this chapter that you as the read will get to decide what kind of ending you want to read.

It takes place in the girls' senior year at Beacon.

Please enjoy!

Thank you so much for everything, ChuckleBrotherz!

Disclaimer: I do now own RWBY.

The Story Of Zwei

The first thing that registered in Ruby's mind that morning was warmth.

As she slowly cracked open her eyes, she flinched a bit at the brightness of the sunlight that was seeping in through the window. Even after three years, she hadn't gotten entirely used to it.

As a freshman, she'd situated her mattress up high, suspended from the ceiling as a bunk bed, and had draped sheets over it to keep herself protected from harsh sunlight. However, in her second, third, and even now in her final year here at Beacon Academy, she'd subjected herself to accepting a floor-bound bed, one that didn't shield her eyes her with bed sheets.

Unfortunately for her, her little old Grimm-styled sleep mask had slipped off in her slumber that night, leaving her face exposed to the sun's vibrant rays.

With a groan, she stretched herself out, her legs now able to reach nearly the end of her bed. Of the four of them in her team, she'd grown the most in recent years – probably one of the only benefits of having come to Beacon at the age of fifteen.

Her being nineteen now put the rest of her team at twenty-one. Only in recent months had Yang started taking Blake out for drinks at a local bar every now and again. Of course, Blake turned her down most of the time, but on a particularly bad day, she might've said yes.

Weiss always opted to stay behind either way, using the time instead to converse with Ruby about whichever assignments they had yet to complete, or training together on battle formations.

As she thought of them in turn, Ruby flicked her gaze to each of her sleeping teammates.

Her bed was now at one end of their senior dorm room, placed between a wall and Weiss' mattress. Though the room was much larger than their freshman room had been, the four girls no longer required very much of the added space for their personal belongings. The drawers, vanities, and personal work desks had been pushed off to the sides of the room.

Now, in their final year here at Beacon, the main purpose of their room was for it to act as a refuge. They received a new mission nearly every day now, and in between those, they were always working hard in their classes.

Over the years, their rooms had slowly evolved to reflect their needs. Now, they mostly required it for rest and recuperation, hence why the beds were what took precedence nowadays.

Of course, they occasionally took the time to celebrate and party a bit. If they had the luxury to do so - that was typically determined by Weiss, who had always been the most punctual of the group. Only if she deemed that they'd all finished their work and were well-rested enough did she allow herself to join in, and that was when the fun could start for the rest of them as well.

Presently, they were sleeping in to recover from such a night of celebration.

Just two days ago, Ruby and her team had come back from a four-night mission off to the east side of Vale. Large packs of Grimm had started to wander toward the town, and it had been their task to eradicate the beasts.

The first two days and nights had consisted of surveying the area and sizing up the threat and its power in numbers. The second two days had been all about attack and defense.

The final battle had dragged on for hours, and had the girls been any less experienced than they were, they might have come away with more than just fatigue plaguing them.

Their missions as seniors were much more difficult, much more dangerous. But if it meant protecting people and improving themselves along the way, Ruby knew her team wouldn't have had it any other way.

Still, it was before 8AM at present, and though they'd all but collapsed into their respective beds at 9 last night, she wanted them to sleep as much as they needed today.

Luckily, they'd been given a day off from classes, so sleeping in was a very welcome way to spend their time for once.

But despite the draining mission she'd just come home from, Ruby felt rather well-rested and content to stay awake now. She propped herself up on her elbows a bit, peering over at the three beds to her right side.

Weiss was next to her, curled up on her side with her back facing her leader, her long, white hair pooling out as far as her hips. Weiss had been forced to sleep that way all night. She'd dislocated her right shoulder in the fray of the battle, during the final push to finish of the last wave of Grimm.

Her injury was a result of Weiss throwing herself in between a rampaging Grimm and a pair of frightened citizens who had failed to flee the area in time. A swing of a rock-hard tail had penetrated Weiss' last-minute repulsion glyph that hadn't been fully formed yet and struck her. Blake had slaughtered the creature before it could do any more harm, but Weiss had limped out of the battle, wincing in pain.

Unfortunately, Weiss was still as self-sacrificing as ever, a bad habit that hadn't been broken in nearly four years now. The best her teammates could do was try their best to prevent a situation where Weiss might take the blow for someone else.

Ruby would be sure to check on her as soon as she woke, to ensure the heiress' aura was healing her properly.

When she lifted herself a bit more, Ruby peered over Weiss' shoulder to glimpse Blake.

The Faunus girl was facing her direction, sleeping peacefully.

It had been two years since Blake had shed her bow for good, now proudly revealing her Faunus ears to everyone, even those who weren't on her team.

It had been a deep, heart-to-heart conversation with Yang in their sophomore year that had made Blake decide to go forth with the change in appearance. Her teammates and her partner had made her realize that she didn't want to hide who she was anymore, that she was sick of always running away and keeping to the shadows.

Blake's removal of her bow was her own way of finally holding her chin up proudly and stepping out into the sunlight.

Along with this change in appearance, Blake had decided to cut her hair at the time. For a while, it had sat with the ends resting just atop her shoulders, but over the years it had since grown out again. Now, it reached her shoulder blades, not long enough to be considered a nuisance in battle.

Most of all, Ruby was glad that Blake could sleep with such a carefree expression on her face now. The nightmares that had once so frequently assaulted her had dwindled away over the years, thanks to the support and care of her teammates.

As Ruby pushed herself up into a sitting position, she was able to view the last of the four beds.

Just because Yang's bed was farthest away from hers didn't mean Ruby still couldn't hear her.

She still snored, and that would probably never change. Weiss had even offered once to change her bed with Blake's so the Faunus girl's sensitive ears wouldn't be quite as bothered by the sound.

But Blake had only smiled helplessly and kindly refused the heiress. By now, she was almost as used to the sounds of Yang's snores as Ruby was.

Even after nineteen years of living with Yang, Ruby still always chuckled at the sounds of her sister's snores.

Unlike Blake or Weiss who were curled up on their sides, Yang was splayed out on her back, one arm draped lazily across her stomach and the other tucked beneath her unkept lion's mane of hair. She almost looked as though she were going tanning on the beach. Her jaw hung open slack, her legs bent in different directions and half-tangled beneath her blankets.

Her sleeping habits hadn't changed in four years, that much was for certain.

But Ruby knew her sister had changed in many other ways that were much more important.

Yang had become a great pillar of support for all of them, where they in turn had done their best to support her. Whenever any of them needed a moment to cry, they came to Yang.

She'd comforted Ruby countless times, particularly in recent months. Whenever Ruby had started to crack beneath the pressure of her responsibilities as a leader, Yang had been there to talk to her until she felt better.

Blake often had times where the loneliness would get to her, even if she were in the middle of a lecture hall surrounded by people. Whenever she excused herself, Yang was always close behind, encouraging her partner to put classes aside and go for a liberating walk outside instead, until Blake felt better.

Even Weiss had come seeking Yang's comfort more than once. Some nights just consumed her with regret, with the fear that she'd never be able to live up to her father's expectations or make her sister accept her.

She'd timidly approach Yang's bed, and the blonde always woke instantly at the sense of discomfort. She'd take Weiss into her arms and simply hold her for as long as was necessary.

Yang was never too busy or too tired to give a bit of advice, a hug, or a listening ear.

As Ruby flicked her gaze about the room once more, a smile rose so high on her cheeks that it almost ached. It was mornings like these when she could fully appreciate the love she felt for her team, how dearly she cherished them.

But there was one more member she'd yet to appreciate this morning.

Carefully, Ruby turned to her left side, where the pale brown wall was all that met her vision, until she looked down to where her feet were buried in the blankets. A pile of black and white fur was curled up there, wheezing slightly as he snored.

Zwei had gotten a little bigger throughout the years as well.

Initially, hers and Yang's father had only asked them to watch the dog for a short amount of time, while TaiYang was away.

But ever since Zwei had been officially recognized as an honored animal companion of the renown Beacon Academy, the corgi had decided to stay.

To this day, Zwei was still talked about, amongst the freshman in particular. After all, he had been the one to pave the way for all animal companions here at Beacon.

The story behind his mechanical left paw had once made headlines, announcing Headmaster Ozpin's decision to welcome trained animals into his academy. The programs and preparations had come into play a little over two years ago, and Beacon had since expanded its campus in order to provide dorms and care in order to accommodate animals as large as horses.

However, Ozpin demanded that each potential animal companion pass a series of tests first and foremost. If an animal failed any of these tests, it wasn't allowed onto the campus for at least another six months when it could test again with its owner.

This was simply to regulate things. Ozpin and his staff wanted it known that not every student could bring in their pets simply because they wanted to. He made it clear that only intelligent, loyal, and physically apt animals may train at his school, and often reminded students that this was a place to train in the ways of battle and fighting monsters.

Only a handful of animals had been accepted since Zwei, and even fewer of those had been able to earn a medal of achievement like the corgi had.

Zwei was very proud of his collar which harbored Beacon's crest in silver. Ozpin himself had bestowed it upon him, and Zwei seemed to understand what a high honor that was.

He accompanied the girls to their classes nowadays, where a special trainer would collect him and take him to a 'class' of his own to train alongside the other accepted animals. What the trainers handled was mostly physical exercises to ensure the animals were swift and sturdy.

The school's curriculum had since added a new class for animal owners, which allowed Ruby and her teammates in turn to train one-on-one alongside Zwei in mock battle situations. This ensured that he had no biases towards any one girl in particular, and would gladly assist any of them on a second's notice.

He even took turns sleeping on their beds each night.

Last night had just so happened to be Ruby's turn. She loved the fact that Zwei had achieved such a high honor in Beacon and was famous for his accomplishments as a little hero. And she loved that the rest of her team now loved and respected him as their own.

But Ruby knew Zwei would always be her little puppy, the same one her father had brought home to Yang and herself one night after finding him discarded in a dumpster.

Presently, Ruby bent herself forward, grunting a bit at the slight ache in her back – results of the most-recent mission. She scooped Zwei into her arms and dragged him up over the blankets toward her.

The corgi woke instantly at the contact, lifting his head as his ears perked tall, his stumpy tail automatically starting to wiggle. Ruby cooed at him and settled him into her lap.

"Good morning, my handsome prince," she giggled, planting a kiss on his head. Zwei licked her cheek in turn, yipping softly.

Ruby decided to take him outside sooner rather than later, which would give her something to do as her teammates rested.

Keeping Zwei in her arms for the moment, Ruby bent down to kiss his head again, then rubbed vigorously along his belly. He melted beneath her fingers, one of his back legs kicking as she scratched.

There'd once been a time when Ruby had had to be very delicate with his underside. Even now, there was still a slight scar visible from where he'd been cut open by an Ursa in saving Blake. It'd been several years ago, but the fur had never grown back exactly as it should've.

Ruby bent down to kiss his belly, too. Then, she got out of bed, making an effort to throw the covers over her pillow to make it look almost neat.

Crossing the room to her drawers, she gathered her school uniform – despite the fact that she didn't have to go to classes today, this was the quickest and most comfortable thing to change into. Plus, it'd been washed just yesterday.

Heading into the bathroom, she freshened herself up a bit, though she didn't put in as much effort as she would've if she'd had a class to attend. She pulled a brush through her hair, which now reached just past her shoulders, then splashed warm water onto her face.

After changing, she re-entered the dorm room to find Zwei waiting patiently for her, tongue exposed and tail wagging. She made a kissing sound at him, inviting him to follow her to the door.

But just before she slipped out into the hallway, Ruby crouched down and scooped up Zwei's red toy ball from the floor and took it with her.

She walked with him down the hallway, and Zwei trotted proudly at her ankles. He didn't need a leash, not with that dashing silver collar of his to catch every beam of light and remind every passerby of exactly who he was.

They reached an exit and Ruby held the door for her little corgi.

Outside, the morning was warm with the beginnings of springtime. A familiar brightness had Ruby squinting, and it was like waking up all over again.

Dozens of other students were out and about at this hour, either going to class or just getting out.

About a minute's walk from the dorm rooms was an open field guarded by a perimeter of trees. The grass in between was level, and students often came here to practice battle formations or basic training skills.

But in recent years, this field had started to serve a purpose for animal companions. It was the perfect space for them to be exercised, and there was plenty of space to set up targets and obstacle courses for them to run through.

Ruby had lost count of how many times she'd frequented this field with Zwei in the past three years.

Presently she led him into the grass and let him sniff around and enjoy the warmth of the sun. There was someone else here walking a dog as well. The students who were allowed to bring animals to Beacon were few and far between, so Ruby recognized the second-year boy and his bloodhound. The mutt had an exceptional nose and could smell a Grimm miles away, even amidst a raging thunderstorm.

When Ruby caught the boy's eye, she grinned and waved happily to him, and Zwei gave a greeting bark. The boy smiled and waved back respectfully.

Most – if not all – of the underclassmen knew of their seniors, and RWBY was a team name that no one could pass through Beacon's doors without hearing at least once.

Ruby was well-liked amongst the younger generation, probably because she'd refused to let the dangerous life of a huntress get the better of her bright outlook on life.

She walked with Zwei for a little longer, eventually extracting the red ball from her skirt pocket. Immediately, Zwei jumped up and barked.

"Heehee, you ready, boy? Wanna run?"

Another bark.

"Yeah, yeah! Okay! Go get it!" She tossed the ball across the field, making sure not to use her full strength or else it'd probably end up rolling off the cliff Beacon sat upon.

Zwei wasn't at all deterred by the distance she threw it or by the fact that he'd just woken up and had yet to eat. He tore off through the grass like a bullet, his tiny legs carrying him so quickly they almost never touched the ground. He crossed the field in a matter of seconds, and made a jump for the ball. He clamped his jaws around it before it had even stopped bouncing, then wasted no time in darting back to his owner.

Ruby clapped cheerfully and opened her arms for him.

"Good boy!"

Zwei leapt up at her and she caught him expertly, snuggling him as he released the ball and licked her face all over. Ruby coddled him as she always did, scratching his back and blowing raspberries into his belly.

When she finally set him down again, she commenced their games of fetch for a few more minutes, occasionally giving the ball a spin or tossing it in an arc.

But Zwei was never thwarted and always returned with his prize in his jaws and his tiny tail held high.

They played for a little over ten minutes, enjoying the fresh air and warm sun. But soon, Ruby deemed it time for them to head back, as her teammates would likely be up before very much longer.

On their way back to the room, Zwei pranced with his red ball in his mouth and followed Ruby inside. Just as they were about to enter the dorm room area, Ruby paused at the sight of two familiar faces.

"Morning, Jaune! Hi, Pyrrha!"

The pair noticed her instantly and perked up. They were also dressed in their typical uniforms, but unlike Ruby, they were actually headed to class.

"Heya there, Ruby." Jaune's voice might've gotten a bit deeper over the years, but his goofy manner of speaking was majorly unchanged. He'd grown a bit taller as well, but Pyrrha had an inch or so on him.

"Good morning, Ruby! It's good to see you! I heard your team just got back from that mission yesterday, right?"

JNPR and RWBY weren't neighbors in their dorms any longer, so they didn't know much news about the other team other than what they heard around campus or from the teams themselves.

Ruby nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah, we just got back. Everyone's resting up now. We're excused from classes today. I was just taking Zwei out for a walk."

"Oh, wonderful!" Pyrrha crouched down and reached out her hand to the corgi. Zwei was more than familiar with her by now, and he happily licked her hand. That never failed to make Pyrrha laugh heartily, and now was no different.

Ruby grinned at the sound, and Jaune blushed heavily; even though he and Pyrrha had been dating for over a year now – to everyone's great relief – he was still awkward and flustered around her.

At last, Pyrrha stood once more and fixed her uniform.

"Well, thank you for chatting with us, Ruby. But Jaune and I have got to get to class now. Nora warned us that if we're even three seconds late, she'll come hunting for us."

"Oh, I see," Ruby chuckled. "Okay then! See you guys around!"

"Yeah," Jaune said with a wave. "You guys enjoy your day off."

"Oh, don't worry, we will!"

As they went their separate ways, Zwei followed after Ruby once more.

In just a few minutes, they reached their dorm room, and after a quick swipe of fingers and inputting the password, Ruby pushed inside.

Her teammates were just rousing themselves, stretching and groaning and running hands through their longer hair. Upon hearing the door, the three of them perked up and looked to their leader.

Yang released a massive yawn and spoke groggily.

"Heya, Rubes. Figured you were up already. You've never really been one to sleep in much."

"Morning, guys," Ruby beamed. "But we deserve to sleep in today! It's our day off!"

"Right," Blake nodded. "Tomorrow we'll have to be back in class."

Weiss rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"We didn't have any assignments for classes, did we?"

"Nothin' we didn't already finish, thanks to you!" Yang reassured her. "You're always on top of things, Weiss. Remember? We got all our work done before we left for our mission, so don't sweat it."

"Right..." The heiress exhaled, a bit unsteadily. "I'd completely forgotten..."

As Ruby was crossing the room to her bed with Zwei at her heels, the brunette caught Blake's eye. The Faunus girl's ears were drooping a bit, her gaze flashing back to Weiss briefly. Ruby understood her silent message and nodded.

"Hey, how's your shoulder?" she wondered, sitting down on Weiss' bed beside her. "Did you sleep okay? Is it still sore?"

Weiss blinked at her slowly, then made an effort to move her injured arm. She winced at a sharp pain in her back, then sucked in a clipped breath.

"Yes," she reported. "Still rather sore."

"What about the medicine they gave you at the infirmary?" Blake remembered. "Where are those pain killers?"

Weiss nodded her head toward her dresser across the room. Yang was closest to it, and she quickly hopped out of bed and grabbed the bottle. She whistled and tossed it across the room to Blake who caught it hastily.

"You could've just walked over here..." she sighed.

"This was much faster~" Yang grinned.

Ruby took it upon herself to go to their little kitchen area, one of the perks of being a senior team now. She filled a glass of water for her partner at the sink to help with the pills.

In her temporary absence, Zwei took her spot on the bed. When she noticed him, Weiss smiled softly, trying to forget the ache in her shoulder.

"Why, good morning," she murmured. "What have you been up to, Zwei? Playing fetch with Ruby, hm?"

With her good hand, she patted his head, and he nuzzled her palm, knowing Weiss didn't like being licked too much.

Once Ruby had returned with the glass of water, Blake poured out two pills for Weiss. The heiress downed them all in just a few gulps, then heaved another sigh.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it!" Ruby said with a trademark salute.

"Do you want me to massage your shoulder for you?" Blake offered. "The nurse had said that could help the pain."

Weiss hesitated a moment, but ultimately gave her consent.

Blake moved to the heiress' bed and sat beside her. She reached up to Weiss' injured shoulder, bracing one hand at the front of it and the other on her teammate's back.

"Pet Zwei," she suggested. "Don't think about the pain."

Weiss did her best to do just that. Ruby and Yang watched from a short distance away.

The second Blake applied pressure on her, Weiss' face contorted in pain, but she never cried out anything louder than a gasp. Zwei could sense her discomfort and was on high alert, consciously doing his best to distract her.

This hadn't been the first time he'd comforted a patient. It was actually part of his training now, to provide a distraction for people in the infirmary who would need to experience painful procedures.

He put his skills to the test now, giving happy little yips as he curled up in Weiss' lap and rolled around, smiling up at her. The heiress allowed herself to succumb to the urge to pet him with her good hand, running her fingers through his course fur.

Zwei waited for a moment, until that technique had lost its effect and Weiss started to cringe again. The corgi noticed right away and moved onto his neck trick.

He slid off Weiss' lap to the side opposite of where Blake sat, actively trying to take the heiress' attention off of what was going on behind her. Zwei gave a little bark and reached out his fake left paw towards Weiss.

The girl took a breath and allowed herself to be distracted as Blake continued to press her fingers into the aching muscle. Weiss reached out for Zwei's paw, and as soon as she did, he nuzzled her fingers. He then raised his other paw, and repeated the process.

Weiss soon figured out that she was supposed to touch his paw and withdraw quickly enough before she could get nuzzled. It was a game.

With her mind now focused on that, she was hardly feeling the soreness in her shoulder anymore. She won a few rounds of the game with Zwei, but a few tries later, he tricked her, switched paws, and ended up bumping her hand again. Weiss actually laughed, and her teammates widened their eyes in surprise.

At that point, Blake stopped what she was doing and rubbed Weiss' back gently.

"Does that feel any better?"

"Absolutely," Weiss smiled, turning back to the Faunus girl. "It almost feels as good as new. Thank you, Blake. And thank you," she said, turning back to pet Zwei.

He wiggled his haunches and wagged his tail in response.

Ruby and Yang stood side by side, unable to wipe the grins off their faces.

"Wow," Yang murmured. "I'm impressed. I haven't seen him us that technique before."

"It's brand new," Ruby informed her. "We just practiced it last week and he's already perfected it."

"What a good dog."

"I'll say!"

The two sisters crossed the room now. Yang passed by the bed and scooped Zwei up into her arms. She cradled him and dipped her head, cooing and nuzzling her nose against his. Excitedly, he jumped up and covered her face with licks, making her laugh.

"Good thing I'm about to shower! Hey, Blake, when do I get a massage, huh?"

The Faunus girl stood from the bed and rolled her eyes.

"Maybe later if you're good and if I feel like it."

Yang clearly hadn't been expecting an actual and favorable response, because her eyes went wide.

"Really? You mean it? Oh, sweet!" She let Zwei down onto the floor and tapped her thigh. "Alright, c'mon boy! Chow time!"

Blake and Yang crossed the room to the small kitchen area to begin preparing a bowls of cereal for the team. This was something they'd often done in their freshman year, and ever since had tended to take advantage of the cafeteria more.

But it was their day off, and a little nostalgia wouldn't hurt anyone.

As Blake prepared the team's food, Yang rummaged around the cabinets for Zwei's canned food. She laid out five different cans and let him tap which one he wanted, then she got to opening it for him.

Meanwhile, Ruby stayed with Weiss. She tossed every question at the heiress such as "You're sure you feel better now? Do you wanna go back to the infirmary and have them check on it just in case?"

To which Weiss always replied the same. "No, don't worry. Yes, I'm fine."

They went on for a moment or so, until Weiss had convinced Ruby beyond a reasonable doubt that she was feeling much better. Ruby sighed happily and wrapped her partner in a soft hug, taking care not to put too much pressure on her hurt side.

Weiss returned the contact as best she could, taking the moment to close her eyes and lean herself against Ruby's supportive weight.

The brunette could tell Weiss was still exhausted, and when she looked back to Yang and Blake, they were both still yawning as well.

It would be a good day for rest and recuperation. For all of them.

Once Ruby and Weiss parted from their brief embrace, the leader helped the heiress to her feet, making sure Weiss was steady. They each made their beds before going into the kitchen to join the others for breakfast.

As the four of them sat around a small table to eat, they collectively decided to stick to the school campus today.

"No errands!" Yang declared. "Just relaxin'!"

Since Yang was the one who smelled like dog slobber, she decided to shower first. The others went about tidying up the room.

Ruby stayed in the kitchen to wash up their cereal bowls as well as Zwei's bowl. Weiss went about scouring their work desk, gathering all of their papers and finished assignments and organizing everything for classes tomorrow. Blake began removing the pillows from their beds, then stripped the sheets to get them into the laundry basket.

When Yang had finished her shower, she emerged dressed in casual shorts and a t-shirt and helped Blake with packing all the laundry into a basket. Weiss went to shower next, and the others continued to clean the room up a bit.

By noontime, all four of them had showered and changed clothes. Their school uniforms or combat attire was too formal, and their pajamas were just the opposite, so they settled for lighter shorts and dresses. They put away their clean clothes, but would have to wait a while yet for the bed sheets and blankets.

During that time, they decided to get some fresh air.

Ruby took Zwei's red ball with her again, and all five of them ventured outside. They went to the same field where Ruby and Zwei had gone that morning, simply walking around and enjoying the sunlight and the familiar scenery. They chatted casually, commenting on how nice it felt to have the liberty to do this without having to worry about classes or missions for once.

Sometimes they would go for strolls like this during the evenings, but they couldn't remember the last time they'd had the luxury to do it at this bright hour.

At one point, Ruby clapped her hands and suggested they play some games together with Zwei. The others agreed and spread out across the field of low-cut grass.

Zwei darted out to run in between them, scampering about and running around like a tiny rocket ship. Ruby pulled out his red ball from her jacket's pocket and tossed it high into the air for him to catch. Once he had it in his jaws, Zwei raced the ball over to the nearest girl and had her throw it for him.

Blake tossed it next, then Weiss, then Yang, and then it came back to Ruby. They played fetch with him first, then started giving him commands for different tricks. He'd roll or flip in midair to snatch the ball, or he'd have to use his nose or back to deflect it.

For almost an hour they played, until Zwei's energy started to run low. The next time he brought his toy ball to Ruby, she slipped it into her pocket, scooped him up, and declared they should head back inside.

The others followed, tired but content.

The rest of their day consisted of finishing the laundry, pulling fresh warm sheets back over their mattresses, and then relaxing in whichever way was best for them.

Ruby decided to sit in Weiss' bed with her, playing a small handheld game. She used headphones so the noise wouldn't disturb her partner as Weiss looked over some papers for class tomorrow. Zwei hopped up onto the bed with them, as tonight it would be Weiss' bed he would sleep on anyway.

Blake decided to cave and give Yang her massage. Luckily for her, the blonde only moaned and sighed for a few minutes of it until she was out like a light. Blake opted to sit in bed beside her partner and read.

At one point or another, the others dozed off a bit, some for longer periods of time than others.

Blake fell asleep sitting up with her book in her lap, with Yang sprawled out and snoring at her side. Ruby noticed Weiss' posture had slumped a bit as well, and the brunette carefully helped the heiress lie down on her good side.

Ruby put her game aside and cuddled up with her partner, enjoying the tranquil silence that blanketed the dorm room. Zwei moved up to sleep behind her knees, and he too, let out a little sigh.

The girls rested a little longer, then gradually woke in the evening hours to fetch some supper from the cafeteria.

After that, it was a simple matter of returning to the dorm room, feeding Zwei, and changing back into their sleepwear to collapse back into their respective beds.

There were wishes of goodnight shared between them all, and wishes that they all rest well. Blake turned off the lamp that sat in between her bed and Yang's, and Ruby did the same for the lamp between hers and Weiss'.

Zwei curled up with the heiress tonight, snuggling up against her good shoulder. She sighed and pulled him close.

The night swept over them, with only a few slivers of moonlight passing through the curtains.

Tomorrow would toss them back into their work-loaded schedule.

But at least today had been one they wouldn't soon forget.

The alarms woke them the next morning.

The beeping sounds were rather soft, but to people who had been resting in complete silence all night, it was blaring to hear now.

Ruby smacked the button before long, not even her Grimm sleep-mask preventing her from pressing it with expert, seasoned precision.

She pushed herself up and pulled her arms up above her head, letting both shoulders pop. Weiss groaned at the sound of it, as it reminded her of her own shoulder getting dislocated. Ruby removed her eye-mask and saw her partner was making a disgusted expression.

"Oops," Ruby rasped sheepishly. "Sorry, Weiss."

"It's fine. I just don't think I'll be used to anything cracking anytime soon."

Zwei was the next one awake, rolling over beside Weiss and whimpering sleepily. She rubbed his belly for him briefly before forcing herself out of bed. Ruby was soon to follow, crossing the room to gather her uniform.

Blake stretched herself out next, being mindful to do it when Weiss wasn't looking. Yang was the last of them to get moving.

Ruby and Blake took their turns in the bathroom first, and while Yang and Weiss waited, they brushed through their hair. Yang sat beside the heiress, realizing it was a bit hard for Weiss to brush with just one hand. Yang offered to help and was granted the heiress' brush.

"How's the arm?" she wondered, combing gently down the girl's back.

Weiss shrugged.

"Better. Thank you."

"Not a problem~"

Once Yang had finished taking care of Weiss' hair, she finished her own. They all took turns changing, eating, and freshening up, until they were all finally ready for classes.

They had mostly lectures today, a bit of physical activity, but no battle training or sparring. Weiss distributed everyone's papers and book bags for them, though Yang happily carried Weiss' for her so the heiress wouldn't have to aggravate her shoulder.

Zwei trotted along after them, as Blake would be taking him to his training lessons first that morning.

It was just another normal day.

Or so it should've been.

. . .

. .

.

Ruby couldn't even remember what the lecture had been on at the time when the alarms first went off.

One moment, she'd been sitting in class beside Weiss and Yang, diligently taking down notes and doing her best to participate and contribute to the class.

And the next thing she knew they were under attack.

The alarms were an almost unfamiliar sound. In her four years attending Beacon's classes, the Academy had only ever been under direct attack fewer times than there were years to attend. They had had plenty of drills before, and any student second-year or higher knew how to go about the procedure of lock-down.

But as soon as those alarms started blaring, the first-years weren't the only ones in a high-strung panic.

As Professor Port called for order in his classroom, Ruby flashed a tense gaze to Weiss and Yang on either side of her.

"This isn't a drill," she muttered beneath the chorus of scared voices. "The Professors clearly didn't know about this."

Weiss was currently doing her best to sooth a group of frightened freshmen nearby, firmly telling them they needed to be quiet and listen for instructions. Once she'd convinced them that this was a serious matter, they fell silent.

Weiss turned back to Ruby and Yang with her eyes narrowed. She kept her voice down so as not to panic any of the other students more than they already were.

"It's got to be an infiltration," she whispered. "Someone must've gotten to the cliffs undetected. We just need to know who and how many."

"Where's Blake right now?" Yang asked. "She's with Zwei, right? Are they outside in the fields or inside the gym today?"

Ruby pondered for a brief moment.

"I... think they were supposed to be inside today."

"Alright. Then she'd be closest to the lockers."

"I'm hoping there's no need for that," Weiss mumbled. "With any luck, this will be something minor that the professors can handle on their own."

Unfortunately, they soon found out it wasn't that simple.

The alarms continued to blare for several minutes. As was standard procedure, Professor Port had locked the doors to his lecture hall after taking in any students he'd found in the hallways at the time. He kept his scroll on as he communicated with the other members of the staff and Ozpin himself.

During this time, it was the upperclassmen's job to comfort and control the younger, less experienced students. Most of them were terrified and some nearly went into panicked fits. But before long, the entire lecture hall was almost dead-silent as they awaited further instructions.

Every second that ticked on was another blast of the alarms, and the longer it went on, the clearer it was becoming to the seniors that they would need to take action.

During a drill at Beacon Academy if the school was being infiltrated, normally professors and the staff would act to handle the threat. But of course, their first order of business was to keep their students safe. This meant that many of the school's seasoned fighters were locked behind classroom doors with their students, and only professors who didn't happen to have a class at the time of the infiltration could confront the threat.

Presently, there weren't enough professors to spare. Beacon needed more fighters.

Which meant only one thing.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all stood from their seats now, as did all of the other seniors in the room. A wide-scale infiltration of Beacon's grounds hadn't happened in nearly a decade, but when it was bad enough, senior students were required to take action in the professors' stead.

They'd been training at Beacon for four years, after all. Even if they'd never acted in a real situation like this before, they knew how things worked thanks to constant drill practices.

Professor Port stood behind the locked doors, muttering into his scroll. He looked up when he noticed that a fraction of his students had risen from their seats, awaiting specific orders. He didn't want to have to send his students into battle if he could avoid it. But it was soon clear that it was entirely unavoidable.

With a swift word to the person on the other end of his scroll, Port looked up to the older students and gave a single nod.

Instantly, the seniors took off across the room, running swiftly and silently. They were never to use the main doors to the classroom in such an emergency, but hidden passageways behind doors in the far wall.

Ruby was fastest, and therefore first in line. As she reached the hidden door, she extracted her scroll and typed in the emergency code number. Professor Port then needed to confirm on his own scroll that he was permitting the door to open. Once he had, the door slid open, revealing a narrow, dimly-lit hallway that traveled through the school's interior.

Ruby wasted no time in darting through, and the others followed behind her in a single-file line. A string of a dozen or so seniors rushed through the passage, keeping as quiet as physically possible.

After only about a minute, they arrived at secluded room. It wasn't terribly large, but it was more spacious than the tunnels.

Every classroom in Beacon Academy had a secret hallway that led to this room in case of dire emergencies like this one where the fighters could convene and discuss a plan of action.

Ruby and her group weren't the first ones here. Several other groups were waiting already, and team JNPR was among them. The walls here were soundproof, so the senior students broke off to start conversing, speaking in hushed, stern voices. When JNPR reached them, their leader was the first to speak.

"What the heck's going on?" Jaune mumbled. "This is for real, right? Holy cow..."

"It's nothing we can't handle," Pyrrha soothed.

"It is if we don't have our weapons," Ren put in.

"Nah, just lemme at 'em!" Nora exclaimed. "I'll break their legs with or without Magnhild!"

As the students waited for painstaking minutes, more and more people gradually began to trickle into the hidden room. Several professors were among them, including Glynda. It was she who started to give a briefing of the situation.

"Students of Beacon Academy," she called out. "Your professors have sent you here because we require your assistance. You seniors are trained fighters, intelligent and strong-minded. We would not have called upon you all if we hadn't needed to.

"At present, Beacon Academy is under siege of a terrorist attack. White Fang are among them, as well as several other individual radical groups. It appears they have teamed up and managed to hijack one of our Air Ships in order to transport their army onto our campus undetected. Headmaster Ozpin has called for assistance from General Ironwood, but we don't have time to wait for his arrival. We must fight, and we must fight now."

A wave of determined voices rippled through the crowd, though most of the students were unarmed and didn't see how they would be able to fight. They weren't even wearing their specialized clothes, and there was hardly any sturdiness to Beacon's default uniform.

Students who had been in battle training at the time of the attack were likely already fighting for their lives and the lives of their friends.

Ruby despised the idea of having to sit around here as her fellows risked their lives.

Yang was anxious, too. She kept pacing in the small space available to her, clenching and un-clenching her knuckles as though aching to smash them into an enemy's skull.

As was expected, Weiss was more reserved in the face of crisis, silent and contemplative as she awaited orders. It was Yang who caught the heiress' eye and seemed to remember something important.

"Hey, hey," she said. "Why are you lookin' like you plan to fight, Weiss? No way can you go into battle with your arm like that. It's not fully healed yet."

Weiss snorted a bit and squared her shoulders.

"It's just fine. Certainly nothing that will hinder me significantly in a fight. I can still be of use. I've already run all the way here, after all."

"I don't know..." Ruby put in. "Yang might be right, Weiss."

"Not you, too." The heiress turned to her leader and partner, blue eyes stern. "Ruby, please. You know I can't just sit around here while the rest of you are in danger. While the entire school is in danger. I'm not going to let my friends fight alone. I can be backup at the very least."

Ruby was silent for a moment as she held Weiss' gaze. They'd had many spats and disputes over the years, but this was the first time it was under these circumstances.

As the leader, Ruby needed to ensure her teammates and friends were safe above all else. But she couldn't afford to keep an excellent fighter like Weiss out of this if she could help it. They needed every solider they could get right now, and Weiss was a valiant one.

After a moment of thought and searching Weiss' eyes, Ruby nodded and gave her consent.

"Alright. Thanks for fighting with us, Weiss."

"Don't thank me, you dunce."

"Either way," Yang grunted. "No one in here is fighting anyone out there unless we get our weapons and fast."

By now, the secret room was nearly filled with almost every senior student in the school, but few of the present people had their weapons. Glynda and the other professors were conversing, likely discussing methods of how to send them out to the lockers to retrieve their things.

But before they could come to a decision, a final wave of students came rushing in. It was the group who had been training with their animals that morning. Blake was among them, with Zwei on her heels.

And each of those people had their hands filled with their friends' and teammates' weapons.

Cries of relief went up, more so to see their friends safe than to see their weapons, but those were much-appreciated as well.

Blake didn't need to push her way over to her team – with Crescent Rose folded at one hip, Myrtenaster at the other, Ember Celica in her arms, and Gambol Shroud on her back, people made a path for her.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang hurried to meet her. Blake distributed their respective weapons and let out a sigh of relief at having the weight off of her.

"It's good to see you guys," she panted. "As soon as the alarms went off, they told us to grab all our teammates' weapons since we were close to the lockers. The professor used a master code to open all of the lockers so we could grab everything we could. Figured none of you guys would be able to make it to the lockers."

"Thank god for that!" Yang said, slipping on her gauntlets with ease and locking them in place.
"And it's good to see you too, partner." She pulled Blake into a brief hug.

"Agreed," Weiss said as she took Myrtenaster. "You're very much a life-saver, Blake."

"We lucked out," Ruby commented. She kept Crescent Rose in its compact form for the moment, then reached down to scoop up Zwei. He was a bit more stoic than usual, but at the prospect of being lifted by his owner, he yipped happily and licked her cheek when he was able to. Ruby settled him onto her shoulder for the moment, her eyes flashing to Blake's once more. "It's a good thing you guys were near the lockers. Now all of us are armed and those terrorists had better watch out!"

"Terrorists?" Blake's voice was laden with shock, and the others quickly briefed her on the situation. They tried to be gentle in telling her about the White Fang being here, but at the mention of their title, she didn't seem surprised or despaired. After all, this wouldn't be her first time confronting them with her ears exposed.

Even so, the White Fang had long-since become aware of who she was, and it was no secret that Blake was a target to them.

With the additional factor that Weiss was injured, and a Schnee, whom the White Fang had never harbored anything but hatred for, the team was opting to stay as close together as possible.

Glynda was beginning to give orders now, dividing everyone into groups, two or three teams per group. She called out for Ruby's team specifically.

"Team RWBY! Are you present?"

All four girls replied in unison.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"A moment, if you will," she said levelly. But then she raised her voice to the others. "The rest of you are dismissed! Protect this school and your fellows with your lives! If each of you do this, then none of you will die."

There was a unanimous answer of affirmation, and then the seniors began filing swiftly out of the room through all of the different branches of hallways. Glynda held Team RWBY back just for a moment, sweeping her gaze around at all four of the anxious girls and their famous corgi.

"I understand you've just returned from a very harrowing mission," she said. She directed her stern gaze toward Weiss. "Miss Schnee. You are injured, are you not?"

Weiss flinched slightly, but held her ground.

"Yes, Professor. But it's nearly healed."

"Regardless," Glynda quipped. "I want you to avoid the heart of the battle if possible. Back up your teammates and friends first and foremost. Engage only if there is no other option available to you."

With her orders received, Weiss bowed her head.

"Yes, ma'am."

Glynda next addressed Blake.

"Miss Belladonna. I don't mean to be intrusive, but there's no easy way around it, so I'll be blunt. I understand you have a history with the White Fang. Headmaster Ozpin has speculated for quite a while now. And you as well, Miss Schnee. You've both seen how this group fights up close and personal. You've been amidst their battles many times before, am I correct?" Both girls hesitated, but ended up nodding. "Right," Glynda went on. "Then I want you two focused on them. Miss Rose and Miss Long, please do your best to deal with the other radicals."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"You got it!"

"Very good. With any luck, I won't be far off, but I know you four can handle yourselves. This is certainly nothing you haven't already dealt with countless times before, be it on or off my radar."

The four girls avoided her gaze for the moment, but this was no time for sheepishness. Glynda drew her riding crop and struck the floor with it. "Now then, off you go! Let's get these pests off our campus as quickly and cleanly as possible."

Without wasting another second, they took off down the nearest hallway. The silence of the soundproof room was soon replaced by the familiar blaring of the alarms, the muffled volume of which increased with every step they took.

The hallway led them back into one of Beacon's many classrooms, where dozens of underclassmen were cringing in the far corners. The professor took note of the senior team's arrival and watched as they crossed the room to the main exit of the lecture all.

Once there, the professor unlocked the doors briefly to allow them access to the school beyond. The four girls slipped out, and Yang closed the door behind her.

They were prepared to face anything.

But the hallway they found themselves in was vacant. The alarm sounds still shook the air, which prevented any of them from hearing properly for sounds of distress.

Blake folded her ears back, somewhat disoriented. But hopefully, that just meant the other Faunus of the White Fang were just as badly affected.

Blake had trained herself well enough by now to be accustomed to such loud noises in the heat of battle, and in a minute or so, she'd be able to push the sounds to the back of her mind and ignore them completely.

But since none of them could hear as well as they might've liked to, Ruby reached up to her shoulder and let Zwei down to the floor.

"Go on, boy," she urged him. "Sniff 'em out."

Zwei went to work instantly, pressing his nose to the cool tile and inhaling. He could instantly detect an unfamiliar scent, along with the smell of gunpowder. With a soft bark to get their attention, he tore off down the hallway. The rest of them followed, keeping a tight formation, all senses on high alert.

They followed Zwei around a few turns, but it wasn't long before sounds of battle joined in the alarms. Shouts and gunshots echoed throughout the hallways now, and the girls came skidding to a halt.

Zwei, however, kept going, as he'd been trained to do. He darted around the corner to where the fray was taking place. He could smell good people and bad people there, but as he skirted the hall, he was sure to keep count of the enemies. He weaved between ankles and under the swing of blades, occasionally bumping himself purposefully into an enemy's calf to unbalance them.

Once he'd rounded the area, he hurried back to where Ruby and the others were waiting. Zwei tapped his mechanical paw against the tile repeatedly, and Ruby paid attention to how many times he swiped it.

"Twenty-five," she reported to the others. "And by the sound of it, some of our friends are already out there."

"Then let's go!" Yang cocked her fists and took up a wider stance. Ruby nodded.

"Just don't forget with Professor Goodwitch said. Yang, you and me have to focus on non-White Fang. And Weiss, you need to be on backup, not the front lines."

The others all nodded swiftly.

In earlier years, they might've bickered or demanded a different position. But they'd been through so much together by this point. They all wholeheartedly respected and accepted Ruby as their leader, and abided by her commands with the utmost loyalty.

With a nod, Ruby led the charge into the battle.

There were only eight other Beacon students present in this area of the school, and they were certainly relieved to see some backup.

This particular section of the school was near the cafeteria, but just a little further beyond it were first-year classrooms. Their only goal right now was to defend those unarmed students and give the professors enough time to evacuate them into the underground passageways.

However, there were only White Fang members present here, so Ruby and Yang had no choice but to engage them first and foremost.

Ruby zipped through the crowd with ease, taking the liberty to assist a fellow student who was outnumbered by four enemies. Ruby took two of them, using the blunt side of her scythe to ram their chests and send them reeling.

It was a little difficult not to go all-out; had these attackers been Grimm, she would've been able to kill them. But considering that they were people, Ruby opted not to kill unless it was a last resort.

Such was how all of Beacon's students had been trained.

But those two men were the only ones Ruby got the jump on. Her team's ambush was only effective for a few seconds before the White Fang regrouped and attacked in a new formation.

Ruby used her scythe more as a shield to deflect bullets and smash their blades to render them useless, firing rounds at their legs to immobilize them.

Weiss was keeping out of the fray as best she could. Her purpose here was more to form glyphs to help her fellows. She kept a keen eye on as many of them as she could, often pulling them out of harm's way at the last second, or sometimes giving them a boost with a leap or a run.

The action in the heart of such a frantic battle was incredibly fast, and Weiss was even faster with her reactions, sometimes casting up to five glyphs at once and controlling them accordingly. It had taken many years of training to get to her current level of concentration and skill, and she was putting it all to good use now.

The only downside to it all was that while she was covering her friends' backs, her own was exposed. She couldn't afford to put up a repulsion glyph to shield herself, as that would've been one fewer glyph she could've sent out to help someone else.

Therefore, Yang was stationed as her bodyguard of sorts, keeping anyone who tried to aim for Weiss at bay. She'd only rush out into the battle if Weiss was clear for the moment, where Yang would throw a few searing punches and then retreat to the heiress' side once more.

From her standpoint at the edge of the battle, Yang also fired bullets whenever she could, either fending off or taking out opponents from afar.

Blake was in the attack battalion with Ruby, slashing her sword as more of a warning than an assault.

But bloodshed was unavoidable today. After all, Beacon was being attacked, and there were innocent lives at stake.

Just because Blake had cut ties with the White Fang over a decade ago didn't meant she'd forgotten how they fought. She knew their basic formations and how each person had a different role. Some were meant to distract while others would sneak around to attack from behind.

Blake made sure none of them got the satisfaction. She cut down every masked Faunus before they could ever hope to ambush one of her friends.

In the meantime, Zwei was running around the entire area, barking at the top of his lungs. Since the animal companions had become an official part of Ozpin's school, all of his students had been trained to fight alongside some of the animals, whether they belonged to those students or not.

And this was precisely why.

The animals were trained to make as much of a ruckus as possible during a fight. Dogs would bark and bite at enemies, horses would whinny and trample and kick, birds would squawk and fly into snipers' faces, and so on.

Beacon's students were all used to the sounds of their animals. But the White Fang was thrown off by it, and clearly confused as to what this new tactic was.

Which made it all the more effective.

Zwei barked at the attackers, jumping up to bite at their ankles or shins, then darting away again. He dodged bullets and daggers, then threw himself into the backs of their knees to double them over. He was the perfect size for attacking their legs and unbalancing them, and he was good enough of a distraction to give Beacon's students ample time and opportunity to counter.

With Beacon's numbers now half of what the White Fang's were here, and with their superior weapons and knowledge of the terrain, the students soon emerged victorious.

Of course, this was only one small section of the school, and there were plenty of other areas that likely needed their assistance. Those who were majorly uninjured and still able to fight took off to find the next group of enemies to fight. Those who needed medical attention stayed behind.

Ruby didn't head out just yet though, as she wanted to know what the rest of her team was doing.

"I'll take whoever's injured," Yang offered. "I could probably use a band-aid myself," she said. Reluctantly, she revealed her right side where a long gash had painted red across her stomach. Ruby winced and nodded to her quickly.

"Okay. You guys go."

There were only two other students who were badly injured, and Ruby guided them both toward Yang. Her sister was hurt, but it wasn't anything that was dire enough to prevent her from fighting again if she happened to encounter more trouble. Yang took one of the two injured student's arms around each of her shoulders and sighed.

"Sorry I couldn't be of more help, guys."

"Hey, you did plenty," Weiss reminded her.

"She's right, Yang," Blake said. "Without you, Weiss wouldn't have been able to do her job, and that would've been bad news for the rest of us."

"You deserve a rest," Ruby told her sister. "There shouldn't be any enemies on the inside as far as the infirmary. But just in case, I'll send out a distress signal on my scroll."

She did as much as she said it, pressing a red button where she quickly typed in a code number. It meant there were injured students on their way to the infirmary, and anyone else in the whole school who had their scroll on them would receive that message. This way, if anyone happened to be in that area or headed that way, they knew they could find Yang and assist her.

The blonde nodded her thanks as she took the other two with her and started for the medical wing.

"Hey..." she called back to her teammates. "Take care, you guys. Love you."

The other three nodded.

"Good luck."

"Thank you, Yang."

"Love you, too."

With that, their team broke off.

As Yang headed deeper into the school, the rest of them headed outward.

Zwei was once again at the head of the team, following his nose. As they ran, Ruby looked back to assess any injuries, but could only see a few minor scratches on Blake. She herself had a sore arm at the worst, but it was nothing serious.

Zwei led them up the nearest stairwell, all the way up to the top floor, where the majority of the noise seemed to be coming from. They ended up in another section of the school, near the administration's offices. He went on his round to asses the numbers, then reported back to Ruby. She let out a long breath.

"Oh boy. Forty, huh? And just ten of ours out there..."

Weiss stepped up beside her partner and put a steadying hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"There are thirteen of us now," she declared. "Fourteen with Zwei."

Ruby gave a quick smile and nodded. Blake came up on her other side, her eyes narrowed.

"I don't like that they're already up here," she growled. "They're trying to break into our security and shut it down."

"We won't let them," Ruby vowed. She lifted her scythe, then gave her signal to move.

They rounded the corner and joined the battle immediately.

This time, the White Fang weren't the only ones present. Ruby recognized Mercury and Emerald right away. The ferocious duo who had been pestering Ruby and her team for four years now was taking down Beacon's students left and right, aiming to kill.

The second Weiss was able to, she resorted to her previous tactics of forming glyphs to draw her companions out of the line of fire. Blake took up Yang's role now and guarded Weiss, defending the heiress to allow her to work her lifesaving magic.

Team JNPR was here as well, and they were among some of the few who hadn't yet been badly wounded. Ren was focusing on retrieving the injured students and taking them to where the fighting didn't reach. Jaune opted to help him, and together they took care of their own.

While the boys were on the defensive, Pyrrha and Nora were on the offensive. Nora swung her hammer around like a two-ton tornado, smashing it into whomever was unlucky enough to not get out of the way. The ones that did manage to jump back were swiftly met with Pyrrha's shield to their skulls and dropped unconscious to the floor.

Ruby jumped in to help them, and together the three girls focused their attacks on Mercury and Emerald.

A good number of the White Fang were guarding those two in particular. Nora took it upon herself to scatter them with a roar and a swing of Magnhild. Ruby and Pyrrha charged forward and respectively faced Emerald and Mercury.

Pyrrha was even more exceptional a fighter than she'd been a year or even a week ago. Her defense was flawless, even in wake of Mercury's deadly kicks. She blocked everything and countered just as fiercely, fury burning in her eyes.

She'd once taken classes together with these people whom she'd trusted to be her friends. But that had been three years ago during the Vytal Festival. Shortly after the tournament, Mercury, Emerald, and several other students from Haven had revealed their true, diabolical colors and wicked intentions.

Beacon had fended them off once, and they'd do it again.

Ruby was equally as eager to get them off her territory. She didn't hold back in deflecting Emerald's blades.

Ruby might've been speedy, but Crescent Rose was much heavier than Emerald's weapons, and therefore she was at a bit of a disadvantage. The red-eyed girl laughed harshly in her face.

"Aw, c'mon Little Red! Even after all these years, you're still so weak? I'm disappointed."

Emerald jumped and gave a powerful kick, one Ruby only just barely managed to block, but it still pushed her back and had her reeling a bit. With a grunt, Ruby shoved her opponent away, but Emerald didn't seem fazed. She laughed again and retreated back into the fray, quickly vanishing among the writhing bodies and gunfire.

Ruby did her best to push through the crowd to follow her, but she was immediately blocked by several White Fang members whom she had no choice but to engage.

This group wasn't like the previous ones, who'd only had smaller guns, knives, and swords. This group had military weapons, rifles, and explosives. If it hadn't been for Weiss keeping an eye on Beacon's side and providing shields with her glyphs accordingly, there would've been a lot more blood on the walls than there already was.

As Ruby tried to seek out Emerald once again, she caught sight of Pyrrha and noticed that she'd lost Mercury as well.

Ruby didn't like this. She knew those two were up to something, and she needed to find out what.

The vicious battle continued, and somewhere along the lines, Beacon's students had been forced to stop trying to spare lives.

Now it was war, and casualties were unavoidable.

Pyrrha wasn't just using her shield anymore, but her javelin as well. Nora wasn't just smashing legs or arms anymore, but aimed for the head when she could. Jaune and Blake aimed their swords at throats if possible. Ren fired at the temples. Weiss used her glyphs to control her enemies as well as her friends, though the latter she rescued and the former she threw directly into the lines of fire. Ruby arched her scythe with the blade side out, cleaving a path through her adversaries.

As they continued to fight, they all tried to remind themselves that this bloodshed was justified.

After several more minutes, however, Beacon was down to its final few fighters.

Jaune and Ren had dragged out all of the injured people on their side, but now it was only teams RWBY and JNPR that remained. Despite the dent they'd put in the enemies' numbers, they were still gravely outnumbered.

A little black bolt of lightning flashed in Ruby's gaze, and she knew it was Zwei. A bit of relief washed over her then, as she hadn't seen or heard him within recent minutes due to the sounds of battle and the alarms still blaring.

He was still darting about and distracting opponents long enough for someone else to take them out. Or he was jumping on the enemies from behind and deterring their aim.

Ruby watched at present as he did just that, jumping up to latch his strong, sharp teeth into one man's arm. He hollered and tried to throw the corgi off, but Zwei held fast. Only when the man pointed a gun at his head did Zwei release him with such perfect timing that the man ended up shooting his own arm and collapsed to the floor howling.

Ruby smirked a little bit, but it wasn't long before she was faced with her next adversary. She could tell her side was gradually being forced back, and it wouldn't be long before the White Fang would be able to force their way past.

Ruby cursed under her breath as she fended off a pair of masked Faunus. She stole a glance to the side to assess her teammates.

They didn't look very good.

Blake's clothes had been splattered with blood, and Ruby couldn't tell how much of it was hers. It was clear the enemy had known about Weiss' purpose and how much of a disadvantage it put the White Fang in, so many had tried to attack the heiress.

And all of them thus far had been met with Blake's sword instead.

The Faunus girl was on her last legs, though, that much was clear. This fighting had been going nonstop for a while now, and she needed a moment to rest.

Weiss was much the same. Although she hadn't been majorly wounded in a physical sense, her mental state was deteriorating. She was using too many glyphs too often, and mostly various glyphs all at once for different purposes. She was getting weak very quickly, and her exertion was just as dangerous as it might've been if she were bleeding out.

And Ruby wasn't invincible either, no matter how badly she might like to think she was. Her arms were sore from swinging Crescent Rose, her legs heavy from all the running. She'd been grazed by a few blades and bullets when Weiss had needed to focus her defensive glyphs on other people.

They wouldn't last like this for much longer.

And as if on cue to make things worse, Emerald and Mercury reappeared to antagonize them further.

Ruby could feel herself stepping back more and more, retreating rather than advancing. Her friends were too close by for her to use any kind of all-encompassing attacks, and she was too exhausted now to do anything more than simply block and dodge.

Now Jaune was limping, Ren only had one of his guns, and Nora could barely hold up her hammer anymore.

Ruby grunted in a mixture of anger and frustration.

"Crap..."

The next second, Emerald was upon her again. Only her quick reflexes spared Ruby a slash to the arm, and she twisted her body to dodge by mere inches. Panting, she moved aside, quickly wiping the sweat out of her eyes. Emerald was laughing loudly.

"Damn, you don't look so good, Red. Maybe I should put you out of your misery, huh?"

Ruby stumbled, forced to lean her weight against Crescent Rose. But Emerald wasn't giving her a second to rest. She lunged, and Ruby didn't have time to react or block it. All she could do was cry out and hope for the best.

"Zwei!"

Her voice cracked, but her plea didn't go unheeded. Seconds later, just before Emerald's blades could touch her, a furious snarl ripped through the battle.

Zwei jumped at Emerald's back, snapping his jaws at her hair and yanking her backward and away from his owner. She screamed a string of curses at the sudden attack, trying to reach behind herself to slash at him, but to no avail.

It gave Ruby the minute she needed to catch her breath. But as Emerald struggled to free herself from the dog's grip, it was clear that Ruby wasn't the only one with backup.

With a vehement hiss, Emerald shouted out for her own ambush attacker.

"Merc! Kill her! Kill this bitch!"

Ruby had been so focused on Emerald that she hadn't had the time to turn around. She could hear Mercury's shout as he came up behind her, and Ruby could only close her eyes and wait for a shredding impact.

But it never came.

Instead, a familiar shout echoed around the hallways. Mercury's attack was intercepted, and rather than a rush of pain at her back, now Ruby felt heat. She whipped around with a cry of relief.

"Yang!"

Her sister turned and gave her a wink.

"Glad to be of service," she said, throwing another punch.

Ruby slid in close and pressed her back to Yang's so they could fend off more of their attackers.

"What about your wound?"

"It was nothin'," Yang reassured. "Not deep, just long. I persuaded the nurse to let me come back to fight. I've still got plenty of juice left in me."

"Boy, am I glad to hear it."

For the next few minutes, the two sisters covered each other's backs, which allowed Weiss to focus her shields and barrier glyphs on the others. But Ruby could see that the bluish-white circles were popping up less and less frequently, and in fewer numbers.

Blake was just barely holding her ground, and Jaune had fallen back to help her. Pyrrha was fighting without thought now, while Ren and Nora had to tag-team a single opponent.

They were the only ones left on Beacon's side now. And it was clear that none of them were going to last much longer.

Even though Yang had been a welcome reinforcement, she was already wounded and tired, and it wasn't long before she was struggling as well. Even Zwei - who reappeared several times to trip or bite their opponents - wasn't as quick as he had been an hour ago.

Ruby slashed at another White Fang member, then staggered to where her sister's back could support her a bit.

"Yang..." she wheezed. "We can't... keep this up... we've gotta retreat."

Her sister growled and threw another searing punch, but she didn't argue or deny that her sister was speaking the truth.

Ruby spotted Emerald and Mercury again across the fray, both charging Pyrrha at once. Weiss could only send out one glyph to fend off Emerald, but Mercury ended up landing a hit directly on the amazon's back, causing her to cry out.

As much as she hated to, Ruby gathered her breath and prepared to give the order to fall back. She wasn't about to let her friends die here.

But before she could find the words, Emerald beat her to it.

"Formation B!" she shouted.

Instantly, the remaining White Fang members all jumped back from their opponents and drew out something from their pockets. Emerald and Mercury held similar objects in each hand. Without wasting a second, they all tossed the items toward the Beacon students.

It was all Yang could do to shout "Get back!" and grab her sister's hood to pull her away. Blake hurried to Weiss' side, and the heiress put up a one-glyph repulsion barrier for them. JNPR managed to retreat back to the walls where they slumped against one another for support.

No sooner had they all fallen back when the grenades hit the tiled floors. However, there were no sparks or explosions. Rather than fire, the grenades exploded into smoke.

Instantly, thick, grey fog clogged the air, making it almost impossible to see more than a foot in front of them. Still, it was a bit of a relief that the walls hadn't come crumbling down around them. Not yet, at least.

Even so, they weren't taking any chances.

Yang kept herself in front of Ruby, glaring defiantly into the haze of smoke. Zwei stood at their feet, ears perked tall and nose high as he tried to sniff out the scents of the enemies.

Everything had gone from hectic chaos and shouting to nearly utter silence in a matter of seconds. The Academy's alarms were still blaring, interrupting the quiet every other second.

But the White Fang almost seemed to have disappeared.

The students took a few seconds to catch their breath, activating their aura to start healing the worst of the wounds. Yang still had that gash in her side from earlier, but that wasn't what was slowing her down right now.

"The hell's going on?" she barked, refusing to move from this spot. With the limited visibility, she wasn't taking any risks, nor was she going to allow Ruby to. Her little sister moved up a step, just so she might stand beside Yang.

"I don't know. Are they retreating?"

"Those guys? Hell no. As much as I hate to admit it, they were winning..." Yang muttered. "And why wouldn't they have used actual bombs? I'm sure there's plenty of 'em in their hideout, so why'd they just use smoke? And it's not even noxious gas. The hell are they up to?"

"Maybe they decided to try another route? They figured this way was too much trouble with all of us here."

"Something tells me that might be a bit too easy..."

As the sisters speculated quietly, they kept their senses alert. The others were all gradually starting to fall back, hoping to get a moment of rest.

But the second they moved, something else did as well.

Suddenly, Zwei let out a loud bark, and at the same time, Blake's warning cut through the fog.

"Pyrrha, left!"

The crimson-haired girl was surprised by the sudden call of her name, but she wasn't about to ignore the warnings from both a keen Faunus student and an animal companion. Without thinking, she dodged to her left, shoving Jaune a few feet back in the process.

Not a second later, a black arrow whizzed through the air right where she'd stood, slicing a few strands of her hair. The arrow embedded itself into the floor, only having missed its target by mere inches.

Pyrrha and the rest of her team were wide-eyed in horror, though it was Yang who growled the next comment.

"Bastards. They're shooting at us from somewhere, like its some kinda sport..."

But Ruby had seen those arrows before. Infused with Dust and outlined in crimson like flame. There was only one person holding that bow, wherever she was.

"Oh geez..." she mumbled.

Quickly, Ruby glanced around at the other seven students gathered there. They were all injured in one way or another, and with this fog, no one could tell where they were in relation to the building or hallways. She could barely see Weiss and Blake, and Nora and Ren were mere figures in the haze.

All eyes went to the direction from which the first arrow had been shot. Wherever she was, Cinder was ground level with the rest of them, stalking around the perimeter of where they were gathered.

Slowly, Ruby retracted Crescent Rose so it wouldn't be as easy to see her position. Yang clenched her fists and pulled Ruby a bit closer towards her.

"Shit. We gotta-"

"Yang!" Blake's panicked shout cut the blonde off mid-sentence. Yang reacted just in time to push Ruby aside and dodge another arrow. This one had come from the same direction as the first, indicating the shooter was in front of them, driving them back.

A hot steam rose up from the blade that would've pierced Yang through had it struck its target. Frazzled, Yang swallowed a bit as she hissed to her sister.

"Ruby, we've gotta retreat. We've gotta get out of this fog, or clear it somehow."

Ruby flashed her gaze all around them, but the fog seemed unending.

"We can't," she mumbled. "If we move, she'll fire at us. Plus, people are wounded. They won't be able to go quickly enough. They'll be sitting ducks."

"We're sitting ducks right now, Ruby!"

"Not if we don't move quickly," she said. "Movement disrupts the fog and tells her where we are exactly. This is a game for her. She wants to scare us."

"Well, she's doing a damn good job..."

The alarms continued to blare, and that didn't help any of their hearing. Humans couldn't discern the sounds of the arrows, so they relied entirely upon Blake and Zwei.

The dog seemed to be an ounce more perceptive. At the sound of the next arrow, he barked a second before Blake shouted out to Ren. He only just managed to avoid it, though.

Ruby knew they wouldn't last long like this. They'd need to retreat, but they'd need to do it slowly.

The others seemed to take the hint as well. Gradually, they moved back the way they'd come, stepping only once or twice per minute.

Each second was agonizing, another potential instant where one of them could be shot down. They didn't speak either, unless it was Blake giving a warning.

However, all of her shouts were giving away her position, and the next arrow came for her. She flinched when she heard the sound headed her way, but if she dodged, it would hit Weiss behind her. There was no time to move-

Blake flinched and prepared for the impact. But it never came.

At the last second, Weiss managed to form a glyph in front of the Faunus girl, deflecting the arrow entirely. The two girls shared a silent conversation.

From then on, as they inched back step by step, Blake didn't shout her warnings anymore. She whispered them to Weiss, who then aimed a defensive glyph at whomever was being targeted at the moment. Exhausted as she was, though, she could only put up one at a time.

She managed to shield all of team JNPR at least once, and then herself and Blake.

By this point, the students had backed to the edge of the fog. Ruby was about to give the signal for them all to bolt and run as quickly as possible around the nearest corner.

Weiss was preparing for that order as well, intent to put up one last glyph behind them all when they turned their backs.

But as Blake whispered her next warning, Weiss' breath hitched. She collapsed to her knees, head spinning as the physical exertion of overusing her abilities finally took its toll. Panting, she sputtered apologies to Blake, who fretfully crouched down beside her.

"B-Blake-" Weiss gasped. "I can't- a-anymore-"

Blake cursed under her breath and shouted as the next arrow flew.

"Jaune, move!"

Judging by the yelp of surprise and a grunt that was undoubtedly Pyrrha's, the blond boy avoided certain death this time around. But with Weiss down now, Blake knew their luck wouldn't hold out much longer.

She kept an arm around the heiress' back and struggled to help her back to her feet. They staggered, and Weiss was as good as unconscious at this point. Blake shot a glance through the fog to her partner. Yang caught her eye and passed on the message to Ruby.

"Weiss is out. We gotta move, Ruby."

The brunette grimaced and bit her lip. If they all rushed out at once, perhaps they'd get lucky.

"Okay," she murmured. "We'll-"

But she stopped when Zwei suddenly took off into the fog. He sent out a flurry of barks and yips, clearly trying to create a distraction. It was their only chance.

"Now or never!" Yang shouted. "Go, go!"

She pushed Ruby first, shielding her sister with her own back. Footsteps sounded behind them, telling them JNPR was close behind.

More arrows shot by. One grazed Pyrrha's shoulder, another clipped Blake's leg. With a cry of pain, the Faunus girl stumbled, and Weiss went down with her. Yang was closest, and she pushed Ruby ahead as she fell back to help them. Ruby cried out to her teammates in alarm, the fog preventing her from seeing them now.

"Yang! Blake! Weiss!"

But in the anxious moment, she'd forgotten that sound would give away her position. As she stumbled forward in the haze, Ruby came face to face with an all-too familiar archer.

Cinder was there, a malicious, familiar shadow amidst the fog, amber eyes burning with predatory wrath. Her arm was pulled back behind the bow, her next arrow aimed directly at the girl's chest. There were several yards between them, plenty of space for an arrow to pick up fatal momentum.

Ruby's blood ran cold despite the fire in her adversary's eyes. She couldn't move.

Cinder took a step closer, her grip on the weapon firm and certain. Her voice was low and hypnotic against the blaring sirens.

"Why, hello, Ruby," she hummed. "It's been an awfully long while. But I'm afraid this will be the last time we see each other. Forever."

There was no time to react, no glyphs being placed in front of her, no shields to deflect it.

She could only close her eyes.

But just a second before the string of the bow twanged, another much more familiar sound met her ears.

"Arf!"

Ruby gasped as she heard the patter of tiny paws. She didn't know where he was now, but he was close by.

"Zwei!"

A rush of air passed her, hot and deadly as the arrow was released.

It missed her by an eyelash.

And when she realized why, Ruby was horror-stricken.

Zwei was before her now, his jaws clamped firmly into Cinder's ankle. Blood welled out around his teeth and he snarled viciously.

The woman screamed, a raging shriek that her aim had been thwarted because of this.

"Vermin!" she hissed. She slammed her red shoe down, her heel finding purchase in one of Zwei's front paws. He yelped and released his grip on her leg, but not before she kicked him off with a blow to the muzzle.

Ruby screamed and stumbled forward.

"No! Zwei-!"

But Cinder was faster.

And she was furious.

She drew her final arrow from behind her back, but didn't even bother with the bow. With her heel pressed down on his stomach, Cinder pinned Zwei to the floor.

Then, with inhuman cruelty and uncaring eyes, she raised the arrow-

-and brought it down on top of him, piercing him through with a stream of red.

He howled.

And even the blaring alarms were now drowned out by Ruby's anguished scream:

"ZWEI!"

. . .

. .

.

A/N: You can choose which ending you want to go with from here. Choose wisely.