Hey guys! I'm back from the dead... somewhat. ok i managed to squeeze enough time to finish this chapter in my busy schedule of preparing for exams in the coming weeks. college is hard alright?! and although i'd live to update more frequently, i've been really busy these past few months. i havent really had that much time in one sitting to refine the chapter so this was written across several sittings. i hope i did well enough to weed out any errors and inconsistencies.

I'd also like to thank you guys for your reviews. i feel like I'm learning a lot from reading your feedback and am trying to integrate it into the chapters I'm writing.

this is a rather short chapter and i apologize for the length but i hope it was up to standard anyway. I'll be done with this semester's exams on the 3rd of February and I hope to be able to write more often between then and when my internship starts.

It had been a week after initiation and Ozpin was quietly sipping on his coffee.

It seemed his future successor in Qrow had left Mr. Arc and Ms. Schnee with nothing more than vague information. He was confident in his ability to process said info and to an extent, reliably deduce the rest. Regardless, there was a lot of guesswork involves as well as a lot of holes he has yet to patch up. How Ozpin hated unknowns.

He fully expected the odd pair to completely question his admittedly quite passive reaction to what he had learned from them, just as the Schnee heiress had, but he was pleasantly surprised at the look on the young blonde's face. He was honestly impressed. Mr Arc understood that their situation was incredibly delicate and any sudden actions will draw unwanted attention to themselves.

The biggest focus he had was securing information on these unique dust crystals.

From what he understood from the explanation they recited from Qrow was that these crystals were unique even through the split in the time line. If his understanding on the matter is correct, then this most likely meant that the crystals that have been consumed should disappear from existence in all parallel flows of time, both past and present. Regardless, it was important that Salem does not get her hands on those again.

It would be difficult to pinpoint the exact point in time as to when they were discovered. All the Beacon headmaster could do was estimate a plausible time frame considering the time between now and its 'future use', as well as the length the expedition must have taken and the amount of time the research was done.

The pair mentioned that she should not know where these unique objects where mined from and he hoped that that information was accurate.

Here lay his dilemma. To play a check mate, one had to cross out one's opponent's exit routs and choke them into defeat, and these crystals where certainly an 'exit route'.

They had mentioned that they were mined somewhere in a Vacuan Deserts. Ozpin played with the idea of sending out a squad to investigate the area but that in itself posed two major problems. First, the deserts of Vacuo were massive, spreading out as far as the eye can see, and even the eastern parts alone spanned several hundred kilometers across, not to mention the sandstorms that often buffeted the land. The second and more dangerous problem was the attention that this could attract. He had no idea where Salem had her eyes and ears, and an expedition to the area could lead her straight to the crystals.

Granted, the machinery nor the research that enabled the full use of these mysterious objects have yet to be undertaken by the Atlesean Scientists, and Ozpin was doubtful that these crystals, as of the moment, would be of any use even if they were to be dug up. Regardless, it was possibility he would much rather prevent from the start.

James was a trusted ally, that much Ms. Schnee had confirmed, although he might go off on his own from time to time. Jacques Schnee on the other hand, Weiss herself had admitted that he was a man that could not be trusted. And considering his power and influence over Atlas, the Beacon headmaster had to be doubly careful.

Regardless, the best Ozpin could do at the moment was to ask the good general to keep a discreet eye on all current and upcoming research projects involving dust and aura, and the report as well as attempt to block out any and all involving the Vacuan deserts, all without catching the attention of the SDC's rpresident..

He took another sip of his coffee, enjoying the sensation of the warm liquid running down his throat. He leaned back against his char. Difficult times were ahead.

The loud blasts of shotgun shells being discharged reverberated across the arena. Weiss and Yang were currently occupying the central platform and Jaune was leaning against the outer wall with Blake up in the stands right above him. Both the faunus and the resident brawler wondered why their leader was inside the ring but he waved them away at wanting to see the fight close up. A half assed answer no doubt, but neither of them felt particularly inclined to argue. The young knight's eyes were trained on the pair sparring beneath them, his head resting on the slightly curved wall and his arms crossed in front of his chest. His gaze was sharp as he analyzed every move made in this fight.

"You're leaving too many openings." Weiss said as she dodged another combo to smack Yang's knee with the side of her rapier.

The blonde's eyes were red now. The young heiress had been dodging all of Yang's attempts to land any damage. Even more frustrating was that Weiss was striking her back with the dull edge of her blade seemingly intent on edging her on.

This had been going on for quite a while now and Yang was visibly winded. She was panting and a layer of sweat was forming on her forehead. 'She isn't pacing herself.' Jaune thought. She was blinded by her frustration. Yang was a heavy hitter, no question about that. And her stamina was impressive, so was her ability to take hits. But she was also hot headed and the smirk on Weiss' lips certainly was not helping calm the blonde down.

Team ABYS' leader knew that his partner was doing it on purpose, getting her angrier and angrier. The best ways to fix weaknesses was to expose them first. The pair were hoping that showing her how she lets her emotions rule her in combat can be an asset, but can also be a liability.

"You're too slow." the heiress commented again.

"Shut up! Shut up!" came the response through grinding teeth.

Another dodge, another tap to the inside of Yang's knee.

"Your low stance gives you power for each strike, but power won't help you against an opponent you cant hit."

The brawler once again tried to attack with renewed vigor.

"Find a balance between speed and power, change your style to match your enemy's."

"Stop running! Gah! Hold still!"

Even from the stands, Jaune was still able to audibly hear his fellow blond growl in between breaths as she tried another string of punches and kicks, none of which landing. Weiss weaved left and right gracefully as if she were dancing, before lifting her foot to stop one of the brawler's kicks, the sole of the fencer's boot pressing against the attacking knee, pushing the entire limb back down.

Yang was visibly slowing and the girl in white took the opportunity to lift herself into the air and perform an incredibly quick roundhouse kick, her heel making solid contact with her opponent's temple sending her flying to the side.

The blonde was able to right herself midair to land on her boots. She bent her knees and raised her arms behind her preparing to use her shotgun gauntlets' recoil to propel herself forward when she saw a pair of bright blue eyes right in front of her own making her gasp, before Weiss pulled in her free, right fist close to her shoulder and slammed her forearm against the bigger girl's cheek sending her sprawling onto the ground.

"She's fast." The young knight heard Blake near whisper the words from above.

"Yeah, she is. She's quick and incredibly agile." He affirmed. "What she lacks in raw strength, she makes up for with speed."

The young knight looked up and noticed how Blake, who was previously focused on her book, now sat leaning forward slightly, the bound pages of her new novel occupying the seat beside her.

Yang rolled back and began her charge anew, her boots stomping into the ground.

The young fencer stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground before taking a step forward and redirecting Yang's fist with her right palm before quickly raising her left forearm and striking the bigger girl's other cheek.

Yang stumbled back a few paces and Weiss slowly, deliberately walked after her.

Yang was quite audibly growling now. Another punch, another redirection, another counter, this time, the smaller girl lashed out her palm onto the blonde's chest.

And again, she countered with the heel of her hand against the brawler's chin making her head snap back as she spun around her elbowed her spine dropping the brawler on all fours.

In a fit of rage, Yang spun around and threw and blind semblance enhanced jab, one which the heiress sidestepped with ease. Though the brawler's eyes widened as she tried to stop her momentum noticing too late how her fist was now on a direct path towards her fellow blonde. It was too late to stop her momentum and Yang squeezed her eyes shut waiting for her fist to come into contact with her leader's face. Only to yelp in pain as her fist collided with something incredibly hard.

Jaune hadn't even moved, still impassively looking at her, this time through a translucent, but very much solid barrier a mere centimeter off the boy's nose.

The brawler tried to form words but Weiss didn't let her, finally ending the fight by grabbing her outstretched elbow, forcing her to turn 90 degrees and yanking her forward, the small knee making sufficient contact with Yang's abdomen, and the air quite audibly whooshing out of her lungs. Her legs wobbled slightly, struggling to keep her upright, as the white haired girl struck the edge of her flat hand against the side of her opponents neck bringer the bigger girl down onto her knees, making her vision swim and simultaneously causing the arena speakers to blare out signaling the end of the match.

Jaune looked up to the display above the arena. Yang's aura was in the red while Weiss' was sitting at 97%, looks like she lost some aura in that melee. Hand to hand combat isn't her specialty. She's probably used some elements of it to further frustrate her opponent and prove her point, despite how it caused some minor self harm.

"Emotions can grant you strength, but you mustn't let them control you." Weiss said rather softly, reciting the same words Winter had once told her.

Yang looked up to look up at the Schnee, appearing much larger than her frame would allow otherwise, surprised at the tone of her voice.

"The ability to fuel your semblance with your anger is a powerful tool, but the moment you lose yourself in a fit of rage then you become a threat to not only yourself but to you allies as well."

The blonde looked like she was about to refute that statement but her earlier actions caused her to rethink her potential outburst. Most of the blonde's anger had disappeared by now but she would be lying to herself if she said that she wasn't still a bit frustrated by how the events of their fight played out.

She had to begrudgingly accept her teammate's criticism however. On any other situation, she would have scoffed at her and denied her claim bit the way she blindly attacked her leader earlier left no room for debate.
the brawler turned her head to the side to look up at her leader. Blake peered down at her with a curious gaze while Jaune was regarding her with what she could describe as an analytical eye. Her eyes went back to the white haired girl and the heiress was bending down towards her slightly while extending her hand. Yang grasped the open palm and Weiss helped her back to her feet.

Getting schooled by someone from your own age group would normally infuriate the proud blonde to no end, but even she was able to tell that this girl was nowhere near normal. she and the her partner were very different to say the least.

"Wanna spar, Blake?" Jaune suddenly piped up rather happily causing Blake to turn her attention to him, clear suspicion in her yellow eyes.

Blake saw the fight between her partner and the Schnee heiress, if one could even call that a fight. And if their leader was as strong as the white clad girl then a spar against him would most likely leave her in the same sorry state Yang was in. And Blake was fairly certain that he was just that, if not, even stronger.

Regardless, she could not deny that Weiss was effectively exposing the blonde brawler's weaknesses. This could potentially help her in the future, if of course, Yang took this fight to heart and is willing to learn from it. This did not stop her from feeling incredibly wary of the pair.

"I think I'll pass."

"Come on, Blake. It'll be fun!" She narrowed her eyes at that.

"Yeah, Blake," Yang spoke up between pants from down on the arena floor. She glanced up at her and gave her a grin and a thumbs up. "It'll be fun."

"No thank you." she repeated, trying to draw attention away from herself by opening her book.

"Oh come on, I did it so its your turn now." her partner called again.

"You were the one who challenged her, a clearly superior opponent." she got a scowl in return

"Don't you want to test yourself? And although what they showed at initiation was impressive, don't you want to see their strength for yourself?" the pair in question shared a quick glance at this.

"Alright, maybe another time." Blake was rather surprised that Jaune was the one who conceded. As he pushed off the wall and patted some imaginary dust off his jeans. "It should be about time for dinner anyway. Lets get to the cafeteria before the lines get too long."

It had been a week since initiation and Blake was surprised to find herself fitting in well enough. Her teammates, to an extent, seemed to understand her need for personal space and respect her wishes to sometimes just stay in the library alone. Granted, Yang often tried to pull her into socializing and Blake was also putting in some effort in return. She knew it was important to bond with her team but given her past, she was still too wary of getting too close to others.

So there she was, walking with her team to the changing rooms on the way to the cafeteria to give her teammates a chance to change out of their combat attires. She was a few steps behind her leader and the Schnee heiress, with her own partner beside her talking excitedly about a bar brawl she was a part of a few days before she came to Beacon. Her face was buried in a book but the buxom blonde didn't seem to notice as she continued to retell how she socked the bar owner square in the face.

It didn't take long for Weiss and Yang to don their uniforms and soon enough, team ABYS was standing before the large double doors that stood between them and their destination.

Beacon's cafeteria was huge. Several aisles of tables were neatly arranged throughout the spacious building with long benches to either side of each table. The far end held the serving area with a few lines manned by several cafeteria ladies distributing different menus to different students.

The lines had started to form and the number of free tables was already beginning to dwindle.

Ruby and the rest of team PLVR sat down next to their 'sister team' as Little Red had called them, who seemed to save them spots. She set down her tray filled with delicious cake before she plopped herself down on the bench beside her sister, who was grunting in between bites. Blake and Weiss sat at the very end of the table with Yang beside Blake and Jaune to Weiss' left. Pyrrha calmly sat herself down in the open space to Ruby's right and the odd pair of Ren and Nora sat opposite them, the bubbly redhead's plate stacked with an impressively tall tower of pancakes, despite it not being the right time of day for such a meal.

She was happy with her team. All of them seem understanding and fun. honestly, she had the Pyrrha Nikos on her team, and Nora looked like someone whom she would get along really well. Her sister might even say that they would get along a little too well. All 3 of them had really awesome weapons as well and her interest in them had certainly proved to be a good means to break out of her timid self to interact with her teammates.

Despite all this though, she couldn't help but glance at the blonde leader of team ABYS sitting on the other side of the table.

The way he stopped that deathstalker was incredibly impressive and from that alone she could tell that he was a very strong fighter, but what really caught her attention was how he took control of their collective unit against the nevermore, how he quickly thought up a course of action and how he was able to clearly issue commands that were easy to understand, efficient and effective. He was a leader of a freshman team, same as her, but the gap in their abilities was huge.

The past week she had been thinking herself lacking. If he was what was standard from a team leader of their year, then she had no hope of matching him.

She had an amazing team, with teammates who were all extremely skilled, teammates who most likely would do a better job of leading a team such as this. They haven't said anything, but she wondered if they found her to be lacking as well, especially after Jaune's display a week before.

Pyrrha glanced up from her plate filled with salad to give her a smile, one so honest and warm that she couldn't help but feel better upon seeing it. She turned to look slightly to the Mistrali's right to see her fellow team leader also give her a similar smile, a little awkward but no less genuine.

"So, how are you liking Beacon so far, Ruby?" Jaune asked her suddenly.

Ruby was caught off guard slightly by the sudden start of a conversation and she stuttered with the first few words.

"I-uhh-great! Umm... Beacon's great." she looked back down to her plate.

"Youngest person to get accepted, that's a really impressive feat."

"Thanks." she stuttered out once more.

She honestly disliked it when people pointed that out. It has been a week since classes started, and several students have already approached her about it, with all kinds of reactions. She disliked being the center of attention, it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Another difference she had with her fellow leader. He seemed to thrive, having no problems at all talking to strangers and even figures of authority. She'd seen the way the headmaster approached him for some one thing or another.

"What about you Jaune? Which primary combat school did you attend?" Pyrrha asked suddenly, pulling the blonde's attention away from Ruby. She caught her redheaded partner give her a small smile before she once again turned to Jaune.

The young reaper was thankful to Pyrrha, it seemed like she understood exactly how Ruby was feeling about all the attention. She once again looked down at the half eaten cake on her plate, still listening in on the conversation however. She was curious about Jaune, about his past, how he became what he is how. She was hoping she could learn something. In fact, she was certain she could learn a lot from him, thought she never really had the guts to ask him for tips. She toyed with the idea of asking her sister, but she somehow felt as thought this a matter she should do herself.

"I uhh- I didn't go to a primary combat school, I was actually an apprentice to a veteran huntsman. I sorta tagged along in his travels. He taught me a lot though." she was surprised at his little stutter. He looked rather uncomfortable answering the question. Painful memories perhaps?

"I see." her partner replied slowly, likely having come up with the same conclusion as her. "He must have been a great huntsman."

"Yeah." the blonde was rubbing the back of his head.

Weiss observed Ruby from her seat at the very edge of the table. Something about her seemed off and Weiss couldn't really place her finger on it. It was somewhat familiar, but still very much odd. She'd been acting a lot more reserved than what she remembered. Was Ruby always this shy? Considering Weiss' rather recent memories of the young Rose, her view could simple be skewed towards the more mature and outgoing person Ruby grew up to be, regardless, the heiress still felt as thought something was amiss.

She was acting like… like… Weiss' eyes widened slightly as something connected in her head. Little Red was acting similarly to the way she did in the previous timeline, at around the point where the heiress herself questioned her worth as the leader of their team. There was some doubt in her eyes, like she was wondering if she was truly deserving, as if the headmaster had made a mistake.

Having come to this realization, Weiss still didn't quite understand what the cause was for her previous partner's behavior was, considering she doubted any of the members of team PLVR would act the way she, herself, did previously. And Ruby did not seem like the type whose spirits are lowered that easily.

She sincerely doubted Ren and Nora and particularly Pyrrha would question the younger girl's appointment as leader considering they were the ones that accepted Jaune back when he was a hopeless mess.

So this brought up the question as to what was causing Ruby to behave this way.

"Man! this sure hits the spot." Yang voiced out as she finished her steak. "I really needed that after that 'training session'." she finished, patting her belly.

Ruby looked at her older sister quickly. "You already started training?"

"Yeah, our 'fearless leader' over here," she started as she nodded forward hinting at the other blonde sitting across from her, "decided to get started sooner. We were gonna go through a training routine but I thought starting the semester off with a good spar would be best. The 'spar' didn't really work out for me though." she emphasized by making quotation sign gestures with her fingers. "I'm still sore all over."

"Was more like a one sided beating if you asked me." Blake added without looking up from her book.

"Hey, at least I had the guts to try."

"I admire your courage and your resilience, congratulations." she did not even look up as she flipped another page of her book.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad."

Her eyes peeked over the black bound book to stare at her partner. "It was pretty bad."

"Best way to improve is to push you to the limit." Jaune supplied.

Weiss observed Ruby's reaction to the conversation as the trio continued their squabbles and slowly, the younger girls behavior was starting to make sense.

Having someone who doesn't know what he's doing as a leader along side you in your batch can instill a sense of confidence into anyone, really, but having seen what current Jaune was capable of, how he led them the way he did in the fight against the nevermore, it might not be a far off idea that Ruby would find herself inferior when placed in the same pot at him.

the heiress sighed slightly. This was getting a lot more complicated. Albeit minor, it was another addition to their long list of problems.

Glynda Goodwitch was rather bothered by the contents in the papers she was currently holding in her arms. The elevator running through the spine of Beacon tower was slowly ascending up to the headmaster's office, finally coming to a halt with a soft ding.

The young woman saw professor Ozpin swivel in his chair to face his desk as the large bronze doors slid apart.

"Professor, here are the files you requested from the Vale Police Department. It seems there are indeed a lot of unsolved dust robberies in Vale."

"And I take it the police have none of the perpetrators in custody?"

"That's right." she nodded, her gaze sharp as she once again looked over the papers. "I fail understand how the local law enforcement could be so incapable. They have had enough forewarning." she expected more, honestly, she expected something. But no, the Valean Police have zero traces. The only reason they identified Torchwick was because of her own involvement with a robbery a few weeks ago.

"Rather than being incapable. I believe 'unwilling' is a better term to use."

"Are you suggesting that the police are avoiding the thefts on purpose?" she asked, not really surprised.

"The person leading the crimes, Roman Torchwick, has proven to be a sly and highly intelligent man. Yet even so, I do not believe he is capable of getting away with all that he has so far without some inside aid. The first blunder we have truly seen from him was the night we met miss Rose. Where the Valean police showed up hours after the crime had been committed." the files were transferred from Glynda's scroll to the large displays on the Headmaster's desk. "It was fortunate that you were out doing errands that night else young Ruby could have been seriously hurt."

"If that is the case, why not involve ourselves. Given our position as Beacon staff it should be no problem if we were to carry out our own investigation."

"That wouldn't do."Ozpin paused to take another sip of his coffee. His eyes still skimming the text of the reports. "I am not in the best of terms with the council as is, nor do we want to tip their insider off lest we spook him. For now, it is best we observe." Glynda narrowed her eyes slightly at this, it was disconcerting, yet coming from the headmaster, it was also somewhat expected.

The deputy headmistress of the Academy could only let out a deep sigh. She had followed Ozpin for years, and he had never let her down. Despite her own uncertainty, the headmaster seemed to know what he was doing. She certainly hoped so.

Chapter End.

sorry if it came as a bit of a short end. i had another flashback drafted like i usually did with all other past chapters but i felt like it was much too soon to reveal that little piece of our protagonists pasts. it just didn't fit. i tried to set a scene (another flashback) that happened before the one i wrote but it came out forced and i just decided to leave it out entirely. anyway, see you guys in the next chapter.