Ruby Rose, shifting her body into a comfortable position, was now getting ready to go to sleep. Having stayed up almost an hour after everyone else, due to an english paper that she may or may not have put off until the last minute, she was now ready to get the sleep she needed for the next day. Stretching out her body as far as she could, she pushed herself under her large blankets and shifted onto her side. Holding her pillow around her forearm, she layed her head onto the pillow. It was cool to the touch, becoming the perfect match for Ruby's body heat. Her bare feet rubbed around her sheet, bathing in the soft silk. She was as comfortable as she could be. Closing her eyes, she began to drift off into sleep.

And that's when she heard it. Just as she was about to pass out, a noise shook her from that wondeful feeling. A long, saft scratching noise came into the room. Each scratch lasting 3 or 4 seconds, and happening somewhat fequently. Ruby opened her eyes and looked around the room. It was dark, and extremely hard to see, but her mind already could tell where the noise was coming from. She had immediately locked on to their bedroom door. The light from the hallway was seeping through the empty space between the door and it's frame. No shadow was present around the door or under it, but it was definitely the source of the sound.

"Zwei"? Ruby asked in a whispered tone. It wasn't loud, but it was enough to fill the already silent room. The scratching came to a stop for a few moments, then continued. Ruby's face shifted from confusion to concern for the small dog.

"Poor pup, did you get locked out before we went to bed"?

The scratching again haulted, and started back up again after a few moments. Ruby lifted her torso from the bed, holding herself up by her elbows. Moving her legs to the edge of the bed, she began the slow decent off the top bunk. Her body fell softly as she gripped the edge and lowered herself. Her feet made contact with the warm, carpeted floor. Allowing all her body weight to be held by her feet again, she let go of the side of the bed.

Looking to her side, she looked over Weiss's bed, since she would be the one most likely to be woken up by her movement. Surely enough, the white-haired teen lay perfectly still in her bed, unphased by Ruby's movements in her own bed.

Weiss looked as happy as she could be, sleeping in the bed, being comforted by the warmth of her sleeping partner for the night...Zwei?

Ruby rubbed her eyes and looked again to be sure she wasn't seeing things. When she opened them, her eyes showed the exact same thing. Zwei was right there on Weiss's bed, cuddling with her. Right into her chest, he to was sound asleep. Ruby looked back th their door with a little more concern than before.

This time, however, it wasn't because of the scratching. It was just about the opposite. As she stood there, in the middle of the room, she could hear nothing coming from the other side of the door. Ruby gulped. She continued towards the door, not sure what to expect when she got there. Each step felt heavier and heavier as she closed the once large gap. Soon she found herself not even a few inches away from the door. Her hand reached out to grab the handle. She felt fear begin to flow through her body. Whatever had made those noises was on the other side of the door. She grabbed for the handle.

"Ruby"?

Ruby let go of the handle and jumped back. The sudden voice calling her name had startled her way more than it should have. She turned around to see the origin of the voice.

Blake was sitting up in her bed, holding what seemed to be a book in her hand. It was open, and her thumb placement showed that she was interested in the contents of that page. Had she been awake the whole time? Had she heard those noises?

"Oh, did I wake you up"?

Blake took a small peice of paper and placed it in between the pages of the book. Closing it, she shook her head.

"I've mostly been awake the entire time".

"So...you heard the scratching noise"?

Blake nodded.

"Is it not Zwei"?

Ruby pointed her finger to Weiss's bed, directing Blake to follow. Blake's eyes met where Ruby's hand was pointing. Zwei was still in his original position, sleeping warmly with the one ironically nicknamed Ice Queen.

"I thought he got locked out too, but when I left my bed...". Ruby felt she need'nt explain anymore, and it seemed as if Blake agreed.

"But it suddenly stopped, and I don't know if I should open the door or not".

Blake pondered the question for a few moments, thinking about the potential consequences of both choices. Finally, she just shook her head.

"If it stopped, it would be pointless to see out there...and if there was someone out there, that door is our protection".

Ruby had similar thoughts, but the way blake made it sound was way more convincing. Ruby sighed with a hint of relief, and made her way back to her bed. Climbing as quietly as possible, the 15 year old slipped back into her bed, and re-adjusted herself for sleep.

"I'll be going to bed too, so try not to...".

Blake was cut short.

Knock Knock Knock

Ruby turned her head towards the door, then to blake, who had done the exact same thing. Blake's eyes looked at Ruby with a horror Ruby didn't have. Wondering why, she turned her head back to the door, and got her answer. Under the door was again, no shadow to indicate that anyone was there. Ruby did the first thing that came to mind.

"Um...hello"?

KNOCK! KNOCK!

With those two knock, Weiss and Yang were awoken from their slumber, along with Zwei, who had an immediate scowl pasted across his face. Growling, the little marshmallow of terror bolted towards the door.

"What the hell", Yang mumbled as she was brought to the world of consciousness. Weiss too was brought to the same words, but with a little more gentleness to them, her voice having been weak from sleep.

"Someone seems to be playing a prank on us"! Blake had a look of both terror and anger, which also showed in her voice.

Knock Knock...KNOCK!

The tiny puppy dog went from full attack mode to panic mode in a second. He bolted towards Weiss's bed, and jumped into her arms. The girls all watched as this happened, a new sense of dread filling the room.

"H-H-Hey"! Yang shouted. "You think it's funny now, but trust me...when I open that door...I'm gonna kick your ASS"!

The room went silent for almost a solid moment. No one made noise, and any breath that was made was short and silent. The other end of the door was also quiet as well. But soon, it began again.

Knock Knock

Yang jumped back a little, honestly shocked that there was another knock after her threat.

"Hey...are you guys okay in there"?

Ruby recognized that voice. It was Jaune.

Yang jumped out of her bed and stormed for the door. Grabbing the handle, she threw it open to reveal the blonde teen, in all his pajama glory.

"Do you think that was funny"!?

Jaune backed off onto the other side of the hall, but Yang followed him, borderline pinning him against the wall.

"You better explain why you did that, and hope it's a good one".

Jaune was trembling in place, looking into the eyes of the pissed off blonde. He couldn't say a single word. Finally, someone came to his rescue.

"Hey, what's going on"?

Ren came out of JNPR's room, along with Nora, and a few seconds later Pyrrha. Ren cut in between Yang and Jaune, careful not to do anything aggressively to try to keep this as far from a fight as possible.

"Jaune decided that it would be funny to play a prank on us whle we were all asleep"!

Ren looked at her as if he was confused that she would even consider that a rational explanation.

"I hate to say it, but Jaune left our room to see who was making the loud noises". Ren looked at Jaune, who was barely able to stand out of both exhaustion and fear. Pyrrha came to his aid, allowing him to rest around her shoulder.

"Yeah, I thought I heard scratching noises outside the door, and then I heard loud knocking. I thought it wasn't important until I heard Yang shout about kicking someones ass...". Jaune looked down for a moment, coming to a quiet realization that maybe running to that call wasn't the best of decisions. In those moments, Ruby and Blake had both burst out of the room.

"You heard the scratches too"? Ruby had asked Jaune, who was now mostly recovered from the fear Yang had intsilled upon him.

"Yeah, I thought Zwei had gotten out in the hall".

The two groups of teens stood in the hallway.

"I'll go look and see if there isn't anyone outside of their rooms", Pyrrha volunteered. Blake nodded and did the exact same for the other side. The two split off, walking away from the large group.

"You weren't the one pounding on our door"? Yang asked Jaune, a lot less hostile this time.

"Scout's Honor"! Jaune said, placing a firm hand on his heart. It would have looked pretty cool...if it wasn't for the teenager's footsy pajama's.

"...Sorry".

"Yeah...no it's cool...I mean...anymore and I would have had to change these before going back to bed".

Ruby looked at Jaune. "When did you start hearing the scratching noise"?

"I dunno...maybe 3 minutes ago".

Ruby was glad that he had heard it around the same time she had. Along with Blake, that was three witnesses to an event that most of the people present had been asleep through.

"Scratching"? Yang asked her little sister, as if she was out of the loop on an inside joke. "I thought it was just the knocking".

"I heard scratching on our door before the knocking...I thought it was Zwei, but when I got off my bed I saw him with Weiss". Ruby turned her head to look into her bedroom, seeing Weiss standing from her bed and walking towards the group. Zwei followed behind her, as if anxious to stay in the room alone, even if they were just out in the hall.

"I got up to check, it stopped, Blake was awake too and said that it probably wasn't an issue anymore...and well the rest is pretty self-explanitory".

Yang looked at her sister as if she was crazy, then looked back to Jaune.

"Ok, so it wasn't you guys...it must be someone playing a prank on us".

Weiss joined the group, now holding the tiny puppy in her hands as a sort of comfort for him.. He was clearly shaking, and was looking as if he had felt something...not right.

"Could be Cardin playing a prank, it doesn't seem like something that's above him". Weiss had given that as her first words on the subject. "I bet Pyrrha found him laughing about it and is about to kick his...".

"Hey", Pyrrha interjected, having returned from her journey through the halls. "No one was out of their room, and I didn't see anything suspicious".

"Well, I bet Blake...", Weiss had begun, before being cut short yet again by a returning friend.

"I didn't find anything".

Weiss looked disappointed at that response, hoping that their was someone to blame for being awoken from her sleep.

"Look, I guess Yang scared them off, and they just got out really fast", Ren said as if he was trying to comfort the group.

"Yeah, Ren's right! I bet they were so scared they almost wet themselves like Jaune", Nora laughed, patting her blonde friend on the shoulder.

"H-Hey! I didn't...".

"I said Almost...gosh don't you listen".

Obviously not happy with that clarification, Jaune just hung his head.

"I guess we should just go back to bed then, I mean...I'm sure they aren't gonna come back anytime soon, especially with the 8 of us being woken up".

Everyone looked at Jaune, a little shocked that he had made so much sense.

"Well, now I see why your our Room Master", Nora joked, poking at the boy in his ribs.

"He does make a lot of sense..."Ren trailed off, feeling a yawn coming up from the depths of his body.

Jaune, glad that they agreed, and a little hurt at their shocked feelings towards his rationalization, made his way back to their room. Ren and Nora followed, while Pyrrha said her goodbye's to the girls.

"If you hear it again or need anything, I'm sure we'd all love to help".

The girls of RWBY all nodded their heads, and watched as Pyrrha made her way into her room. Their door slowly closed, and was soon locked.

The remaining people in the hall, all members of RWBY, made their way back into the room. Shutting and locking the door as well, they each went to their respective beds, and settled back in.

"Unfortunately, I think Jaune is right", Weiss muttered out loud, not fully sure if those words had actually come from her. Owning what she said, however, she continued. "Yang definitely scared them off, and I'm sure they won't be coming back".

The other three girls nodded their heads, and shared glances with eachother. It had been a weird experience for them all. Finally deciding that there was no danger, they shut out the lights, and each of them drifted off to sleep at their own pace. Not 20 minutes later, all four were sound asleep, having gone to a world where what had happened was nothing more than a strange memory.

But unknown to them, it was not just a strange memory. For once they had opened that door, they had let something into their room that none of them would be able to explain. Something that seemed dark, and definitely unfriendly.