"Weiss! Wait up!"

"Stop following me!"

Weiss, c'mon! We have to stay together and get to the ruins!"

"I said stop following me!"

"I'll buy you cookies when this is over!"

"Will you STOP following me!"

Shortly after Ruby and Weiss encountered each other, the unexpected meeting resulting in the two becoming partners for the rest of their time here in Beacon. Ruby was happy, despite her and the girl in white not getting on well, as she now had someone that could give her some back-up if she needed it.

Weiss, on the other hand, was not thrilled at the idea. She was wanting the perfect partner, someone on the same level as Pyrrha Nikos. Instead, she got the child that caused an explosion, one that would've caused her some serious damage had she not had her Aura. As such, when the Heiress escaped from the pile of plants and vines that she was trapped under, she immediately walked away from Ruby.

Much to her annoyance, Ruby was well able to keep up.

"Weiss, we're not going to be able the initiation if all you do is try and avoid me." Ruby pointed out.

Weiss tried her best to ignore the mini reaper, but she did have a point. If they didn't get back on track, they wouldn't be able to complete the initiation, and would be kicked out of Beacon.

She slowed down her pace, soon coming to a stop. With reluctance, she turned around and faced Ruby.

"… Fine." She said, noting Ruby's growing enthusiasm. "But, I have three rules."

Ruby shrugged her shoulders. "Sounds fair."

"Rule 1: Don't talk to me."

"… Okay."

"Rule 2: Don't look at me."

"Eh?"

"Rule 3: Don't breathe near me."

"...WHAT!?"

Weiss folded her arms and looked at Ruby. "If you can follow those rules, then we will have no problems with the initiation."

"IF I FOLLOW THOSE RULES I'LL BY FROM LACK OF AIR!" Ruby yelled, waving her arms frantically.

"That's your problem." Weiss said as she began to walk on ahead. "Now… let's head that way."

"…" Ruby stood in stunned silence, unsure of how to deal with the situation. Eventually, Ruby relented and followed Weiss at a distance, not wanting to get too close as she still wanted to breathe. "This is gonna suck."

…..

"…"

Ozpin was looking at his scroll, checking the camera feed from the Emerald Forest and making sure that the students were alright. So far, everyone in the forest were progressing well. Well… aside from one or two stragglers, but he could still see that they were going to make it towards the ruins. He was never one to give up hope on anyone, and usually that belief proved worth-while in the end.

"Hey, Boss."

Ozpin turned around, seeing Professor Peach making her appearance. She was looking as relaxed as usual.

"I see you have returned." Ozpin said to her. "How did you find Ruby's performance?"

"… Well… you weren't kidding when you said I was in for a surprise." She admitted , keeping her gaze on the view of the forest below. "Never seen a Huntsman or Huntress who could manipulate Aura like that."

Ozpin took a sip from a cup of cocoa that he had on hand, just in case. "Miss Rose is certainly full of surprises." He added.

"…" Professor Peach looked at Ozpin, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What's her deal, sir? With all due respect, a girl who's able to mimic the abilities of a Beowolf just seems a little too weird for me."

"…" Ozpin didn't respond, but his silence was enough to get Peach to drop the matter.

Peach looked around, a bit surprised to see that Goodwitch wasn't around.

"Where's your right-hand woman?" she asked him.

"Glynda had to take a break. Seeing Jaune Arc in action with Pyrrha Nikos made the woman cringe, as well as induce a headache."

Peach shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah… saw the kid when I was on my way back here… you've gotta wonder if he ever went to combat school, or… get some kind of training, at least."

Ozpin gave the woman a slight grin. "So you know as well?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Peach replied with a smirk. That smirk slowly faded into a look of worry. "Still… I don't see why you'd let him do this, he could get hurt."

Ozpin looked rather confident. "The boy has more potential than others would give him credit for. Just give him a chance, and you'll see."

Still unsure, Peach gave a sigh, hoping that the Headmaster knew what he was doing. She then peaked over, looking at his scroll.

"So, how's the mini reaper doing?"

In response, Ozpin tapped the scroll, bringing up footage on the Heiress and the red-cloaked reaper.

"Let's see for ourselves."

…

"WEISS! TO YOUR LEFT!"

Weiss, in response to Ruby's warning, briefly saw a Beowolf leaping through the air towards her. She summoned a Glyph beneath her feet and jumped high into the air, leaving the Beowolf with nothing to hit but empty space.

Weiss landed on the ground behind the Beowolf, thrusting her sword into the back of the Grimm's neck, severing its spinal cord and killing it instantly. On instinct, she ducked down, avoiding an incoming swipe from another Beowolf. This time, while still close to the ground, she spun and sliced the Beowolf's legs off in one clean motion, before stabbing the point of her weapon right between its eyes.

Weiss rolled to the left, standing up again, this time seeing a few more Beowolves standing in the distance, looking ready to strike.

"I GOT THIS ONE!"

Ruby, using her Semblance, circled around the Beowolves. She quickly began to move closer to the Grimm, readying her scythe and, as she spun around them, continuously sliced them piece by piece. All the Beowolves could do was howl in agony as they were being killed piece by piece.

Ruby then came to a stop, looking behind her to see the fading pieces of Grimm behind her. She looked back at Weiss, giving her a slight grin.

"Told you we could handle them." She said, folding the Crescent Rose and sticking a fist in the air in victory.

"…" Weiss sheathed her sword and turned away from Ruby. "Let's just keep moving."

"Ack!" Ruby sounded, not liking that Weiss was ignoring her like that. "Oh come o-"

"Did you forget my rules already?" Weiss asked, stop taking a second to stop.

"I don't CARE about your RULES!" Ruby yelled back. "We're supposed to work together, but all you seem to care about is staying away from me!" Ruby pointed out. "Plus, if I did follow your rules, I'd be knocked out and blue in the face… actually that second part sounds kinda funny." Ruby said, the last part including a small laugh.

Weiss scowled at Ruby before turning away.

It was at this point hat Ruby was getting annoyed. "Weiss, okay I get that you don't like me, buy why do you have to be so mean?" she asked, now seriously wanting an explanation.

Weiss came to a halt, quickly turning around and glaring at Ruby with enough intensity to make Ruby feel the hatred, like a knife pressed against her forehead. The mini reaper, given her abilities, could feel the negativity radiating off of her as if it was pressing up against the reaper's skin.

"You want to know why?" Weiss started, her eyes narrowing in anger. "I studied hard. I trained hard. I put in more effort than any of you know to get here. And what do I get in return?" Weiss pointed at Ruby. "An immature CHILD who doesn't seem to even appreciate being here!"

At that, Ruby felt insulted. "I am taking it seriously, Weiss. And I'm sorry if I've been acting childish, but-"

"But NOTHING!" Weiss yelled, making Ruby recoil from the sudden yell. "Stop wasting my time and let's move. When we're finished, why don't you go back to your mommy or something?"

"…"

At the sound of those words, all the enthusiasm, all the energy and readiness Ruby felt suddenly vanished. Slowly, she recalled times from her past. Times when she was happy, when all of the family were there…

Memories that now left her feeling sad and broken.

Weiss was silent as she waited for an answer from Ruby. After seeing nothing but Ruby's blank expression, the Heiress tilted her head to one side, a bit surprised to see the young girl suddenly go silent.

"What is with you?" Weiss asked. "Are you even-"

"We should move."

Ruby then began to walk forward, briskly moving past Weiss and pulling her hood up. The Heiress was surprised by this, and was slightly annoyed that the girl was suddenly taking the lead.

"Hey! Where are you going? HEY!" Weiss yelled, increasing her pace to catch up with her.

Ruby didn't respond to Weiss. Instead, she kept her head down as she moved, her hood hiding the tears that were rolling down her face.

She was overwhelmed with so much hurt, she wasn't able to notice the glowing red from her eyes

…

"So… You think we're getting close?"

"Guess so."

"... You… think it what we find is going to be cool?"

"Probably."

"..."

At the moment, Yang was struggling with what to say. Earlier, while she was fighting a couple of Ursa Grimm, she had managed to pummel the first, eagerly wanting to crack the skull of the second. But, before she could get the chance, the Grimm was cut down from behind, the culprit being the monochrome-clad girl. Granted, Yang didn't mind having her as her partner, given that she was a good fighter and showed to be happy to work together.

The problem was that she was so SILENT! Yang kept trying to make conversation, as Blake would show no sign of speaking unless it was to tell Yang to follow her. And when Yang did try to speak to her, she would only give short snippets for answers. It made the brawler rather uncomfortable.

As Blake stepped over a large tree root growing out from the ground, she turned her head, her eyes catching sight of a look of unease from Yang.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked, slightly bemused by this outgoing, adventurous girl's look of worry.

"Huh?" Yang sounded. "Me? Oh, I'm good, I just… well…" Yang scratched the back of her head. "… Why are you so silent?"

"What?" Blake asked.

"I mean, if you prefer the silence, I guess that's fine, but…" Yang paused as she tried to think of something else to say.

Blake, seeing the issue, nodded in understanding. "You're not a fan of silence, are you?" she asked, trying her best to surpass a grin when Yang wildly shook her hair. "… I guess that's fair. Should've told me that sooner." She added before continuing to walk on.

Yang quickly caught up with her. "So, you're okay with talking then?" she asked eagerly.

"Depends on what you want to talk about."

"Okay, huh…" Yang quickly tried to think of topics to talk about. "Umm… how about-"

"The ruins are up ahead." Blake quickly said.

At that, Yang felt defeated. She thought that she was getting close to starting an actual conversation with this girl, and now she just failed. As she walked on, her head hung in shame, Yang accidentally bumped into something. She raised her head, seeing that it was Blake she bumped into.

"Oh, sorry." Yang said. "I-"

"There is one thing." Blake said.

At this, Yang suddenly felt uplifted. "Yeah? What is it?"

"… What's… up with your sister?" she asked.

That question caught Yang off guard. "You mean Ruby? What about her?"

"Is she… how strong is she?"

"Oh." Yang said, afraid that Blake was going to ask something a bit… unsettling. But, she had no problem with people wondering how good a Huntress she was. "Well, she's pretty good with a scythe. She managed to take down a group of criminals the other day, nearly catching the guy in charge… the lousy snake." She answered. "Why do you ask?"

"…" Blake was a bit hesitant to answer, not really wanting to cause Yang any problems, and in case she accidentally revealed her own secret. But, she guessed that she owed her an answer.

"Before the entrance ceremony, Weiss Schnee was yelling at your sister. But, Ruby snapped back at her, seeming to make the Heiress frightened. Your sister… she seemed pretty scary then."

This piece of information surprised Yang. Ruby had always been quiet, not wanting to cause issues for others. Admittedly, it made it easier for bullies to mess with her, which angered Yang to no end. Granted, Ruby had no issue standing up for others, as she hated to see others getting hurt. It was unusual to hear Ruby sticking up for herself, even more so in an aggressive manner.

Blake saw a look of worry on Yang's face. "… I'm sorry if I-"

"No need to be sorry." Yang quickly said. "I'm happy that Ruby's standing up for herself, at least. Though…"

"Though?" Blake asked.

"… Nah, it's nothing." Yang said. "You said the ruins are up ahead?"

Blake nodded. "Yeah. Let's move." Blake said before moving ahead.

As Blake walked on, Yang stayed stationary, still feeling worry for her sister. She knew that there was something different with Ruby… but it might be more serious than she thought. What if…

"I hope Ruby's okay." Yang said, soon following Blake at a slower pace.

….

Ruby and Weiss were now walking uphill, the latter now struggling to keep up with the former.

After Weiss' rant, Ruby suddenly became a lot more silent, refusing to look in Weiss's direction, stopping only to look in different directions in hope of finding a new path. As they walked, Weiss was unable to figure out what had caused this change in the red-cloaked girl, but was too frustrated to be able to think clearly on the subject.

"I swear, if I end up getting a bad grade because of her…" she thought, looking to one side briefly. She looked back, seeing that Ruby had come to another abrupt halt. Fortunately, Weiss was some distance away, so there was no fear of anyone crashing into anyone else.

Ruby looked to be as still as a statue, not looking around or anything. Weiss had forgotten her anger for a moment, now more curious about what was going on. This behavior was a bit too bizarre for her to ignore, and she felt she wouldn't get anywhere with anger clouding her judgement.

"What's wrong now?"

Ruby turned around, her head up revealing that beneath her hood her eyes were red and swollen with tears. The sight was quite surprising, being a stark contrast to what Weiss had seen before.

"… Why are you crying?" Weiss asked, now very uncomfortable. She had been in a couple of situations with people who had been emotional, and she had no idea how to help, or even talk to them.

Ruby forced a smile and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "I… sorry, I guess…" she took in a deep breath before speaking. "I got upset when you mentioned my mom."

"What? Why?" the Heiress asked. "Do you not get on?"

"…" Ruby looked like she was trying to hold in her emotions, as her lips trembled and her eyes threatened to water again. "… No… she… she died."

At that, Weiss felt shocked. Not only because this girl lost someone dear to her, but also because Weiss had unintentionally caused the girl pain through her deceased parent, a step even she considered too far. Immediately, she felt guilt swelling within her.

"... I… I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't worry." Ruby interrupted. "You didn't know… it's not something I like to talk about."

Ruby went to a nearby tree, resting her back against it before sliding down and was now seated. She pulled her legs in and wrapped her arms around them.

"… How did it happen?" Weiss asked, hoping she wasn't delving too deep.

Ruby was silent for a bit, more than likely trying to gather herself. But, she eventually answered her partner's question.

"She was a Huntress… she got a job to take down some Grimm and… and she never came back." She answered. "There was a search… the area she was supposed to be in looked rough… a fight definitely happened… but… she was never found."

As Ruby spoke, she looked to be on the verge of tears. Weiss suddenly felt the anger she felt towards her melt away, instead replaced with… 'understanding', as she could best describe it. From the sounds of things, she had a loving relationship with her mother. Weiss wouldn't say that she was as close with her parents, but she had an older sister that always looked out for her.

If something were to happen to her… the very idea already scaring Weiss to the core.

Weiss decided to sit down beside Ruby.

"I'm sorry." Weiss said to her. "It must have been difficult."

Ruby nodded. "Ever since that day… I realized the world wasn't like a fairy tale. There isn't always going to be someone to save the day… no hero to help those in need…" Ruby then pushed herself off the ground. "That's why I want to become a Huntress. I'll become that hero. I'll be the one to help those in need… so no one has to suffer like that."

"…"

Weiss sat in silence, inwardly surprised by this. There weren't many people who would suffer such a loss and be able to become so strong after it. If anything, it did make the girl seem… more admirable, for a lack of a better term.

"I see…" Weiss said, soon standing up as well. "In that case… you've a long way to go, haven't you?"

Ruby looked back and shrugged her shoulders. "you know what they say, 'Atlas wasn't built in a day', right?"

"Quite." Weiss answered. "… Just so we're clear…" Weiss gave Ruby a soft glare. "Unless you work hard to see this dream come alive, I still won't plan to waste my time working with you."

Hearing that lifted Ruby's spirits slightly. She was glad to hear that Weiss was willing to help her now. She stood up straight and saluted Weiss. "Many thanks."

"At ease." Weiss replied, her expression becoming blank as she looked around. "Now, how do we find the temple?"

Ruby looked around as well, hoping there was a clue somewhere. "Well, I guess we cou-GET DOWN!"

Ruby instantly pulled Weiss down, just managing to avoid a volley of giant, black feathers. They all struck the ground in perfect alignment, slicing through a number of trees in the process. When the volley ceased, Ruby and Weiss stood back up.

Weiss looked at the feathers in astonishment. "Those feathers… aren't they-"

"Up there!"

Ruby pointed up towards the sky, prompting Weiss to look at the focus of the former's attention. The Heiress was stunned when she saw what it was that attacked them.

"A Nevermore." Ruby said, wide-eyed with surprise. "A big on too."

"We need to leave!" Weiss yelled. "IF we don't it-"

"It's already coming here!" Ruby yelled back in alarm.

True to her word, the large Nevermore flew towards the two Huntresses in training, flying at the speed of a jet. Thinking quickly, Weiss was about to use her weapon to summon a wall of ice. Before she could, though, Ruby shoved her harshly to the side and unfolded her scythe, holding it i#out like a shield.

Weiss stopped stumbling and turned, just in time to see the Nevermore crash into the mini reaper.

"RUBY!" Weiss yelled. "ARE YOU O… kay…?"

Weiss was once more stunned when she saw the Nevermore flapping its wings, but not moving an inch. It looked like it was struggling to be pushing against something. But the only thing that it seemed to come in contact was…

Weiss looked to the head of the Nevermore, seeing the black and scarlet clad Huntress successfully pushing against the giant crow-like Grimm.

"Dream on… BIRDIE!" Ruby said with a strained voice, before giving one last shoved and successfully pushing the Nevermore away to a safe distance. Ruby spun the scythe and had the top of the weapon pointed behind, firing a shot the propelled her towards the Grimm. She spun forward, reminiscent of a buzz-saw, and slashed against the Grimm's bone mask.

The scythe only bounced off the mask, forcing Ruby to spin back briefly. When the Huntress in training saw the Nevermore trying to swipe its wing towards her, he used her Semblance and dashed under the wing, landing by its foot, where Ruby hooked her scythe around it's leg and fired another shot, the recoil proving strong enough to help slice clean through the Nevermore's leg.

As the Grimm screeched in pain, Ruby dashed away, standing some distance away from the Grimm, looking ready to attack again.

As Ruby fought, Weiss was stunned at how well Ruby was handling herself. There weren't many Huntresses or Huntsmen that could hold their own against a Grimm that size. And yet, there was a girl before her that was going just that.

Ruby turned back towards Weiss. "WEISS!"

The Heiress didn't notice the sudden distortion in Ruby's voice. She was distracted when she saw her partner's eyes suddenly turn blood red, with the whites of her eyes becoming midnight black.

"… Wha… how are…"

Weiss's startled expression was enough to tell Ruby of her mistake. Managing to calm herself down, her eyes and voice returned to normal.

"Weiss, listen! When I tell you to, I need you to grab my hand!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I…, uh, yes! I got it!" she said, putting what she saw in the back of her mind for the time being.

Ruby looked back at the Grimm, converting her scythe into its firearm form. She fired numerous rounds at the Grimm, which did nothing but add to the Grimm's anger and irritation. Now losing its patience, the Grimm outstretched both its wings, preparing to take flight.

Ruby folded her scythe and held a hand out to Weiss. Take my hand!" she yelled.

Without hesitation, or certainty for that matter, Weiss latched onto Ruby's hand with her own.

"So now WhaAAAAAAAHH!"

Ruby used her Semblance, dashing towards the Nevermore with a screaming Weiss in tow. Ruby landed on the Grimm's back and held on tightly to its feathers, just as the Nevermore took off high into the sky.

"ARE YOU INSANE!" Weiss cried, having looked down at the now distant ground, realizing what Ruby did. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED!?"

Ruby looked back at Weiss, giving her an optimistic grin. "We can get a better view of the forest this way! We'll find the ruins in no time, don't worry!"

"Oh I am SO far beyond worry!" Weiss roared in anger.

"… In a good way!?" Ruby asked.

"NO! IN A BAD WAY! IN A VERY BAD WAY!" Weiss answered back in anger.

Without any option left, the two of the continued to fly on the Nevermore's back, trying their best to look at the ground in hope of finding the ruins.

…

Yang and Blake came across a cliff-side, overlooking a set of old ruins. The place looked like it hadn't been seen to in a long while.

Yang looked towards the ruins before looking at Blake. "You think this is the place?" she asked, to which Blake responded with a nodded.

Both jumped down, walking up to a set of pillars all aligned in a circle. Each pillar had…

"Chess pieces?" Blake asked, looking surprised.

Yang looked at the pillars, seeing that some of them had vacant spots. "Looks like we weren't the first ones here." She noted. "… What do we do now?"

"I guess we just pick one." Blake answered.

Yang scanned the selection available to them. Her eyes then came across a white knight piece, followed by her picking the piece off its pillar.

"How about a cute little pony?" Yang asked, holding the piece up for Blake to see.

Blake grinned at how Yang was acting. "Sure." She answered.

Yang pocketed the piece and walked up to Blake. "Well that was easy." She said.

"Well it's not like this place is hard to find."

Yang then walked away from Blake towards the forest, holding her hand over her eyes like a visor as she tried to look in between the trees.

"Think anymore of them will come soon?" Yang asked.

"Looking for some more competition to beat up?" Blake asked, sending Yang another grin.

"No… well, not entirely." Yang answered. "Kinda worried about Ruby, though."

Blake tried to hold in a laugh she felt coming before speaking. "You don't have to be worried for her twenty-four seven, you know." Blake pointed out. "I'm pretty sure she can handle her own."

"A big sister's allowed to worry about her little sister, right?" Yang asked innocently. She then took a one eighty, looking furious and ready to tear something to shreds. "Though if something happens to her, I'm gonna make sure that the idiot responsible pays, Grimm OR Person!"

"…" Blake stared at her partner with a deadpanned expression. She was about to say something when I high-pitched shriek suddenly filled the air, making both girls look up into the air in alarm.

"Blake! Did you hear that? Some girl's in trouble!" Yang exclaimed, concerned for another human's safety.

"…" Blake hadn't heard her. Instead, her attention was focused on the unusual sight that was occurring in the sky.

…

"WEEEIIIISSSS!" Ruby yelled at her partner. "I THINK I SEE THE RUINS!"

"I SEE THEM TOO!" she yelled back.

Ruby and Weiss had been flying on the Grimm's back for some time. Weiss felt like she was going to get sick, but Ruby was able to focus on the task of finding the ruins.

Luckily, both of them had been able to spot the ruins eventually, much to the relief of Weiss and her stomach.

"OKAY, WHEN I SAY JUMP, WE HEAD DOWN TO THE RUINS!"

"WHAT!? THERE'S NO WAY THAT YOU'RE THAT INSANE!"

Weiss looked up, only to see the spot where Ruby was clutching onto missing the mini reaper.

"OH YOU INSUFFERABLE LITTLE-"

…

Back on the ground Yang looked back at Blake, seeing her look up at the sky in bewilderment.

"Blake? Are you okay?" Yang asked, concerned for her partner. "I think we should-"

Blake interrupted Yang by pointing towards the sky. In confusion, Yang looked up, only to fully understand what had the monochrome girl in shock.

"HHEEEEEEAAADS UUUUUUUUPP!" Ruby yelled as she fell down from the sky at great speed. Had she been allowed to continue, she would've gotten severely hurt from the impact, even with her own enhancements. However, as fate would have it, something came flying from the side, colliding with Ruby at equal or greater force, sending both flying to the side into a bunch of trees.

After landing on a branch, Ruby, slightly stunned and disoriented, looked up to see what it was that had knocked into her.

"Jaune?" Ruby said towards the blond knight hanging upside down from his own branch.

"Hey Ruby." Jaune said in a defeated tone.

Back with Blake and Yang, the two looked at where they saw Ruby fly towards.

"Did your sister just fall out of the sky?" Blake asked in surprise.

"… I…" Yang looked like she was still trying to process when she saw. Before she could, she heard the sound of an Ursa roaring in the distance. she and Blake looked to see an oncoming Ursa, flailing its paws around in answer. Before it could do anything else, a blast of pink lightning appeared from behind, killing the Grimm instantly.

"YEE-HAAAAW! Came a voice from behind as the Ursa collapsed, it's apparent attacker and rider rolling off from its back.

Nora, the hyperactive girl from this morning, looked behind her and saw that the Ursa had been felled.

"Aww." She said in disappointment. "It's broken."

Appearing behind the Grimm was her friend Ren, who looked to be out of breath. More than likely he chased after his friend so as to ensure she wasn't hurt.

"Nora… please… don't ever do that again." He begged, only to look up and see that the girl had disappeared.

Nora was at the set of columns, seeing a white rook piece that took her interest. She picked it up and began to sing.

"I'M Queen of the CASTLE! I'M Queen of the CASTLE!"

"NORA!" Ren yelled.

Nora grinned giddily before answering her partner. "Coming Ren!" she said before dashing towards him.

"Did that girl just ride in here on an Ursa?" Blake asked, just as stunned as before.

"I…" Yang said again.

One again, however, her thought processing was interrupted when she heard the sound of crashing tress from the side. All looked to see Pyrrha running out from the trees, followed by a huge scorpion-like Grimm. A Deathstalker.

Pyrrha looked around, looking for her partner. "Jaune!" she called out.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune cried out in response. He looked to the side, seeing Ruby leap off of her branch. "RUBY!" he yelled, wishing she had helped him out of his predicament.

Ruby landed with a roll, looking up to see Yang standing right by her.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled happily.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled, equally happy.

"NORA!" the orange-haired girl said, appearing between the two sisters just as they were about to hug.

Pyrrha continued to run, jumping up in the air to narrowly avoid the claws of the Deathstalker swiping her to the side.

"Did that girl run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked.

"I've HAD IT!" Yang yelled, unable to cope with the sudden random scenarios. "Can EVERYONE just chill out for, like, TWO SECONDS!?"

As requested, Yang and the rest of the gathered teens stood in silence in two seconds, before Ruby looked up at another issue before, or rather, above them.

"Uh, Yang?" Ruby said to her sister, who face-palmed in pure annoyance.

Weiss, still clutching onto the Nevermore's back, looked back down towards the rest of the initiates.

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME!?" Weiss yelled down at them, more specifically Ruby.

"I said jump." Ruby pointed out.

Blake looked up in concern. "She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fine." Ruby reassured.

"Aaaaand, she's falling." Ren noted.

At that, Ruby instantly panicked, worried for the Heiress's safety. She turned to Yang.

"Yang! Give me a boost!" Ruby requested.

Yang nodded and grabbed Ruby by the arm, She them spun her sister around in circles, force=ing the other initiates to back away to avoid getting hit. Before anyone could ask what on earth was going on, Yang released her grip, sending Ruby flying towards the Heiress.

Ruby outstretched her hand and caught a flailing one from Weiss, who looked at Ruby in astonishment.

"Are you CRAZY!?" Weiss asked. "You'll get us both KILLED!"

Ruby sent a grin towards Weiss. "You can than me later."

Before Weiss could ask what Ruby was talking about, Ruby pulled Weiss into a hug and activated her Semblance. Soon, a spiraling mass of red and white came gliding towards the ground at falling speed, pulling up at the last second. Ruby deactivated her Semblance, causing Weiss and Ruby to separate and tumble back towards the rest of the initiates.

"Ruby!" Yang cried, running towards her sister in worry.

Ruby and Weiss were able to get up, though the latter required a bit more help from the former. No sooner were they back on their feet did the Mistral Champion come flying past them, coming to a tumbling stop.

Ruby looked to where Pyrrha flew from, only to see the Deathstalker she was running from quickly skittering towards her.

"Well, looks like the whole gang's here." Yang said nervously as she stopped by Ruby's side. "Guess we can all die together."

"Not if I can help it."

Full of confidence, Ruby unfolded the Crescent Rose and dashed towards the Grimm. As she was ready to strike, she drew strength from her curse, her eyes becoming blood red, making her smirk of confidence looking more sadistic. She used her Semblance and dashed at the Deathstalker.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled in concern.

When Ruby was right in front of the Deathstalker, she struck it's head, only for the scythe to bounce off the bone armor. Quickly recovering, Ruby spun the scythe and used the recoil from a scythe shot to moved to its side, skidding underneath its pincers. Twirling her scythe, she sliced at one of its legs, successfully severing one leg of the Deathstalker.

Ruby grinned at her success. Sadly, it was short-lived, as her ears caught the sound of something coming down from above.

A barrage of feathers.

"Uh oh!" she exclaimed, using her Semblance to move away from the Deathstalker and avoid the feathers. When she thought that she had enough distance, she came to a stop, only for another feather to strike the ground right beside her.

Ruby looked back, seeing a screeching Deathstalker, despite losing a leg, moving rather quickly towards the mini-reaper. Ruby moved, only to be pulled back. She looked and saw that the feather had struck her cape, preventing her from moving.

Yang saw that her sister was pinned down, and moved to help her. "Hang on Ruby!" she cried, firing her gauntlets behind her and using the recoil to make her move more quickly. Yang was instead intercepted by another barrage of feathers from above, forcing her to move away, avoiding the continuous volley of feathers.

Ruby struggled to pull the cloak's cape free from the feather. She was impressed by how strong the material was, but found it annoying that it chose to work against her at this moment.

"C'mon. C'MON!" she roared.

Ruby then heard a noise close beside her. Suddenly feeling cold from fear, she looked to the side, seeing the Deathstalker right in front of her.

"No… no, non, NO!" Ruby cried, still trying to pull the cape free.

The Deathstalker raised its stinger, ready to end the young Huntress.

'I can't go like this… I have to get through this… I have to fulfill my dream!'

The stinger then came down. As it did, time seemed to slow down for Ruby. She realized that she had a choice. Either she could let that Grimm end everything she had worked so hard to achieve, to let it take her away from those she knew and care for…

Or…

Ruby's eyes took on their dark form again, only this time black veins were appearing around her eyes. As he anger rose, the red of her eyes glowed, revealing a terrifying ferocity.

'I won't let it end… it's time the Grimm knew what it meant to feel fear!'

Alright, that's this chapter done. While i have you there, I have three things I want to let you all know.

1: I'm going to work on some of the other stories that i have that i've been neglecting. I'll be starting with 'Sky Havoc in Remnant', for sure this time, but if there's any other story you want me to get back to, let me know.

2: After seeing Kingdom Hearts III (personally one of my favorites), I FINALLY got the inspiration to try 'Fairy Tail: Dark Void' at a different angle, a kind of Reboot maybe. The original will stay, of course, and feel free to say if you want me to continue and finish it. I'll do my best.

3: Despite my irregular chapter uploads, i still have a fair few ideas floating around in my head. One of which i planned and wrote while i was working on this chapter. It's a crossover story between 'Legend of Korra' and 'Castlevania'. I'm thinking of calling it 'Republic City's Blessed Wind', but... I'm not sure it feels right. Let me know what you all think.

Right, that's the few announcements. Don't worry, i won't forget this story. And for the few of you who have been wondering, you'll find out the 'true curse' part of Ruby's affliction in the next chapter. But, until then, it's time to sign off. See you all later and i hope you all have a great day. :-)