Miracles of Ancient Wonder [RWBY/Exalted]

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 1.1

~~~​

"You're worrying too much. Everything'll be fine."

"Everything isn't fine," Ruby huffed as she sank down in her seat, bringing her knees up to her chest. Her head felt weird thanks to her sister insisting that they do something nice to it for this meeting. They got up super early to wash everything, do her hair with weird hair goop, cut stray threads from her combat skirt, and all sorts of other stuff that she only went along with because Yang and dad both insisted that 'appearances matter'.

All of it just felt phony. She wasn't wearing Crescent Rose for the same reason. Her precious scythe was in a carrying case underneath their bench! "We're flying to Beacon so they can, I don't know, interrogate me, test me, attack me… I was just trying to fight monsters and then... Then all of this..."

She waved a hand at the loading ramp of the Bullhead, then curled back up.

"Yeah…" Yang ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced from her sister, to the hatch in the back, then to Ruby again. She'd gotten a bit dressed up as well. Though she did so much with her hair normally, Ruby couldn't really tell the difference. Also, Yang's weapons were around her wrists where they belonged, "Hey sis,"

She leaned over and laid a hand on Ruby's knee, squeezing slightly, "I'm with you. No matter what they say or what we have to do."

"Come on," Yang shook her a little and grinned, "It's not like your semblance makes golden fire or anything really crazy, right?"

Ruby giggled into her skirt, "Nope, nothing crazy like that."

She leaned back and sighed. Her eyes flicked around the ship, pausing a little longer at each piece that was even a little complicated: the doors, the rotors, Ember Celica. She stopped there, frowning at her reflection. Everything looked almost right when she was reflected in the golden gauntlet. But things weren't right, they were just like last year when her sister discovered her semblance and got called in for a week of testing.

Yang didn't talk about it, but when she got back, she changed. Her normally loud sister was quiet at first. Then she started going out by herself more while coming home later and later each night. Sometimes she was gone for days at a time. Dad was worried it was boys, but Ruby was pretty sure that wasn't what she was looking for. Yang had been looking at dad's old picture book too often for it to be that.

She even vanished for a week straight during the past summer. She said it was for a road trip with her friends, but Ruby ran into them in Vale, without Yang. Ruby didn't tell dad about it.

Ruby took a deep breath and turned, meeting Yang's eyes. "Last summer, when they tested you. You came home and were acting really, really weird. What happened?"

Yang's grip tightened on Ruby's knee. For a brief moment, red met red while Ruby resisted wincing.

Yang snapped her head to the side and let go of Ruby. "I'm not supposed to talk about it," She paused and brought her hands together.

"That's the first thing they say. That they'll have to be harder on you if you know what's coming, so I shouldn't tell anyone. But you..." She bit her lip and hissed before shaking her head. "You'll be fine, I just know it."

Ruby gulped and nodded slightly. Yang still hadn't unclenched her fists though.

Ruby waited until Yang looked back at her and continued, "Dad went through it too, so did Uncle Qrow and mom. They said that only very good or very unlucky Hunters get called in. So getting called up like this, you've gotta be something special little sister."

Yang lightly punched Ruby on the shoulder, making the smaller girl sway back and forth again. With a giggle, Ruby nodded and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She went back to looking out the window.

They sat in silence for the rest of the trip.

As the engines spun down and the ramp lowered, they got up. Yang laid her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll be some professor with nothing better to do who-"

They froze when they saw who was standing on the landing platform. A silver-haired man in a green suit. One hand was folded over a finely crafted cane while the other held a steaming mug. He softly smiled at them and raised one eyebrow.

"-oh."

Ruby grimaced and waved to him, "Umm, hello Headmaster Ozpin."

"Please, call me Professor."

~~~​

The girls were led to a small academic building near the landing pad. Most of the rooms were lecture halls named after famous hunters. Many were Beacon graduates, but each had done something incredible. Professor Ozpin called it a way to keep their memories and deeds alive.

The impromptu tour paused just outside of a small kitchen.

"Before we get to business, would you like any refreshments? Cookies, cocoa?" Ozpin held the door open for them. Ruby and Yang each glanced at the other then shook their heads. "No? I'll be just a moment then."

Barely a second after the door closed Ruby was moving. She looked from Yang to the door and gestured at it wildly. She mouthed several words and shook her head, "What, how, why?"

Yang shrugged and mouthed back, "I don't know."

Ruby raised her arms up and dropped them, sighing. None of this made any sense. She walked over to a window and watched the other ships landing. Furniture, boxes, and… cages holding Grimm were all being unloaded. "Woah."

"I heard some professors have you fight Grimm in class. You know, for practice." Yang stepped behind her.

"Cool," Ruby's eyes lit up as ideas about how to handle each of the Grimm passing by flew through her head. Beowolves she'd fought before, they were easy; small Ursa too. But they'd only read about Boarbatusks at Signal. What would be a good opening attack? A sliding upward sweep? No that would leave her open if it missed. Maybe...

"Hey sis," Yang waved her hand in front of Ruby's face, bringing her back to reality. She'd sunk into a combat stance, hands positioned where they'd be on her scythe. Ruby heard the kitchen door opening and snapped back to an overly rigid posture, back and arms completely straight.

Ozpin stepped out with a steaming mug of coffee and looked at Ruby, "Let's continue then."

He turned and started walking away, Ruby raised her hand slowly before clenching her fist and dropping it. "Um, Professor Ozpin."

"Yes, Miss Rose?"

"Why are you doing all of this? Showing us around and everything. Considering, well..."

"Considering the mystery surrounding your semblance?"

"That's…" Ruby stopped herself from saying anything else and quickly nodded.

"Now seems as good a time as any to discuss it," He opened one of the classroom doors. "Miss Xiao-Long, please wait outside."

Ozpin held the door for Ruby and softly closed it. He took a seat behind the desk and waited while Ruby pulled up a chair of her own. For one long moment they sat there. Ozpin sat calmly with his hands folded in front of him while Ruby tried as hard as she could to not fidget in her chair.

"You don't have to worry Ruby," Ozpin broke the silence with a smile, "You're not here to be interrogated."

"But Yang said!" Ruby paused. "She thought that this was just like what happened to her at Signal. Only instead of whatever it was, you've been showing us around, but she's already going to Beacon so- so I..."

"Ruby, while there may seem to be some similarities, you aren't in trouble or under investigation. I heard about the request your sister sent to us and thought that I'd speak with you myself. There's a mystery that I think you'll be able to help me with."

"Help you how?"

"A few days ago I received a very strange message from the night watch in Patch. What do you think it was about?"

Ruby gulped and avoided looking at Ozpin while she spoke, "About how there was a big Beowolf pack that was destroyed by an awesome girl with a bright red aura and weird sign on her head."

He nodded. "A Huntress who they could not consistently recall one thing about, besides her red aura. Each of them described a different girl entirely."

"Yeah that was me. I didn't know any of them that well so I didn't think it was weird that they didn't recognize me even though they probably should've."

"Why was a girl like you fighting a pack of Beowolves by herself?"

"Someone had to."

"What about the adult Hunters nearby?"

"They weren't there. It was the middle of the night. They were moving almost silently, the Grimm that is, and were already past the watch towers. If I didn't stop them, they'd would've gotten to someone who couldn't fight back."

"You fought them all by yourself?"

"I didn't mean to. Umm, I mean. I just wanted to draw them away, make them chase me back to the towers."

"What happened?"

"I hit them from the side and tried to pull back, but there were even more hiding in the darkness! I took out two really fast," Ruby grimaced, "And then I was surrounded. I tried to push past them, but they kept me boxed in. We went on a few hunts at Signal so I know a little bit about Beowolves. These ones were bigger and spikier than any I'd fought before. They also hit a lot harder, but once I got started I was able to keep them away. So I continued fighting and just sort of kept going even though there were so many of them."

"I didn't even realize when they were all gone at first, just that there were other things coming for me from the bushes." Ruby stopped for a moment and looked towards the side of the room, "Then I noticed I was glowing and… and the noises were Huntsmen and well," Ruby laughed softly, "That's pretty much it."

"I see." Ozpin had leaned forward during the story and was looking at Ruby very intently. She just smiled awkwardly and stayed silent. She'd left some stuff out. Some stuff that was probably at least a little important, but it was personal and she really, really didn't want Yang to hear. She was sitting right outside, she probably heard all of this. But, she'd already told Yang all of this so there was nothing to fear there.

Not like the way Professor Ozpin was looking at her. She knew that look, it was the same look Uncle Qrow gave her when she snuck cookies out of the kitchen. It meant that he knew. He had to know. She was a terrible liar and now she could practically see him weighing his options. He was going to ask, she knew it. 'No, no, don't ask.' She thought as loudly as she could.

Ruby clenched her teeth and matched his gaze, wishing with every bone in her body that he just not ask anything else about that night.

She felt something shift. Not the ground or her, something that she couldn't see. It was like when she was fighting and needed just a bit more speed so she pushed again the ground extra hard with her Aura. Was it Professor Ozpin? He didn't look like he was pushed, he was just smiling; smiling and no longer giving her that look.

"That's an impressive feat for someone so young." He leaned back and all of Ruby's tension flowed away, "It also explains most of what I wanted to know."

"Most?"

"Yes. I have one more question for you." Ruby winced and prepared herself for what was coming. "What do you want to do now?"

"What? I-" Ruby blinked a few times while her mouth hung open, "I want to be a Huntress, but..."

"But?"

"But how could I when no one remembers me?"

"Ruby, how many living Hunters can you name besides your family and teachers?"

She quirked her head to the side, "Fifty?"

"A very impressive number. Most people know of less than twenty." He took a sip of coffee. "In the kingdom of Vale there are more than one thousand registered Huntsmen and Huntresses, though not all of them are still actively fighting."

"To most people, any would be a stranger who came and saved them when they were most in need. Also, your sister seems to be able to remember you."

Ruby looked away again. "Yeah, though she didn't recognize me at first."

"Oh?"

"I, uhh. It wasn't just the glowing thing." Ruby rubbed the side of her neck and stared at the table, "My hair's a little redder and my eyes are…"

"They're very unique,"

She closed them, obscuring the unfamiliar red irises and bronze speckled pupils, "They used to be silver. Like my mom's."

Ozpin froze. He'd been bringing his mug back to the table and stopped inches above it. His expression shifted several times in an instant. Ruby couldn't keep up with all of it, but she could see several conflicting feelings before he finished setting his drink down. "I see."

"Professor Ozpin are you ok?"

"I'm fine Ruby, just surprised. Silver is also an eye color very few people have." He couldn't be fine after looking like that. She really wanted to say something, but he didn't ask her more before so it wouldn't be fair for her to now. "Now then, you say you want to be a Huntress?"

She nodded, "More than anything. Even if everyone keeps forgetting me."

"Would you like to come to Beacon?"

~~~​

Later that night Ruby was lying on the roof of her room, looking up at the stars. She had to explain everything to dad, again, but it only took a few seconds before he remembered her this time. Then the hugging and the crying started. He felt so bad about it, which made her feel worse, and they just kept feeding into each other until Yang made them stop.

Then she told him that she'd been invited to go to Beacon with Yang and it started up again because "both of his girls were abandoning him at the same time." That time Yang got pulled into the bear hug. Thankfully it ended while Ruby still had ribs.

Dad was cooking one of his specialties to celebrate the good news. She'd normally be helping prep things, but there were too many questions running around her head. Why did Professor Ozpin react like that? What would having silver eyes mean? Mom's eyes had been silver too and no one ever made a big deal about them. Did he know her mom? Was that it? Mom and Dad were pretty awesome, but were they good enough that someone like Professor Ozpin would know them?

Ruby groaned and went back to her other mystery. The night sky was different now and she didn't know why. She could still pick out all of the stars she normally could and nothing really seemed different, but it had a weird energy to it. It was like there was something up there, dancing just outside of sight.

Maybe she wasn't looking hard enough.

She sat up and focused on the stars. She looked from constellation to constellation, the ones she remembered anyway, searching for anything weird. They just twinkled down at her. She sighed and closed her eyes, thinking back to her night in the forest. She whispered to herself while she remembered.

"Once, there was a maiden who looked to the stars,

In their heavenly dance she saw many answers,

And many more questions,

Then one night, the stars grew silent,

'Why me?' She asked, again and again,

'What now?' She cried in desperation,

But the stars could not answer her,

For her Fate was her own."

There was something hiding in there too. But figuring out the poem was even harder. If it was true, then why wasn't she getting any answers from the stars? She wasn't asking "why me?". It was more like "What are you? What're you doing?".

"That's a really pretty poem."

"Grah, Yang!" Ruby jumped up and turned around. Yang was leaning on the window behind her. She was grinning and holding a half-eaten skewer of meat.

"Dad sent me to get you. Dinner's ready and it is good!" She tore a piece of meat off and pointed the stick at Ruby. The younger girl giggled and slipped into the window. She could worry about weird poems later.

"Race you there!" She yelled and took off.

"Oh, you're on!"

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 1.2

~~~​

This arrival at Beacon was a lot nicer than the first or the second. They came in on a huge airship that circled the campus and gave everyone an amazing view of the ocean. Though not everyone on board seemed to appreciate that part. Yang hoped the guy who got sick was going to be ok, but if he couldn't take something like that he probably shouldn't be here. Or maybe he got sick because he was so excited? Who really knew?

She was excited to be here. There'd be new people to meet and fight. Yang didn't like to brag too much, but she was one of the best in her class at Signal. They started doing two on ones just to make it fair. Beacon was a big ocean full of the best and she could hardly wait to see what they had. After all, a new friend was just one punch away.

A silly grin made its way to her face while she looked around. There were some fine people walking by and a wonderful view to appreciate. Ruby was even checking them out too, eyes roving over the crowd while she bounced in place.

"Ohh, sis. Look at him!" Ruby grabbed Yang's shoulder and pointed to a tall boy with a meteor hammer wrapped tightly around his waist. He was built and dressed to show it off: dark vest, tight pants, white shirt a size too small. All around beefcake. Also that swagger, he knew what he was about. "Also, over there and there. Just, oh so cool."

This one was around Yang's height with long black hair. A lot thinner than the first one, but damn was he graceful. Though given how the redhead next to him was acting, she was pretty sure her sister wouldn't have a chance. She kept bouncing around and prodding him, nearly hitting the boy with the handle of her fancy warhammer. He wasn't reacting badly to any of it either. Yeah, Ruby wouldn't be able to stand up to that.

Yang sighed and shook her head. She was so glad that her sister was this excited to see people. There was a long running joke between her friends that Ruby'd wind up marrying her scythe. It was a little mean. Although, since she kept calling it her sweetheart, Yang could hardly say there wasn't a grain of truth there. "Come on sis you'll have plenty of time to talk to them later."

"Yeah, I gue-" Ruby stopped mid-turn, eyes going wide. She actually cooed at whoever caught her sight, "Beautiful."

"What're you talking-" Yang turned around and froze as well. She whistled softly and looked from the other girl, to her sister, and back again. "Woah!"

"Those curves, so nice. Do you think-no that can't be it. How do you think she..." Ruby was babbling to herself, gaze transfixed on the girl's hips.

Yang gulped and looked at a starry eyed Ruby. She laughed and grinned awkwardly, "Uhhh… Well, I didn't know that about you sis, but wow! Good choice, I approve!"

The girl who'd caught her sister's eyes was short and a bit thin, but moved with an assurance that Yang had only seen on TV before. Her looks were also flawless. Well ok, the scar on her left eye could be called a flaw, but it accentuated her face instead of looking out of place. She kept the asymmetry going with a side ponytail that brought her look back to, well, perfection. The matching jacket, dress, and super high-heeled boots just made the impression even stronger. Yang was hot and she loved dressing the part, but at her best she might've matched what this girl did seemingly effortlessly.

"She must've been worked on a lot. What sort of…" Ruby continued mumbling to herself while Yang connected the dots. Every person that Ruby'd pointed out had one thing in common.

She sighed and mumbled into her hand, "Oh god. You're talking about her sword aren't you? You've been looking at their weapons this entire time."

"Uhh, yeah what else would I be talking about? I mean, you can see this right? Her rapier, it's, it's just..." Yang cut off Ruby's gushing with a tight hug.

"Aww. And here I thought my baby sister was growing up." Yang nuzzled Ruby's head and moved her hands to Ruby's arms, making sure she had a good grip.

"Grah, Yang stop it." Ruby struggled a little, but was no match for Yang's hugging ability. It took her a little while to realize that she was held super tight. And then she froze. "Yang, what're you doing?" There was just a hint of worry in Ruby's voice.

"I'm gonna help you make a new friend."

"What? No, I don't need any new friends. I have you!"

"Hmm, nope!" Yang grinned and picked Ruby up off the ground. The redhead shook as fast as she could. She tried valiantly, but unsuccessfully, to break free. "You need to meet new people and I'd be a terrible sister if I let you pass up this chance."

"Yang, no I-" Yang spun around once and let her sister go, sending her flying at the girl in a tight spiral. Then she dashed off into the crowd. Ruby would need to leave her comfort zone eventually; this was just giving her a head start.

~~~​

Ruby was used to being in the air, her combat style almost required it. But it was never like this!

If she had it her way, she'd have Crescent Rose ready and use the recoil to fire herself in another direction. Instead, Yang's aim was on target and she was sailing right at the rapier girl!

No, she wouldn't have her first meeting with someone start by crashing into them!

Ruby twisted, pushed against the air, and forced herself left, bending around the girl. Her ponytail got swept up in the movement and time seemed like it slowed down as she turned to the side. Ruby met her eyes and smiled sheepishly before slapping the ground with a hand to stop her fall. The cobblestones cracked as she channeled her Aura down and pushed herself above the girl's luggage. Ruby brought her knees up and flipped in the air over and over. She landed on her feet, in a low stance, and let out the breath she'd been holding.

"What was that?" Ruby winced and turned around slowly only to find a glare as icy as the shout's tone. The other girl had her arms crossed and seemed to be barely holding back from yelling even louder, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You see, I was looking at you and my sister Yang, she just sort of picked me up and threw me and… meep." How someone shorter than her could loom over her like that Ruby didn't know, but this girl was as scary as she was pretty. Still she was here now, so she had to at least try to make her into a friend. There had to be some way to explain all of this, maybe just being honest? Honesty was the right answer, right?

"I'm really sorry that that happened. My sister thought that throwing me at you would be a good way for me to make new friends. I didn't want to do anything like that and-" The girl's gaze narrowed with every word that came out of Ruby's mouth. Honesty betrayed her! There was only one thing left to do. One problem, she didn't know how to do it.

In the back of her mind, Ruby had been thinking about what happened when she met with Professor Ozpin. The intense pressure bearing down on her then was back. She focused on that feeling again and thought very loudly. Forgive me, please forgive me.

Again it seemed like the world shifted without actually moving. In that instant the girl's glare also softened, though it wasn't gone. Ruby smiled and held out a hand.

"And, hi my name is Ruby. I really like your rapier, it's super-awesome. Please don't hurt me." She waited for a few seconds before pulling her hand back. "Ok we're not quite there yet."

"No, no we aren't. But," She laid her hand on her rapier's hilt and tapped a finger against the pommel, "what were you saying about my sword?"

Ruby's smile brightened and she shook her hands in front of her chest in excitement. "Ohhh, I could tell how much love went into her just by looking. Umm, she is a she right?"

"Uhh, sure..." Whatever the girl was expecting, that wasn't it.

"Anyway, I saw just how fine the etching was and the quality of the metal. The dust injector's gotta also be very well fitted to work with such a narrow blade. On top of all of that there's the metal." Ruby's eyes were sparkling even more now. "I didn't know you could use such a highly infused steel and not interfere with the dust channels."

The girl settled into a smug grin while Ruby gushed. She spoke up when Ruby had to take a breath, "The channels are coiled Orichalcum to enable the Dust to be used at its full potency. They're protected in a core of Moonsilver," Her smile widened as Ruby oohed and awed, "It provides a barrier against the interference while maintaining the blade's flexibility."

"How did you work it? I've read about how hard Moonsilver is to keep in a stable shape and it sounds really exciting to use, but we never had enough at Signal to really do anything with it. And Orichalum would be even worse, we didn't have any tools that could scratch it." She waited for a moment, bouncing on her heels. "So, come on, how'd you do it?"

"I didn't built it. I provided the specifications and sent the order to engineering to be designed and constructed."

"Engineering, but… What?" Ruby glanced at the girl's luggage. A familiar snowflake symbol was on all of her suitcases; it was also on the back of her jacket. Ruby had a toothpaste tube with the same symbol, but there was no way a toothpaste company would have an engineering department. Or maybe she just meant a special weapons engineer? That would still mean that she'd need to have a lot of money though. Well if she could use materials like that she needed to have that anyway. Ruby pursed her lips and looked at the girl again. "Who are you?"

The girl smirked. "Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Dust Company? Ohhh, that makes much more sense than a toothpaste company." Ruby nodded sagely.

Weiss sighed, "That one would be my cousin Ivory." She shook her head before continuing. "So Ruby, what Engineering School are you going to go to? You're a smart kid with a very good eye if you could pick all of that out from sight alone. I could put in a good word for you if you're looking for an internship in a few years. Maybe even find some work for whoever in your family's going to Beacon."

"I, what?" Ruby quirked her head to the side puzzled, "But, I'm going to Beacon to be a Huntress."

"What? You? You have to be like fourteen. How could you get into Beacon?"

"I'm fifteen, thank you very much, and I got invited by Professor Ozpin himself." Ruby crossed her arms and pointed to a gear shaped pin on her cape. "He even gave me this special pin to show to people to prove it."

"Right," Weiss said, drawing the word out far more than necessary, "the Headmaster of the most prestigious combat school in Vale directly invited a fifteen year old weapons nut."

"Uh-huh." Ruby nodded.

"Color me," Weiss paused and twirled her hand as if she was searching for the right word, "skeptical."

She brought her hands to her hips and loomed again. "If you're going to lie about something, at least make it plausible. If you're really going to Beacon, what did you get on the entrance exam? Do you know your Aura fundamentals? How many targets did you take out in the combat test?"

"What? But I- There were no tests!" Ruby was at loss for words. She was supposed to be here! Professor Ozpin said that she could show that to anyone when she got to class and they'd let her in even if they forgot her.

"Actually, her story is plausible." Ruby spun around to find another girl right behind her. She had a cleaver-gun that had a ribbon tied to it. She was pale, had yellow eyes, and black hair with a bow on top of her head. Oh wait no Ruby was wrong, it was a chain-sword that was also a gun! "People learn at different paces. She had the reflexes to dodge not only you, but also your enormous pile of luggage."

Weiss glanced at Ruby then locked eyes with the new girl. "Fine, so she has the reflexes. But this is a serious combat school. Just being fast won't cut it."

The other girl shook her head and turned away. She took a few steps before pausing. Ruby could feel the pressure again, but she had no idea what it was from. This girl was trying to help her, but she didn't know why. "People have been learning to fight without schools for ages. After all, not everyone can buy an expensive education with money taken from the sweat of others."

"What! How dare-" Weiss shouted and paused. "What are you implying?" Her voice grew cold as her hand moved towards her rapier. But, she didn't draw.

The new girl met Ruby's eyes, smiled slightly, nodded, and then turned away again. Ruby, didn't know what she meant by that at all though. Why did she smile? She was a complete stranger; did she want to be friends too? Also, her explanation was good, but wrong. She coughed before speaking, "Umm, Weiss?"

Ruby resisted wincing when Weiss turned her glare back toward her. "Don't worry about that, she was wrong. I did go to a combat school and was the best in my class at sparring. I was also the best at weapons design."

She smiled brightly and warmed Weiss's glare ever so slightly. The girl huffed and let go of her sword, "That's not what I was worried about. She was three words off of quoting an early White Fa-"

Weiss frowned as she looked at the chain-sword girl again. She was walking away slowly, the tails of her vest swishing back and forth. Though Weiss seemed more focused on her bow. Which wasn't moving nearly as much, except when the wind caught it and one side bounced.

"Never mind." Weiss shook her head.

"Before, all of that," She tapped the pommel of her rapier as she spoke, "You were asking me about Myrtenaster's construction. We don't have the time right now, but we can talk more about that later. I'd like to hear what you did with yours as well."

"Really?!" Ruby shook with excitement. No one had ever asked her about that before, besides her teachers and her dad, and that one guy in advanced weapon-smithing who wanted her to help him with the extender for his dagger. She'd put so much work into Crescent Rose and all she ever got from anyone else was a "Sure, that's cool." when she talked with them about it.

"Yes, but for now I need to get to orientation." Weiss nodded to Ruby and walked away, an old man in a suit pushing her luggage behind her. He just had a small pistol in his jacket pocket, boring.

"OK. I'll see you later Weiss!" Ruby shouted and waved. She'd managed to do it, she made a new friend! Well, maybe she did. Weiss was the first new person she'd really talked to since the thing happened. The chain-sword girl might be also, though Ruby was less sure she'd remember her. She hadn't even gotten that girl's name or given hers. All she could do was hope at this point.

Ruby wasn't quite ready to go to the big ceremony yet so she glanced around for any other interesting things, but couldn't find any that stuck out. There was a girl hugging her dad, who just has a basic shot-spear; a boy toting around what looked like a guitar case, which could be hiding an axe; and another guy was about to walk into a bench with a really old looking straight sword. Ruby wasn't sure, but it might've been from the late colorless period going by the cross guard. If it was, then it might be a lot better than she thought.

He hit the bench right on the knee. Ruby winced as he tipped forward and fell over it, right into a bush. The poor guy screamed like a girl and flailed wildly until a redheaded girl pulled him out. She also had a beauty, a very complex multi-weapon that had lance and gun modes at least. His edges were gilded with Orichalcum, but the rest was steel. Really high quality steel. Oh the things she could do with Crescent Rose if she could get metal like that.

This girl also had equally fancy armor and a nice tiara, but Ruby hadn't spent a lot of time on armor design so she wasn't sure if they were good or just for show.

Ruby gulped, took a deep breath, and walked up to them. "Umm, hi there. Are you ok?"

The boy shook his head back and forth quickly, blowing a leaf out of his mouth in the process. "I think so. I saw an angel and..." He looked off in the direction Weiss left and sighed.

"Sorry, thank you, both of you." He stood up straight and grinned in a way that seemed a lot like Ruby's dad, but the dirt on his cheek ruined the image. "I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc."

The other girl nodded and folded her hands in front of her. "Pyrrha Nikos, I'm glad you're ok Jaune."

"Ruby Rose, nice to meet you."

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 1.3

~~~​

Ruby followed a few steps behind Jaune and Pyrrha while they talked about their favorite TV shows. It was mostly Jaune doing the talking, he'd watched so much Ruby could hardly believe it. Pyrrha was just nodding along and occasionally commenting. Ruby was more of a music and books girl so there wasn't anything she could really contribute to the conversation. But, thanks to the show he was on, she finally had her chance.

Jaune was talking about his favorite character in some fantasy show who used a pure Dust blade and describing how he would alter the length mid strike to ensure his attack hit home. Ruby skipped forward with a quick burst of her Semblance, looping around his left, and interrupted him, "Hey Jaune!"

"Ahh, Ruby where'd you?" He yelped and held a hand to his chest while he caught his breath. He glanced back only to see the flurry of rose petals she left in her wake.

"So about really cool swords. What sort of awesome things does yours do?"

"Huh?" He smiled awkwardly and looked to Pyrrha, who looked just as confused. He pulled it out and looked at the blade a bit. "It's a sword and it uhh, cuts things?"

"No, I mean special techniques or powers." Ruby pointed to the handle. "He's gotta be really old, at least one hundred years, right?"

"Yeah, my great-great grandpa used it to fight. Grandpa did to. Dad didn't though. He's more of a mace guy," Jaune said as Pyrrha's eyes lit up.

"Ruby, are you talking about the soul of his sword?" Pyrrha stepped in and waited for Ruby to nod before continuing, "In Mistral, there are a number of Hunters who focus on intertwining their Aura with their weapons. These weapons are later passed down to their apprentice, who does the same, infusing the weapon with themselves and strengthening both. As time passes, the weapon will take on its own character and become more than just a blade."

Jaune nodded along, gulping before he responded, "That sounds pretty cool. So, how would you do this soul mixing thing then?"

"We were taught to connect with our weapons through meditation. To empty ourselves and focus purely on feeling the pulse of the world. Then let your Aura seep out and connect to it."

Ruby chimed in, "At Signal we all built our own weapons. We pushed our Aura into each piece and at the end everything just felt right, like your weapon was an extension of your arm."

"Right, but," Jaune rubbed the side of his neck and looked right between them, "how do you do all of that? This pushing your Aura thing."

"It's, it's just like you do when you're fighting. Like, when you push yourself into the ground harder to jump or get this tingly feeling in your belly that something's gonna happen." Ruby paused between each phrase, trying to figure out the right way to describe it. She hadn't needed to think about how she used her Aura for years.

She bit her lip and looked back up at Jaune. He had a scrape below his left ear that he was avoiding touching. That should've healed by now. "Jaune, your ear's hurt. Do you not have your Aura awakened?"

"Uhh, yeah. Why? Do you have yours?" His ignorance was displayed all over his face.

Ruby looked at Pyrrha and bit her lip. The other girl smiled and shook her head slightly.

"Jaune, most junior combat schools unlock their students Auras as part of their first year. Assuming they haven't already had the ritual performed while they were younger that is. If you got into Beacon without this happening..." Pyrrha paused and Jaune gulped. "Then you must have done something very impressive."

"I… yeah," Jaune looked down to the ground and shrugged. For a little while the three of them stood there, each waiting for someone to do something to break the silence.

Jaune spoke up first, "So, do either of you know how to do that unlocking thing? It sounds pretty, um, important."

"We all learned how to, but I've never really done it," Ruby grinned and laughed slightly. She'd been told, again and again, that none of them were supposed to just go around awakening Auras. So, she never bothered remembering exactly how the ritual went. Also, it was supposed to hurt a lot if you messed it up. She'd try. Jaune was here at Beacon, so there shouldn't be a problem with it, and he looked pretty tough. Thankfully, Pyrrha saved her.

"Don't worry. I'm very familiar with it. There were several important ceremonies where I was asked unlock the Auras of the incoming fighters." Pyrrha looked away and blushed. She giggled and turned back to Jaune. "Just close your eyes and concentrate."

"Uhhh, ok." He glanced at Ruby before nodding to Pyrrha. His hands were balled tightly.

Pyrrha stepped close to Jaune and placed one hand on the side of his head, the other over his heart. With a nod, they both closed their eyes and took slow breaths. Jaune calmed down, letting his arms hang free. One, two, three: they were in sync. Ruby could feel the energy gathering around them as Pyrrha began to softly glow. There was more than just that though.

Ruby closed her eyes and listened as Pyrrha began.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality," Her words echoed off of the cobblestones, ringing into the air in a continuous hum.

"Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all." It grew louder, like a speaker playing a rising intro. She could hear a second beat, a smooth undercurrent of vibrations that flowed from Pyrrha.

"Infinite in distance and unbound by death." The second sound grew stronger and stronger. A stream of beats quickly becoming a river.

"I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee," Her voice faded, but her soul erupted into a symphony of sounds. Each hummed in tune as they stretched into the sky. Then a second wave joined them, deeper and softer. And yet, the two harmonized despite their differences. The same notes in a different key, the louder leading the softer skyward.

Ruby continued listening as the waves echoed away, ending in a soft tinkling high in the sky. She opened her eyes to Pyrrha pulling away. Wisps of her red Aura swirled into nothingness with Jaune's white one as the crimson chords binding them faded.

Jaune blinked a few times while Pyrrha caught her breath. He turned his hands over, staring as the glow of his Aura vanished. "Woah."

Pyrrha stood back up and smiled. "That feeling is your soul's protection." His cut quickly closed in a flash of light.

"If you want to feel something really interesting," Pyrrha's smile grew wider and she leaned forward slightly, "Try drawing your sword again."

Jaune touched the handle of his sword, recoiling once, before gripping it tightly. "It's a little warm, but not in a bad way."

"That warmth is what we were speaking about before." Pyrrha reached forward slightly, hesitated, and brought her hand back to her side. "With practice, you should be able to learn from it and make it your own."

Jaune nodded and looked off to the side for a moment. Then his gaze went back to Pyrrha, though he couldn't meet her eyes. He blinked a few times and turned to the road again. "Uhh, thanks and, uhh, we should probably, umm,"

"Yes we shouldn't be late." Pyrrha's smile fell when she turned to Ruby. Who was like a deer in headlights, eyes wide and posture rigid. "Ruby are you alright?"

"Uh huh," Ruby mumbled while she finished processing what she'd just experienced. It only hit her at the end that that had been a very different ritual than she'd expected. Her's was more like "wham, bam, here's your Aura." There was no long chant. There was no music. Music that she could tell the color of for some reason. It was just a normal thing. "I'm good, I just… umm... haven't watched it like that before."

Pyrrha turned away, her cheeks burning. "Ahh, right. Well. Let's get going then."

"Yeah." Ruby turned stiffly and walked forward, still lost in thought. Music didn't have colors. And even if it did, why would she only hear it now? She closed her eyes again and listened to the world's song. It was tough because Jaune's drumming overwhelmed all of the lamps. The steady, white pulse drowned out everything else. Why was he doing that so much and what was it? She and Pyrrha weren't, but they knew how to control their Aura and this was the same color as Jaune's.

Ruby focused her Aura down. A pure red string resounded with each step. As soon as she stopped using her Aura, the sound also stopped. She could hear people's Auras…

A shiver ran down her spine. This was so cool and also maybe really, really bad.

~~~​

By the time they reached the auditorium, Ruby was mostly better. She was still shocked, but had herself more under control. She was walking normally and, more importantly, was hearing normally. She caught sight of Yang waving to her and quickly spoke to Jaune and Pyrrha, "Uhh, I'll see you guys later."

She skipped to her sister's right with a quick burst of her Semblance. Ruby pointed right at Yang's face, but didn't get the first word in. "Well somebody looks excited. So, what happened?"

"I dodged the girl that you threw me at!"

"And?" Yang stretched the word out with a silly grin on her face.

"And she was really mad at me." Ruby gave Yang a look, but the blond just kept grinning. There was no trace of guilt on her face whatsoever.

Sighing, Ruby stopped pretending to be madder than she was, "But then I asked her about Myrtenaster and she got a lot nicer."

"Myrtenaster? Who's that?"

"Her sword."

"Really? You- Wait, you started talking about her sword and that made her happy?"

"Yeah, we talked about her materials and design. Weiss worked both Moonsilver and Orichalcum into her! They're in a pretty complex arrangement if the image I'm picturing is right," Yang's posture sunk lower and lower while Ruby explained what happened, "And that's not even the best part. After we argued about me belonging here, she asked about Crescent Rose!"

"I- wow. Ruby I never expected you to find someone else, er, just like you. That's great!"

"I know, it's so cool," Ruby grinned and bounced in place.

"Well, I'm glad you made a friend. But..." Yang bit her lip, looked from Ruby to the crowd, and leaned in. She whispered, "When you came in you also looked kinda nervous. Did something else happen?"

Ruby gulped. Of course Yang would notice something like that. She glanced around, looking for anyone who might be too close. They were surrounded by people who didn't seem like they were listening, but that could change at a moments notice. "Umm, kinda."

Yang's eyes briefly flashed with mischief before settling back to a worry. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Yes! I mean no, I mean-" The sound of a mic being turned on cut her off.

Professor Ozpin stepped up to the podium and coughed. Before he started talking, Ruby whispered to a now very worried Yang, "I'll tell you after."

"I'll keep this brief." Ozpin adjusted his glasses before continuing, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge--to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Ruby nodded along as he spoke. He was looking over the crowd and paused when he saw her. She could barely make it out, but his brow furrowed briefly before going back to that unreadable mask.

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step. Though you should remember..." He paused once more, briefly taking on a regretful expression. "People may not be all that they seem. You must be careful. Danger can appear in the most surprising of places."

A shiver ran down Ruby's spine that refused to go away when Ozpin finished. Professor Glynda Goodwitch was announcing what where they would go next, but she wasn't paying attention. She was too focused on Professor Ozpin as he walked away, on what he said now and what he'd told her before.

"That was, uhh something. He seemed kinda not there, until the end... Now about that thing." Yang nudged Ruby and nodded her head towards the door. Ruby glanced back to the stage more and stopped. There was something else she needed to do first.

"Yang, hold on. I'll be right there." Ruby moved against the crowd, pushing her way between people until she was towards the front. The chain-sword girl from earlier was there. She was watching people move while waiting, probably for everyone else to get out.

Ruby slowly approached from the crowd and waved. "Umm, hello again."

The girl blinked and frowned before responding, "Hello. Do I know you?"

"Not really, I'm actually not surprised that you don't remember me, but you tried to help me this morning and you were kinda just waiting here and I wanted to say thanks," Ruby spoke increasingly fast.

"Umm, what?" The girl just looked Ruby over, eyes darting back and forth. She ended by shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong person."

"Sorry, that's my Semblance, it makes people about forget me." Ruby winced. The girl's eyes narrowed as soon as she lied. Yang thought she'd be able to get away with claiming that since Professor Ozpin said it too. "Uhh, it was when Weiss was being mean and said that I wasn't supposed to be in Beacon. You said something about my speed and her education being taken from someone's sweat. I wasn't really sure what you meant, but it convinced her. Or at least it made her stop yelling."

"I did distract Weiss Schnee when she was yelling at someone earlier today, but you don't look anything like the girl who…" She looked at Ruby, frowning again, but not in a bad way. Now she just looked confused. Her eyes were locked on Ruby's face, twitching slightly to follow every movement.

"Like I said, people forget about me. Even when they shouldn't." Ruby gulped and hoped that the staring would stop soon. When it didn't, she stepped forward and held out her hand. "Anyway I'm Ruby and thanks again. I was hoping that you'd want to be friends. Maybe if you have my name it'll be easier next time?"

Ruby had been expecting what was coming next and pushed against the world without missing a beat. It shifted and the girl took her hand after a moment's thought. She gave Ruby one good shake, but didn't stop staring. "Blake and... sure."

"Nice to meet you Blake." Ruby smiled and leaned slightly to her left. Blake's eyes tracked her, looking just above her own. "Umm, do I have something on my face?"

Ruby rubbed her hand from her nose to her forehead, trying to wipe away anything that might've gotten stuck to her.

"No, it's just… I-" Blake paused and bit her lip before continuing, "I like your hair?"

"Uhh, thank you?" Ruby half smiled and looked over her shoulder.

"Umm, let's go catch up to everyone else?" Ruby was back to the awkward grin when she realized they were the only ones still in the auditorium. Blake nodded and started walking.

"Sure."

~~~​

Yang left with the crowd and waited right outside of the door for Ruby. She leaned on the wall and crossed her arms, keeping watch for the moment her sister left. While she waited, she couldn't help tapping on her side and checking for any other familiar faces. Something was up. Well, something had been up since Ruby came home with all of this strangeness, but something was really up now.

Ruby'd been more reserved and secretive ever since the fight in the woods. Yang had pushed her for more details once, but she went quiet after the part where the last Beowolf died. Her sister was never this careful about anything, even when she was asked to keep a secret. If there was one thing Ruby could be counted on, it was being straightforward and honest.

She dug her nails into her palm. Something had made Ruby so worried that she took it this seriously, and there really weren't any good options for what that might be. Or maybe, someone was the source of it?

She scanned the crowd for the people she'd seen her with before.

First was the girl she tossed Ruby at, who somehow looked a little paler than she had earlier. If they were anywhere else, Yang would've just pulled her aside, but that'd be weird right now. It'd draw way too much attention. Also, considering Ruby's reactions she probably didn't cause that weirdness. But, it wouldn't hurt to check later.

The blond boy and red headed girl who Ruby came in with followed a little bit later. Nothing was off with them either. They were just talking about Aura and weapons, so there was a connection. If her sister heard them, she'd probably join in. However, neither of them looked like they'd do anything bad to her.

Finally, the girl Ruby went over to talk to stepped out. She was a little on edge while she moved, always scanning around herself. Yang met her eyes, a piercing yellow. For a second they sized each other up. Stance, weapons, physique: she took all of them in. Yang wasn't sure she could win a fight against her, which was weird by itself, but that didn't matter now since Ruby stepped out right on the other girl's heels.

Her sister was smiling, but looked at the ground once she noticed Yang was there. The other girl stopped and turned around.

"Uhh, you keep going Blake. I need to talk to my sister." Ruby nervously giggled. Blake also looked at Yang, who sighed in response. She stepped off the wall and smiled.

"Don't worry. I just need to talk to this goof about making me worried, then running off." Yang shrugged and let out a mental breath when the other girl relaxed. Whatever was bugging Ruby, she didn't want to talk about it where someone could overhear.

After a few moments, Blake nodded. "I'll see you later."

Yang waited for her to be a pretty good distance away before speaking, "Alright sis. What was that about?"

"Well..." Ruby nudged the path with her boot and didn't look at Yang. "She kinda helped me out earlier so I wanted to say thanks, but she didn't remember me."

Yang pulled Ruby into a hug again and gave her a pat on the back. "Is that all you're worried about? We'll figure out a way through all that. Even if it takes putting up pictures and sticky notes all over the place to remind people."

Ruby laughed emptily and joined in the hug. "Thanks, but it isn't just that."

Yang gave her a few moments before prodding her in the side. "Come on. What's bothering you?"

Ruby pulled away and took a long look all around them. Yang could feel her nerves firing up again.

"After talking to Weiss I listened to someone's Aura being unlocked," Ruby started slowly.

"That's nothing new. We were both there when Ms. Blan did her poke you in the forehead thing."

"No, not like that." Ruby shook her head and looked around again. "I really listened this time and I heard… things."

Yang clenched her fists. "Things..."

"Sounds, music, but not normal music. It was the ritual and..." Ruby gulped and paused. Yang could feel every muscle in her body tense while her sister continued scanning their surroundings. "And… I think it was also their Auras, mine too."

"Ruby that's-" Yang paused and hissed while she took a quick breath. "That's not possible. It's not something people can just do. Unless it-"

"-Their Semblance," Ruby finished the sentence, her voice too cold. Ruby was a smart cookie and if she could do something like that then there was no way she'd be able to ignore the other signs. "Yang?"

Yang gulped and forced herself to look less tense, it wasn't easy. She was pretty sure she knew where this was going. "Yes Ruby?"

"Yang, am I-" Ruby was absent-mindedly stroking Crescent Rose. "Am I a monster?"

Yang felt her heart beat in her throat.

"Ruby no!" Yang wrapped her arms around Ruby again and held her tight. "You're not a monster!"

"But I have more than one Semblance and-"

"No!" Yang cut her off, "Ruby you're my brilliant little sister and you're going to be an amazing Huntress."

She pulled back and lifted her sister's chin up. Ruby's eyes were glistening at the edges, but full of a dangerous fire. She'd always wanted to be a Huntress, to help people and save the world. Yang didn't know what Ruby would do if she thought she was a danger to everyone, but she didn't want to find out.

She could see her sister's fire still in there. All she needed to do was apply the right pressure. "What did they teach us back at Signal? The one sign that's always there. The one they even tell civilians to look out for."

"Silver or gold?"

"Right. And what color are you?"

"...Red."

"Professor Ozpin said there wasn't a problem, right? Do you think he'd just let you in like this if he wasn't sure?"

"No," The fire had reached Ruby's voice.

"No way he'd do something like that."

Ruby was giggling and smiling again. She wiped the corners of her eyes on her sleeve. "Thanks Yang. I'm sorry, I was just worried because of hearing that stuff and what he said in that speech."

"Hey, what're sisters for?" Yang wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulders again and started walking. She smiled down at her sister with a knot in her stomach. "Though, you probably shouldn't tell anyone else about hearing these things. You never know what they'd do."

Ruby sighed, "Yeah."

"Come on, let's go get some sleep."

As they left, Yang caught a glimpse of the setting sun. She pushed the butterflies down and thought. You're not a monster Ruby.

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 1.4

~~~​

The following morning, they were brought to a cliff overlooking Beacon's Emerald Forest.

Professor Ozpin told them their objective: to find their partner and a relic by traveling through the forest. They would face great danger and would be expected to take care of themselves. The forest was teeming with Grimm of all shapes and sizes.

Each student was to move carefully and stealthily. Also, be prepared to fight for their lives against the Grimm. Their partner would be the first person who they met the eyes of. He did not tell them how their final teams would be decided.

The danger they would face, along with the need for discretion and teamwork due to the number of Grimm in the forest, was emphasized.

Then, he launched them off the cliff from spring loaded panels.

~~~​

"This will be an interesting class once the pairings are decided."

Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin stood on the edge of the cliff, watching as their students sailed through the air. Each had a scroll connected to the camera drones following each student.

"Mmh," Professor Ozpin watched them land without meaningfully responding. After a minute, only two hadn't touched down.

"Five of the thirteen who threw up flags for investigation are in this group. Unfortunately, three have already been tested once," Professor Goodwitch said as she swapped her view to their two stragglers: Jaune Arc, who was woefully unprepared and had been pinned to a tree by Pyrrha Nikos throwing her weapon at him; and Yang Xiao Long, who was using dust shots to propel herself deeper into the forest. She'd also taken the largest leap at the beginning. Glynda shook her head. "Speaking of which, Miss Xiao Long seems to be trying to set a new distance record."

"She'll be hard pressed to beat her uncle." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee and watched as she finally started descending. She was incredibly close to the final site. "He transformed and flew to the relics. Summer found him pretending to take a nap with one of them in hand."

"That is… unsurprising." Glynda shook her head. Convincing Qrow to do anything even by the letter of the rules was next to impossible, let alone the spirit of them. "That entire family seems to be cursed with unfortunate appearing Semblances. Qrow, Taiyang, Summer, and now Yang as well. Only Raven was spared."

"You could say that Ruby was spared as well." Ozpin smiled softly. One of the knowing grins that he was prone to whenever he wanted someone to figure something out on their own. It was a habit that had infuriated her when she was a student.

"Ruby?" Glynda wracked her mind for where she'd heard that name before. She knew that Taiyang and Summer had another child, but couldn't put a name or face to them. They were presumably in this group if Ozpin was mentioning them now, but which one. She went over the features and equipment of each student on her scroll before the memory snapped in place. "Ruby Rose, the student with the uncontrollable, memory-loss Semblance that you sent the all staff message about last week. She's wearing one of your pins."

After another moment of thought, Glynda sighed, "Of course. Her last name is the same as Summer's... Which was a surprisingly difficult observation to make."

"Considering that difficulty, we can only hope that she will find a partner who has the mental fortitude to keep her in mind." He glanced down when his scroll pinged.

Their scrolls would sound when two students got close enough that they might see each other. They received two in a row, then six more.

"Our first pairing, Cardin Winchester and Dove Bronzewing. The second will likely be Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladona." Glynda barely resisted groaning when she saw who the large set was. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos, and Jaune Arc are all approaching each other as well."

It was coincidental beyond reason. Even if he'd tried to set this result up, Glynda was sure that Ozpin wouldn't have had anywhere near this degree of success. Two of them were practically a pair, and there was a good chance two more would be as well. With luck, they'd challenge and test each other enough to be removed from the list. Then nothing unfortunate would have to happen.

She looked at Ozpin, who was as inscrutable as ever, and then back to her scroll. A quick text confirmed that the other professors hiding in the forest had received their notifications as well. She hated having to do treat their students like, all of the professors did. But, it was better for people who hated the task to have to do it, than people who may enjoy it.

The first trial was the regular entrance exam, but it only gave them an idea of who to look into more closely. All too often, it took live combat and the risk of death to reveal the danger lurking in human clothing. And once it was revealed, they would do what needed to be done, the hardest job of an elite Hunter.

Someone needed to eliminate the Anathema before they could threaten the entire world.

~~~​

Ruby slid to a stop before she got closer to the first person she heard. She'd been hoping to find Yang and be partners with her sister; it would be nice and easy. They'd fought together before and worked really well as a team. But because Yang flew off when they got launched, that wasn't very likely.

Thankfully, she was pretty sure she knew who was up ahead just going by the sounds their heels made when they stepped. It was probably Weiss or Pyrrha; Ruby would be happy to be partners with either of them. She also heard Jaune yelling from really high up, and while he didn't seem like he'd be great in a fight, he was pretty nice and kinda funny. Though Pyrrha probably wanted to find him first.

She stopped and listened again. There was another person walking nearby. Both of the people moving had heels, though one made sharper sounds when she stepped. She was pushing through the buses. The other was cutting more, but mostly avoiding them. Pyrrha had a better sword for cutting so that might be her.

Ruby took a deep breath. The sounds of the forest faded away as the music of the world took over. It was faint, but she could pick out Weiss, even from this far away. Her music was calmer than last night when she and Blake spent awhile looking at each other from across the room.

With a burst from her Semblance, Ruby rushed towards Weiss. She stopped just outside of the clearing that the white haired girl was standing in. This was the moment of truth. Could anyone else remember her?

Weiss's eyes narrowed briefly. Ruby gulped and waved at her, "Umm, hi."

After a long pause, Weiss nodded. "I could do worse. Let's go Ruby." She turned away while Ruby squealed with joy. She dashed over to the other girl and wrapped her arms around her.

"You remember me!" Ruby lifted Weiss just barely off the ground and spun in circles. Her cape whipped behind her, leaving a whirlwind of petals surrounding them.

"Hey! Ruby, what're you doing?" Weiss struggled as soon as she realized what was happening. She tried, unsuccessfully, to shake herself free. She couldn't get any leverage thanks to her heels dragging against the grass. "Do you know where we are? Let go of me this instant!"

An elbow to the face sent both girls tumbling down, but Ruby just kept smiling. Everything would be ok now! "I'm... it's just… You remembered my name!"

"Of course I did, you dolt!" Weiss staggered to her feet. "Why wouldn't I remember you considering how we met?"

Ruby giggled from the ground, watching the petals that trailed her fall. "People just sort of forget about me. It's kind of my Semblance."

Weiss caught a petal and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, my dad didn't recognize me when I first came home. He thought I was one of Yang's friends trying to sneak in and almost threw me out of the house. The same thing happened the next night. And the morning after."

"That." Weiss picked up her rapier, which she'd dropped in the struggle. "Sounds like it was very difficult."

"But, that's all better now. Because we're partners!" Ruby flipped herself to her feet and raised her hand for a high five.

Weiss just crossed her arms and tapped her foot. The frigid glare was back again. Ruby took a hissed breath and pulled back.

"Ok, yeah I'll be serious." She peered off into the distance and drew Crescent Rose in light-rifle mode. The Grimm were close enough that she didn't need any extra stability. They'd been stalking, moving silently and using the bushes to stay below her sight-line. She and Weiss were almost surrounded.

Ruby took aim at the nearest grouping while Weiss rolled her eyes and started walking towards the bushes. "Now you'll be serious? Just by drawing your gun? Look I'm sure you can-"

Ruby fired four times, blasting holes in the plants right next to Weiss. Three startled yips were accompanied by bits of black, red, and white flying into the air as the Beowolves' heads exploded. Howls sounded around them. The survivor charged.

Weiss hopped back, narrowly avoiding the Beowolf's teeth. It burst from the brush with half of its mask missing, claws digging furrows into the ground when it caught itself. Before it could regain its balance, she lunged and skewered its head through the bullet wound. Five more shots rang out before Weiss got to Ruby's side.

"How many are there?" She kept her gaze on the bushes while Ruby unfolded her scythe. They stood back to back as the horde slowly emerged.

"Seven nearby. Another ten still coming." Ruby settled into a tail stance, scythe directly behind her. The heel of her blade was close to Weiss, but not in her way. Though, for some reason, the other girl still kept glancing at it rather than keeping her eyes on their enemies.

"You're not worried?" If Weiss was, her tone didn't show it. She kept her sword pointed high, alternating between the two closest to keep them at bay.

"Nah, I took out around thirty by myself two weeks ago." Ruby giggled and gripped Crescent Rose tighter. They were almost there.

"Thirty? That's a ridi-" Weiss was cut off by Ruby firing Crescent Rose.

"Go!" She shot forward, aiming right at the center of her group. The outermost Grimm's head flew off as she landed. The Beowolves turned to her, growling and circling just out of range. Crescent Rose laid on her shoulder while she waited. When two more came charging from the forest, they all rushed her.

Ruby threw her entire body behind her next swing and fired another round to gain more speed. She became a red and black blur, scythe lashing out. A moment later, all five Beowolves fell to the ground in a pile of severed pieces. None made it within three feet of her.

She could make out Weiss's shocked face before her partner turned away, engaging with her own group of Grimm.

~~~​

Blake crept along the old stone wall, staying in the shadows, while Yang waited in the middle of the ruins. Her partner was ready for anything to come at her, sunk into her knees with her fists slightly open. On her belt was their relic, a golden knight.

Yang was turning constantly, keeping watch all around. She tried to keep her glances random, but there was still a pattern to how she moved. Once to the far left, back to center, and suddenly left again. As soon as she finished the snap, Blake moved.

She used a stone jutting out of the wall as a handhold to flip herself over it. The one patch of grass and dirt on the stone floor was her target, the perfect spot to land and avoid being heard.

She landed on one foot. Yang was starting to turn around again. Blake sank down and pushed off. She flipped in the air and landed right behind the blond. She tapped Yang on the neck at the same time that she slipped her prize from Yang's belt.

"Grahh," Yang's eyes flashed red as she shouted, "How do you keep doing that?"

Blake looked back to her path. She'd crossed around ten yards in less than a second, without being noticed. She smiled and gave Yang a hint. "You don't look up and back enough."

"I looked behind me just fine."

"Not really."

Yang brought her hand to her chin and thought for a moment. Then she leaned back and craned her head around, pushing against her cheek to move it a bit more. At the end, she would just barely have hit the right arc.

Yang rubbed the side of her neck after she turned back. "Yeah, I still don't see how you'd do that."

"Like this." Blake turned away from Yang. She crouched slightly, then turned her knees, hips, chest, and neck so that she could see behind her without losing her balance. "You need to move everything at once."

Yang tried to mimic the movement, but she couldn't quite bend all the way. After three attempts she pouted and sighed. "Ok, one more time. You're only getting to the count of five to hide though."

Blake tossed the relic back to Yang and got ready. This would be the fourth time they played this game since they reached the ruins. She snuck up on Yang in the forest and now the other girl insisted on doing this until she caught Blake creeping up on her. There were so many gaps in Yang's defense, they could be here until nightfall before she succeeded.

But, it was a fun enough way to pass the time.

"Ok ready?" Yang covered her eyes and was about to start counting when more heavy rifle shots sounded from the forest. They'd been going on for a while now, slowly drawing closer to the ruins.

"Yang, I think we should wait." Blake turned her head towards the shots. She couldn't make anything out visually, but heard the growls and yips following each shot. There were a lot of Beowolves chasing whoever was doing that.

A piercing cry sounded from their other side along with tremors in the ground. Then, a series of explosions from between the two, these ones with the roar of an Ursa in response. Blake pulled her blade off her back and got ready for the Grimm to descend upon them. Yang punched her palm and rolled her shoulders, deploying her gauntlets.

Before anything else could happen though, the gunshots stopped. Moments later, a small girl in a red cloak burst from the bushes, swinging her enormous scythe into the ground to stop herself. She turned around and blew her bangs out of her face. The girl waved at them. "Hi Yang!"

Yang giggled and relaxed. She waved back to the girl. "Hey sis! You got this?"

"Yep." The girl turned back to the bushes and aimed. She fired her weapon so quickly that the next shot was in the air before the shells from the first two hit the ground. Each one was punctuated by a roar and the sound of a body falling. She was smiling as she fired again and again.

"Weiss, jump!" She shouted during a brief pause. Blake thought back to the previous day; the girl in red knew Weiss Schnee and she'd helped a girl like that before. It took her a moment, but the name came to mind.

"Ruby," Blake whispered to herself. She turned to Yang. "Your sister. Her name's Ruby isn't it?"

Yang whistled and turned to respond, keeping one eye on her sister, "Yeah... That was quick. You got her even faster than dad did."

"She's fairly memorable. I didn't believe her when she explained what her Semblance was at first." She'd never heard about anything like that before. Yang also winced as soon as she mentioned it. "Though…"

Blake paused when Ruby dropped her first magazine to the ground, reloading in record time. Three more shots, then she stopped. "Considering how she's moving, I'd say something relating to speed would be more likely."

"Heheh, yeah. It's kinda weird, but you know how those things are." There it was again, that tic where Yang played with her hair. Something else was going on and both of them knew about it.

"Of all of the stupid, reckless, boneheaded ideas!" Weiss Schnee's shouting drew Blake's attention back to her and Ruby. She was pulling twigs from her hair while Ruby giggled. She was also standing too close to the bushes. Bushes that had something moving inside of them.

Before Blake could warn her, a final Beowolf lept forward. Blake snapped her pistol up and fired two shots, one for each eye, before Ruby reacted. It was already dead when the other girl blew its head off.

"Weiss, you really need to be more careful." Ruby continued scanning the bushes, while her partner growled and stalked up to her.

"I need to be more careful? Do you have any idea how close you came to shooting me?" Weiss turned away, ignoring Ruby's complaint that she never actually hit her.

After taking a deep breath, Weiss glanced towards Blake. The animosity from the previous day was almost all gone. "Thank you for reacting so quickly and saving me."

Ruby folded her scythe up to a small rifle. "Aww Weiss come on. The plan worked great. We got all fortyish of them. And the Ursa too!"

"Thirty two. You took out twenty of them, along with the Ursa, while I stopped us from being swarmed even more than we already were." Weiss continued ranting, "I'd expected there to be some fighting, not a panicked run through Grimm infested territory. Why are there so many Grimm in this forest anyway? It's right next to Beacon!"

Blake mouthed thirty two and looked back to Yang; who wasn't worried for her sister at all. She wasn't sure which was more excited when Yang spoke, "Whew, good job sis. We only found three Ursa and like ten Beowolves so far. I've gotta catch up."

Weiss groaned in exasperation. Blake shot her a sympathetic smile that got a small smile back, which was surprising in its own right. Having anything in common with the Schnee heiress was unexpected. Though it was probably for a different reason in her case.

The thought that someone could enjoy fighting Grimm wasn't exactly new to Blake, but Ruby and Yang seemed too nice for that. Everyone else she'd known with that attitude had a bloodthirsty streak a mile wide and gave off an aura of violence even when they were just sitting around camp.

She shivered when she remembered the conversations that they thought she couldn't hear. The things some of them wanted to do, that they wanted her to help with. Bile rose in her throat.

Never again.

While she shook the memory off, another pair of Hunters joined them. A small, very energetic, girl who rode an Ursa in before it collapsed and an exhausted boy chasing after her. Another high pitched scream sounded from the forest, followed by a chorus of howls. The trees shook as the Grimm moved.

"Yang." Blake got herself ready to fight. "I think you'll get your chance."

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 1.5

~~~​

Ruby heard the howls and started counting. Way more Beowolves would be on them soon and several Ursai as well. The bear Grimm's lower growls were hard to pick out, but distinctive if you knew what to listen for.

She wasn't even winded after her run, but Weiss wasn't doing as good. They needed a plan, a way to stop themselves from getting too tired and fight off whatever monster caused that earthquake. It would be coming for them soon enough; with this many other Grimm around, it had to be.

Six Hunters in training, two of whom were tired. That was all Ruby had to work with. She looked over their weapons and the ruins. A semblance of a plan formed. They could do this, it would be tough and have a very porous wall, but they could manage it if her ideas were right.

She turned to the two who just arrived, the girl with the fancy warhammer-launcher from before and the calm boy whose weapons she hadn't seen yet. Ruby waved at them. "Hey, umm, do you have any explosives left?"

The girl quirked her head to the side for a moment, then grinned maniacally. "Do I ever?! Do you wanna see?"

The boy sighed, but didn't say anything.

Ruby shook her head quickly. "Not right now, but…" She looked each of them over once more. "I have a plan to get us through this and they'll be very important soon."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "What is it this time? More running around?"

"Nope." Ruby waved at the circular ruin. "We have a perfect defensive position. Well... semi-perfect. The wall will be a little weak with just three, but-"

A piercing scream distracted her. Jaune was flying towards them from just above the tree line. He flailed wildly as he fell, slamming face first into a tree. Ruby winced, him and plants didn't seem to get along very well.

Now she had seven Hunters in training, or maybe just six and Jaune. But, he could still help. "Yang, could you go get Jaune?"

"Sure." Yang saluted and ran off.

"We've got a good defensive position, but we need to keep it." She pointed at Blake and the two newcomers in succession. "Can any of your jump into a horde, take out an Ursa by yourself, and get back without support?"

Blake nodded, the other girl wiggled her hand back and forth, and the boy shook his head. Ruby knew that either she or Yang could handle it too, but they were also much better suited to be on the defensive line. Warhammer girl could also be good there; however her grenades would be much more effective if she had a high vantage point.

Yang returned with Jaune over her shoulder. His head was spinning slightly while he mumbled, "I'm ok."

Ruby ran up to him and yelled when he was put down, "Jaune, snap out of it we need you!"

Jaune blinked a few times and grinned. He leaned over and dropped his voice low enough that it just sounded weird, "Why hello there. A girl like you needs me?" Then it suddenly spiked back to normal. "Wait... How do you know my name?"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. Ruby just groaned. She didn't have the time to explain this right now. "I'll tell you later, but we have a horde of Grimm coming and-"

"Horde of…" Jaune paused before yelling, "Pyrrha! She's all alone with that scorpion. We have to help her!"

Ruby clapped her hands in front of his face. "Jaune focus, we can't help her if we get overrun."

When he nodded, she turned back to the crowd. "Ok so, like I was saying. We have a good position here."

She traced the front of the ruin with a finger. "Weiss, Yang, Jaune, and I will form an arc here and stop them from getting across. Weiss and Jaune, you have the sides. Use the wall to keep them off you."

She pointed to the top of the wall next. "Blake and…"

Ruby paused, looking at the other two.

The boy nodded. "Ren."

The girl thrust an arm into the air. "Nora!"

"Right." Ruby continued, "Blake, Ren, and Nora will be up top. Nora, you focus on hitting clustered groups. Ren, cover Nora, Jaune, and Weiss. Blake, take out targets of opportunity and any Ursa. You three also need to keep them from hitting our backs if any get through."

Ruby turned around and waved a hand to the side. Her cape fluttered in the breeze as rose petals flew towards the group.

"Any questions?" Ruby knew there would be, but they did have time. So she tried something before they could respond.

She was up very late last night thinking about Pyrrha's ritual and the sounds she heard. Not the ones from Pyrrha, instead the strings in the sky that responded to the ritual. They resonated in a way that bound Pyrrha and Jaune together. For a while the two were in sync, even if they eventually separated. What would happen in all of them were bound like that, even if it wasn't as complete?

When she summoned the rose petals, her fingers also strummed the invisible strings of the world. One petal landed on the forehead of each person, before disintegrating into a cloud of red dust. They shook their heads in sync, no questions.

Ruby turned back to the forest and unfolded Crescent Rose. "Get ready."

~~~​

This was nothing like grandpa's stories.

Jaune thrust his sword forward, clipping a Beowolf's shoulder and forcing it back. He raised his shield just in time to block a swipe from one of the others, then stepped forward to thrust again. This one's mask deflected the attack, but the monster backed away.

They were surrounded by endless sea of black fur, white masks, and red eyes. Ok maybe it wasn't really endless, but it felt like that. He didn't know how many the others had killed so far, but he only had one to his name. One out of who knew how many.

The cute girl in red had cut off its left arm. He caught it in the mouth when it fell over. It was more an accident than anything else, but it still counted! Maybe he'd get another before this was over. One that was his and his alone, something he could really be proud of.

He and Pyrrha hadn't found any of these things in the forest; even though they did hear the shots and explosions from everyone else fighting. Then they went into that stupid cave and found the giant scorpion. He should've known better, been smarter. Instead he got flug so high he flew over top of the trees. Now she was fighting it all alone.

A pink explosion blasted two Beowolves away from him. He bashed a third in the face with his shield, driving it back as well. They snarled and clawed at the ground; in response, he raised his sword above his head and waited. There were too many for him to go out by himself.

Ren and Nora had saved him a few times already, stepping in when the swarm got too close and it looked like one might slip through. Blake also threw some shots his way on occasion, but she mostly leapt from pillar to pillar, focusing on the ones on the outside. She'd jump down, erupt into a wave of blades and silhouettes, then retreat back to safety while her shadowy copies distracted the Grimm.

A second grenade from Nora cleared the rest, which gave him some time to catch his breath. Jaune glanced back to check on the others on the ground.

The red girl had a pile of mangled bodies at her feet. The corpses were being torn to shreds as the other Beowolves rushed over their fallen. Jaune couldn't keep up with her scythe, it was just a blur surrounding her. One sweep and she took out multiple limbs, a second and they all fell to the ground. The third started the process all over again. He didn't know how she kept her balance swinging that huge thing around without pausing.

Yang had a few piles too, but hers were further away. She launched them back with each punch, using the corpses as weapons to bowl others over. It didn't matter which part she hit, they went flying no matter what. When enough got stuck together, she'd shoot one of her missiles at them and finish the whole group at once.

He couldn't see the white-haired angel from the previous day without leaving his back exposed, but he was sure she'd gotten more than the others combined. The one time he looked at her, there was a huge wall of ice spikes that funneled them onto her blade. The constant flashes of fire also had to be powerful, destroying the Grimm left and right.

Fire, it made him think of yesterday morning again. About how Pyrrha and… and the other girl who was there... were talking about weapons. His sword still felt hot in his hand and could he ever use something awesome. His family's legacy was crying out to be used, to cut down the forces of darkness surrounding him!

Jaune turned back to the Grimm and stepped forward. He threw all of his weight into one slash, aiming right for the beast's face. The Beowolf twisted its head to the side, past the point where any animal should be able to, and snapped its teeth down, catching the blade between them. The monster growled and pulled. Jaune was yanked even further out of formation. "Aww crap."

It snapped its head back to normal, bringing him to his knees in the process. Jaune raised his shield against the blow he knew was coming and barely avoided hitting his head with the top of his shield when it slammed down over and over. Claws raked his exposed sword arm, but he held onto the handle for dear life.

Several shots from Ren hit the monster with his sword and made it let go. He swung with all of his might to the left and stopped with his blade halfway through the other one's torso.

He pulled it back just in time to block a swipe from another Beowolf. It followed up with a series of wild slashes knocked his shield out of the way. He swung wildly at its face, but it just jumped out of the way.

"Jaune down!" The girl in red yelled and turned her scythe towards him, holding it behind her back. She looked his way with a sideways glance and fired a single shot. Jaune got down just in time to feel the whip of the bullet above his head. It was more a reflex than a conscious thought.

Without missing a beat she was moving again, cutting down more. He glanced left, a Beowolf had climbed onto the wall and would've chomped on his head if she didn't get it. That was a punch to the gut. He couldn't kill them and keep himself safe, only rely on everyone else to cover for his mistakes.

Jaune brought his shield up again and got ready. If he couldn't fight back, he'd at least not fail more. All he needed to do was keep them back, he didn't need to kill any himself. Just delay them enough for someone else to handle it.

He swung his sword in a wide arc, forcing more of them over to the red girl's scythe. Now if only he could remember who she was.

~~~​

Ruby stepped over the pile in front of her. They'd done it, there weren't many Beowolves left and no one had gotten seriously injured. She could handle these by herself, but they didn't have the time to chase all of them down.

She'd noticed the trees surrounding them shifting during the fight and heard the clanks of bone on metal. Pyrrha had been fighting a huge monster while they cleared the horde away. She ran it in circles around the ruin and probably saved all of their lives.

Now that the fighting had died down, they were getting closer. Ruby reached into her pouch for another magazine and came up empty. Her first idea wouldn't work anymore; Time for Plan B. She cleaved through another Beowolf and turned to her team. Most of them weren't doing so good.

Weiss ran out of Fire Dust toward the end of the fight; Yang took enough hits that flames were flickering in her hair; Ren and Jaune barely seemed to be on their feet; Nora was also out of ammo; and she had no idea what was going on with Blake, who was fighting very carefully now. She didn't use her Semblance at all for the last Ursa and was just shooting the Beowolves, rather than jumping down from her perch.

She looked at Yang. Her sister was still catching her breath, eyes bright red. Yang looked up, smiled, and started running towards the noise.

"Ok team, we got through it." Ruby spun around and lashed out with Crescent Rose, finishing the Beowolf that tried to sneak up on her. "We have one really big target left, then we're home free."

"Nora, Ren, and Jaune. Finish off the Beowolves and keep them from following us." She swiped at another one, but it jumped back in the nick of time. "Blake, you're with me and Yang. Weiss, do you have a few more glyphs in you?"

Weiss nodded after taking a breath. "Of course."

"Ok, watch our backs and be ready when I call you."

"You trust me to keep watch?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Yuh huh." Ruby nodded and smiled.

Weiss blinked a few times in response, a little stunned, but she still stepped forward. "Ok, fine."

With one last glance at the others, Ruby dashed after Yang. She could've gotten there faster with her Semblance, but didn't use it. She needed both Blake and Weiss to make this work.

Jaune said the Grimm was a giant scorpion and he was right, but Ruby didn't expect just how big it was. It towered over them and its stinger was almost as tall as her. Yang and Pyrrha were right in front of it.

Pyrrha's entire body heaved with each breath, but she stayed in the fight. She kept close to Yang and blocked any strikes that came in; which let Yang to focus on offense. The blond darted forward, popped it in the eyes, and hopped back. She couldn't commit to anything harder without giving the Grimm an opportunity to sting her.

It didn't seem like any real damage had been done to it.

Ruby fired a shot at it to signal their arrival. The bullet deflected off of its back, but she never expected to hurt it like that. Pyrrha and Yang glanced back at exactly the wrong time.

The Deathstalker slammed its claw down on them, blasting a cloud of dust into the air. Pyrrha flew out of it and dropped her spear when she tumbled to a stop. Ruby shouted, "Yang no!"

She could hear it slam the ground again and again, completely obscuring both of them. The monster paused briefly before smaller, sharper blows sounded out. Those had to be the stinger. With each impact Ruby winced. Yang was tough, really tough, but even she had her limits.

"Weiss, wind!" Ruby yelled; Weiss moved sluggishly. She raised her rapier and shot a gust forward, but it was taking too long to reach them. Ruby grit her teeth while she waited for the dust to clear, fearing the worst. The sharp blows kept ringing out in a steady pulse.

Those hits weren't the stinger.

Yang had stepped forward and wrapped her arm over the small part of one of the Deathstalker's claws. She forced its claw to the ground and held it there while she attacked. The ringing blows were her fist impacting its carapace, over and over. Each punch made the monster stumble and slide backward, staggering it despite all logic to the contrary. Yang kept pace, stepping up to maintain the assault. Each footfall kicked up more dust, but not enough to cover them again.

Her hair burned with golden flames, brighter than any Ruby had seen before. Yang was going all out, spending everything she'd saved up in the previous fight. Each punch was wreathed in fire and the glow surged with power whenever the monster tried to lift its claw. She was going to burn out fast.

Weiss and Blake had stopped running. Pyrrha froze, halfway to standing. Ruby felt a chill run down her spine. Golden flames and incredible strength, that was what they saw.

"Don't worry. That's just her Semblance! She's fine!" She yelled. Three pairs of accusatory eyes turned towards her. The world slowed, the pressure built, Ruby pushed against it with all of her might. Yang's good!

Blake turned back towards the fight immediately. Weiss took slightly longer, but they both were back on track.

Pyrrha was slower. She took her time standing and kept her gaze locked until Ruby broke it. She didn't have time to spend convincing Pyrrha right now.

"Blake, get in there and trap its tail." Ruby ran over to Pyrrha's fallen spear, picked it up, and tossed it to its owner. Pyrrha caught it and finally got back in the game. "Pyrrha, Weiss. Freeze the other claw, then help Blake."

They all moved while Ruby dashed to the side and got in position. Deathstalkers were known for their thick carapaces and this one was huge. She'd need every bit of speed she could get if she wanted to make this work.

While she ran the others were busy. Blake batted at the stinger a few times to make the Grimm respond and looped her dagger around it when it missed her. She slid underneath its belly and pulled the ribbon tight. She wasn't enough to get it completely out of the way, but she stopped it from being able to sting Yang.

Pyrrha taunted it into swiping at her as Weiss sent out a wave of ice, The other claw was stuck in place. Both joined Blake next and brought the tail down to the ground on one side. All three of them could only hold it for so long.

Yang continued pummeling its face, her glow rapidly fading.

"Weiss, springboard ten yards out, low angle," Ruby shouted and started her charge. She trusted Weiss to time it right and her partner didn't disappoint. She hit the glyphe moving as quickly as she could. At the last moment she pushed off with her Semblance, moving even faster thanks to Weiss's boost. As she lept Crescent Rose was pulled behind her by the force, but that was ok.

Ruby lined up her blow while she flew through the air. This was what her sweetheart was built for, one devastating hit that could finish any monster. She had four choices: the mouth, each of the two clusters of eyes, or the crack that Yang made. This was the only shot she had, she needed to pick the right one… Or did she?

She felt that pressure again, the world demanding a choice be made. She'd been pushing against that, making it her own choice. Why couldn't she do that here? Ruby focused on the possibilities. If she wanted to guarantee she made the right choice, all she needed to do was take all of them.

She saw the paths before her in her mind's eye and pushed herself towards each of them. Ruby split into four lethal bolts, each bringing the beak of her scythe into alignment with her target. Four blows struck as one, shattering the Deathstalker's carapace and embedding Crescent Rose deep within it. The force was enough to flip her over top of Crescent Rose. Each of her landed with her feet on her scythe's head, leaning on the shaft

Ruby let out a breath while her senses returned to normal. Seeing quadruple was weird.

The Deathstalker's tail twitched. She squeezed the trigger and fired her final round.

Ruby swung up, sending the hard shell flying into the air. One, two, three times she flipped, before landing in a crouch. Ruby stood up with Crescent Rose resting on her shoulders, smiling. When she saw the looks on her friends faces it shifted to be more of a nervous grin.

Why were they looking at her like that?

Yang spoke up first. Her sister's hair was back to normal and her eyes were violet. "Sis, your uhh, thingy's showing."

Yang tapped the center of her forehead. Ruby looked at what remained of Weiss's ice wall. The bright red symbol had appeared on her forehead again. A circle with an arrow coming out of it that only showed up when she used too much Aura at once.

"Umm, I can explain?"

~~~

Ruby collapsed onto her new bed.

She wasn't really tired, just mentally drained. Pyrrha had so many questions about both her and Yang's Semblances. Once she started, Weiss and Blake also had questions that Ruby didn't really know the answers to. Then Jaune, Ren, and Nora caught up and she had to start all over.

Why does that symbol appear? What does it mean? What's you real Semblance? Has Yang been tested?

They could only answer the last one of those well. It seemed like a rude question at first, but then she found out that Pyrrha and Weiss had it done to them too. Of course, both were just as close lipped about what happened.

The more she didn't hear about this test, the more worried Ruby got. What was done to them that was so bad and why would knowing about it make it worse? Everyone seemed like they were ok with it now, but she had no way to be sure.

She turned to the side and watched her new teammates getting ready to sleep. Weiss was playing with her scroll, Blake was reading a thick book, and Yang was already asleep. All of their luggage was stacked up against a wall. Ruby didn't know how all of it would fit in this tiny room, but that was a problem for the morning.

Ruby closed her eyes and listened to the world. She could hear it now, the energy she'd been searching for. The missing piece of the puzzle. The stars were alight with songs from all colors of the rainbow. The colors shifted as she changed her focus. In some places they would blend together and in others they'd fall away to just one, overwhelming melody.

It took a while, but she found the sound she was looking for. It was the one she used before, the one that had been there when Pyrrha unlocked Jaune's Aura. The song that was so similar to her own Aura.

Now that she could hear it clearly, she could pick out the differences as well.

It was a nice sound, exciting and soothing at the same time. It was like sitting near a blazing fire or watching her team in action. Listening to it brought visions of battle and heroism to her.

...

Ruby drifted off and dreamed of what could be.

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 1.i

~~~​

The children had been sent to their new rooms and should have been long asleep; meanwhile Professors Port, Oobleck, and Goodwitch were burning the midnight Dust.

They sat in Glynda's office, illuminated by the glow of their scrolls and the large viewing screen, where they poured through reports from the other professors observing the initiations. Each was in a state of relative disarray. It was late and they had no students to be good examples for. Glynda's hair was down and her cape draped over her chair. Port had thrown his jacket onto the couch. And Oobleck had undone the top two buttons of his shirt, they weren't sure where his tie had gone.

Professor Port rolled his neck until it gave a satisfying click. He sighed and rolled it back before speaking. "Now that we've finished with the easy notes. Why don't we get back into the real meat of it?"

"Yes. Agreed." Oobleck downed another mug of coffee, his tenth in the past two hours. Even with that much in him, he was moving slowly. Considering how quickly he typically spoke, it could be considered a normal pace. "We've all been putting this off due to the sheer difficulty, but we must overcome that challenge."

"Very well." Glynda could already feel the headache that reviewing team RWBY and team JNPR caused coming back. They'd tried to start with these teams, but got caught up in a circular argument about the nature of the Grimm for the better part of an hour.

"I still think it's safe to say that we have a problem on our hands," Port started the argument right back up by pulling up the footage from the fight at the ruins. "This number of Grimm would not have been gathered by a normal group of students no matter how riled up they were."

"I disagree." Oobleck countered with images of Jaune Arc, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. "We have three students in the group who have displayed significant signs of fear, irritation, and anger respectively. While none by itself would be enough, all three would cause quite the stir. Especially considering the very potent Auras of two of them." He paused very briefly. " Also, I do not believe that any would be foolish enough to call the Grimm in a scenario like this. What could possibly be gained?"

"The theory that they are in control of the Grimm is only a theory!"

"A theory with substantial proof that only has increased due to the new commanding spells that Haven Academy just released more information on."

"Anyone could learn techniques like those. It stands to reason that the same behaviors that we normally see around Aura users would be magnified by their presence."

"Peter! Bartholomew! We've been over this three times already!" Glynda slammed her hand on the desk. These two were Beacon's foremost experts on the Anathema and the Grimm. They were normally an incredible team, also the best comedy duo the academy had, but when it came to these discussions there were always vicious disagreements. Both men were so stubborn about which theories they believed that she had to be the tiebreaker more often than not. "It's nearly ten and we all have to teach tomorrow. For now, let's just proceed under the assumption that there is one present so that we can finish. I don't think there's enough evidence to launch an investigation yet, but there's enough to be suspicious."

"Very well." Oobleck nodded. "Proceeding with that assumption that one of these talented students indeed a vile demon, I believe that attention should be first drawn to… To… To the student who is..."

His fingers blurred as he scrolled through the listing. "Ahh, yes Miss Rose. The leader of team RWBY who has the uncontrollable memory-loss Semblance."

An image of Ruby with the glowing sigil on her forehead appeared. Port hmmed while stroking his mustache. "I can't say she'd be my first choice, but she is on the list."

"Normally I would agree, however there is fantastic mystery surrounding her Semblance. She claims that it makes people forget her, something that we've trivially verified, but I suspect there's more to it than that." Oobleck stood up and pointed at a slide of Ruby's attack on the Deathstalker. There were very clearly multiple images of her, though it was hard to tell where the separation began. "Here she appears to split into four to attack. This along with she makes a number of incredible fast movements while traversing the forest. Thus the mystery of her Semblance. Or maybe I should have said, of her Semblances."

"She was moving very quickly; this could be an error in the footage." Glynda knew how low quality some of the cameras were. They needed to focus more on them surviving when the Grimm swatted at them, than the ability to capture high quality video.

"Barty you could do something like this trivially." Port shook his head. "Many of our seniors could as well."

"Indeed they could. Though, Professor Sienna did say that she saw the duplicates as well. While she was watching from quite the distance, I think this would rule out equipment failure." He pulled up another set of stills that were taken right after the impact. The apparent contact points were obscured in each shot. "If only we had a better angle, then this mystery could be solved much more easily."

"Even disregarding equipment failure. I still count, four new students who I would give even odds of passing the senior combat final between these teams. Miss Rose's seemingly spontaneous ability to lead is the aspect I would call into question, not her skill at killing Grimm." Port sent more images of the ruins up.

"Her plan was very simple and a standard tactic against a Beowolf swarm." Glynda pulled a copy of Ruby's transcripts up on her scroll. "Her transcripts show no deficit in theory courses and all of the other students, with the seeming exception of Mister Arc, seem experienced enough to succeed."

"Succeed yes. Never break formation?" Port raised an eyebrow. "Miss Xiao Long and Miss Valkyrie do not seem the type to stay in their assigned place as well as they did. Mister Arc's performance after Miss Rose's speech was also noticeably better than before."

"Yes. The differences between what we see and what his history says are also suspect." Glynda was about to pull up a copy of his transcripts as well when the door opened. Professor Ozpin stepped out with a tray of refreshments.

"I hadn't expected you all to still be awake." He set the tray down, there was more than enough for everyone. "I take it that this initiation is proving more troublesome than normal."

Glynda spoke before the other had the chance, "Yes, there are a number of very talented students who all wound up on the same teams and we've had a… vigorous, debate as a result. We were discussing Miss Rose when you came in."

"Miss Rose is your first choice. For what reason?"

"She would be for me. Please allow me to explain." Oobleck started and paused when Glynda gave him a look. "In brief that is."

"While I don't believe that we can be certain about any of these students, she is the most suspicious as far as I'm concerned. Miss Rose appears to either have multiple Semblances, a sure sign if there was any, or has acquired multiple techniques normally known only to senior Hunters. Which in and of itself would be another sign."

Ozpin shook his head. "I don't think that Miss Rose is the person we're looking for." He pointed at the screen. "While her abilities may be very strange, her colors and this sigil are incorrect."

"She could be a new classification. Alternatively, an old one that we simply can't remember." Oobleck froze as he spoke. He shook his head after a moment and continued, "A terrifying proposal if I've ever heard of one."

"I find it unlikely that we wouldn't find any records of her condition if it was an old one." Ozpin took a seat on the cleanest edge of the table. "Also, regarding the additional Semblances you mentioned, she could be called the apprentice of Qrow Branwen and fights with his style."

"That changes things. Can he be reached to confirm what he showed her?" Port said.

"Unfortunately, he's in the field. I've sent him a high priority message about the matter."

The professors looked at each other and nodded. Port sent another slide up. "We'll have to delay discussions on Miss Rose until we hear from him then. While we're on the subject of team RWBY, I think we need to look into Miss Schnee's prior investigation more closely. She passed, but due to the identity of the examiner..."

Glynda poured herself another cup of tea. This was going to be a long night.

~~~​

From: headmaster@beacon.aca
To: All Professor+
BCC: Q.Branwen@signal.aca, headmaster@atlas.aca, headmaster@haven.aca, headmaster@shade.aca
Security Level: Secret
Attachments: Identifying Anathema

Subject: Results of freshmen class initiation

All,

This report displays the results of additional information gathering during the freshmen initiations. As with all messages of this type, all information is to remain confidential.

Thirteen students had been flagged from additional review due to their results on the general entrance examination or their transcripts. We have removed eight of the thirteen from the list requiring additional observation, but had to add three more after the initiation concluded. No official investigations have been launched at this time.

Keep a close eye of the following students and report any unusual behavior or additional signs that you observe to Professor Goodwitch as soon as possible. These students are each impressive Hunters-in-training and it is imperative that you not be foolhardy or offensive in your observations.

It has been eleven years since an Anathema last tried to infiltrate Beacon Academy. If you need a refresher on proper observation and monitoring, please see Professor Port or Doctor Oobleck at the nearest opportunity.

Stay safe and have a wonderful first semester.

Thank you,

Headmaster Ozpin

>>>

Spoiler: Attached Report

Name: Ruby Rose
Team: RWBY(leader)
Semblance: Uncontrollable Memory Erasure

Aura:_____________2 Superior, family history of strong Aura
Academics:________3 Average, junior level weapons engineering
Combat:__________1 Professional reaction speed and accuracy
Influence:_________3 Poor liar, skilled at combat leadership

Additional Information:
The subject of the all staff message titled 'Memory Erasure Semblance'
Emits a powerful red aura and forehead glyph during unknown conditions
Has displayed master-class speed technique
Has apprenticed under Huntsman Qrow Branwen and fights with the same style, this may explain the previous comment

Investigations:
1 - not performed
2 - not performed
3 - not performed
Monitoring Level: 3 - Reduced from 2 while awaiting comments from Qrow Branwen


Name: Weiss Schnee
Team: RWBY
Semblance: Schnee Family Glyphs

Aura:_____________1 Superior, senior level in Dust Sorcery
Academics:________1 Perfect score on entrance exam
Combat:__________3 No notable traits
Influence:_________2 Professional singer, excellent expression control

Additional Information:
Semblance manifests with white coloration when no dust is used
Has a photographic memory
Likely is aware of monitoring procedures

Investigations:
1 - Passed, signed by G. Schnee(Schnee Technology Company)
2 - not performed
3 - not performed
Monitoring Level: 1


Name: Blake Belladonna
Team: RWBY
Semblance: Afterimages

Aura:_____________1 Superior
Academics:________3 Average results on entrance exam, noticeable gaps in knowledge
Combat:__________1 Professional marksmanship and reflexes
Influence:_________3 No notable traits

Additional Information:
Semblance manifests with black/purple coloration on occasion

Investigations:
1 - not performed
2 - not performed
3 - not performed
Monitoring Level: 2


Name: Yang Xiao Long
Team: RWBY
Semblance: Increased Strength following injury

Aura:_____________2 Superior, family history of strong Aura
Academics:________3 No notable traits
Combat:__________1 Professional form and martial arts skills
Influence:_________3 No notable traits

Additional Information:
Semblance manifests as golden fire, no iconography displayed and fire is short lived
Strong enough to hold down an ancient Deathstalker when using Semblance
Eyes become red when under stress

Investigations:
1 - Passed, signed by Professor L. Blan(Signal Academy)
2 - not performed
3 - not performed
Monitoring Level: 1


Name: Jaune Arc
Team: JNPR(leader)
Semblance: Unknown

Aura:_____________2 Superior, family history of strong Aura
Academics:________1 Incredible transcripts from Torch Academy
Combat:__________4 Deficient in all areas save tactics, performed acceptably in the initiation
Influence:_________2 Strange amount of consideration received from Pyrrha Nikos

Additional Information:

Investigations:
1 - not performed
2 - not performed
3 - not performed
Monitoring Level: 3


Name: Nora Valkyrie
Team: JNPR
Semblance: Electricity Absorption

Aura:_____________2 Above average
Academics:________3 Average score on entrance exam
Combat:__________1 Exceptional strength and stamina without semblance use, junior level combat skills
Influence:_________3 No notable traits

Additional Information:
Displayed far better discipline in initiation than during the entrance exam without good explanation

Investigations:
1 - not performed
2 - not performed
3 - not performed
Monitoring Level: 2


Name: Pyrrha Nikos
Team: JNPR
Semblance: Unknown

Aura:_____________1 Superior
Academics:________1 Near perfect score on Beacon entrance exam
Combat:__________1 Professional combat skills
Influence:_________3 No notable traits

Additional Information:
Multi-year tournament champion of Mistral Regional Tournament.

Investigations:
1 - Passed, signed by E. Concordia(Mistral Regional Tournament)
2 - not performed
3 - not performed
Monitoring Level: 1


Name: Lie Ren
Team: JNPR
Semblance: Unknown

Aura:_____________3 Average
Academics:________1 Near perfect score on entrance exam
Combat:__________2 Junior level combat skills, skilled in multiple martial arts
Influence:_________3 No notable traits

Additional Information:
Killed a King Taijitu by himself in initiation

Investigations:
1 - not performed
2 - not performed
3 - not performed
Monitoring Level: 3

---

A/N: I got enough written this week to post an extra chapter.
Note, these are not character sheets, they're in character reactions. There are no mechanical character sheets for this story.
Also, if anyone knows how to create table formats in forum code please let me know. All of the things I tried didn't work.

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 2.1

~~~​

"Body, Blade, Dust, and Soul." Professor Goodwitch began her lecture from the center of the largest sparring room. "These are the four pillars of success in battle for a Huntsman or Huntress."

"In this class we will call them by their proper names: Martial Arts, Weapon Evocation, Dust Sorcery, and Semblance." She stood with perfect posture, hands clasped behind her back, while the enormous screen cycled between images in step with her words. "They have been studied for centuries and, even though new discoveries occur on an annual basis, the basics still apply today. None worthy of the title Hunter fail to attain mastery of at least one pillar. Most are proficient in two or three."

"Now that we have finished the review of basic Aura techniques this class will be moving on to these advanced topics. You will become acquainted with each of these techniques through both study and hands-on practice."

That brought Ruby back to attention. The weeks of review were so boring that she almost fell asleep in what was supposed to be sparring class! It should've been the most exciting part of the week, not a long lecture and re-doing stuff she learned literally years ago.

Most of her team, and half of team JNPR, were bored out of their minds too. It was a constant struggle to not just goof off. She didn't know how Weiss, Ren, and Pyrrha did it. Those three were always taking notes, even though she knew they didn't need to.

"I'll call out each one by one. Please raise your hand if you have experience in any advanced techniques." Professor Goodwitch changed the screen to an empty graph.

"First, Martial Arts." A bunch of people raised their hands, including Yang, Ren, and Pyrrha. Ruby wasn't sure if what Uncle Qrow taught her counted, so she didn't.

"Weapon Evoking." More of the class this time. Jaune and Ren were the only friends of hers who didn't know any.

"Dust Sorcery." Almost no one, which wasn't all that surprising. Getting good Dust was really expensive and you'd waste a lot of it making mistakes. Weiss was the only one Ruby knew with her hand up.

"And finally, Semblance." All of team RWBY raised their hands this time.

Ruby could feel her cheeks getting hot when she realized how many people were looking at them now. Most teams didn't have anyone who knew their Semblance and if they did, there was just one person. Team JNPR, the second most experienced team in every other category, only had Nora. Team RWBY was awesome!

The graph filled up, letting them see just how badly skewed the numbers were. No category had more than half of the class in it, but Sorcery and Semblance were slivers on the bottom.

"As you can see, there are some topics that need more detailed introductions to than others. Unfortunately, there is little that we can do to assist you in discovering your Semblance. Everyone has their own, unique, Semblance and the path to discovering it is equally unique."

She pointed at one of the side tables and raised her hand slowly. Her finger emitted a purple glow while the table hovered to her. "The color of your Semblance and Aura are also unique. However, as all of you should know, there are potential dangers related to specific colors. Does anyone present wish to state that their Semblance's color is similar to silver or gold?"

Yang very slowly raised her hand.

The soft background chatter slowly stopped as people noticed Yang. Again, all of the eyes in the room turned towards team RWBY. This time they alternated between shock, worry, fear, anger, and all sorts of other really bad feelings for the most part. A few people, including team JNPR, seemed sorry for her instead.

Yang was gripping the edge of her seat so hard that Ruby was surprised it hadn't broken. She managed to keep most of her anger from showing on her face, but it was pretty obvious what she wanted to do to them. Ruby glared for her, along with Weiss and Blake, but only people really close to her were cowed.

"Thank you for letting us know Miss Xiao Long. What does it display as?"

"Golden fire." Yang was just barely loud enough for the room to hear.

Professor Goodwitch nodded and Yang lowered her hand.

"As for the rest of you!" She snapped her riding crop on the table. "Your reactions are not only unwarranted, they are actively dangerous. As Huntsmen and Huntresses people will come to you guidance, leadership, and protection. They will come with potentially incorrect information that may be catastrophic if acted on rashly."

"Color. Intensity. Iconography." She hit it again after each word. At the same time several images of men and women who were brightly glowing gold or silver appeared on the main screen. Each had a different symbols on their forehead. "Without confirming all three qualities, all that you would do is create a needless panic."

Professor Goodwitch took and deep breath and looked over the room. When she spoke, her voice was much softer. "Consider what might happen in the field if people saw one of you react this way. If they saw you look at someone that they thought of as another Hunteress protecting them with anger or suspicion; would you see anger, fear, or panic in their eyes? How would you assuage their worries about every unknown Hunter? The same worries that could draw a horde of Grimm at any moment. How would you protect them from their fears if you let yourself be ruled by your own?"

Ruby didn't have an answer for any of those questions. Figuring out what people were feeling was tough enough for her already. Maybe she could just fight the Grimm all by herself and drive them off, but that wasn't something that could work in the long run.

Professor Goodwitch continued after a moment, "There are many elite Hunters who would never have finished their education if someone jumped the gun on an accusation. The Professors here at Beacon are well aware of the potential danger that the Anathema present. However, we have a system in place for a reason. If you notice something, then tell us. But, you're here to learn, to make new friends, and grow into the great Huntsmen and Huntresses that we know you can be."

Almost everyone who had been looking at them badly was looking away from them now, most of them at their own laps. The few who weren't still couldn't meet Yang's eyes.

They sat in silence for almost a minute before Professor Goodwitch continued. She moved to the edge of the arena, hovering the table behind her. "With that said, we will begin with Martial Arts and focus on that topic for the next two weeks. It's a diverse field, comprised of both pure Aura techniques and those based on specific types of weaponry. In order to achieve mastery, you must have control over the form and flow of your Aura, along with how it interacts with the world around you."

She pushed her glasses back up and looked over the room. "Do we have any volunteers to give a demonstration?"

A few people raised their hands, including Yang. She'd bounced back and had her game face on.

"Come on pick me. I'll show them," She said just loud enough for her team to hear.

Professor Goodwitch looked around the room, considering each person in turn. After a moment, she pointed at their section. "Lie Ren and Yang Xiao Long, please come down for the first match."

Both stood up, nodded at the other, and jumped down to the arena. They walked to the center, Ren calm and Yang smiling. Their faces were cast to the screen and the Aura meters filled.

"For this fight, please restrict yourselves to just the techniques of one style. Which one will each of you use?"

"White Crane." Ren stood near the center of the arena with his hands open and at his side. If she couldn't tell how tense his muscles were, Ruby would've thought he wasn't about to fight at all.

"Scarlet Pulse." Yang rapped her knuckles together, but didn't get into any sort of combat stance. Was she going to do that thing where she flirted with people, then punched them? Was that even part of her style or just a thing she liked doing? Either way, Ruby didn't think Ren would fall for it.

Her sister walked around the circle lazily. Her boots clicked on the stones while the room waited in anticipation. She rolled her head back and forth, humming to herself. Eventually Ren relaxed, that was when she moved.

In a fluid motion she punched the air twice, then pulled her right first back. Yang burst forward before Ren could get himself ready again. She went in low.

Her uppercut smashed through Ren's guard and caught him in the chin. As he rocketed up, her head snapped to the side. Even though he couldn't stop the punch, he still got a knee in after getting launched. Both of their Auras dipped, but Ren lost a lot more.

"Heh, good shot." She hopped back as he fell, getting ready for another strike.

~~~​

Ren knew the attack was coming before he saw Yang. A falling opponent was a perfect target, especially for such an aggressive style. He'd get hit again, but he wouldn't make it easy for her. At the apex of his air time, he flipped over and gathered his Aura into his hands.

She came at him with a powerful straight at the face. He caught the blow with both hands and pushed against it. The force sent him flying backward. He flipped over again and landed with his feet on the ground.

Ren dropped a hand to control his slide, but before he could get back up another attack was coming in. He rolled to the side just in time to avoid the leaping ax-kick. The floor cracked with the force of the blow. Yang threw another kick instead of catching her balance and caught him in the side.

She pushed him to his feet with the blow, as she tumbled to the ground. But, a quick glance at the screen told him how bad the situation was. He dashed forward and threw a single kick to keep her down. It wasn't a good blow, but it did the job.

Ren hopped back, just out of her range, and kept his weight forward. Yang was still down, holding herself up on one arm. She could either stand, leaving herself open, or attack from the ground, and also leave herself open. He channeled his Aura into his back leg in preparation for his next blow.

"Kick his butt Yang!" One of her teammates yelled while Ren waited.

"No! Ren, you kick her butt harder!" This time it was Nora.

"Nora, that's not a very good target." He replied without looking away.

"I don't know." Yang grinned and shifted her weight to show it off. "I think it's pretty great."

She tapped her side with her free hand. While she looked even more off balance, open to an easy hit; he wasn't falling for that again.

Ren didn't know too much about her style, but he wasn't taking any chances. He could wait for her to make a real mistake.

It didn't take very long.

She started with a goofy smile which quickly changed to a look of irritation. Yang made a few motions with her head, inviting him to come closer. Ren waited.

Yang's eyes flashed red as she shifted her weight, one hand was on the ground and one leg was bent. With a roar she launched herself into the air, coming at him with a spinning hammer strike. He went low and caught her forearm with his. Ren shoved her up with his arm and brought his back inches from the ground to kick her in the gut. Her own power was used against her to make the blow that much worse.

Yang flipped through the air and landed on her feet. She flashed him a smile and a bright laugh. Ren couldn't help matching her with a smile of his own. In a way, this was just like sparring with Nora.

Once they were both ready she brought her hands up and shuffled forward. Ren got back into stance and waited for her to reach him.

They came together in a flurry of jabs, blocks, and elbow strikes. Yang was lightning with her punches, throwing a second before he could recover from the first. Very few of them landed, but without a chance to strike back he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. He'd only managed to get a couple light hits in, always after she did something ridiculous.

Her headbutt missed and he caught her in the throat. A spinning kick turned into another tumble when he threw her leg up. The flip kick when she got up was too close to his face for him to respond in time. He couldn't do anything about the assortment of jabs she threw between them though. They slowly ran his Aura down without any risk to Yang. She was too fast to punish and too strong to throw off balance.

He saw her pull back slightly more. With a quick stomp and a twist of her hips, Yang threw a straight. Ren took it on the shoulder and turned with the blow. He stepped in, ran his right hand along his left arm to empower the strike, and hit her with an open palm to the chest. His Aura pulsed and sent her skidding backward.

As she slowed, he stepped forward and snapped a kick. She caught his leg and twisted it; he had to turn in response. He moved his arm into the best guard position he could. Where would she kick? His head and back were completely open. Would she move in to wrestle instead? There wasn't much he could do to protect himself against that.

The buzzer sounded after her foot hit him just below the lower back. It wasn't a very strong hit, but it was enough.

"Really." He let his arms fall with the deadpan statement. Yang responded with a thumbs up and a giggle.

He glanced at the screen after she let go. He'd barely gotten Yang to halfway. Ren knew he was at an Aura disadvantage compared to her, but didn't think it'd be that bad. If he could've mixed up his styles, he would've done a lot better. Then again, in a normal fight she would've been hitting a lot harder thanks to her Semblance.

Yang stepped forward, hand raised. "Come on. That was awesome and you know it."

Ren gave her a nod before shaking his head. It was… an experience.

~~~​

Ruby didn't get a chance to jump into the ring all class, but that was ok. She got to see Yang kick butt, literally, and all sorts of cool fighting styles. None of them seemed really useful to her, Crescent Rose was kind of a unique weapon in that regard, but it was still fun to watch them.

On second thought, one of the ones Ren used might be nice in case someone like Yang got in really close. He did pretty good against her. Ruby also didn't know if anyone else noticed, but both of them cheated in the fight. Well, assuming breaking the rules and using something else counted as cheating anyway.

They mostly stuck to just one color though, so it was probably fine.

Professor Goodwitch waited for everyone to be seated again before she continued the class. "Thank you once more to all of our volunteers. You fought well."

"As you can see, there is a very wide diversity between styles. Each has its own strengths and its own weaknesses, but all can be incredibly useful no matter what you choose to specialize in." She looked over the class again and paused when she reached team RWBY's section. Ruby glanced back and found Weiss holding her hand up. "Miss Schnee, you have a question?"

"Yes," Weiss stood up as she spoke. "Professor Goodwitch. What do you specialize in? If it isn't martial arts, how are they still useful to you?"

The Professor smiled and gestured at the side of the room. She levitated a thick sheet of steel and two short, sturdy tables over to her.

"I'm glad you asked." She placed them in front of her with the tables separated and the sheet spanning the gap between them. "I specialize in use of my Semblance along with Sorcery, but I am familiar with both Martial Arts and Evoking as well. Before I took them up, I was at a major disadvantage if enemies closed in too quickly."

She raised a fist to shoulder height and closed her eyes. A brilliant blue sound built as she gathered energy. Ren had the most consistent beat among the students and Yang was by far the loudest, but this combined both of them. Professor Goodwitch's pitch was perfect and her music resonated with the entire room.

She opened her eyes and snapped her arm down in the same moment. A metallic ring sounded as she hit the sheet and part of it fell to the floor. It wasn't deformed at all; instead a perfectly circular hole had been punched through it.

Professor Goodwitch hovered the disk in front of her as she spoke, "That strike would be more than enough to deal with an unintelligent attacker, such as most Grimm. None of you will be expected to have the control or power necessary to replicate that feat by the end of this class, unless this proves to be your focus."

She hovered the disk back into the sheet and fused them back together. "Your assigned reading for the next class is chapter seven of your 'Aura and the Body' book. Dismissed."

Ruby gave Yang a pat on the shoulder while they headed to the door. Before she got there Professor Goodwitch called. "Miss Rose, could you come over here for a moment?"

Ruby looked to her teammates and shrugged. "I'll see you next class."

She jumped down to the arena as the Professor was cleaning up. "Hello ma'am. What did you want to see me for?"

"Doctor Oobleck and I noticed how much time you spent in the engineering lab during the past few weeks and wanted to ask you about your project." She was completely unreadable.

"Oh, umm," Ruby blushed and looked away, "I'm really sorry about how much stock I ruined. I've never worked with some of those materials before so it took a couple of tries to get the channels right."

"The Orichalcum stock?" Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to worry about that. We have enough for some experimentation. We wanted to know more about what you were trying to make."

"Ahh, well." Ruby pulled a specification sheet up on her scroll. "Weiss showed me some of the work that went into Myrtenaster and I thought that I could use some of that design to make Crescent Rose's shots more powerful. I haven't managed to get them drawn to the right length yet, but I think the theory is solid."

"You're trying to replicate cutting edge development from the SDC engineers?"

"I think it was the STC that did this one." Ruby checked the schematics again. "Yeah, Schnee Technology Company. Right there." She pointed to the signature block on her scroll.

Professor Goodwitch brought her hand to her chin and looked at Ruby while she thought. Ruby tried to keep a straight face. She could feel the pressure again, but had no idea what it was about this time. Just like it normally was with Blake and Weiss.

"There's a project that Doctor Oobleck is working in a similar field," She said while breaking her gaze. "He's been looking for an assistant who can keep up with him and I think you may be a perfect fit."

She already had Ruby's interest, but what she said next cinched it, "There are also more advanced machining tools available in his lab that I'm sure he would be happy to let you use."

"Really!" Ruby was shaking with excitement. "I-I don't know how to, but I would be… Should I go and ask him now?"

Professor Goodwitch smiled. "Don't worry. I'll let him know you're interested. He'll get in touch with you about when to stop by."

"Thank you so much!" Ruby didn't hug her professor, but she really wanted to.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Wow. Fuck off.

Click to shrink...

official staff communication Calm the hell down.

I don't understand why it is that people in fanfiction threads get so angry so quickly. Try to just enjoy yourselves and the story you're reading.

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 2.2

~~~​

Ruby found all of her friends milling around outside of the classroom. Yang and Ren were at the center of a small crowd while everyone else waited a bit further away. Yang seemed way happier to be in there. She was giving random people high fives while Ren just sort of stood there.

Ruby stepped up next to Weiss and Blake, who were reading by themselves, again.

"What was that about?" Weiss said without glancing up from her scroll.

"Professor Goodwitch wanted to tell me about a research project that Professor Oobleck's working on that sounds super cool." Ruby bounced up to her with a giant smile.

Weiss looked at Ruby in disbelief for a moment. She raised her hand to her mouth and laughed into it. "That's what it takes to get you interested in learning? Heh, you dork."

"What will you be working on?" Pyrrha asked her. At the same time, Yang gave someone a fist bump goodbye and started pushing out of the crowd, dragging Ren behind her.

Ruby hissed and looked away from Weiss. "Orichalcum dust channels."

"I never should've given you that schematic." Weiss shook her head. "You stay in the lab for hours every night and have to rush your other work because of it."

"I'm so close though. Besides writing papers is boring." Ruby groaned and got an eye roll out of Weiss.

"What do you think doing research is going to be? It's all writing papers."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Bleh…" Ruby stuck out her tongue and rolled her head to the side like she was going to be sick. "At least I'll be able to use better tools, I guess."

After Yang and Ren to got back to them, she asked, "So, now that everyone's here… Lunch?"

Team JNPR and Blake all agreed, with a hefty "woo" from Nora.

"Sorry, I need to send a long message to my family." Weiss pointed out the window to the giant central tower on campus. She didn't sound pleased about this.

"And I've gotta wax Bumblebee." Yang gave them a thumbs up. Her motorcycle always needed some minor repair work because of how hard she rode it. Though, it was a little weird that she'd need to do that right now. But, that wasn't really Ruby's problem. Her grumbling stomach was way more important.

"Alright, see you later." Ruby waved goodbye and headed to the cafeteria.

Several minutes later, they'd taken over their table again.

Whenever the eight of them had the same lunch period, they'd always grab the exactly same spot. It was nice and sunny, with a great view of the courtyard. It was also really close to the dessert bar.

Ruby devoured her burger before starting on the much taller stack of cookies. Everyone else had something vaguely healthy. Without Yang and Weiss there, their table was a little lacking in meat for her to swipe, but she didn't really care all that much.

"So Ruby, right? Leader of team RWBY?" Jaune leaned over while Ruby was in mid bite. She nodded slowly, wondering what this was about. Was he gonna hit on her again? He almost always did that when he forgot her, but they were just in class! He shouldn't have had enough time to forget!

"What's your guys secret?"

Ruby gasped and started coughing as she inhaled cookie crumbs. After hitting herself in the chest a couple of times, she was able to speak. "Wha-What? Secret?"

"You know, how all of you guys have your Semblances." Jaune leaned away from her and brushed the cookie bits off of his arms. "Jeez, what did you think I meant?"

"Sorry, sorry." Ruby coughed a couple more times and took some quick breaths. "Ok, umm, I mean... I don't know."

She'd gotten everyone's attention, except for Blake and Pyrrha.

"Yang discovered hers like a year ago. Weiss doesn't really talk about it much." Ruby shrugged and looked over to Blake.

"I discovered mine while training. It was nothing special." Blake shrugged and continued reading her book.

With all eyes back on her, Ruby grimaced. "Mine just sort of happened while I was fighting a bunch of Grimm. I went out into the woods one day and when I got, home dad couldn't remember me."

"That sucks." Jaune summed up her current feelings. Ren and Nora nodded as well. Yeah, it sucked, but what was she going to do about it? She couldn't control it at all.

"About the Grimm…" Pyrrha said quietly from the side of the table, almost making Ruby jump. Instead of talking, she'd been playing with her salad for most of lunch. "I was wondering what technique you used against the Deathstalker. I couldn't see you move clearly, but you hit it much harder than I would've expected."

That got Blake to look up too.

Ruby gulped. This was one of those questions that she hoped would never get asked because it would just lead to more questions that she really didn't want to talk about.

"Well, I learned from my Uncle Qrow. He's all about going fast and hitting hard." Ruby giggled nervously. What she said was technically true, but they weren't buying it. "I also designed Crescent Rose so I could pull stuff like that off and got a big boost in speed from Weiss."

As soon as she felt the pressure building, Ruby focused on the world. She looked at Pyrrha, Ren, and Blake. Three were always the hardest to convince of anything and each of them was still giving her a look. She mentally hummed a tune. That's all they needed to know.

They all smiled. Blake was still looking at her little weirdly, but it was her normal weird. Suspiciousness just seemed to be her default state, though being a living lie detector probably had something to do with that. Ruby wasn't sure how Blake always knew whenever she lied even slightly, but she could see the other girl's face twitch immediately after she did. It always happened, even when they were just playing cards and the lie didn't matter! What else could that twitch be?

"It certainly seems like your hard work paid off then." Pyrrha nodded and turned to Jaune. "Have you had any luck with your sword?"

"No. I don't even know what I'm doing wrong." He groaned and sunk into his seat. "It just keeps rejecting me."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out soon." Her arm moved towards him slightly, but she pulled back before he noticed.

After a long silence, Ruby spoke up. "So, umm, since we have so much to write; do you guys want to have a study party later?"

~~~​

Later that night, Ruby knocked on team JNRP's door. Ren opened it and peered outside.

She was there all by herself.

Her teammates each had an excuse for why they didn't need to come, even though they said they liked the idea when she first brought it up. Weiss and Blake were already done with their essays and Yang needed to give someone a ride on her motorcycle.

"Hey." She waved and held up her notebook. "You guys ready?"

Before he had the chance to say anything, Nora popped out from the side of the door.

"Ren, who's this?" She gave Ruby a squinty look before poking Ren's arm. Nora wiggled her fingers in Ruby's direction as she continued, "Is she your secret girlfriend?"

Ren sighed. "I don't have a secret girlfriend, Nora."

"Ohh." Nora looked at Ruby again, this time with much more intensity. "So do all of those other girls know about-"

"There are no other girls." Ren cut her off. " Everyone one of them was Ruby. You just keep forgetting about her."

"Hmm." She gave Ruby one last look before turning around and shrugging. "Ok then, if you say so."

Ren shook his head and stepped out of the way. "Sorry, she keeps coming up with different explanations for who you might be."

She walked in and waved to Jaune. He blinked a couple of times, opened his mouth, raised a finger, then closed it again. After a couple seconds on concentrating he finally responded, dropping his voice really deep again. "Hello there, I'm Jaune. Are you a friend of Ren's?"

Ruby sighed and got ready to give them the full explanation again. Nora was able to remember Ruby some of the time, but Jaune was hopeless. He usually needed very specific events and even then he got a lot wrong.

Ruby groaned and looked to Ren for help. "We need to figure out a better way to do this."

"Hi, again, I'm Ruby, leader of team RWBY. My Semblance is kinda weird. It…" She started the short explanation that had become her standard thanks to its effectiveness.

...

Five minutes later, Nora's eyes gleamed. "Ohhh, I remember now." She paused and suddenly stepped really close to Ruby, looking her right in the eyes. "You've told me the exact same thing before haven't you?"

"Yep." Ruby nodded and pulled out her scroll. She opened a file called 'How to explain your Semblance' and looked over it while Nora peered over her shoulder. "Blake wrote something for me to use since I have to do it so much."

"Woah, there's so much." Nora reached down to scroll through the wall of text and annotations.

It worked way better than anything Ruby had been able to come up with; even though she needed to reference her scroll a lot because of how detailed it was. She still wasn't sure why Blake added instructions like "mask your ashamed pride", "be hesitant, yet forceful", or "say with puppy-dog eyes" to it. But, she trusted that her teammate had a good reason for doing so.

"How long did this take?" Ren asked while looking over Nora's shoulder.

"A couple of hours, I think." Ruby tried to remember what else was going on then. Blake and Yang spent a lot of time outside of their room; so she had no idea what they were up to when they weren't in class. Ruby made a mental note to check on that later. Nora was still playing with her scroll so she couldn't just write one down.

"Ohh, this is good." Nora poked it a couple of times. "Really good. Actually, I think I might be able to remember you right away if you just let me read it next time. Well, minus the 'how to act' parts."

Ruby nodded, then turned to Jaune.

"I'm sorry. I still can't." Jaune sighed. "But that doesn't matter. If Ren and Nora are vouching for you, then I'll believe them."

"Thanks for trying." Ruby gave him a part on the shoulder. He looked like he needed it. "So now that that's done, let's get this study party going!"

"Right!" Jaune and Nora shouted at the same time, thrusting their arms into the air. Ren raised his slowly and smiled.

Ruby plopped down next to Jaune and pulled her notebook out. "Alright so, I've got Professor Oobleck's Mistral paper and Professor Port's Anathema paper to finish. How about you guys?"

"Pyrrha helped us with Oobleck's yesterday. You can read over mine." Jaune pulled out three pages of chicken scratch.

"Ohh, lucky. Weiss just gave us book recommendations for the Atlas one." Ruby giggled and sighed. Weiss's books were good, but they were also really boring. "Where is Pyrrha anyway?"

"She has a meeting with Professor Port, tonight." Ren said while he pulled a small, black book from his bag.

"Ohh, maybe he has some cool project for her."

"We could only be so lucky." Ren was staring at the book now. Nora had also joined him, her usual smile nowhere to be found. Jaune was as clueless as Ruby.

"So, Anathema then…" Ruby broke the silence and waited, but when no one else responded she continued. "Well, I don't really know that much about them. We're heroes, they're monsters, and we kill monsters. Simple really."

"Yeah, brutal monsters who bring the Grimm with them and want to kill everyone. Kinda like bad action movie villains, but real," Jaune nodded.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Ren said without looking up.

"What do you mean?" Ruby quirked her head to the side.

"They don't… they don't always seem like that." Nora waved a hand in the air. She snapped a couple of times, looking for the right word, but didn't continue talking.

"What I think Nora means is, they aren't obviously monsters or associated with the Grimm." Ren looked to Nora, who nodded.

"What do you mean? Everything I've seen always had them as these big hulking monstrosities." Jaune pulled a comic from the side of his bed. A man surrounded by a fiery silver glow was on the front cover. He looked equal parts man and Grimm with a half bone mask. He had a huge black sword that was pulling the Auras of the other characters to it. The arm holding it had biceps the size of his torso.

"Jaune, that-" Nora fell forward, laughing. Ren caught her and shook his head. "That's just a comic. It's not real."

Jaune chuckled awkwardly. Nora was giggling to herself for almost a minute before she sat back up.

Once she finished catching her breath, Ruby asked, "Ok, so how do you know that?"

Nora looked at Ren and bit her lip. Ruby felt the pressure and pushed a soothing song into it. Don't worry.

He took a slow breath, then nodded.

"Right. Ok, umm, so Ren and I... We kinda, sorta fought one." Nora laughed nervously.

"Woah." Ruby could barely believe it. An Anathema appearing was really, really rare.

Nora looked at Ren again and waited for him to say something. When he made no move to, she continued. "We lived in a small village outside of Vale. It was nice, quiet, kinda dull. Well, besides when the Grimm attacked anyway. Most people there made food of some sort. Those who didn't, either learned to fight or make things."

"Both of us were training with our Masters when it appeared." Ren took over. "A strange woman arrived at the walls one day. She came from the Grimm lands. From the places that only real Hunters go."

"She was tall, tan, and looked like she could beat us all the way to Vale and back. Her arms were like, the size of my legs." Nora tapped her thigh. "She said she'd was on a 'vision quest' and found a way to kill all of the Grimm."

"Who would believe her, I mean that would be ridiculous. Kill all of the Grimm at once? Peshaw." Nora was tapping her thigh more now. "But the way she said it, it just sounded right."

"It was like when you're young and your big brother or sister tells you something obviously wrong." Ren spoke softly. "And yet, you believe them anyway."

Jaune and Ruby both nodded. Yang had gotten her to do plenty of silly things back in the day.

"We didn't really have those, real siblings; we just called the older kids that." Nora continued. "Anyway, this woman, she sounded like that even when we were old enough to know better. And the adults in our village were just as bad. She came in and with a single speech gave everyone hope. Hope that one day we might be able to live without walls, without fearing the Grimm."

Ruby felt a sudden wave of worry, but pushed it down. "What happened next?"

"She took over the village almost overnight. Everyone loved her and we flourished while she was in charge. She was like a divine savior who came down from the heavens, just for us." Nora went quiet again. She grit her teeth and scrunched up her face before continuing, "She played off that too. After a month, she called for people to worship her. We should've realized something was wrong, but it felt so right."

"When the next Grimm attack came, we fought them off without any casualties. She led from the front and we fought as one." Ren chimed in again.

"Then the problems started." Nora shivered. "Everyone was so much better than they were before, and we didn't need as many people to keep everyone fed. So, she ordered more people to have their Auras unlocked. They all survived, but they were kinda weak. A couple of times their Auras broke during 'dodge the rock' training. I did throw them kinda hard, but they were just rocks!" Nora laughed lightly, before shaking her head and tossing a book at the wall.

It made a loud thump when it hit, and left a dent behind when it fell.

"Ren and I also started training more, training harder. I got a lot stronger, but each night I felt like I was dying inside; maybe I was. When we were with her, we felt like a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. She made us feel important, like we could do anything as long as we had her blessing."

If they practiced that much, maybe that was why they worked so well as a team in the initiation? Ren and Nora had moved like a well oiled machine. There was no way the song that Ruby played could do something like that.

"After the intensive training started, the village elders began meeting by themselves at night. None of us thought anything of it at the time." Ren commented, while Nora caught her breath.

After a moment, she continued. "A week later, she called the village leaders into a meeting in the town hall. The mayor, the priest, our Masters, even the librarian: everyone important went to it. We were told to wait outside." Both of them shuddered. "We couldn't hear what happened inside, but after several minutes she came out with a golden disk burning on her forehead. She said that they were all traitors to our cause and needed to be killed. She handed me my Master's hammer and told me that he would be first."

"Have you ever felt an overwhelming urge to do something that you know is wrong? An urge so strong that even thinking of ignoring it nauseates you. " Ren looked at them with steely eyes.

"Ren," Nora said with her voice flat, "Even when it was that bad, he managed to resist."

"To go against her was like a barbed blade piercing my heart, a betrayal of everything you knew and loved." He said, flinching at each word.

She looked to Ren and clenched her fist. Ren bent the book he'd been holding so hard that Ruby could hear the pages straining. Nora placed a hand on his wrist before he continued, "The others, our squad mates, our friends. They descended on our teachers like they were Grimm, beasts to be slaughtered. By the time I was able to move, the walls were painted with blood. Nora held back just long enough for me to grab her."

"I almost hammered him."

"She, the Anathema, was more angry than I'd ever seen a person be. She shouted that I had turned traitor as well. But this time, some of our friends managed to snap out of it."

"They screamed, they cried, they howled with rage. Some of them just killed their parents because that woman told them to. I channeled all of my anger into Magnhild and swung as hard as I could."

"Nora hit her with a blow that would've killed an Ursa outright. But she wasn't even fazed."

"The others, who weren't fighting each other, joined us in attacking her. We had, like, twenty on our side. By the end, there were only five left."

"We surrounded her and fought with all we had left. She got progressively brighter as the battle wore on, revealing just what she was to the world with that sick, golden aura." Ren practically spat his words and let the book fall to the ground. He took a deep breath before continuing, "In the end, Nora got a lucky shot in. Just after we all thought she was dead."

"She smashed me through a transformer. It exploded into lightning and, well, that's when I found out what my Semblance was. I felt stronger, faster, able to do anything! Only this time it was my own power making me feel that way." she said triumphantly, then paused for a moment.

Her smile fell before she spoke again. Her voice was softer. "I hit her in the back as she killed another of our friends."

She bowed her head briefly. "The next day a Huntress and her apprentices came by to investigate the lights. She said they'd been trying to track the woman down. The Huntress, she was kinda cold, detached from it all. The boy with her was exactly the same, but he hid it better."

Nora scowled. "She was one of those Hunters who didn't really care about people, who you can tell was just in it for the money. Killing an Anathema, that would've be enough to fix up our home… Not that we ever saw any of it."

Ren spoke next. "She stayed just long enough to confirm the kill; even though everyone knew the Grimm were coming and begged her to stay longer. They came with a Goliath that towered over the forest in front. It trumpeted and barreled through our walls like they weren't even there. Nora and I barely outran the swarm."

"I'm pretty sure that we're the only ones left." Nora gulped and closed her eyes. Ren moved closer to her and gave her a hug. She returned it in part, but she didn't cry. Instead, she clenched her fists so hard her knuckles were white.

After a long moment of silence, Jaune said, "I-I'm sorry. That, it's horrible and…"

"We know." Nora's voice was shaky. "It's just…" She looked at Ruby, then at Jaune, and ended with Ren. "It's not just calling the Grimm. They ruin lives and take your mind away from you. Almost dying was so much easier than disobeying."

Ruby felt cold. She'd heard about their horrible combat ability, but no one ever said anything about them being able to do this. To take away someone's ability to choose like that was vile, it was worse than anything else she could've imagined!

To hear how much it hurt her friends just made her so mad she didn't know what to do. She wanted to fight, to go out and stop things like that from ever happening again. But she couldn't just do that. She was only one girl.

"Ren, Nora." Ruby leaned forward and looked right at them. "If anything like this happens again, let me know. We, all of team RWBY, we'll do whatever we can to help."

 

[Graveless]

Miracles of Ancient Wonder

~

Chapter 2.3

~~~​

Doctor Oobleck, she needed to remember the right title, and Ruby stood in Beacon's central tower, waiting for the main elevator to arrive. It went from the ground floor all the way up to Professor Ozpin's office at the top. She'd been up almost all of the way a few times to send messages to her dad. For some reason, he was able to keep her messages in mind more than her face. So they were just emailing instead of video chatting.

"So, Prof- Doctor Oobleck. Where's the lab we're going to?" Ruby asked while paging through the advanced engineering book he'd given her.

"We're going down, Ruby. Deep into the depths of Beacon's foundation where we contain technology and items that need to be protected. Also items that people need to be protected from. While we are there you will see many other doors and labs. Don't open any of them unless I, or another Professor, is there to accompany you."

The elevator opened with a soft ping. They stepped in and he waved a badge near the console. Every floor above them appeared along with eighteen basement levels. Ruby whistled when she saw the number.

"Impressive isn't it. A true marvel of ancient architectural prowess. Our modern construction companies still struggle to build as resilient a structure. Though, few of them have as much money as Beacon's original architects did." Doctor Oobleck pulled up a picture of an old painting on his scroll and showed it to her.

It was Beacon, kinda. The buildings were rougher and all of the people standing around were soldiers. Their armor and weapons were plain, white steel. They had no adornments or heraldry, nothing that could be used to tell them apart. If they didn't have different heights or widths, she might've mistaken them for being clones of the same person. Which would be appropriate for Colorless era knights.

"While the Academy was founded only eighty years ago, the buildings and foundation are far, far older. The surface structures were originally known as the Royal Alabaster Bastion. An impregnable fortress that the Kings and Queens of Vale would retreat to in times of war." He paused to take a sip of coffee. "It also served as the training ground of their greatest warriors, the White Knights. A savage order that beat any trace of individuality and feeling from its members in order to improve their ability to operate in lands claimed by the Grimm."

He continued with a slight shiver in his voice, "They would be locked in subterranean cells with a Beowolf just out of reach. There they would remain until they either lost the capacity to feel any emotion that would attract the Grimm… or went mad. Of course, that was just the first ordeal that they went through. Those poor men and women were tortured until they could persevere through anything without a single ounce of feeling, their souls bleached as white as their armor."

Ruby shuddered at the thought of being in a place like that. She'd learned about what Vale was like in that time in broad strokes: restrictions on what people could wear, lack of art or music, and devastating wars between the kingdoms. They went over the effects of the wars on the people, but never how the soldiers who fought in them were trained.

"After the Great War, the Bastion was repurposed into the academy that you now attend. A beacon for the world to see and emulate. It was a powerful symbol for the new era, showing that such an evil place could be redeemed and used to help everyone."

The elevator stopped and they stepped out to a hallway lit by the Dust circuits running along the walls. The circuits traced complex patterns over every surface. Some ended when they reached one of the doors and others just continued until they rounded a corner.

Ruby took a deep breath as she listened to the symphony of the machinery. While the circuits looked rather chaotic to the eye, she could hear how they fused together into a complex melody that echoed through the hall. It was all spiraling into something much further beneath them.

"This floor is used for advanced research and development. There are a number of technologies that either require a powerful Aura to use or need to be modified in order to be used by people possessing sufficient strength of the soul. However, what we will be working on is not one of those technologies." He said as they walked. They passed a number of doors, each of which had a very generic name, usually nothing more than a number. Eventually they stopped in front of room 712, the Advanced Materials Lab.

"Ooh," Ruby cooed as the doors slid open and most of the lights flickered on. There were so many nice machines here and even more components that she was dying to take a look at. Everything was scattered around the lab in a haphazard manner, organized for someone who could quickly get from one side of the room to the other in the blink of an eye. Luckily, Ruby could do that too.

Doctor Oobleck led her to the very back, where a small crucible-like-thing was sitting on a table. Next to it was a rotor made of Orichalcum and Moonsilver!

Ruby glanced around at the other pieces lying nearby and looked at what they were made of. All of the precious metal here boggled her mind.

If she was right, there was a full suit of armor whose plates were pure Orichalcum with flexible underarmor of pure Moonsilver! There were also wires and connectors sticking out of the sides made of metals she'd never, ever seen before! She could even make out incredibly small gears, again made of Orichalcum, built into the joints.

"I, bluh, agagaba." Ruby made random noises and waved at the table that was casually holding more incredible metal than all of Signal's labs combined.

"Ahh yes, the armor. Theoretically, very impressive, but I wouldn't bother with that if I were you. Until we get this improved Dust furnace operational, it's just a very expensive paperweight." He picked up one of the gauntlets and casually dropped it. "It was given to Professor Ozpin many years ago in hopes that he might be able to make use of it. Unfortunately, even his Aura wasn't powerful enough to make that monstrosity move without damaging itself."

Ruby knew that problem all too well. Structural integrity was the hardest part of Crescent Rose's design and she had to scrap most of her initial attempts because of it. She had to choose between being able to wield her weapon or it having a sturdy design. She picked the first for obvious reasons; if something was too heavy to pick up, then it wasn't a useful weapon. But because of that, her scythe wouldn't last through a single fight without her Aura protecting the internal components from damage.

Orichalcum and Moonsilver were amazingly potent, but you also needed a very powerful Aura to use them. The thought of trying to infuse an entire suit of armor made out of nothing but them made her shudder. She'd have barely any Aura left to take hits or use her Semblance if she did that.

Well, maybe if she did the glowy thing she might be able to do it, but that only happened when she pushed herself too hard and glowing all of the time would suck.

"I have no idea how General Ironwood got a hold it. But, he said that if we can figure out a way to make it work, then the armor was ours. Of course, since he couldn't provide us with any schematics or knowledge of which company built it, reproduction will be next to impossible without sending it back to Atlas." Doctor Oobleck sighed and shook his head. "It's most likely a proof of concept from one of their defense firms. Designed to get the military interested in purchasing hundreds for specialists. If a lesser version of this armor could be constructed, it would revolutionize the capabilities of the average Hunters. But the project was likely scrapped once they realized the costs involved. So Instead, we have a demonstration of incredible technical prowess that is utterly unusable."

He tipped his head back, draining his mug in one go.

"In any event, what I need you to do right now is perform a large number of tests on our current furnace model and record the results. There are a large number of different nozzle sizes and Dust ratios that all need to be checked against."

A long, mostly empty, spreadsheet appeared on the wall in front of Ruby. She barely resisted groaning. Weiss was right! It was all boring paperwork! She looked up at Doctor Oobleck with dazed, pleading eyes.

"But, all of these tests will take a long time to perform, leaving us…" He flicked a switch and the lights near the big machines turned on. Ruby's eyes immediately brightened at the sight of all of them. "With ample opportunity for other research. Of course, if you come up with any ideas for modifications or improvements to the furnace, let me know as soon as you have them."

"And now, we will begin!" He shouted and raised his mug above his head.

"But first, we need to re-build some components that the last tests melted." He dashed over to the side of one of the bigger machines, narrowly avoiding hitting some tools dangling from the ceiling with his hair. "Tell me Ruby. Have you ever used a lightning lathe before?"

~~~​

Later that night, Ruby was laying on her bed and staring blankly at her text books. She spent way more time with Doctor Oobleck than she expected and had a lot of homework to catch up on.

Each member of team RWBY had some and they were all working on it. Well, Ruby was supposed to be, but she was paying more attention to the sounds of all of the machinery around them. She knew there was something wrong with the furnace, but couldn't put her finger on what it was. The Dust wasn't being burned smoothly and the pockets of imbalance were causing the turbine to spin out of control.

Of course, explaining how she knew that when they hadn't finished going over any of the numbers wouldn't be possible. She didn't know how to fix it either, so she couldn't just happen upon the right configuration. Research was hard.

"Grrr, why are you so incompetent? You can't even catch one man?!" Weiss growled loudly enough that it snapped Ruby out of her thoughts.

She leaned over the side of their bunk bed so she could look at her partner. Weiss was in her nightgown with her scroll in hand and two textbooks in front of her. She was gripping her scroll hard enough that it was shaking.

"Weiss are you ok?" Ruby asked after clicking her music off.

"No, I'm not. I finally figured out why the price of Dust has gone up so much!" She scrolled up and turned her screen to Ruby.

"'Aerial Criminals Abscond with Additional Dust.'" Ruby read the article's title out loud. There was a picture of a shop with a broken window and a small bulkhead flying away. A smaller picture showed a red headed man wearing a bowler hat and suit, but Weiss pulled her scroll away before Ruby could read any more.

"Ok, so some guy in Vale's stealing a bunch of Dust. Why are you mad? Wouldn't that be good for your dad's company?"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes, it brings in more money. But this isn't a good way for that to happen. He isn't just stealing high grade dust, he's stealing all of it: sand, crystals, even completely unrefined pebbles! There's no use for most of it outside of creating explosives."

"Uhh." Ruby raised a finger in hopes of getting a word in, but Weiss continued ranting without looking at her.

"Dust prices are up and it's 'good' for the Schnee Dust Company. However, this artificial demand only exists because Dust is being removed from the market by criminals! It still exists, we just have no idea what they plan to do with it."

"Weiss I-" Ruby tried to interject as Blake and Yang turned towards them.

"Meanwhile the White Fang have also been increasing their attacks. Disrupting shipments, destroying factories, and assaulting mines. So we also have Anathema worshiping savages stealing everything they can get their grimy paws on! They should just go the whole way and call themselves the Silver Fang considering how much damage they do to society." Weiss was shouting by the end of that. Yang flinched at her final words. Blake just stared at her, mouth hanging open.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Weiss said in disbelief.

"Do you know anything about the White Fang besides propaganda?" Blake said slowly.

Weiss locked eyes with her and spoke quickly, as if she was reciting a list of facts from a text book. "They were a supposedly peaceful, Atlesian Faunus rights group that turned violent when the world didn't change fast enough for them. The violence quickly escalated from civil disobedience and resisting arrest to terrorism and assassination. They now operate in Atlas, Vale, and Mistral, with a larger membership than ever before due to strong-arming any Faunus they can into joining. And killing any who try to leave."

One of Blake's eyes was twitching a little bit. Her bow also moved forward and turned out, which was weird, but Ruby had gotten used to it doing that. Maybe it was in response to Blake's aura? Both her and Weiss were using theirs, for some reason. Each of them pushed against the air, sending waves of intense sound blasting across the room.

"Thus marking them the greatest barrier to the Faunus being treated better because no one wants to allow a rabid beast to live next to them. All the general public see is the White Fang committing atrocity after atrocity. Of course, all of that ignores their status as the most dangerous and destructive Anathema cult in recorded history." She practically spat her words. "Did I miss anything?"

Ruby gulped and glanced over to Blake. She didn't really know anything about the White Fang and from her sister's shocked face, neither did Yang.

"For starters," Blake said as she glanced at one of her books, "They were a peaceful group that protested for decades. However, they were met with nothing except for attacks. After years of weathering these blows, they started fighting back and protecting themselves. It obviously got out of hand, but they hardly need to force people to join. You're delusional if you think a chance to fight back against their oppressors isn't attractive to many Faunus. A chance to make a real change, instead of waiting for empty promises that will never be fulfilled. And rabid beasts? That's what you call people fighting for their lives with the only power they have?"

"So they can attract young fools who are willing to throw their lives away for nothing, so what? Any White Fang member would be better served by trying to join the police force or a combat school. And yes, I will call them what they are, beasts. They are a menace who've undoubtedly caused more Faunus to die from Grimm attacks than they'll ever save." Weiss paused. "Also, you haven't even touched on their worst choices as a political entity. You know, the part where they dress like Grimm and worship man-eating demons, literally taking on the appearance of humanity's greatest threats."

"If you'd read about where that came from, you'd know it was done because they were already being called Grimmspawn and Anathema worshipers. 'If you would treat me as the devil, then I will give you something to fear.' Humanity forced them to become monsters, they just decided to dress the part. The 'worship' is just done ironically."

Ruby hissed slightly, but neither one noticed. After what Ren and Nora went through, she couldn't trust something like that. Maybe Blake was right, but… just no.

"That still doesn't make it, in any way, a good idea. It just gives other Faunus a bad name and keeps real progress from being made."

"Really, real progress." Blake said deadpan. "Like what? Actually being paid for their labor?"

"The SDC pays them! We even gave them a twenty percent raise last quarter."

"Yeah, a raise in Schnee scrip."

"It's more efficient!"

Blake gave Weiss a look of disbelief again. After a moment, the heiress turned away in a huff.

Ruby took the pause to look at Yang. She opened her mouth and gestured from Weiss to Blake. Yang shrugged and shook her head. She mouthed "I have no idea." back.

Weiss knowing a bunch of this made sense, since her dad's company employed a lot of Faunus. Now that Ruby knew which sites to check, she found a lot of really bad news written about how it treated them until about four months ago. Today, everyone wanted to know why they were suddenly giving out raises when they hadn't for nearly a decade.

She didn't know why Blake cared so much. No one at Signal was ever this intense, even the Faunus students. Ruby wondered, Could Blake be... No, she doesn't have any animal traits. Unless...

Ruby kept a close watch on Blake's bow. It twitched in time with her Aura again. Nah, couldn't be.

Weiss looked at Blake and took a deep breath. "By handling all transactions internally, the SDC is able to let its workers benefit from a lack of payroll taxes and the improved economy of scale that the SDC can use to purchase necessary goods from other vendors. Because of this, they're effectively making almost half again as much as they would be if they were being paid directly in lien."

"Because you know so much more about what they need."

"Well they certainly don't know how to shop intelligently! They spend so much of their money of beer and junk food that they can't save anything."

"They buy those as an escape from their miserable situation. They're slaves in everything but name!"

"No they're not!"

"Then how much does it cost for them to leave the mines?"

"I-" Weiss flinched back and grabbed her scroll. She pulled open a huge spreadsheet and scrolled through the figures. After a few minutes she finally spoke again, most of the anger gone from her voice. "It costs approximately three months' worth of labor for a ticket after factoring in cost of living expenses. If they buy luxuries at the average rate, then this increases to eleven months."

She took a deep breath before she continued. "Assuming they want the equivalent of three months' rent according to low-income housing prices in Atlas and to have luxuries while they work, then it becomes two and a half years."

For a long moment they waited. Ruby could still hear the reverberations of their clash echoing through the room in waves. Louder, softer, then louder again. They reached a peak in the center of the room.

"And if they have a family…" Blake barely spoke, but her words shattered what remained of the argument. It flowed away.

Weiss was blankly staring at her scroll now, at the numbers that determined how much a life under the SDC was worth. "The new Faunus foreman didn't have any complaints about their pay. He was excited for the raises."

"A Faunus foreman. How many mines are there?"

"...It takes time to change things."

The tension was gone. They all turned back to their work.

But no one could focus for the rest of the night.