In the middle of the night at Beacon Academy, Ironwood looked out from the landing docks to the city of Vale, a few airships hovering over the lit-up buildings.

Glynda: "Trouble sleeping?" She asked. Ironwood looked back to see her walking up to him.

Ironwood: "Arm was acting up." He brushed off, gripping his shoulder with other hand.

Glynda: "Of course, so logically, you got out of bed, dressed yourself completely and decided to gaze menacingly out into the distance." She pointed out, sarcasm in her voice as she approached all the way to his side, then looked at him concerned. "What's wrong?"

Ironwood: "I've trusted him for years. We both have." He replied. "I just... I can't help but feel like he's keeping us in the dark."

Glynda: "Don't be ridiculous!" She insisted. "You know very well that we are not the ones in the dark."

Ironwood: "That makes it worse!" He stated, laughing humorously. "I refuse to believe that a man that I've trusted for so long would act so... passively."

Glynda: "You're a good person, James." She comforted him gently, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest. It's admirable. But it's high time you stopped talking about trust and started showing it." She dropped her hand as they stare into the distance together. "Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack. And I think that's something worth remembering."

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Back at Mountain Glenn, the full moon shined over the ruined city. Ruby is watching a lone Beowolf through the red crosshair scope of her sniper scythe. The Beowolf looked at her for a moment before it turned and goes on its merry way. Ruby lowered her weapon and sighed in tiredness as she keeps lookout over the destruction.

Meanwhile, the three girls and (YN) sleep around the campfire with their weapons near by while Dr. Oobleck is higher up, slumped down against the wall next to the hole in the ceiling. The four members have their eyes closed, and after moment later, Yang opened her eyes.

Yang: "Blake, are you awake?" She asked Blake.

Blake: "Yeah." She replied without opening her eyes.

Yang: "Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress?" She inquired, referring to Oobleck. "Like, what was he trying to say?"

Blake: "Maybe he was just curious." She suggested.

Yang: "You think?" She asked again, rolling over on her side and sitting up slightly to face her.

Blake: "No." She replied, opening her eyes. Yang then let out a sigh before she turned to (YN).

Yang: "(YN), are you awake?" She asked (YN).

(YN): "Yeah, I'm awake." He responded, opening his eyes, then sat up.

Yang: "Did he ask you why you became a Huntsman?" She asked.

(YN): "No, he didn't." He answered, slightly shaking his head. "And I think it was the same reason he didn't ask Ruby either."

Blake: "Why do you think that?" She inquired, rolling over to (YN).

(YN): "Well, ever since I was a kid, I've always dreamed about becoming a legendary Huntsman, just like my father. He told me told me about the duties of being a Huntsman, to serve and protect the people and help those in need. To be their light of hope. It inspired me to be like him." He expressed. "Even after his death, my mom trained me and had me travel around Remnant so that I could continue his legacy and make him proud. Becoming a Huntsman is everything I ever wanted to be since I was four, so naturally I accepted. It's the same with Ruby, she always dreamed about being a Huntress when she was little, and that's why I believe Oobleck didn't ask us, because he knew that me and Ruby wanted to become a Huntsman and Huntress, while you three didn't." Blake and Yang thought about his words.

Yang: "That makes sense..." She said before rolling back onto her back. "Weiss, you awake?"

Weiss: "Of course I'm awake! You three are talking." She exclaimed quietly, making Yang cringe for a second. "And I think he... When I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But, it's not what you think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a... moral gray area."

Blake: "That's putting it lightly." She remarked. Weiss sat up, glaring at her for a second.

Weiss: "Which is WHY I feel the need to make things right." She continued. "If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I REFUSE to let him be the end of it."

(YN): "That's very humble of you, Weiss." He complimented, placing his hand on Weiss' shoulder, and she turned to face him as he gives her a proud smile.

Blake: "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right." She admitted before rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. "I had a partner named Adam. More of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place." She could have sworn that the shadows from the fire were creating the emblem of her old partner. "But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be not perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew that Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy, what will I... how can I undo so many years of hate?" She asked herself.

(YN): "You don't have to run anymore." He comforted Blake.

Yang: "I'm sure you'd figure it out." She assured Blake, trying to comfort her. "You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake."

Blake: "But I am! I do it all the time!" She argued, ashamed. "When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my Semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!"

Yang: "At least you two have something that drives you." She lamented before rolling onto her stomach and facing Weiss and Blake. "I've just kinda of always, gone with the flow, y'know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for? I wanna be a Huntress, not really because I want to be a hero, but because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring. And that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that." She rolled onto her side and rests her head on her hand, and looked over to where Ruby was keeping watch with her weapon hanging outside the window, not hearing their conversation. "I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like (YN) said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today."

Weiss: "Well, she's still just a kid." She pointed out, while sitting up.

Blake: "She's only two years younger." She added, also sitting up. "We're ALL kids."

Yang: "Well, not anymore." She disagreed. "I mean, look where we are! In the middle of a warzone and armed to the teeth!"

Blake: "It's the life we chose." She added.

Weiss: "It's a JOB." She stated. "We all had this romanticized vision of being a Huntsman and Huntress in our heads! But at the end of the day, it's a job to protect the people! And whatever we want, will have to come second."

Meanwhile, none of the them noticed a small smile formed on an apparently-sleeping Oobleck's face as Weiss finished her statement.

(YN): "I think it's my time to take watch." He spoke up, and stand to his feet. "Goodnight, girls."

Weiss/Blake/Yang: "Goodnight, (YN)." They responded in unison.

(YN) waved as he walked off to the lookout point and sees Ruby sitting with Zwei in boredom. He makes his way over as she turned to see him.

Ruby: "Hey, (YN)." She greeted tiredly.

(YN): "Hey, Ruby." He greeted back, and took a seat next to her. "How's it been up here." He asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Ruby: "Boring!" She groaned. (YN) chuckled.

(YN): "Well, I'm here to take over, so you can go to bed now." He told her. Ruby let out a yawn, arms in the air for a moment.

Ruby: "Okay. Goodnight..." She murmured out before she leaned down and rested her head on his lap.

(YN): "Ruby, I meant..." He didn't get to finish his sentence as Ruby had already fallen asleep. He sighed and quietly chuckled, and looked out in the distance.

An hour had passed as (YN) continued watching over the campsite as Ruby was sleeping soundly on his lap. He checked his Scroll to see he still has ten minutes left of his duty and put it away. He looked at Ruby and smiled softly as he placed his left hand on her head and gently stroke her hair. This made her smile in her sleep. Then he heard footsteps from behind, and looked over his left shoulder to see Yang approaching him. It was her turn to take watch.

(YN): "Hey, Yang." He greeted quietly.

Yang: "Hey, (YN)." She greeted back. "I was wondering where Ruby was, and-" She stopped herself and saw Ruby sleeping on his lap. "Aww!" She cooed quietly, then giggled. "You two are so adorable together."

(YN): "Thanks, Yang." He thanked her for the compliment.

Yang: "Anyways, I'm here to take the shift." She said.

(YN): "Alright." He nodded, smiling softly. He carefully removed Ruby off his lap, trying not to wake her up, and gently picked up her bridal style. They waved goodbye as Yang started her shift.

(YN) brought Ruby back to her sleeping bag, placing her down gently. He stared at her sleeping face for a moment and smiled. He gently stroke her head and planted place a kiss on her forehead before going to his own sleeping bag and falling asleep.

Later on, the fire died down as it darkened the room. Zwei was sleeping next to Ruby when his left ear suddenly perked up as he wakes up, looking at something in the distance. This caused Ruby to wake up with a stir.

Ruby: "Huh?" She muttered groggily, looking to her left to see Zwei standing up. "Zwei, it's late, go back to bed." She groaned before letting out a tired yawn. All of the sudden, Zwei ran off, making her fully awake now. "Zwei! Zwei!" She called out quietly, reaching out to him, but failed.

As Zwei ran around the corner, Ruby got up and looked around make sure she doesn't wake up the others, or alert Yang. She then groaned and grabbed her weapon and went after Zwei, not noticing (YN) opening his eyes to see her leaving.

Ruby walked down the stairs and towards the abandoned building's entrance, where she looked out of the doorway just in case any Grimm were around.

Ruby: "Zwei! Zwei, where are you?" She called out softly, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to herself. "Zwei!" Suddenly, she saw something. "Huh?"

Literally right across the street from the building's entrance, Ruby saw Zwei marking his territory at one lamppost across the street in front of her. Seeing this, Ruby rolled her eyes.

Ruby: "Zwei, this is a wasteland!" She reminded Zwei as she walked forward to meet up with him. "You literally could have done that anywhere!"

(YN): "Ruby, what are you doing?" He asked, causing Ruby to turn to see him walking up to her.

Ruby: "Oh, sorry if I woke you up." She apologized. "Zwei just had to go to the bathroom." She turned around as Zwei walked up to her and happily barked while she picked him up.

???: "What was that?" Spoke a faint voice in the distance. That immediately put them on edge.

(YN): "Quick, hide!" He urged quietly as they cautiously walk back and hide around a corner of a building.

??? 2: "What was what?" Another voice spoke out.

They peak around and see two White Fang guards, armed with rifles, patrolling the area.

WF Guard 1: "I thought I heard a Beowolf or something." He remarked, referring to Zwei's bark.

WF Guard 2: "Hmph. Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base." He grunted as they walked away. "This place gives me the creeps."

The group waited for them to get further away before they decide to follow them. Ruby and (YN) tip-toed across the street with their weapons ready. They move from debris in the street to pillars and sides of old buildings as they continue to follow the guards, Zwei just simply followed them. After the two guards walk past one corner, Ruby began to follow but stopped and loses her balance as she flailed her arms in panic, only for (YN) to grab her and pull her back behind the building. While (YN) kneel behind her, Ruby picks up Zwei and puts his head out around the corner to watch the guards as they approach a ruined building with a pair of metal doors.

Ruby: "Did they go in yet?" She asked Zwei in a whisper. "One bark means yes."

Eventually, they hear what sounds like a door closing and Zwei then barked once. Ruby then puts him back on the ground.

Ruby: "Oh! This is it! This is it!" She exclaimed, whispering in joy.

(YN): "But, I don't understand. What could the White Fang be doing in a place like this?" He questioned confusingly.

Ruby: "I don't know, but we're gonna have to find out." She responded, and brought out a her Scroll and tried to call her teammates. However, the screen says "Low Signal". "Aw man! Come on, we gotta get the others!" She urged, picking up her weapon and they all leave to return to camp.

However, as they are walking onto the street, (YN)'s Semblance was activated when he heard the asphalt beneath Ruby began to break and cave in.

(YN): "Ruby!" He yelled as he moved towards her.

Suddenly, the ground under Ruby's feet sank, and created a large hole. Zwei falls into the hole, but Ruby catches him while holding onto the ledge with her left arm. (YN) stabbed his sword to the ground and used his magic to create an energetic rope, and wrapped it around the handle and his left arm for leverage.

(YN): "Ruby, give me your hand!" He called to her, trying to reach for Ruby.

Ruby throws Zwei over him and he landed safely next to his sword, but then walked next to him, worried about Ruby. Ruby then attempted to pull herself up and tried to reach for his hand, but the ledge breaks off and she plummeted into the dark hole.

(YN): "Ruby!" He called out to her while Zwei barked at the hole. He stood back up and turned to Zwei. "Come on, Zwei!" He yanked his sword out of the ground. "We gotta tell the others!" He said urgently, and they raced back to camp.

|—————————|—————————|

Ruby finally crashed into the ground on her back. She sat up and rubbed her head a little. But when she looked around, she went wide-eyed.

She was in a huge cave filled with many ruined buildings that appears to be an underground city, and she is on a rooftop of a building up against a cavern wall. Before she could really process where she was, Ruby suddenly heard the sound of a nearby door bursting open. She quickly got back up to her feet and turned around to see two White Fang guards coming out of a bright room and aiming their rifles at her.

WF Guard 3: "Freeze!" He ordered.

WF Guard 4: "Where did she come from?" He questioned.

As the White Fang Guards walk forward, Ruby began to back away, only to end up on the very edge of the rooftop.

WF Guard 3: "You're a long way from home, little girl." He said menacingly as they drew closer.

Ruby reached back for her scythe, only to realize that she doesn't have it. Both guards approach her, and one of them grabbed her arm.

Ruby: "Hey! Hands off!" She snapped, jerking her arm out of the guard's hand and started punching him. It has very little effect, and he punched her in the face hard enough to knock her down.

WF Guard 3: "The boss is gonna want to see this one..." He spoke before he raised his foot up and kicked her in the head hard enough to knock her out.

|—————————|—————————|

Meanwhile, back at the campsite, Yang looked out of the window one last time before she went back in. For the most part, nothing had happened, just like with Ruby's shift earlier in the night. Stretching a little, Yang walked back into the center of the room.

Yang: "Hey, Weiss, it's your..." She trailed off when she noticed Ruby's bag is empty. "Ruby? Hey, where's Ruby?" She wondered where Ruby is before she noticed (YN) was gone too. "And where's (YN)?"

Oobleck: "What?" He asked from around the corner. Blake then gets up along with Weiss as they hear some knocking.

Suddenly, Zwei and (YN) came running through the door, with Zwei running to Yang barking.

Yang: "Zwei?" She keeled down to Zwei as he whimpered before she looked up at (YN). "(YN), where's Ruby?"

(YN): "We got a big problem!" He replied.

Blake: "What's going on?" She demanded as she stood up.

Oobleck: "Grab your weapons!" He ordered as they look at him. "Your leader may be in trouble."

(YN): "Follow me. I'll show you the way." He motioned them to follow him, and they ran out of the building.

|—————————|—————————|

Ruby is being dragged by her arms as she slowly wakes up, being taken through the underground city. She can see the members of the White Fang are at work all around her. She looked to her right to see one White Fang soldier directing another piloting a Atlesian Paladin as it picks up a large crate. Then she heard a loud sound nearby and looked to her left to see two other soldiers loading a large gray cylinder device with wires on the side onto the open freight car of a train. The two guards eventually stop walking.

Perry: "Hey, boss! We found something you might want to see!" He called out.

???: "Is it good or bad, Perry?" A familiar voice replied from inside the freight car. "Because let me tell ya, I have had a day!"

Perry: "Uh," He and his partner glanced at each other, then at Ruby, and then back at the familiar voice. "it's a little girl?" He replied as Ruby looked to see who he's talking to.

The person leaned out of the door of the train, and revealed himself to be Roman Torchwick, and saw Ruby.

Roman: "That would be bad." He remarked while taking out his cigar and throwing it to the ground.

|—————————|—————————|

Back at the surface, Oobleck and the rest of Team RWBY and follow (YN) and Zwei as they come to the hole in the street that Ruby went down in, and her weapon laying on the side of the hole.

Yang: "Ruby's scythe!" She exclaimed upon seeing the scythe and running towards it, picking it up and and folding up her scythe before looking down the hole with a worried look on her face.

Blake: "Oh no." She breathed, equally worried about Ruby as well. Weiss walked up to the edge and looked down the hole.

Weiss: "Do you think she fell?" She wondered.

Oobleck: "Fell?" He asked, slightly confused, dashing next to Weiss before looking up with his hands on his hips.

Weiss: "Down there." She replied, gesturing to the large hole in front of them.

(YN): "Yeah, she felled in that hole alright." He confirmed.

Oobleck: "Oh my." He muttered out, looking down at the hole before he turned around as a theory suddenly sprang into mind. "Of course! Of course, OF COURSE, OF COURSE!" He repeated, getting louder with each repeat.

Blake: "What is it?" She asked in concern.

Oobleck: "How could I be so stupid?!" He berated himself, walking behind them.

Yang: "Dr. Oobleck, what's wrong?" She asked this time, with worry as well.

Oobleck: "Mountain Glenn!" He exclaimed, suddenly ran up to Yang. "Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably by Creatures of Grimm!" He explained, bringing his hand to his chin in thought before dashing in front of Blake. "Previously home to thousands of people." He counted his fingers before dashing back to Yang. "Working people, commuting the city to the main city developed a subway system to the inner city." He quickly got in Weiss' face this time. "Grimm's attacks increase, population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter." He rushed up to (YN). "City evacuates into metro tunnels, and what do they FIND?!" He questioned, now standing in front of them before suddenly crouching down and pointed a finger at Zwei. "The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!" He answered his own question while Zwei simply licked his finger.

Yang: "Doc, what are you saying?" She asked, confused by Oobleck's explanation.

Oobleck: "My dear," He suddenly rushed up to Yang and grabbed her shoulders. "we're not just looking for an underground crime network, we're looking for an UNDERGROUND crime network!" He exclaimed.

Blake: "They've been working in caves?" She asked as Oobleck zoomed by her.

Oobleck: "No, no!" He quickly shook his head and hands. "Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation." He continued his explanation. "The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory to the main kingdom. Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start." Then they all walked closer to the hole while he turned to it. "And as the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival. They took up shelter BENEATH the city, in massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway, and they had cut themselves off from the surface."

Yang: "An underground village?" She asked, confused.

(YN): "Are you saying that they built an ACTUAL underground city?" He questioned, admittedly awestruck by the idea.

Oobleck: "In a matter of speaking, yes." He answered with a nod. "Uh, uh, a safe haven."

(YN): "No wonder we couldn't find anything, we were walking above them the whole time!" He noted.

Oobleck: "Precisely." He nodded. "Until... an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm." He continued, shaking his head. "After that... the kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels... creating the world's largest tomb." He finished sadly as everyone looked down into the hole. "If Ruby is down there..." They look at him while he takes out his thermos and extending it into a long staff, revealing it to be his weapon. "We must find her."

(YN): "Then let's get moving." He declared, and the group jumped down the hole to quickly find Ruby.

To Be Continued...