It was a struggle to get out of the forest they were in, get a clear enough pace for extraction to get them and get home safely. Ruby had to set Weiss' ankles properly on a shaky flight while they shake off flying grim that followed them. Yang and Blake did well as they kept the aircraft from crashing onto anything.

Hours later, Weiss was in the infirmary of the Schnee mansion with Ruby busy tending to her. Blake and Yang seem to be on edge as if more monsters would come out from the darkest shadows of the room.

"What was that?" Ruby inquired with the hope that anyone of them knew what happened back in that abandoned village.

Yang and Blake seemed as clueless and confused as she was. The blonde shook her head as she tried to figure things out and Blake seemed to be upset that she can't help with the current situation.

Weiss sat up from her bed and looked at all of them. "We all had the same bad feeling the moment we took that mission. Otherwise, why wouldn't you use your magic to finish the herd?" She pointed out, searching for facts in her teammates' eyes. They all seemed to agree with this statement.

"As I thought." Weiss was relieved that her friends confirmed they all had the same gut feel for the mission. "Glynda said it was from Oz. There is no way he'd send us through that mission unless there was at least an instructor looking after us. If the situation had been worse if Beacon broadcasted that fight amongst other students. They would have known what our magic could do if we chose to use them."

Ruby realized Weiss made a great point. if this was a mission that was monitored by the school, they'd have footage of the fights and it would be free information to their enemies. It was disturbing to think that if they all didn't realize what was happening, all of them would have revealed their identities to the world.

Yang looked up at all of them as she took a seat at one of the beds. "There's a rat in Beacon." She guessed.

Ruby couldn't agree more. "Let's see. If they can give us missions freely like that, they are high enough in the school staff, they have enough monopoly over the teachers, they know us personally and as far as I know, there are only a few teachers close to Ozpin." She mentioned. As the words came out her mouth, it hit her that even Ozpin has friends outside of the academy and if word gets out of their abilities to other headmasters in the whole world, nothing can escape their fate being targeted by other enemies, not just the ones they recently made in Vale.

"The mission was to either kill us all or find out what we are hiding when it comes to our powers." Weiss summarized. "It was rigged from that start."

They all knew she was right. Not enough amount of missions can get the four of them killed as fast as overwhelming them. Not just with Grimm but with other enemies like the White Fang.

"The faction of the White Fang that tried to kill us off in the village were not the good ones. They might have been under Adam or Cinder." Blake stepped in. "If they were there on a Beacon mission, the staff isn't safe of suspicion."

Weiss wanted to spell it out for them but how can they be sure? Ozpin was nowhere in Beacon when this happened. Was it him or someone else?

"For now, let's not let them know that we know. If the rat's inside Beacon and they know Cinder, it will eventually show. For now, let's try to get back to a new assignment. We have to pass at least one to get average marks." It horrified her to say that. Weiss wasn't one who was fine with average marks. She was a perfectionist but this 'mission' was enough trouble as it is. Taking two or three more will pose trouble.

Yang looked up at her. "Are you sure? You have yet to fix your ankles."

Weiss peeled off her blanket to look at her feet. Aside from the ridiculous amount of ice on it, she can move it fine thanks to Ruby's abilities to heal her. "I'm fine. A little jog and sleep will help me recover. For now, we'll have to pretend nothing odd happened."

Blake sat next to Weiss. "You're a tough person if you can pull this off. Here." She passed on pain killers and a glass of water for the white-haired heiress to take. Weiss gladly took it and drank, downing her water.

Blake took away the glass and cleaned up the infirmary a bit for the next time it will be used. Ruby gave Weiss a soft kiss on her forehead, a sign to show her relief and delight.

Yang was glad to see all of her friends fine but they had to handle this crisis before it comes back to behead them. She was thinking of a way to help with these mind games when they all heard a ring on Ruby's scroll.

The brunette took the call and placed it on the loudspeaker for everyone to hear. They all gathered around Weiss, sitting on the bed.

"Team RWBY? Are you alright?" It was Glynda. Weiss was already working on thinking around their predicament. What to say, how to say it and how can she get information from Glynda.

"Professor, we're sorry. We don't know what happened. We went to the area as you said but we had to run as soon as we landed." Ruby replied as she slipped her hand into Weiss' cold one.

"No matter. we can trace that you're all back in the city. What went wrong?" Odd. Weiss raised a brow and looked up at all of them. Glynda seemed to be keeping tabs on them. Them specifically. Weiss took her turn to talk this time.

"It seems like someone informed you wrong about the area, professor. The scout must have gotten the wrong place. It was a very hazardous area, Professor." Weiss pointed out, sounding so hurt and dejected. As if she was accusing Glynda of the fault itself. "Luckily, I'm the only one who got injured, the rest of us got away with bruises and cuts as you saw."

Yang and Ruby saw how effective Weiss was with playing her words. Blake was smiling in admiration of her skills.

"Yes. I'm quite glad to hear you got away almost unharmed from the hoards. For now, you and your team will have to report back here to Beacon to receive treatment as well as check your conditions." Glynda replied. Weiss was not surprised how the professor was still calm and coy but she can't underestimate this woman.

"Is Professor Ozpin available soon? We may need to talk to him." Yang brought up. There was a long pause on Glynda's side. "He'll be back from visiting Haven soon. I will be taking over his tasks for the moment."

Blake laid her head on Yang's lap as the call went on, her shadows playing on the walls of the infirmary. It seems like it was mad. Weiss noticed it at the corner of her eye and agreed with a silent nod and lift of her brows.

"I see...We'll be there as soon as we can." Ruby informed the professor and quickly ended the call. She looked around the room, searching for opinions as to what they should do for now.

"Let's go back to school. We'll have to check if our suspicions are true. If she has been in contact with Cinder and her goons int eh city, even her superiors, it's gonna show." Weiss suggested, slipping off the bed and getting on her feet. Ruby stayed close just in case she might end up falling but the girl was fine and leaping in the air through her glyphs in no time.

The rest of them got ready and headed upstairs. Weiss told them they all can get food in school since they're headed that way. After a quick shower and change, Weiss rejoined with the group in the lobby with her weapon. Odd enough, none of them looked as if they were battered from a fight.

Team RWBY made their way back to school and quickly went up to see Professor Goodwitch who was waiting in Ozpin's office. She gave them a quick glance before opening the listing boards for the remaining missions.

"I'm sorry that your first mission went south. I will be taking responsibility for--" Glynda said as she started sorting through the missions only to be interrupted by Ruby.

"Why was the White Fang in the area? Were we purposefully placed there to eliminate them together with the swarms upon swarms of Grimm that could have killed us?" Ruby was pissed. They could have gotten at least something nice for their first mission, something normal and easy to handle but they had to keep their guard up higher because of this.

"I don't know what you're saying, Miss Rose. I didn't see any of the White Fang--" Glynda said, her face just full of utter confusion.

Ruby grabbed the tablet from her, Weiss pointing her rapier down at the professor's throat at point-blank which seemed to petrify her. They had every right to fight her and frankly, Glynda should know that her chances are low if she did choose to fight them.

Ruby replayed the recording after searching through countless many in the feeds from the students. She showed theirs and clearly, the White Fang can be seen from when they all rendezvoused in the middle of town.

"You could have just told us you 'don't know' Glynda," Ruby mentioned, her eyes looking at the blonde professor. "Instead you just confirmed our suspicions."

Glynda raised her hands, looking up at the team with no emotions to show. She can't possibly show these children just how much she still had to do. After all, someone wanted them all dead. Ozpin can't control Ruby, much less all four of them. All she was waiting for was for them to make a grave mistake.

"Even if I do know that the White Fang was there, I still don't know why they were sent after you. Even if I am what you accuse, who are you going to tell it to? Ozpin?" Glynda asked.

"We don't need anyone else to protect us as if we are children. Ozpin owes us much for keeping him alive. If he was friends with Qrow, his sins are enough reason for us to kill him. Sealing my sister is just another one." Yang clearly didn't want anyone else to keep treating them like they were young and unwise. Glynda might see them as students but they can freely leave.

"Professor, I hope you give Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury our regards. We'll be taking other missions for the term. They can try to come for us but I hope you can deal with the fact that you might be a casualty if you do." Weiss threatened, putting her rapier back.

Blake appeared next to Glynda, smiling. "The only reason why we'll leave you for now is that Ozpin might wonder who killed you. We can't possibly give ourselves fault. After all, we want out licenses." She dangled the teacher's whip in front of the blonde which she grabbed, albeit alarmed to feel the girl behind her even if she was simply next to Weiss a second ago.

They all left turned around and made their way out of the office. This was enough for now. Maybe this was a bad move but Glynda will have second thoughts on moving according to orders of Cinder and her gang. She was warned not to make an enemy out of them but now, she seemed to be the next target to be eliminated from the vicinity. It was alarming but she had to stay rational.

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Wow. I haven't touched this one for a while. How are you all? You doing fine? Washing your hands? Drinking your water? I hope you all are okay. 

I do realize that this has been untouched for a long time but to those who have been reading this since the start and kept patiently waiting, thank you. 

I hope you all stay safe and I'm glad to be back writing this. 

See you all soon and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

With love,
Sapphy~