"Come then," Blake declared, staring the giant Grimm down with a burning, intense glare. "Give us your best shot, if you can!"

Her comrades around her contributed to the catgirl's attempt at intimidation by gripping tightly on their weapons, themselves glaring intensely at the Grimmfather. They all stood in a semi-circle around the creature, staring at it up through the treeline.

It dawned upon all of them then just how gargantuan in size this monster was; its legs towered over even the tallest oaks and maples within the Emerald Forest, resembling giant spindly spires of cracked and burnt bone. The plates of bone covering its body were all cracked and burned, with its chestplate blackened and with an unsightly crack in the centre from taking two blasts from the Iron Savior dead on. Its face was twisted with hatred and pain, its golden, piercing eyes returning their determined glare with its own, murderous gaze.

It didn't speak, instead emitting a low, guttural growl. The air was thick with tension in that very moment. Even the birds in the distance were silent.

Then, everything exploded.

The Grimmfather was the first to move, using its front legs to stab down upon Weiss and Ruby. The heiress slid out of the way and attempted to stab its leg, only for her blade to be turned by the tough bone plates; even while cracked, these plates were still as durable as the finest man-made armour. Ruby rolled aside, drawing Crescent Rose and firing it at the beast's eyes, her shots barely missing. It turned to her, growling and reaching down to swipe at her, but Yang tackled her out of the way, letting out a mighty yell as she slammed Ember Celica into the Grimm's massive claw. Claw clashed with gauntlet, and the brawler managed, either through sheer strength or sisterly love, to hold him there for a few seconds before casting his arm aside and leaping back to avoid another hit.

"Ggh! Don't you dare touch my sister, you big furball!" Yang roared defiantly, cocking her gauntlets. The Grimmfather responded by attempting to stomp down on her instead, only for Velvet to come in from the side, slamming her axe into the side and leaving a large crack in the bone plates. It let out a pained cry, swinging its leg to strike at the bunnygirl, throwing her aside into a tree.

"Augh!" Velvet cried, her Aura barely cushioning the blow. Vivi hopped onto the ground, grabbing her hand with her stubby arm, trying to pull her up.

"Pipiiipi!" The plushie warned, dusting her off as Velvet pulled herself up.
"Thanks…..that really hurt…."

The ancient Grimm glowered down upon them and attempted to stab down upon them, only to let out a mighty scream as black, cursed fire seared its back. Whirling around, it saw Professor Faust, her wand shimmering with her black Aura, her features having a resolute quality nobody had seen in the witch in a long time.

"You will not harm my students, creature of the shadow." Faust intoned in an authoritative tone, black flame flickering at the end of her wand.

Before the Grimm could retaliate, however, three grenades smashed into its side, forcing it to turn to face Nora, grinning at it, hanging off a tree branch while holding Magnhild in the other hand.

"Tag! You're it!" The berserker yelled happily. The Grimmfather swiped down upon her, only for her to swing across to another branch, firing again upon its outstretched arm. Ren took this opportunity to leap from behind the tree Nora had vacated, slamming an Aura-covered palm into its hand. A sickening crack filled the area as the gunslinger had broken one of the bone plates upon its body, followed by a pained, angered screech as it clutched the wounded limb, howling at him. Somersaulting backwards, Ren surveyed the result of his work, brushing himself off casually.

The bone plate on the Grimmfather's paw had been cracked halfway down, oozing some sort of black, viscous fluid that seemed to vaporise upon contact with the air. The Grimm glared at Ren with as much hate as it could muster, and he responded with an audacious smirk.

"Huh. Gods really do bleed." Ren quipped, before rolling aside to avoid a swipe from the unwounded paw.

"And mortals will bleed today!" The Grimmfather boomed, snarling. "All of you will bleed! And I will savour it!"

"That would be difficult, as we do not plan on bleeding today, good sir."

Winter's own quip surprised both ally and enemy as it turned around, only to take an explosive musket ball to the eye. It exploded, blinding it temporarily with smoke and shrapnel, and it clutched its eye, howling in anguish. Winter reloaded Frauenmantel, repositioning herself and frowning.

'That was not as impressive as I had hoped it would be.'

The ancient Grimm flailed around, knocking several trees aside in its frenzy, swiping at everything it could. Another projectile slammed into the middle of its snout, before being yanked out with the same force as it had gone in with, tearing out part of the bone mask that protected its face.

Pyrrha pulled back Milo with her Semblance, catching the spear expertly. She turned, nodding to Jaune.

"Ready?"
"Always. Boost me!" The knight ran up towards Pyrrha, jumping up onto Akouo. The spearmaiden yelled before pressing him upwards, throwing Jaune towards the Grimmfather's snout.

"Here goes NOTHING!" Jaune shouted, before planting Crocea Mors squarely onto the gap left by Pyrrha's throw.

The Grimmfather let out a crazed, frenzied snarl, swiping at its face, trying to dislodge the knight. Jaune yelped, attempting to dodge the swipes and failing, being hit by one and thrown back.

"WATCH OUT BELOW!" The knight cried, closing his eyes. Pyrrha could scarcely move before the knight flew into her, knocking both onto the ground.

"Ack!" The spearmaiden cried, looking down upon him. "Jaune? Are you alright?
"Pyrrha, I'd be asking you that question. I just piled into you like a lemming!"

Yang nodded to Blake. "I think it's your turn!"

The catgirl smirked, whipping out Gambol Shroud, beginning to twirl it in the air. "Let's do this."

Charging at the Grimmfather, she whirled her weapon into the familiar shape of a drill, her Aura catalysing into the familiar green associated with her signature finisher.

She flipped into the air, pointing the Aura-created drill into the gap.

"GIGA!" Blake roared defiantly, soaring through the air. "DRILL! BRE-"

The Grimmfather interrupted her by slamming her down with its closed fist, throwing her back towards the brawler.

"GAH!" The catgirl yelped, her Aura drill dissipating and her weapon losing its shape, as the brawler caught her, dusting her off.

"Blake! You're alright, right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded, as Ruby, Weiss and the rest rushed to her side. Thankfully, the leaves above were thick, and they could convene without threat of attack- at least for the present moment while it recovered from the pain of the blows it had already taken.

Weiss was the first to speak. "That blasted creature's shaken off everything we can throw at it! It's taken the ship's cannon, all of our attacks- even Blake's accursed manliness drill barely hurts it!"

"That thing's invincible!" Jaune complained. "How are we meant to kill it?"
Professor Faust thought carefully. "…we are in the Emerald Forest, correct?"

"Yes." Ren nodded. "Why?"
"I know this area of the forest well." The witch explained, pushing her glasses back over the bridge of her nose. "There is an underground river nearby, and the ground is not strong enough to hold up its weight or much of its attacks. If Miss Valkyrie can detonate her grenades on the ground, the ground will collapse and trap it until we can get assistance to seal it back out-"

Ruby suddenly perked up. She quickly factored in all the relevant variables, and suddenly-

'I got it! Of course, that makes sense.'
"No." The reaper shook her head. "We're not trapping it. We're finishing it."
The heiress stared at her, confused. "Not you too. First Blake, now you?"
"Trust me. I think I know how to kill the Grimmfather this time." The reaper explained. "Jaune, you're not too badly hurt, right?"
"Yeah. What d'you need me for?"
"Can you use your Semblance again? Not right now, but I'm just thinking. If you can, I think we can kill that thing."
"How might we vanquish it?" Winter tilted her head curiously. "Do you perhaps, intend to boost Miss Belladonna's Aura so she may spawn a larger drill?"
"No, but think about it." Ruby explained. "If his Semblance amplifies Aura, and Semblances are linked to Aura…..doesn't it then make sense he can amplify Semblances indirectly?"
"…I know what you're getting at." Weiss snapped her fingers, nodding. "Before we proceed, I'm going to say it. It's a stupid plan, probably going to get us all killed, with almost no chance of success.

…..so get to explaining."

Ruby giggled slightly, before nodding to the rest of her comrades. "Alright. Velvet, Vivi, I'll need you guys for this, too.

What I need you guys to do is listen up, got it?"

Minutes later….

The Grimmfather moved the trees above their spot aside, glaring down at them.

"Hide all you like, mortals, but I will consume your-" It paused, confused, blinking for a moment. Contrary to its expectation, the only person there was Nora, who had Magnhild slung over her shoulder, wagging her finger at it.

"You've been a baaaad dog. Bad dogs need to be punished!" Nora declared cheerily. The ancient Grimm glared at her.

"I-Insolence! Die where you stand!"

It attempted to swipe at the berserker, only for her to roll aside, shaking her head.

"Bad boy! Swiper, no swiping!" She declared, before running away, jumping up into the treeline. The Grimmfather snarled, irritated, before giving chase. It dragged its massive body across the forest, sending down its limbs with as much force as it could muster in the hope it could catch Nora with one stray strike. Nora, however, was far too nimble, dodging its attacks deftly, letting out a blissful giggle every time. Trees fell behind her, torn asunder by the movement of the giant beast, and some were split down the middle, sliced by the giant's limbs- and yet Nora was as cheerful as always, unshaken by the destruction following in her wake.

"Nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh, you can't catch me~!" Nora declared proudly, angering the creature further.

"Stay still, mortal! Stay still!" The Grimmfather roared, before it noticed what was ahead; a massive clearing, with no trees for her to hide under. It smirked, knowing its prey had nowhere to hide.

"No can do, sir!" The berserker responded, before realising the clearing was ahead. With a cheerful whoop, she leapt out of the trees, landing on her feet perfectly in the middle of the clearing, facing up at the giant Grimm.

She wagged her finger once more. "Now now, we're giving you one more chance to be a good boy! Maybe we'll give you some treats if you doooo~"

"Be silent!" The Grimmfather roared, before rearing up and attempting to stab down at her with its blade-like legs. Nora smirked.

"NOW!"

Its legs planted themselves in the ground. The Grimmfather snarled, looking around to see where its prey had gone, only to howl in even more pain when Velvet and Vivi slammed into its legs from opposite sides, axe and hammer in tandem, smashing at its legs.

"Crah! Die! DIE!" It tried to reach down at Velvet first, only for her to roll away and hack away at another of its legs, producing a loud crack. It let out a growl, trying to strike back with its wounded hand, only for Vivi to beat down on it with her mallet, injuring it even further.

"Why won't you all just die!?" The ancient Grimm roared, trying to flail at its assailants to try and stop the damage it was taking.

"Pipipipi!" Vivi announced, nodding to the bunnygirl, who replied with a nod of her own.

"You sure that's enough?"
"Pi!" The plushie nodded hastily, motioning to the cracked bone plates. Velvet clapped.

"Alright! She's ready! Let's get out of here!"

Both of them ran to the opposite ends of the clearing, leaving the Grimmfather trapped with its legs in the ground. It flailed around, trying to strike at whatever it could hit.

"Tch. I'll simply get out of here, you fools. Was this your plan, to trap me in here? This is just mud; I am far stronger than the earth you've trapped me with!" The ancient Grimm declared proudly.

Nora smirked. "No, but one out of three's good!"
"…..what?" Ren scratched his head, confused.

"You know? Gah, I'll get on with it already! Fine, Renny…."

The Grimmfather attempted to locate where the voices were coming from, before the ground beneath it literally exploded- to be precise, large explosions spouted from the ground around the clearing, throwing rock and earth into the air and rending the air with chaotic noise.

The Grimmfather attempted to rear up and pull its limbs from the ground, but it was too late. The ground beneath collapsed, casting the ancient Grimm into what was underneath, throwing it into the underground river underneath the clearing, with the boulders thrown up by the explosions smashing either into the river or onto the Grimmfather itself, causing it to howl in pain and throw its arms up to shield itself from the falling rocks. The ancient Grimm was drenched in the impact, covered in water and mud, and it looked up, looking for its opponents.

The rest of the Hunters gathered around the massive hole in the ground, looking down at their opponent, weapons drawn. Ruby looked around, preparing for the next part of her plan.

"Weiss!" The reaper called out. "GO!"
"Got it!" The heiress leaped down, sinking Myrtenaster into the water. From the point the blade made contact with the river, ice spread, trapping the Grimm's legs. It attempted to pull itself out, unable to escape the frozen grasp.

"What kind of devilry-?!" The Grimmfather roared, trying to swipe at Weiss with its palm- but having lost most of its dexterity from injury and having its legs frozen, the heiress easily slid underneath it with her glyphs, sheathing her blade.

Jaune sighed. "Here goes nothing! COME ON!"

Yelling, the knight attempted to invoke his Semblance. He felt his golden Aura flaring and golden tendrils reaching out to his comrades, leaving a golden tinge within their Auras. The knight looked down at his hands, unused to activating his Semblance, before drawing his sword and pointing it towards the Grimmfather.

"Let's get this done! Winter!"

"On it!" The lady nodded confidently, before pointing her hands at the Grimmfather, chilling the air around it. The ancient Grimm sensed the chill in the air, shivering, but scoffed.

"Is that all you have? Making me feel cold? Sons of man, is that all?!"

Normally, Winter's power was not as useful as one might expect in battle. It was far too weak to burn enemies or freeze them; indeed, it was far more useful to make enemies let go of her, or to shock them suddenly, distracting them by sudden sharp changes in temperature. However, with the boost from Jaune's Semblance, she could now freeze water- and with the large volume of water having seeped into the cracks in its bone plating, she could easily take advantage of that.

The water in the cracks froze completely, pushing the cracks open wider than they already were, weakening the already weak plates. The ancient Grimm howled, attempting to strike at Winter, but the lady managed to move aside, avoiding the attack, drawing Frauenmantel from her back and firing another explosive musket ball in its face, blinding him with the smoke and shrapnel.

"Insolent! How….HOW?!" The Grimm roared, swatting at its face and attempting to clear the smoke.

It roared even louder as boulders crashed down onto it, this time thrown by unnatural means. Pyrrha stood upon the frozen river, her magnified Semblance now capable of pulling even the traces of metal within the boulders above, and took advantage of it by crushing the creature with rocks. The Grimmfather roared, its eyes flitting between Winter, Weiss and Pyrrha, attempting to figure out which it wanted to die the most, doing its utmost best to lash out and failing.

Grenades and bullets pounded into the damaged plates as the others unoccupied with targeting the plates hailed as much fire into it as possible. Ren, meanwhile, dove down at it, palm outstretched towards it, a shield of Aura coursing around him, flaring jade and gold. Before the Grimm could move, the gunslinger slammed his palm into its body, sending a shockwave coursing through its body. Bones broke and innards ruptured, as the Grimmfather screeched, severely injured by the boosted strike, and Ren somersaulted into position next to Nora, whipping out StormFlower with a deft flourish, joining his comrades in firing at it.

"Grah! I will annihilate you! Rip you to shreds! DIE!" The Grimmfather hissed, attempting to move out of the ice, but it was no use; Weiss' ice Dust and Winter's Semblance had frozen the river rock solid. Suddenly, Yang surged forward, leaping up and slugging the creature dead on with her fists, clambering onto its snout and punching it repeatedly.

"I! HOPE! YOU! LIKE! KNUCKLE! SANDWICHES!" The brawler tauntingly remarked, punctuating each word with a punch. With each punch her Semblance gained more strength to throw back at the enemy, slowly turning her eyes red with power. The creature responded in kind by plucking Yang from its face, before punching her into the ice, cracking it underneath her and sending her sprawling.

"Yang!" Jaune cried out, before shaking his head and running towards the beast. "You're paying for that! Take this!"

He leapt up again, sinking Crocea Mors into the gap Pyrrha had left earlier on in his bone mask. This time, his Aura coursed into the Grimm's wound, rending it deeper than any normal sword could possibly do; the Grimmfather's anguish was made clear in a loud howl, as he attempted to swat Jaune away from him. The knight managed to retaliate with a slash at his paw, causing more of the black fluid to splatter out and evaporate almost instantly, before jumping off and landing next to Pyrrha, sinking his blade into the ice to stop himself from skidding too far.

"Is that it? Come-"

He was interrupted, of course, as Yang pulled herself up, wiping her mouth on the back of her gauntlet and smirking.

"No, but I'd be happy to show you how much more we've got!" The brawler roared back, before leaping up, gathering the ambient Aura all this throwing around of Semblances had left in one fist, glowing and pulsing gold.

"Torchlight…..BREAKER!" She roared, slamming her fist into the chest plate, causing cracks to start skittering throughout the structure, even managing to slightly move it out of the ice with the force of the blow. She twirled in the air, to reveal Weiss surging towards it, slashing past it and leaving deep gashes in the plate.

"My turn!" The heiress called, before flittering in and out of sight, each time striking at the plate and breaking it further, before finishing off by stabbing it in the centre, sending fire Dust pulsing through the middle and searing the Grimm. It swatted at its chest attempting to grab at her, but the heiress slid down, landing next to Blake.

"Belladonna, you're up!" The heiress called out, and the catgirl responded, twirling Gambol Shroud into the familiar drill shape.

"I've been waiting for this!" She called out, a massive drill of Aura forming and whirring as fast as the eye could see. Spinning towards the centre of the weakened plate, Blake let out a loud yell.

"THIS IS IT! FINAL! GIGA! DRILL! BREAK!"

Colliding straight with the incredibly weakened plate, the Aura Drill utterly shattered the plate, sending bone shards scattering everywhere, showering the cavern with fragments, before Blake flipped backwards, stabbing the scabbard of Gambol Shroud into the cavern wall to survey the damage.

The Grimmfather let out a mortally wounded howl, the black fluid pouring freely from parts of its chest, clutching it in agony.

"Y-you…..h-how….." It gasped out, choking out each word, looking at the Hunters not in contempt, but horror- horror at its impending defeat. "…..you can't possibly…..the blue-haired maiden….with the amulet….wasn't this strong….how could you….defeat me.….."
"Guess what." Ruby declared, unfolding Crescent Rose fully, pointing the blade towards it. "You underestimated us. And you're going to pay the price.

Petal Storm!"

The reaper surged forward, a cyclone of rose petals trailing behind her, faster than she'd ever run, firing impossible amounts of bullets at the creature, before, with one, final, titanic effort, Ruby thrust the blade of her scythe into the Grimmfather's chest, the speed of the blow driving it so far forward it protruded from its back.

The Grimmfather seized, as black fluid seeped from the final, lethal wound. Its eyes widened, blinking uncomprehendingly and looking down towards the scythe planted in its black heart. It reached up, attempting to pull at it, but could not marshal up the strength to, instead coughing up more of the black fluid, before letting out one, final, terrible cry to the skies, howling in agony, before its head lolled to the side and fell still, one last twitch coursing through its body, the last spark of life ebbing away from the ancient, terrible monster, last and worst of its kind that it was.

The carcass of the giant Grimm slowly, but surely, disintegrated, its giant body slowly fading into ashes, as Ruby landed on the ice, looking up and watching it fade away. Everyone breathed heavily, exhausted, their Auras fading away with the end of the fight.

For a moment, nobody spoke, whether it was too much exertion or not wanting to ruin the moment. Thankfully, however, the reaper, who had dealt the final blow, broke the silence.

"We…..we did it." Ruby declared, breathing heavily. "…..we beat one of the strongest and biggest Grimm we'd….ever met…."
Weiss rested herself on Myrtenaster, standing on one knee from the effort of the last few hours. "Indeed. Indeed we did."

"…that was way, way too close." Yang muttered. "One thing gone wrong, we were all goners."
"Tch. Since when did you care about things being risky?" The heiress remarked. "I always thought you were all about risk!"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Please. At least we killed that thing. We did it.

And now I've got to go figure out how I'm going to fix the Iron Savior. Seriously, he mashed my ship!"

"…you know what, guys?! That was fun! I'd totally do it again!" Nora mused. "Can we go Grimm hunting for big guys like him?"

"I don't think I- or Elf-sama- would be all that interested in writing another big fight like that after this one." Velvet remarked, resting herself on Grimmbane, rubbing Vivi's head softly.

Jaune exhaled. "…you know, guys, I've been wondering."
"Hm?" Pyrrha and Winter suddenly looked at him. "What?"

"…..how are we going to get home?" The knight remarked. "I mean, the ship's totalled, and it's a long way to Beacon from here…."
"Not to worry." Professor Faust nodded. "I can surely make a ritual circle-"
"Enough ritual circles, Professor!" Weiss rebuked her, frowning. "It's because of a ritual circle we got in this mess in the first place!"

"….a spell then, perhaps?"

Jaune lay down on the ice. "Anything. I just want to take a big, long nap already. Festival's tomorrow, guys, just in case you forgot."

"…good point." The heiress admitted, sighing. "I had also better get ready for myself and Ruby's date during that, too.

Fine. Professor, do the honors, but do take care not to throw us into the world of a sealed, angry Grimm next time, alright?"
"I believe we have heard enough of ancient Grimm for one day." Winter nodded in assent. "I, for one, will retreat to my dorm and have myself some tea."

Yang yawned. "I'm too tired to make perverted jokes about Weiss dating Rubes. Take it away, Professor!"

With that, the witch began preparing their way home, and the ashes of the fallen Grimmfather scattered away into the four winds, before vanishing entirely, leaving almost no trace of its existence at all.

The next day…..

"…..and it is with great joy that I announce the opening of Beacon's gates to the public. Let the Festival begin!" Ozpin announced, gesturing towards the gates of Beacon, as they were pushed open by two of the older students.

The final preparations had been made for the Harvest Festival; every single open lawn had a student- or staff-run stall, a massive tent had been set up on the grounds for a show with the Achieve Men, and banners and flags had been set up across the academy. Professor Amadeus and his music students had even come out for the occasion, playing a concert for the more culturally-minded visitors based on the Harvest Odes of famous Valean composers such as Apollonius and Eurydice Salieri.

"Man, there's tons of people here today!" Yang looked around as the visitors began piling through the gates, milling around the stalls.

Weiss nodded. "Indeed. I'm surprised by the turnout."

"Oh, oh! Dad sent a message!" Ruby chirped, holding up her scroll for her teammates to look at. Yang tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. "Hm? What's it say?"

"It says we may get a surprise today." The reaper dictated, before pausing. "Huh. What kind of surprise is he talking about?"

"Beats me." Yang shrugged. "Dad's pretty spontaneous like that."

Weiss frowned. "Judging from the fact your father has mine talking favourably about the time he ended up in jail for a night for doing antics, I wouldn't hold your breath."
"Ladies," Ozpin called out, drawing the attention of team RWBY. "May I have a moment?"

Ruby tilted her head. "Um, sure. Why?"

"I would like to speak to you about the events of yesterday." The headmaster explained, as team JNPR, Velvet and Winter edged up to them. "First things first.

For your actions in averting a potential disaster by slaying the Grimmfather, General Ironwood has moved to award you all with the Honor of Vale, the greatest award for Hunters, given for courage and valor displayed in the face of incomparable danger."

Everyone looked at him in shock. "WHAT?!"
Ozpin's expression did not change as he looked around at everyone, adjusting the collar of his shirt.

"That was a joke."

Weiss stared at him in confusion. "Professor! I thought you were serious!"

"Ahem." Glynda rather impatiently cleared her throat behind him. Ozpin frowned.

"Alright. What I was actually here for has to do with what happened yesterday, however." He started. "For your actions yesterday, the Academy Board has moved to award you all with the Light of Beacon, which is the greatest honor we can award to student Hunters. And yes, that is true."

The heiress sighed. "…it had better be."

"Weiss, do not be so rude." Winter cautioned her sister, frowning. "Is that all, Professor?"
"Not all, Miss Schnee." Ozpin continued. "Professor Faust would like to thank you for saving her from the Grimmfather, and would like to apologise for not being here in person to express her gratitude."
Jaune tilted his head. "Huh? Professor Faust's not here? Why?"
"Due to certain….emotional issues, Professor Faust has taken a leave of one month and will return when school resumes. However, she would like to especially thank Mister Arc and has provided him with use of her beloved pet shoggoths."

The knight blinked, confused. "…..tell her thanks? I…..don't even know what a shoggoth is."

"So long as you do not access her basement, she allows you use of her shoggoths." Ozpin clarified, before turning to the others. "As for the rest of you, she wishes you all a good time at the Festival, and as do I.

If you excuse me…."

The headmaster nodded to them, before walking off. Glynda stayed for a few seconds, frowning.

"….I believe he's said everything I've wanted to say." The instructor nodded, adjusting her glasses. "…..well done."

With that, Glynda walked off, leaving everyone to speak among themselves.

Ren rubbed his chin. "Huh. Shoggoths. I wonder what we could do with those."
"Ren, I don't even know what those are." The knight complained. "Can you not go crazy with the antics while we don't know what we're messing with? I mean, we've just gone through this with Professor Faust."

"I kid, I kid."

"Well. Guess there's nothing else to do except enjoy the festival." Yang shrugged, before grabbing Blake. "And you and I are hitting all the stalls!"
"Eh?!" The catgirl stared at her. "Where are we going?"
"To the pizza stall! I'm hungry!" The brawler announced, looking happier than one might expect at the prospect of spending time with Blake.

Jaune stretched his arms. "Well, uh…yeah. I might go check out the shows around here."
"I'll go with you." Pyrrha offered quickly. Winter nodded in agreement.

"As will I, Mister Jaune."

The spearmaiden glared briefly at the lady, who was blissfully oblivious. Jaune blinked.

"Huh? Pyrrha, something wrong?"
"…..nothing." She sighed. "Let's….just go."

The three walked off, followed swiftly by Nora, who was dragging Ren off to the very visible Pancake Land stall, squealing loudly.

"Pancakes! Pancakes!" Nora yelled. "Pancake time!"

That left, of course, Ruby and Weiss, who shrugged. The reaper smiled.

"So….anywhere you want to check out?"

"…..eh. I'm open to anything. We're going to end up going to some sort of cookie place halfway through anyway." Weiss remarked, smiling right back. Ruby pouted.

"Cookies are amazing! What's wrong with wanting cookies?"
"…..nothing." The heiress chuckled, giving her a little peck on the cheek. "Let's go.

…..and Velvet, quit stalking me like a pervert!"

The bunnygirl whimpered and stalked off, pouting. Vivi was sitting on her shoulder, shaking her head.

"Pipipipi."
"Come on! Even if I did say all that stuff, Weiss is still pretty! Can't a girl dream?"
"Pipiiiipi." Vivi rolled her eyes, before shrugging and pointing towards one of the stalls. "Pipipi!"
"You wanna go there? Alright."

The pair left, and Ruby sighed.

"You know, if you weren't so cute, maybe she wouldn't want to stalk you so much."
"B-be quiet." The heiress blushed profusely. "D-dunce. Just-"

"Oh my. You're not who I expected."

Ruby froze, before whirling around and looking behind her.

A tall woman was standing behind her, dressed up in a black shirt and trousers, with a dark green hood and cloak, lightly covering her holstered, folded weapon. Her hair was similar to Ruby's; it was a short black with scarlet tips, but with streaks of silver here and there. Her eyes were light silver, and if it weren't for the crows' feet at the corners of her eyes and her slightly grey hair, one could mistake her for being a woman twenty years her junior. A small smile graced her face, and her arms were crossed.

Though she seemed friendly now, she exuded an air of authority around her, befitting her years of battling the Grimm.

"…..Grandma!" Ruby hugged the lady who had shown up. Weiss looked at her, confused.

"Grandma?"
"Forgive me." The lady nodded, chuckling. "I apologise. I haven't seen my granddaughter in a few years, so I wasn't aware you were dating her.

My name is Demeter Rose, and I am, as you can see, Ruby's grandmother."

"O-oh!" The heiress was taken aback, before shaking her head. "I-I'm sorry! I must look so rude! I-"
"All is forgiven." Demeter chuckled, shaking her head. "You are exceedingly polite, Miss Schnee; yes, my son-in-law refuses to stop talking about the fact that his daughter fell for you, and you for her.

Ruby, you've grown up so much since I saw you last. You look almost like your mother."

"Thanks." The reaper smiled at her. "Hey, do you want to hang out with us for a bit and find Yang?"

"A family reunion." Demeter chuckled. "I'd like that very much.

I do apologise, Miss Schnee, if I'm disturbing your date with Ruby. I just….haven't been around here for a while, and I have other duties I must be attending to soon."

"Oh, no, no. Don't mind me! I'm happy to help! It's just a few minutes."

The veteran Huntress smiled. "Excellent. Ruby, lead the way."
"Alright, Grandma!" Ruby saluted her, before pushing through the crowd, leading Demeter and Weiss through it, searching for her sister.

And so the Festival went on, with much awkward moments, reunions and semi-romantic conversations.

A/N: Well, wasn't that a thing! It was indeed, wasn't it! Well, as you guys know, there's always got to be a special thanks section, and here we are!

-Firstly, a huge thanks to Resisting the Borg and Half-Blind Otaku for their contributions to the Reactsverse, helping me brainstorm ideas for Weiss Reacts and even taking the time to write Reactsverse fics! By the way, you guys should read Life Is What Happens To You, which is Borg's fic about the Reactsverse version of Adam, and The Diary of Glynda Goodwitch, Otaku's fic about everyone's favourite teacher, Glynda, as a teenager!

-Secondly, another huge thanks to The Layman and The Zombineer for basically always supporting and contributing excellent ideas to the fic! Go read their works, if you haven't already, they're quite good!

-Thirdly, a huge thanks to all my regular reviewers- of which there are far too many to count- for always chiming in with their opinions and suggestions! Without you, this fic wouldn't have made it where it is, and I hope you guys know you're all awesome!

-And last, but not least, the legion of unseen and anonymous reviewers, readers and the followers and favouriters, you guys are awesome, even if you don't say a thing! If you guys are reading this, you guys better know, I love you guys too!

Weiss Reacts Volume 3 will premier sometime this week, god willing, hoping my homework schedule isn't too brutal, and I hope to see you guys there!

And one last thing. The customary stinger!

Meanwhile…..

Cinder sighed, shutting the curtains to her office, glancing one last time over the festivities on the ground. The pyromancer was currently in a phone call with someone, and she looked concerned.

"Yes. Gretchen's out of town for the next month and for a few weeks while school's in." Cinder confirmed, sighing. "She was reminded of an old friend of hers….Johann Brecht, if the records state correctly. Her room….of course, yes, we'll need a guard on her basement.

A breach like seventeen years ago can't happen again, you know that. I know, I know, but….tch.

You know, this isn't what we're meant to do as the Antic Order. We're pranksters, not heroes and definitely not some sort of foundation devoted to containing the weird. I don't honestly know how we ended up in this mess with that thing, but I just hope we can figure out somewhere else to place that thing so we can just get it out of our hair."

Further chatting over the phone. The pyromancer sighed.

"You'll be taking measures to deal with it? Alright. I'll be around to help if you need me to.

Good day, Wizard Marshall. I'll see you, Reflet and the others at the meeting next month. All hail the shippers."

Cinder hung up, sitting back in her chair. She shook her head, sighing.

"...Good Dust.

Seventeen years gone and it's happening again. We're pranksters, not protectors of society...

Gretchen Faust, you really did leave our work cut out for us."

Fin