The massive sand-scape stretched endlessly in all directions, towering dunes cast cool shadows over steep valleys and sparse vegetation scattered the sprawling desert. Even from high in the air, the desert seemed boundless, like nothing Ruby had ever seen before as she stared listlessly out the window of the airship flying over Vacuo.

"Hey," Weiss' voice accompanied by her soft touch as her hand gently fell on top of Ruby's shook the leader from her daze. Turning from the window she looked at Weiss' smiling face. "We'll be landing soon."

"Yeah, then we have a short drive once we land to get to the mine." Ruby's eyes and even her tone seemed lifeless and lackluster, Weiss could only assume she was in significant pain. All she could do is hold her girlfriend's hand a little tighter and scoot a little closer, resting her head against Ruby's shoulder.

"That's right." Weiss closed her eyes, smiling softly as she felt her girlfriend's head come to rest on top of hers as Ruby turned her hand around, entwining her fingers with Weiss' before letting go a soft sigh of what sounded almost like contentment.

"Thanks for letting me come with you… I don't think I'd like to be at home alone while Blake and Yang are on their mission." Ruby whispered her admission, closing her eye. She could feel her girlfriend's steady, gently breathing slowly matching her own and she she felt Weiss shifting slightly beside her, she couldn't help but smile too.

"The miners have apparently had more trouble with Grimm than our analysts predicted, the overseers at the dig site and back at the Vacuo branch headquarters appealed to hire Huntsmen to augment the conventional defenses they have left. Of course hiring the Ruby Rose was a popular choice. Besides, it'll be just like old times, you and me, fighting Grimm together." Weiss snuggled up a little closer, putting her free hand on Ruby's arm, her muscles were firm and toned from extremely rigorous training and constant battle, it made Weiss feel safe… but it also made her a little downcast. She had let herself slip, being the head of the SDC made keeping up her skill as a Huntress extremely difficult. She was still strong, but out of the four lovers Ruby was by far the most qualified Huntress, though to be fair, the same could be said of her in just about any company, Ruby was a warrior with very few peers on her level.

"So basically it's like a vacation but we'll both be working." Ruby said plainly as she felt her mind growing slow and hazy, the long flight and now Weiss comfortable warmth she shared with her made Ruby very, very sleepy.

"Slay a few Grimm, save a few dozen lives, all in a day's work for a Huntress. We should still have plenty of time to ourselves. Though they have asked us to stay on site for the next few days so you and I will get our own tent. Don't worry sweetheart, I'll make sure we have some fun." A small giggle escaped Weiss' lips as she ran her fingers down Ruby's bicep, tracing the shape of her powerful muscles.

"Heh-heh, maybe we could go out and lay on top of the sand dunes, look at the stars without the city lights in the way and pretend we're at a beach and have some fun in the sand." Ruby's voice was lively and playful as she tensed her arm muscles beneath Weiss' hand and tenderly kissed her forehead.

"'Fun' in the sand sound great in theory, in practice however I foresee it being problematic. Besides, as romantic as it sounds, the desert can get pretty cold at night." Weiss' pragmatism totally ruined Ruby's fun/fantasy.

"You haven't changed a bit since Beacon, you're still a buzz kill." Ruby smiled fondly, wrapping her arm around Weiss' back as she held her close.

"And You're still a dolt." She retorted dreamily as sleep weighed heavy on eyelids and fogging her brain. "But you're my dolt and I love you."

"And you're still a beautiful, frustrating and amazing princess and I love you… with all my heart." Ruby could feel the last vestiges of consciousness slipping away as her body went limp, beside her she could hear the soft, rhythmic breaths of her fiance as she too succumbed to sleep.

The couple fell asleep in each other's warmth, feeling safe and happy.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go get 'em!" Yang huffed impatiently, sitting comfortably on a low tree branch above the ground. Beneath her Blake stood looking bored, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed over her chest, the couple looking down at four first year students who looked very much like they wanted to protest but knew better.

Krystal Skye, the leader of her team and the fox faunus girl who fought Ruby in combat class. She was an unusually tall girl with light brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a tan dress with white at her chest that hung down just below her knees designed to allow her large, brown bushy tail to be free and unrestricted. Resting on top of gold bracelets at her wrists were two large bladed hoops, these were her weapons, the Vain Seekers.

Beside Krystal was a tall, muscular boy with dark skin, short black hair tinted green on the sides and dazzling green eyes. His name was Peridot Bishop. He wore tattered jeans and a dark green hoodie, a belt of ammo crossed his chest and plates of silver armor guarded his shoulders. His weapon was a high powered revolver/grenade launcher.

Looking disinterestedly at her Scroll was a girl with shoulder length blonde hair with light blue eyes. She wore a white skirt with a light blue tank-top and black stockings with white high heeled shoes and a white beret on her head. She was Avalon Hue.

Lastly, a short girl with soft purple eyes and bright red hair tied into a side braid. She wore a denim vest over a purple strip of fabric tied around her chest, leaving her belly exposed. At her waist she wore tattered white shorts. Her weapons were her Spite Virtues, dual karambit knives attached to wrist mounted spools with strong retractable chains. Her name was Thistle Tsvetok. Together, the four of them were a promising first year team called Team APKT (Apricot).

"We've been fighting literally all day, you're both huntresses, we kinda thought we'd at least get to see you fight!" Thistle growled indignantly.

"Come on Thistle, we're here to learn and get stronger, we do that by fighting." Peridot shrugged, he could feel his team didn't wholly disagree with Thistle's sentiment.

"Well it doesn't matter, they're coming." They all turned at the unusually dark tone in their leader's voice. She was facing away from them, her weapons ready. Rapidly approaching the group was a pack of Beowolves led by an Alpha.

Yang and Blake watched patiently as her students braced themselves, taking their fighting stances. The pack was upon them, the most powerful, the larger Alpha hung back as they younger, weaker Grimm charged. That one's smart, what a pain in the ass, it might be too much for them to handle. Oh well, if it comes to that I'll step in.

The first shot fired, Peridot taking one Grimm out with a single headshot, using his gun to precise and devastating effect. Beside him Thistle ran in with a reckless charge, her knives dragging behind her as her chains extended. The air around her hissed and crackled as she grinned wildly, eating up the adrenaline and excitement of combat. She swung her arm forward sending her recurved knife flying at a Beowolf as it ran towards her before it was ripped apart by a powerful concussive shockwave the expanded rapidly from the end of her knife.

Meanwhile Krystal took a more methodical approach, flanking the pack. With a strong throw she hurled her hoops like frisbees, a glyph lighting up on the inside as they rushed over the ground, leaving a trail of ice in its wake for her to slide on as the guided her weapon, it responding to the position of her bracelets and as she pulled on it, it pulled on her, boosting her speed along the ice as she wove in between the Grimm, slashing at them as she slid by with her remaining hoop.

Avalon walked calmly through the frey. With a sigh she took her eyes off of her Scroll and gripped it tight, suddenly a long katana shot out from the top of the Scroll's case while metal rings surrounded her fingers forming spiked knuckles. A Beowolf lunged at her but without even flinching she sliced it across the belly and kicked it out of her way as she walked towards the Alpha.

Impressive. Yang smiled excitedly. This was the first time she'd seen them fight as a team. In class half of Team APKT were slackers despite excelling at combat, but she'd only ever seen one really fight and that was when the team's leader fought her sister in an extremely one sided battle. They're not half bad against the weaker Grimm but it looks like Avalon is going straight for the prize while her teammates cut down the others, let's see how they deal with it.

In very little time the team of students was half finished with the weaker Beowolves. Avalon stood calmly in the face of the Alpha, it towered over her but she simply looked up into its eyes and reached out her hand. In the next moment… Avalon collapsed, her body lying limp on the grassy floor while the Alpha stood looking down at her.

"No!" Yang jumped from the tree, her heart racing as her Ember Celica transformed into their gauntlet form, ready to jump to the rescue. However, the Grimm ignored the child and instead… it began attacking the other Grimm, its massive claws ripping the remaining Beowolves apart!

The rest of Team APKT seemed to relax, Thistle even putting her hands behind her head as she watched one Grimm massacre the others while Yang and Blake were left gawking in confused astonishment.

All the other Grimm were dead, their bodies evaporating while the Alpha stood still. After a moment, it seemed to look around before turning to the three conscious members of the student team and then… Is- is it giving them a thumbs up!?

"Alright, just hold still!" Thistle grinned excitedly as she retracted her chains, bringing her knives back into her hands.

"Just hold on a little bit longer." Kristal reared back her hoop, her expression more serious as she readied to attack. Beside her Peridot flicked a switch on his gun, turning on the lower barrel that dispensed the grenades from its magazine.

In the next instant they all attacked, thistle running up to get close, an explosion ringing out through the forest as she propelled her arm to inhuman speeds with her Semblance, severing the Alpha's arm. At the other side Krystal threw both her hoops, one cutting the beast's other arm while the other flew up above its head, casting her glyph she trapped it in a pillar of ice, leaving only its head exposed before recalling her hoops, effortlessly catching them. Peridot took aim and let off a rapid succession of blasts, four of grenades exploded in the Grimm's face, taking its head off, its body dissolving, leaving only the ice behind.

A short distance away… Avalon struggled to her feet. Her weapon in one hand while her other hand clutched her head. Her team sheathed their weapons as they ran to her side, Thistle putting her teammate's arm around her shoulders as she helped her up.

"That one was strong, I almost lost control a few times." Avalon sighed as she retracted the sword and knuckles back into her Scroll's case.

"Anyone want to tell me what the hell that was?" Yang walked up to them with Blake close behind.

"It's my semblance." Avalon shrugged. "I can possess Grimm, I put my own soul into one and I can control it, but my body basically goes to sleep while I do that so I don't like doing it without my team."

"Wow…" Blake blinked in surprise, her eyebrows raised and her cat ears pointed up. "That's quite a Semblance."

"It has a lot of drawbacks, if a Grimm is too powerful I can't get out on my own until it's killed… like that Alpha Beowolf. A very strong Grimm can even take back control and I'm just stuck in there... seeing everything it does." Her blue eyes dulled as she looked down, her grip tightening around her Scroll, getting lost in something that seemed far in the past, but still fresh in her mind. Yang could only imagine how terrifying it must be, but couldn't help but be proud of the judgment she had shown. That Alpha Beowolf would likely have been too much for her team if she didn't hold it down for them.

"It's okay, the fight's over now." Thistle smiled, gently putting her hand on her teammate's shoulder.

"She's right, and we still have a lot of ground to cover before it gets dark." Yang's gauntlets retracted to her wrists. "Come on."

Yang led the way with Blake by her side and her four students following close behind. However, something worse than a creature of Grimm stalked them from the trees. A man sat crouching on a high branch smiling gleefully as he watched the unsuspecting group walk away, his scorpion tail swaying impatiently back and forth.

"Very interesting… hah-hah-hah! Very interesting indeed!"

"My butt hurts!" Ruby whined as she stretched, Weiss standing beside her shaking her head. After a nine hour flight and a three hour drive across the desert, they had finally made it to the mine. It was a massive operation, the area that had been dug out was like a giant crater in the middle of the desert. Trucks filled with Dust and rocks drove out while excavating machines and miners drove in. Tents and huts and outhouses surrounded the giant hole… the SDC certainly spared no expense on this dig.

"Ruby, I brought you here to restore confidence in the workers and assure them that their safety is the our number one priority, you can't be complaining already." Weiss folded her arms over her chest as she scolded her girlfriend and at the moment… employee. Actually, that's kinda hot, maybe we could do some kind of role play later tonight.

"But my ass fell asleep!" She pouted, vigorously rubbing her butt desperate to get feeling back.

"Just stretch or something, you'll be fine." With her face resting in her palm she shook her head disheartenedly. Ruby's name alone should inspire confidence in everyone here but if she keeps this up they'll start to wonder… at least until they see her fight.

"Grimm!" A terrified scream came as a group of men ran over a sand dune on the far side of the mine! After a moment of frantic running… a massive Deathstalker exploded out from the sand chasing them.

"Looks like you're going to get to stretch after all." Weiss reached into her purse and pulled out a familiar hilt with a revolver. With a flick of her wrist, the blade extended out from the center as she stood wielding her weapon Myrtenaster!

"It's just a Deathstalker, I'll take care of it." Ruby smiled, excitement and energy alive in her eyes as she reached toward her back.

Whooosh!

Ruby was gone, a cloud of sand kicked up in her wake as she crossed the large distance between where they had stood and where the Grimm was. She had only gotten faster with age and training, and Weiss knew that by the time she caught up… Ruby would have already won.

She came to a sliding stop in between the men and the beast, her cape flowing dramatically behind her as she held her sword out in both hands, aimed right at her foe. Just as she thought, it lost all interesting pursuing its fleeing prey as it came to a stop, its many eyes glaring at the young woman who stood before it.

Okay, maybe this vacation won't be so bad. With a cocksure grin Ruby gripped her sword just a little tight, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Ruby blitzed forward, rose petals scattering behind her as she attacked! She zoomed right in between its pincers and thrust her sword forward with all her weight and speed behind it, the length of her large sword stabbing into the Deathstalker's face. The beast let out a shrill scream of agony, but Ruby wasn't finished with it yet!

Her sword burst into flames, exploding it out of the monster's hide and in a fluid motion she spun around while her sword's two parallel blades rose up, one restricting part of the way into the other as the hilt extending, turning her sword into her scythe just an instant before the Grimm's stinger easily as large as herself slammed into the sand where she once stood… with her flaming scythe slung over her shoulder and the blades on the other side of its tail.

Again she used her Semblance, she sheer force of her movement giving her scythe enough force to sever its stinger in one easy motion before she swung the tip down with all her might into the thinest part of its pincer! The Deathstalker let out another shriek of pain as its limb became useless, barely hanging onto its body after Ruby's attack.

It furiously tried to grab her with its remaining pincer but Ruby easily vaulted out of the way, landing on her feet at its side. With a devious grin she held her flaming scythe out and crouched before exploding forward in a blur of fire and rose petals, her scythe easily cutting through all of its legs on its side before she came skidding to a stop behind it.

Alright, I guess I should finish it off now or Weiss will scold me for having too much fun. I mean, it's not like I'm getting paid hourly anyway. With a quick giggle at her own thoughts she shook herself back into focus. She reared back her scythe, resting the middle of the shaft at her hip before the flames grew more and more intense, turning into a raging inferno at her back. She pooled her aura and tensed her muscles.

Whooosh!

Ruby blitzed at the incapacitated Deathstalker at blistering speeds, throwing herself into a spin as she cloaked herself in fire. Then… an explosion of fire and shock-waves exploded where she and the Grimm once stood, sand and embers were blown away along with dissolving pieces of the Grimm. In the center of the destruction Ruby stood with her flaming scythe over her shoulder in the middle of a scorched crater. The Ruby Meteor never fails, but it does take a toll on my aura, I could use a snack and a nap now. Maybe I got carried away just a little bit.

"Ruby!" Weiss tone was less than pleased.

Uh-oh Ruby smiled sheepishly as Weiss came to a stop, hitting the breaks on her dune buggy before getting out and slamming the door, looking even less thrilled than she sounded.

"Now Weiss, before you get mad I-" Ruby was immediately silenced as Weiss threw herself at her, wrapping her arms around a very confused Ruby.

"I'm not mad you Dolt… just don't be so reckless." Weiss' voice was soft and strained with worry and sadness. A small smile formed from Ruby lips as she snuffed out her flames and dropped her weapon, returning the embrace as she held her girlfriend tight. "We're supposed to be a team… but I just slow you down now."

"I'd fight by your side any day, you know that princess."

As the the two lovers embraced, they had no idea that they were being watched. Two men stood at the top of a far sand dune, one watching with binoculars.

"They brought a huntress with them." A large man with a heavy accent in a Grimm mask scoffed, handing over the binoculars to his associate. "She's strong too. So, what do we do now… Adam."

"We stick the the plan." His voice was dripping with malice and rage as he gripped the hilt of his sword, his long red and black jacket flowing in the hot wind.

"We attack at dawn."