Sorry for the long wait, I had to focus on my family and with everything happening with the virus, it made everything stop for a while. But I'm back! The rest of the Volume 2 chapters should be finishing up in about a month or so if I can keep up with my update schedule, but know that I need to put this on another hiatus when I finish V2 because I want to get V3 done right and get the reactions especially for what Team STRQ, Kali and Ghira find out in V3. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

They started watching the new chapter immediately.

Field Trip

A shot of Beacon Academy the next day following the Beacon Dance, then cuts to inside Ozpin's office, with General James Ironwood and Glynda Goodwitch keeping the headmaster company.

"They were here... Ozpin, they were here!" Ironwood raised his voice, almost shouting at the grey haired headmaster. Ironwood angrily slams his fist against Ozpin's desk.

"Yeah, we all know, Iron-dick." Qrow said, rolling his eyes. "You don't need to keep repeating it."

"We're very much aware of that! Thank you, James." Glynda said.

"Fantastic! You're aware! Now are we going to do something about it or should we just stay the course and continue to ignore what's right in front of us?!" The general asked.

"He's got a point. What are they going to do?" Kali said.

"What can they do? Oz and the others know that someone infiltrated the school but they have no idea who it is. They can't just screen everyone can they?" Tai says, leaning back against the sofa.

"No they can't. It would make it seem like something is wrong." Ghira said.

"No shit, I mean, look at how many warships Ironwood brought for the tournament." Raven commented.

"So is he paranoid or is something actually going to happen?" Tai questions.

An alert sound plays, signifying that someone has arrived on the elevator. "Come in." Ozpin says as he turns to the elevator doors. Ruby steps out and into the room.

"Sorry it took so long. Someone accidentally hit all the buttons on the elevator on the way up here." Ruby said, pausing before quickly explaining herself. "It wasn't me."

Qrow snorts and chuckles, looking at Tai with a grin. "That would totally be something you would do."

Tai rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Shut up." He mutters to his male teammate. The girls laugh and smile as well. The two Faunus just shake their heads and roll their eyes at the team's antics.

"Thank you for coming, Ruby. How are you feeling?" Ozpin asks the young girl.

"Okay, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad-guy-catching record wasn't O-for-three." Ruby says with a small laugh. Everyone stares silently.

"Not the time." Raven says, crossing her arms and sending a glare at Summer.

"I'm not that bad." Summer says back to Raven.

"Yes you are." Raven said flatly, ignoring her team leader to continue watching.

"Okay, so that's the tone we're going for, got it." The cloaked girl mumbles.

"Yep." Qrow said, popping the last letter.

"Ruby, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night is exactly what being a Huntress is all about. You recognized a threat. You took action. And you did the very best you could." Ironwood praised her.

Ruby smiled, "Thank you, sir."

"Now, the general here has already informed us of the events that... transpired last night, but now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add." Ozpin said to the silver eyed girl.

"Was anyone else with her? Did she look familiar to you at all?" Goodwitch asked her student.

"I... I don't know. She was wearing a mask, and she never said anything to me. But I know she fought with glass. I don't think that was her Semblance, though. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked." Ruby told them.

"That sounds like a Semblance though, doesn't it?" Summer asked her teammates and the two Faunus.

"Maybe, but remember the first fight we watched with Cinder? It seems like she uses magic, she might have a Semblance, but… we don't know what it could be. I'm saying that what she did in the CCT tower was magic, Sum." Qrow explained to his team leader.

"That makes sense, but that still doesn't explain what they want." Kali said, worried for their children.

"Obviously we won't find that out until later." Raven said to the other female.

"Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby." Glynda said.

"Embedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique. It could have been anyone." Ironwood said.

"True, but not many people readily use that as a style of fighting." Raven counters.

"Wait. You think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ruby asks the general.

"It's possible. But we still lack the required evidence to link the two together." Oz told the team leader.

"Actually, I... I think I remember her saying something about a hideout, or something, in the southeast. Just outside the Kingdom." Ruby told them.

All six adults raised their eyebrows at the same time. "That fool. Why would she tell them?" Raven said, shaking her head at Ruby's blunder.

"No, that's actually really smart." Ghira spoke up. Raven looks at him to elaborate. "She has plausible deniability like that, and she can also call for backup should she and her team needs it. From the looks of things, your headmaster will allow Team RWBY to go the southeast so that he can confirm his suspicions."

"That… well damn, never knew Ol' Oz could be a manipulative jerk when he wants to be." Qrow said, glancing between Summer and Tai. Both of Ruby's parents frowned at the screen.

"Interesting." Ozpin hummed.

Glynda stepped forward. "I thought you said the intruder never—"

"Thank you for your cooperation, Ruby. Why don't you go and spend some time with your team? You have a big day ahead of you." Oz said, cutting off the blonde woman.

"Any time." Ruby said, smiling.

"And Miss Rose, please try and be ... discreet about this matter." Ozpin told her.

"Yes sir." The silver eyed girl nodded.

The door to Team RWBY's dorm room opens, revealing Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, and Weiss Schnee inside. The three zoom over to the person in the door, who is revealed to be Ruby.

"What happened?" Yang demanded.

"Uh... well, um..." Ruby laughed nervously.

The scene cuts back to Ozpin's office.

"Well there we have it. We send as many troops as we can to the southeast, find out exactly what's going on, and eradicate any forces that stand in our way." Ironwood said confidentaly.

Glynda growled in frustration at the man. "Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado!? You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring di—!"

Qrow and Tai howled with laughter. Team STRQ had never heard their TA cuss before and this was hilarious to them. Summer was trying to stop her giggles from escaping and Raven was just smirking. Ghira sighed at seeing the Huntsmen teams' antics.

"Well, she's not wrong. Most military generals would want to go into that type of situation with a show of superior strength." Kali said, reminding them of where they were.

"Glynda!" Oz exclaimed.

"Well, he does." She rolled her eyes.

"She's right. As much as I too would love to end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this may go beyond Vale. Beyond Beacon. And if this truly is part of some master plan for which we know not the final move, we mustn't be so bold. Nor can we risk the spread of panic." Oz tried to placate the general.

"I have served you faithfully for years... but if you mean to tell me that your plan is to really hold the defenses, and wait—!" Ironwood demanded but was cut off abruptly by the other headmaster.

Ozpin abruptly stands from his chair. "It is not! You're a general, James. So tell me, when you prepare to go to war, which do you send in first? The flag bearers or the scouts?"

Team STRQ gulped. They've never seen Ozpin mad before, and they thought that when that day came, whoever it was that earned the headmaster's anger deserved it and would suffer.

"Not to self, never get Oz mad." Qrow whispered to himself.

The scene cuts back to Team RWBY's dorm.

"That was a risky move." Weiss told her partner.

"No, I think you handled it well." Blake says, shaking her head.

"I hope so." Ruby agreed.

"I'm sure everything will be alright, Ruby. Oh, I know what will cheer you up!" Yang said to her sister. Yang produces a cylindrical package the length of her forearm.

"What's that?" The younger sister asks.

"I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us. I thought we could open it together!" Yang said, holding up the package.

Team STRQ leaned forward; this was one of the few times that the girls had mentioned their parents. Tai and gripping Summer and Raven's hands. Qrow had his arm wrapped around his sister. Ghira and Kali were also holding hands, with Kali also wrapping her unoccupied arm around the white-cloaked woman for support or comfort.

"Ooooh! Something from home!" Ruby exclaimed.

Ruby zooms over to Yang and wraps herself around Yang, trying to take the cylinder from her. The package opens, and another cylinder, hairy and black, falls out onto the floor and starts to shake. The object suddenly transforms into a corgi. Team RWBY leans in, staring at it.

The six adults stare at the TV screen. Then they turn to Taiyang.

Tai, himself, doesn't know what to say. "What the hell? I sent a dog in the mail?"

The animal barks twice. While Weiss and Blake continue to react with great shock, Ruby and Yang react excitedly, with Ruby jumping in the air. Ruby, still airborne, is depicted among a changing blue background and four shots of the dog, two full body shots and two headshots. She then poses as she shouts the dog's name.

"Zwei!"

"He sent a dog?" Blake asked in horror.

"In the mail?" Weiss asks, finishing Blake's sentence unintentionally.

Yang waved her teammates off. "Oh, he does stuff like this all the time!"

The others in the room turn to stare at Tai once again. "What the hell, Tai? What have you been doing with the girls?" Summer exclaims to her future husband.

"I don't know! This is the future, we have no idea what happened to you or Rae yet! I'm pretty sure I tried to raise the girls as best as I could!" Tao defends himself.

"You shut down after Summer died! Or have you forgotten Yang's story? Yang had to be Ruby's mother!" Qrow hissed at the blonde man.

"Well where the hell were you?!" Tai shouted.

"Enough!" Ghira shouted, both males looked to the angry Faunus. "Both of you enough! Whatever the reason for Summer's death and Raven's disappearance…. We will find out, so please, calm down and shut up!"

"We won't let whatever happened, happen again. We will stop it, or at least make sure our kids have help." Summer said, glaring at Qrow and Tai.

Blake disappears, shown now to be on Ruby's bunk. "Your father or your dog?" Blake asks the sisters.

"Are you telling me that this mangy... drooling... mutt is going to wiv wif us foweva? Oh, yes he is, yes he is! Oh, isn't he adorable!" Weiss says in a baby voice.

"That's disturbing." Qrow said. Raven nodded and shivered. Neither of the twins would ever have thought that the Schnee girl would gush over a dog. First time for everything, they guessed.

"Please keep it away from my belongings." Blake told her teammates.

"Would all first-year students please report to the amphitheater?" Goodwitch said over the intercom.

"Well, we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for the week." Weiss points out to the sisters.

Ruby sets Zwei down and he walks over to Blake still on the top bunk, and barks.

The Faunus crack smiles as they watch Blake's interactions with the dog.

"Look, there's a letter!" Yang pulls out the letter from the package wrapping. "Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang." Dozens of cans of dog food spill out of the small package, piling up around Zwei.

"Again… what the hell?" Raven eyed the father of her daughter with a shake of her head.

"What is he supposed to do with that?" The heiress asks. A can opener falls from the package, bouncing off Zwei's head.

"I don't even want to know." Raven muttered, but a smile twitches on her lips.

"Well, that settles it! Come on girls, Zwei will be here when we get back!" Yang says.

"Oh, I'll miss you so much, we're going to be best friends, I can't wait to see you." Weiss says as they leave the room. Meanwhile, Blake jumps down from Ruby's bunk and jumps across the table, avoiding Zwei. Ruby stares at Zwei for a moment, before smiling sneakily.

"She's going to try and bring him on their mission. I'm calling it!" Summer says with a sneaky smile of her own.

"Never bet against Summer!" The twins cry out at the same time before the two Faunus could so much as get a word out.

"We'll… take your word for it." Ghira said with a good-natured chuckle.

Ruby is wearing a large backpack as she enters the auditorium with other students. She then puts it down next to other students' luggage before rejoining her team, who are standing in front of Team JNPR.

"Quiet! Quiet please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Glynda demanded of all of the students.

"Will he be doing the same speech?" Tai asks but no one answered him.

"Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best." Ozpin steps away as the students all begin to file out of the amphitheater.

They were all silent, bowing their heads in respect for the fallen.

"This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the southeast!" Ruby said, pumping her fists in the air in excitement.

"Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip by night!" Yang said.

"I don't think that would work on a fully-trained Huntsman thought." Kali said.

"Let's check 'search and destroy'!" Weiss suggested. Team RWBY approaches a hologram screen.

"Here we go! Quadrant 5 needs Grimm cleared out!" Ruby pointed out.

"Well, it's in the southeast!" Blake said.

"Sounds perfect!" Yang grinned.

"Only you Rae. That is most definitely your grin." Qrow said, smiling at his sister. Raven just sighed but smiled a little.

Ruby selects it and types in her team name. However, the screen says that first years are not allowed to take this mission.

"Wonderful!" Weiss said sarcastically.

"Any other ideas?" Blake looks between her teammates.

"We mail ourselves there!" Ruby suggested.

"You would come up with something stupid like that, wouldn't you." Raven deadpanned to her leader, who was bright red.

"Uh… No?" Summer said, but all three members of the Beacon team knew it was true.

"Well, that's one option." Ozpin suddenly appears. "Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first-year students. It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that you four will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

"So he is letting them go for his own curiously and suspicions." Ghira called out again, glancing at Kali who just gripped his hand.

Weiss, Blake, and Yang glare at Ruby, who nervously rubs her head. "Whatever makes you say that?" Ruby questions.

"Only you." Raven glares at her leader, who is also rubbing her head in the same manner as Ruby.

'Like mother, like daughter.' Kali thinks and smiles. She and Ghira will help Team STRQ, just as she knows they will help them with the White Fang.

"I'm still curious how you all found yourself at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a hideout in the southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago." Ozpin asks, smiling just a little.

Ruby didn't know how to answer. "Um... well..."

Ozpin sighs. "I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So how about this: instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them?" Ozpin selects some things on his scroll, and the hologram screen makes a noise.

Ruby smiles at the headmaster. "We won't let you down. Thank you, professor."

"Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far. But you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory. Good luck."

"Yeah, we are so training the girls in self-preservation when the time comes." Summer said to her teammates.

"Uh… Sum, have you met us? None of us has any self-preservation instincts." Qrow pointed out.

"Qrow, I swear, if you think I won't kick your ass to Anima and back so that you get it through your head, not to head weapons blazing into a fucking fight, same with the rest of you, you've got another thing coming." Summer growled as her eyes pierced every member of her team. They all shuddered, knowing that when they got back to Beacon, Summer would work them to the bone.

"Got it." Her three teammates called out.

Team RWBY have left the auditorium and are on their way to the airship that will take them to Quadrant 5.

"That wasn't exactly uplifting." Yang grumbled.

"But it's the truth." Blake said, shrugging.

"It's gonna to be tough, but I know we can do it!" Ruby grinned to her team.

A student runs past the team. "Hey! Team CFVY is back!"

"Weren't they the team that was supposed to be in charge of the dance?" Tai asked.

"I think so. I wonder what mission they had that took so long to complete." Kali asks, looking to the team.

"Probably a Search and Destroy that went bad." Raven suggested.

"Way to kill the mood." Tai complained.

"What? It's true. Why else would their mission take longer? You know I'm right." Raven huffed.

Beacon students gather around to witness the return of Team CFVY. Blake goes up to Velvet Scarlatina. "Velvet? Are you okay?" Blake asked her fellow Faunus.

"I'm fine. I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me." Velvet said, trying to smile to the other girl.

"Your mission was supposed to end a week ago! What happened?" Weiss wonders, worried about their own mission.

"Nothing happened. It was just ... there were just so many..." She looks up and notices Team RWBY's worried expressions. "Oh, but don't worry. You first-years are just shadowing Huntsmen, so you should be fine.

"I hate it when you're right." Tai mutters to the black haired female.

"Are you sure your Semblance is creating portals and not a form of future-sight?" Summer asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, Summer. I've been making up my semblance, I can actually see into the future." Raven deadpanned.

Her team and the two Faunus gave her expressions of disbelief. "I'm joking. Of course my semblance is portals." Raven said.

"Right." Yang said flatly.

"I should go. Be safe, okay?" The rabbit Faunus said, catching up to her teammate.

"We can do this. We've never backed down before, and we're not going to start now." Ruby proclaimed.

Blake nodded. "Right."

"Besides, it won't only be us out there! We'll be fighting alongside a genuine Huntsman!" Ruby said, excited to know who they were shadowing for this mission.

"Yeah!"

The scene immediately cuts to Team RWBY staring with various stunned expressions, having just discovered who they will be shadowing.

"Why, hello girls! Who's ready to fight for their lives?" Oobleck asks them in rapid-fire speech he was known for.