A Foreboding Feeling

Ruby breathed in deeply, sighing in contentment from the fresh air that flowed into her lungs. She had always loved this time of year, whenever the weather shifted and started getting colder. It wasn't too cold, and it wasn't too warm, it was just perfect. Her happy sigh quickly became one of annoyance whenever her elder sister spoke up from beside her.

"So, Ruby, who is it? Who iiiiiiiis it?" Yang chirped happily, a wide smile plastered across her face as she poked her sister's shoulder.

Ruby swatted her hand aside. "Cut it out, Yang. I'm not telling you anything, because there's nothing to tell!"

"I don't believe you. You've been gone until so late recently and you've been coming back with this little smile on your face. Not to mention you've just been randomly grinning all the time. Admit it, you totally have a crush on someone."

Ruby felt a blush creeping up her neck and staining her cheeks slightly. "No, sis, I do not." She glanced down at her feet, hoping the color in her face wouldn't give her away. Okay, so she may have a somewhat miniscule crush on someone, but Yang did not need to know that.

Yang grabbed Ruby around the waist, lifting her up and twirling her around, laughing, "My baby sister's gotta crush!"

Said baby sister smacked the back of Yang's head and hissed at her to put her down, but Yang ignored her, continuing to spin.

"Will you two cut it out? We're in public, don't you have any sort of self control?"

"Sorry, Weiss," Ruby whined, finally managing to slip from her elder sister's grip.

Weiss huffed, crossing her arms and turning to Yang. "And what about you?"

"Oh, c'mon, Princess, aren't you curious?" Weiss raised an eyebrow in a silent question. "Who Ruby's crushing on, of course!"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not. The only thing I care about is that Ruby," she shot the red-headed girl a sideways look through narrowed eyes, "keeps up with her studies. I won't have her dragging me down over some boy."

The last member of their group, who had been hovering silently in the back, observing the sisters' antics quietly, finally spoke up. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Weiss. Ruby's been doing a pretty good job over the past year. There's no reason to believe that's going to change, right?"

Weiss eyed Blake before giving a small sigh. "I suppose you're right." She turned back to the sisters. "You," she said, pointing at Ruby, "had better not lag behind, boy or no. And you," this time she turned to Yang, "behave yourself. We came into the city for a few errands today, but we're still representing Beacon. You should act like it."

Yang immediately stood up straight and threw Weiss a mock salute. "At once, ma'am!" she called, leading Weiss to groan and hide her face in her hand. Ruby giggled and Blake smirked. Yang continued her charade, marching straight-laced down the sidewalk and turning ninety degrees on her heel onto the next street at the corner.

"It's terrifying to think of the kind of headway she'd make if she put that much effort into her work," Weiss muttered. Ruby laughed and jogged to catch up with her sister.

It was a Saturday, and team RWBY had decided to take it easy today, considering they had been running clean-up missions on the weekends recently. Somehow, no matter how many Grimm they seemed to kill off, they always seemed to have refilled their numbers by the next week. Ruby had decided that since they had spent the last three weekends in the Emerald Forest that this one was being reserved for rest and relaxation. So they had decided to journey into Vale proper for some errands and shopping.

They had already been by a few shops, once of which was a weapons store, and Ruby could had spent days just drooling over the displays. She had only needed to buy a few basic cleaning and care supplies, but as soon as she saw the gun with an attached chainsaw blade that could be fired outward and controlled and retracted via a chain attached to the gun, she had gotten caught in a fantasy land.

There she had remained until Blake had shaken her from her dreamy stupor an hour later. The faunus informed her that Yang and Weiss had already left, one out of boredom and one out of impatience. Ruby shook her head. Even thinking of that shop right now was likely to trigger another bout of daydreaming. She had to stay focused. They were on their way to a well known upper-class clothing store. Once they were there, she could let her mind go as much as she liked. They were only going to keep Weiss happy, anyway.

They were only a few blocks from the store whenever they sensed the change. The air suddenly felt colder, and the world seemed to have gotten quieter all of a sudden. Something hung in the air, something that Ruby couldn't quite identify. She looked at her team, and knew from their reactions that she wasn't the only one who was feeling it. Weiss had slowed her walk, and her hand now rested on Myrtenaster's handle. Blake's mouth was a straight line, and her ears were twitching back and forth underneath the bow. Yang's boisterous exterior had fallen away, her face now serious. Her muscles were tensed as she looked from side to side.

Nothing presented itself immediately, but they knew that something was happening, or was about to happen.

"There's no one on the streets," Weiss observed quietly. Ruby looked around, surprised. She hadn't noticed that, and it only helped to confirm the strange feeling that was permeating the atmosphere. Vale was always busy, no matter what time of the day or year it was. Today had been no exception, with people bustling about busily.

"Where did they all go?" She wondered aloud. Ruby didn't like this. Not one bit. "Weapons out, guys. Whatever's going on, it doesn't seem like it's any good." She reached back and removed Crescent Rose from its place on her belt, deploying it into its sniper form. She slid back the bolt, chambering a round.

Blake slid Gambol Shroud from her back as Weiss pulled her rapier from her belt, holding it loosely to her side, ready to pull it into position at a moment's notice. Ember Celica deployed on Yang's wrist, the plates sliding back and loading up the shells within.

"We're heading back to Beacon. Something's going on. Yang, in front. Anything comes at us, obliterate it," Ruby ordered quietly. Yang smirked, moving to the lead position of the group. "Blake, to the back. Eyes and ears open. You'll hear them coming before we do." Blake nodded, slowing her pace until she trailed behind everyone. "Weiss, with me. Alright, guys, let's move." The four girls set off in the opposite direction they had been going, their goal now the shining green lights high atop the coastal cliffs.

As they moved, Weiss observed her partner out of the corner of her eyes. Ruby was tense, ready to react to anything that may happen. She had truly grown in the year they had been with Beacon, much to Weiss' surprise. And not just in the sense that she had gotten taller either. The heiress had always known that Ruby had a vast amount of potential in her, but she was demonstrating that she had more than even Weiss had suspected. The younger girl had managed to finish in the top ten their first year.

She still had that streak of immaturity, but she had learned to haul it back during combat and other serious situations. The fact that she had become such a fantastic leader definitely had something to do with that, Weiss felt. Ruby was brilliant at utilizing her team's individual skills to adapt and deal with any problem they encountered. It had been the reason team RWBY came out on top at the Vytal Festival's combat tournament last year. Aside from them all being undoubtedly strong and holding their own in the individual matches, under Ruby's leadership, they had dominated the team melee. They became the first team in over two decades, only the second in the festival's history, to win the fight with all team members still standing.

Weiss was pulled from her thoughts whenever Blake rested a hand on Ruby's shoulder, inclining her head back and to the right, at an alley across the street. Ruby nodded, giving Weiss a look before gently prodding Yang in the back to get her attention. The brawler looked back as Weiss laid her hand on her rapier, giving the Dust chamber a spin to make sure it was operating smoothly. Yang, upon seeing the signs Ruby and Blake were giving her, broke into a smile before cracking her knuckles.

She then pointed to herself and held up one finger. Ruby looked at her, exasperated, before waving her off with a weary nod. Yang double fist-pumped victoriously, cocking her gauntlets as she did so. She then promptly threw two punches in the direction of the alley Blake had indicated, Ember Celica firing with two bangs as she did so. The small projectiles shot forward, crashing into the mouth of the alley and exploding outward, throwing debris into the deserted street.

From the darkened passage came a howl of anger, and team RWBY froze. That had not been a human sound. Suddenly, Blake tensed, widening her stance and separating Gambol Shroud from its sheath. She held both blades at the ready. Ruby looked at her worriedly, and noticed that her bow was jittering about like a moth before a flame. Her ears must have been twitching every which direction.

"We're surrounded," Blake muttered.

Ruby spun her weapon, unfolding it into scythe from as she did so. Weiss pulled Myrtenaster up and across her chest, holding it in the attack ready position. Yang just smiled all the wider, reloading Ember Celica with a satisfying cha-chick.

"Love when we're surrounded," she commented happily.

"Even when we can't see the enemy?" Weiss asked through gritted teeth. Something about this situation was so wrong. They were in the middle of Vale, what was going on? And that howl…

"Of course, princess, it just makes the fight slightly more fair."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Focus, Yang." She turned to Blake. "How many are there?"

"I can hear about fifteen, I think. There in the alleys and on the rooftops." Ruby glanced upward, but Blake continued, bringing her attention back to her. "But, Ruby, they're not human. They're Grimm."

Ruby opened her mouth to ask how the hell there were Grimm in the middle of Vale, but was interrupted by a snarl as a shadow burst from the smoke of the original alley. Ruby turned and, without batting an eyelash, pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose. The bullet blew off half of the Beowolf's skull, and the remainder of the corpse tumbled to the ground mid-run.

And like that, they were everywhere. Beowolves dropped from the rooftops and out of the alleys around them. Ruby even spotted an Ursa lumbering up the street toward them. The ones coming from above never made it to the ground as Yang launched herself up to meet them, followed quickly by Blake.

Yang slammed her fist into the first one she encountered, firing off a blast as she did so. The Beowolf howled in agony as the attack tore a hole clean through its body. The blonde then grabbed the dying creature and flipped their positions, so that the Beowolf was the one closest to the ground. She planted both her feet on the Grimm and launched off of it, sending it toward the ground. It got halfway there before Blake slashed it to ribbons.

She saw another Beowolf about to jump off the roof toward her. Perfect. Two birds, one stone. Blake switched Gambol Shroud to pistol mode and threw it at the Grimm. The monster tried to dodge backward, but far too late. The blade pierced its neck, and Blake yanked on the ribbon, pulling herself up above it. She flicked the ribbon again, this time causing her gun to fire, decapitating the beast. The bullet struck another falling Grimm through the head, killing it instantly. Blake smirked. Three birds are better than two.

She landed on the roof and turned to watch her partner launch herself into another enemy, crushing it against the building it had jumped off of. Yang managed to land three or four hits, effectively silencing the monster, whenever another one fell past her, clearly intent upon attacking her sister and her partner. Yang grit her teeth, firing both of her gauntlets at the sky, sending her hurtling downward after it.

The Beowolf landed, and turned to Ruby, raising its claws to attack. Ruby knew it was there, but she didn't even bother to turn around. It wouldn't be a problem in a second. Sure enough, before the Grimm's claws could even get close to her, Ruby felt a large impact that vibrated up her legs into her skull. She glanced over her shoulder, and almost felt bad for the Beowolf. Yang was lying on the ground beside the still-twitching body, her elbow resting squarely in the middle of a small crater where the Grimm's head used to be.

Ruby turned back to her fight. She took two running steps forward and then fired Crescent Rose, giving herself a massive speed boost. The Ursa had not been expecting to find her in front of it so quickly, and it reared back in surprise. Ruby fired at the ground, lifting herself above the Ursa, before cocking and firing again, bringing her spinning back down. She cleaved straight through the bear's neck, and barely even landed before she fired again, sending herself flying toward a group of Beowolves trying to get behind Weiss.

She cut them to pieces in a tornado of slashes as her partner sent forth a wave of ice spikes, impaling several more of the creatures. One of them dodged the attack, but didn't last very long as Weiss glided forward and pierced it through the center of its chest. Ruby's eyes darted around as Weiss returned to stand by her side, rapier still at the ready. Yang stood, brushed herself off and joined the pair.

"Well that was easy," she commented with that ever-present smile on her face.

"Well I should hope so," Weiss replied, brushing her hair over her shoulder.

"Keep you guards up, everyone," Ruby ordered. "I don't know how Grimm got into the city, but I'm willing to bet there are more of them."

Blake landed beside her partner. "The roofs in the immediate vicinity are clear, but I heard group of enemies all over. And look," she pointed over some buildings, and the group turned to look. There were plumes of smoke rising lazily over the skyline.

The girls looked at each other in contemplative silence for a minute before Yang voiced the thought that was on all of their minds.

"What the hell is going on?"

A/N: Hello everyone! So what did you think?

This is my first RWBY fic, and I'm really happy to be contributing to the fandom. I've been watching the show since the second episode, and I fucking love it. The instant this idea popped into my head, I decided I had to write it out. I have outlined the stories of all three books in this trilogy, so there won't be any random meandering about, and hopefully I'll be able to keep up a swift and regular update schedule.

Anyway, please read and review guys!