Welcome back to another exciting installment of TLH!

I apologize for the tardiness. I've had a lot of projects I've been working on recently, not to mention that I ran into quite the writer's block for this chapter.

But anyways, let's get going, shall we?

Chapter 3: AND THEN THERE WERE SEVEN

The phrase "as quiet as a mouse" originated in the early sixteenth century. Mice are quite the quiet creatures, and most usually, their activities are unknown to the people whose properties they reside in until it is far too late. Plagues came and went with mice, as their quietness allowed them to sneak in places you would least expect them to be. Some scholars even say that if there ever were such a creature as a mouse Grimm, the whole of Remnant would be royally fucked.

Another common, although more obsolete, variation of this phrase is "as quiet as a church mouse." One could assume that this was because the churches of old were usually very quiet places and that to even think about escaping the sermons without drawing attention, or even the presence of God, you'd probably have to be a church mouse. With time, however, this variation became more and more unused due to the remarkably discreet conversion of church mice to Christianity in the late eighteenth century, and with the introduction of the modern form of church and worship, church mice can now be seen participating actively in gospel choirs.

Most of these thoughts did not cross Ruby's mind as she tiptoed down the halls of Beacon, except probably the part about being quiet as a mouse.

She was not particularly good at it, if you were wondering.

"Aha!" exclaimed Ruby, as she opened the nearest classroom door, scythe in hand, ready for an attacker to come flailing out of the room.

As expected, there was no one there.

It is, however, amusing to entertain the thought that, had the killer actually been hiding in this particular room, and Ruby had killed him or her, this story would have ended about as abruptly as The Sopranos did.

But alas, we continue.

"Well, crap," sighed Ruby.

A brief examination of the room revealed a maze of standing mirrors, arranged with no rhyme or reason to placement.

"Oooooh," marveled Ruby. "This must be that second-year training exercise Velvet was talking about."

She slowly closed the door and turned…

… only to catch her cape in the door hinges.

"Well…" Ruby groaned, attempting to wrench free her signature article of cloth. "Crap… again."

Of course, that only served to get Ruby's cape even more tangled in the hinges.

It is a fairly common occurrence for one to run into even more and more trouble the more of a hurry that they are in, and seeing as Ruby was in very much a hurry to find and apprehend a murderer, it was only natural that such misfortune fell upon her.

After about five minutes of struggling, Ruby panted and observed her surroundings in hope that something – or someone nearby could help her.

Her saving grace came in the form of a very amused looking Lie Ren.

"Need a little help there, Ruby?"

"No!" pouted Ruby, indignant of the smirk that currently occupied Ren's face. "Maybe… yeah, I kinda need help…"

"Thought so." With that, Ren pulled out one of his StormFlowers and set it against a section of Ruby's cape.

This did not go over well with the redhead.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Ren jumped in surprise at Ruby's outburst. "Uh… cutting you loose?"

"Butbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbut…" Ruby was almost whimpering at this point.

The dark-haired hunter's brow furrowed. "But… what?"

"My… cape…" Ruby moaned.

Ren blinked.

"You can't be serious."

Ruby continued to give him her best puppy dog eyes.

"… Wow. You are serious." Ren pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Please don't cut the cape," Ruby begged.

The dark-haired hunter sighed. "You know that it's only just going to get caught in things over and over again, right?"

"No it won't!"

"Right… how the hell did it get stuck in a door hinge, out of all things?"

Ruby grumbled. "Things… happen. Don't judge me… please."

Ren couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry about it. I'm much more worried about finding this killer and stopping him or her before they can kill anyone else."

He paused for a moment. "So… you sure you don't want me to cut your cape off?"

Ruby sniffed. "Not if you can avoid it."

"Alright."

And with that, Ren got to work. The more he tried to unfurl the cape from the door's clutches, the more he realized how absurdly tight the cloak was wound up in the hinges.

After a good five minutes of struggling from the both of them, Ren finally yanked Ruby's cloak free, and they tumbled to the floor, heaving from the effort.

"That was… a lot harder… than I thought it would be," breathed Ren.

"Told you so," muttered Ruby. She climbed to her feet. "Alright, where to now?"

"Well…" Ren got up as well and brushed himself off. "I'm going to go after the killer. I can't tell you what to do, but Nora's setting up a fort in the commons, so that might be a good place for you to head."

"A… fort?" Ruby frowned, puzzled. "Like a pillow fort?"

"… Yes. Because the commons is full of pillows."

"Oh… right. Silly me," Ruby laughed nervously. "I guess I'll head over there, then! See ya later, Ren!"

Ren smiled in return. "See you, Ruby."

They both headed off in opposite directions.

"Well… guess I'm just… 'Yanging' out by myself!"

Yang's audience of no one gave her pun the proper response of silence.

She sighed. "Guess they can't all be winners," she murmured morosely.

Yang wandered down the halls lugging around a few razor-sharp foot traps with the intention of placing them around the school and hopefully trapping a cold-blooded killer successfully.

Up ahead, the commons loomed in the background.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Perfect trapping grounds."

As the view of the large eating area became clearer, however, Yang's jaw dropped, and for good reason, too.

Standing up against the back wall was an enormous and rather sturdy-looking fort made of tables, chairs, and other large kitchen appliances. The fort barely touched the commons' high ceiling, and it was as wide as it was tall, enough to fit a small platoon of soldiers, if need be.

In short, it looked like if Frank Lloyd Wright decided put his own spin on recreating the Taj Mahal with only materials he had found in the dumpster.

Which, in its own right, is a pretty fucking impressive image.

Yang whistled.

"Whoever built this must've had a lot of… fortitude," she murmured.

Crickets chirped almost unwillingly in the background.

Yang groaned. "This is so much better when people are actually around to hear my puns…"

As if on cue, a large glass bowl with the concave side facing outward rose from the middle tier of the fort, and a large, magnified grinning face appeared on the surface of the bowl.

"WHO APPROACHES THE CASTLE OF QUEEN NORA?" boomed the face.

Yang blinked.

"You really took this 'queen of the castle' thing to the next level, huh Nora?" she mused.

"INCONCEIVABLE! THAT IS 'QUEEN NORA' TO THEE!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Nora, it's just me, Yang."

Nora shrugged from behind the glass bowl. "Well, what if you're the killer?" Her eyes widened. "Uh… I mean… INCONCEIVABLE! WHAT IF THOU ART THE KILLER? THOU MUST PROVE THEE WORTHY OF QUEEN NORA."

"'Worthy,' huh?" Yang grinned. "Sounds like a challenge if you ask me!"

With that, she began to scale the wall of tables.

In all reasonability, Nora began to panic. "W-wait, what are doing? Uh, I mean… INCONCEIVABLE!"

Yang continued her ascent upward, a manic grin painted on her face.

"Uh… TAKE THAT, FOUL HEATHEN!" Nora squatted down to kick out the chair that Yang was currently grasping on to.

She lost her grip for a slight moment, but with her quick reflexes, immediately reached out to the closest table and hung on tightly to steady herself.

Nora squinted. "She didn't fall? INCONCEIVABLE!"

"You keep saying that word," Yang retorted back. "I don't think it means what you think it means."

Nora growled. "You stay away, maybe-or-maybe-not killer!"

Yang sighed. "Look, Nora, I promise I'm not the killer. I'm obviously not a sneaky person, so I don't have the tenacity to stab all these people –" She winced. "- my… friends… behind their backs. I couldn't. I wouldn't."

Nora hesitated, dropping the 'queen' visage for a moment. "I… guess I can understand. I mean, I couldn't pull that kind of thing off either. Plus, look at me now! I'm just… hiding. Ain't that pathetic…?"

The blonde offered an assuring smile. "I think it's a brilliant idea, Nora. Really! It's a pretty impressive fort, I think!"

"Maybe…" Nora returned the smile coyly. "Thanks, Yang."

"Sure!" Yang beamed, then, with raised eyebrow, "Does that mean… the tables have turned?"

"The tables have…? Oh, the tables!" Yang could literally see the lightbulb turn on in the ginger's eyes. "I get it!"

"Finally!" Yang sighed in relief. "It's awesome to have feedback for once. Hey listen, I got all these foot traps from Port's classroom, and I think they would make a great defensive barrier for the fort. There's definitely more from where that came from, so I can go back and get them. What say you?"

Nora grinned brightly. "Now that is a brilliant idea!"

She cleared her throat resumed her façade of royalty. "Yang, I hereby pronounce thee chief knight of Fort Nora! Now fetch me these trap thou speaketh of!"

And in a flash, she disappeared back into the fort.

"Wait wait wait, chief what?"

Yang blinked.

"Did I just climb this entire way up the fort just to be made into an errand girl?" she murmured under her breath. "Maybe I should usurp this weird-ass kingdom…"

She sighed. "But first things first! More traps!"

Yang jumped and landed carefully on her feet before setting out once more into the darkness of Beacon.

Blake peeked around the corner, her ears twitching.

Nothing.

"Okay…" she murmured to herself, and the cat faunus creeped from out of her hiding spot… brandishing a fire extinguisher.

Sure, it definitely wasn't the best weapon to combat a serial killer, especially considering that Blake found bashing anyone over the head was probably the most barbaric form of combat ever – don't tell Yang that – but it would simply have to do. It certainly helped that the extinguisher was dust-based.

Blake made a mental note to test exactly what kind of dust the extinguisher consisted of on something. Preferably not on herself.

As she tip-toed through the dimly lit hall, she ran the possibilities of the possible types of dust that could "legally" be placed in a fire extinguisher designated for school use. The first and most basic dust that came to mind was ice dust, although Blake quickly dismissed it due to the bulky residue left behind by the ice crystals that sprouted upon use. Dust ice melted rather slowly, and it was a bitch to clean otherwise – being teammates with Weiss definitely taught her that.

The second dust that came to mind was sediment dust, which seemed even less proficient than a simple bucket of water. In fact, that was usually the process most people went through upon killing fires with a sediment dust extinguisher: attempting to use it to smother the fire, failing spectacularly, resorting to buckets of water until the job was done, and finally returning to the store of purchase and beating the unfortunate cashier who just happened to be on shift over the head with the obsolete extinguisher until death. Of course, such situations were vaguely described in the warning label, but nobody ever reads the fine print.

The third option – and perhaps the most ridiculously dangerous (and arguably most effective) – was the air-based concussive dust, which, upon use, released a strong shockwave that hit with the force of about ten airbags. Of course, the law of equal and opposite reactions still applied, much to the chagrin of its customers, who suddenly found themselves lying in the neighbor's front lawn after extinguishing a mere stove fire, but in all fairness, it was quick, efficient, and it got the job done.

Blake sighed. Knowing the headmaster's eccentricities, the extinguisher was probably the third option.

Suddenly, she heard movement.

It sounded like running.

Blake readied the extinguisher and hugged closely to the wall, walking as slowly and noiselessly as possible.

The footsteps came closer.

Blake took a deep breath in.

Closer still.

Breathe out. Blake looked at the extinguisher. It was now or never.

Even close – oh wait, the running was coming from behind her.

Blake turned around swiftly – and came face-to-face with and very flustered Weiss.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

They both yelped in surprise, and in her panic, Blake accidentally pressed the extinguisher's trigger.

KABOOOOOM!

For a moment, Weiss stood in front of her, a look of shock on her face; the next moment, all Blake could see was the ceiling as she felt herself getting launched a good thirty feet away from the blast zone.

This was going to hurt.

"Ooooof!" she grunted as she skidded across the hall floor, tumbling ungracefully to a stop. On the other end of the hall, she could hear Weiss do the same.

They both lay motionless for a few seconds, desperately trying to regain the air that had been knocked out of them. Then, before Blake could, apologize, Weiss scrambled to her feet and started to do what Weiss did best.

"YOU MORON!" Weiss seethed, pointing an accusing finger at Blake. "There's a killer on the loose and you decide to be reckless and go all willy-nilly with that stupid oversized dust canister!? What is wrong with you!?"

"Weiss, I'm sorry…" Blake mumbled, but the heiress wasn't having it.

"And you, out of all people! I expected better from you, Blake!" Weiss crossed her arms condescendingly. "I can't believe you could be so stupid… oh."

A look of realization dawned on her face.

"Wait a minute… it's YOU! You're the killer!" Weiss screamed angrily. "I should've known all along…"

"NO, what!?" It was Blake's turn to be indignant, as she climbed to her feet and swiftly approached the heiress. "I'm not the killer! Why would I even remotely want to do anything as horrible as this?"

Weiss's eyes narrowed, pointing at the cat faunus once more. "You're the only one who's been part of an extremist terrorist group! I see it now… your old ways have finally caught up to you. You've already killed two of us and here you were trying to kill me too!"

"Weiss, that's crazy talk and you know it!" growled Blake. "I would never do any such – wait." She blinked, trying to process what Weiss had just said. "What do you mean, 'already killed two of us?'"

The heiress grew significantly somber, and her head hung low.

"Neptune… he told me… that if he didn't come back for me in ten minutes… he said to just keep running, to get help." She looked up at Blake, and although her face retained its angry edge, tears had started to stream down her face. "It's been thirty minutes. Thirty. Fucking. Minutes!" She choked out the last word behind her sobs.

Blake tried to reach out and comfort her. "Weiss… I didn't know. I'm so sorry –"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" screamed the heiress, backing away.

Blake recoiled. "Weiss…?"

The heiress's vitriol had returned in full force. "I don't have my weapon with me right now, because if I did, I would cut you down like the filthy fucking animal that you are! But once I get out of here, I will call the authorities, and they will arrest you for killing my friends, and they will lock you up in a cage far away from us all, where you belong."

The animalistic insults were not lost on Blake, and hairs on her neck bristled. "Weiss! Stop spewing all this bullshit! You can't just –"

"Oh, I can and I will!" Weiss spat darkly. "I'm horrified I let you get as close to me as you did… I should have listened to father all these years ago. 'Once a criminal, always a criminal.' That's who you are, Blake!"

"Weiss, please listen to me –"

"NO! We're done here, you and I."

With that, Weiss walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Blake to stand in the hallway alone with the heiress's biting words ringing in her head.

"Once a criminal, always a criminal…"

Yang whistled as she strode down the hall towards Professor Port's classroom. The halls seemed peaceful enough, but you could never be too careful when a serial killer is in the same building as you.

But of course, this was Yang. Yang was not a careful person to begin with.

One thing that she was, though, was cocky.

"Man, that killer's got something fierce coming for 'em. Just wait until I get my hands on those traps for our little cat-and-mouse game…"

Speaking of mice…

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNGGGGG!"

The blonde saw a blur or red rose petals, and next thing she knew, Ruby was locked in deep embrace with her.

"Ohmygodyangivebeenlookingalloverforyouandnowifinallyfoundyoutheresakilleroutthereandidontknowwhattodoigotmycapestuckanditwassoembarrasingwereyouplayingagamejustnoworsomethingwasitremnantbecauseilltotallykickyouassthistimeiswear –"

"Easy, easy, lil' sis!" laughed Yang, returning the hug. "I'm really glad to see you safe and sound, y'know."

"Same!" Ruby chirped happily. "So… what are you doing right now?"

"Getting some traps from Port's. Nora set up a pretty impressive fortress in the commons, and we're gonna set up our defenses there… after I usurp the queen, but that's just all in a day's work!" Yang grinned.

"Oh right! Ren was telling me about that fort," Ruby nodded. "Sounds like a plan! Lemme help out!"

Yang pondered a bit. "There are a lot of traps in that room. Sure, c'mon, Rubes!"

"Yay!" cheered the redhead.

They reached Port's room quite shortly afterwards and found the traps stored neatly in the classrooms closet, among a few other Grimm-hunting materials.

"Just what the doctor ordered!" exclaimed Yang happily. "Hey Rubes, I'm gonna check Port's office to see if there's anything of value there. Holler if ya need me, alright?"

"Sure thing, sis!" Ruby beamed.

Yang walked across the hallway to Port's office – and found the door locked.

"Nothing a little firepower couldn't handle," murmured the blonde, and with Ember Celica, she punched a gaping whole into the area where the doorknob used to be.

Pushing the door open, Yang found the usual suspects of items: a desk, all the books and writing utensils that came with a desk, a map of Remnant, several portraits of Port lining the walls – Yang noticed that he seemed more muscular and toned in the paintings than he did in real life – and of course, his prized blunderbuss-axe, Charybdis.

The thing that completely took her by surprise, however, was the hot tub.

Yang blinked.

"Why the hell would anyone keep hot tub in their office, out of all places… no, scratch that, I don't even want to know…" Yang muttered, desperately trying to rid herself of the unfortunate mental images that had formed in her brain.

The more important question that subsequently formed was: "Why is it full?"

It was as if someone had wanted to take a bath, filled it up to the brim with water, and decided to change their mind and walk away.

Yang moved closer towards the tub and peered in.

At the bottom of the tub was a note that simply read, "I sea you."

"Oh," Yang chuckled. "That's pretty funny…"

Suddenly, she felt a hand dunk her head into the water.

"Mmmph!" Yang struggled against the force, but it must have been at such a vantage point that Yang's flailing did not come in contact with any flesh at all.

More so, the hand restraining her was not inflicting any particular pain, so her semblance was effectively nullified.

She mistakenly tried to gasp – and instantly filled her lungs with water.

Yang coughed and choked, trying desperately to rid herself of foreign liquids, but water kept rushing in.

She could feel herself becoming weaker as she began to succumb. Her vision became tunneled, her lungs stopped burning, and her thoughts became muddier and muddier.

The last thing she remembered thinking before everything went black was: "I've got a sinking feeling about this…"

A light was snuffed out and then there were seven.

Another successful round of TLH in the books! I feel writing got a bit sloppy there near the middle, but we pulled through!

We had three people who guessed the correct answers this week. However, we can only have one winner, and after a bit of random shuffling, our victor supreme is… scot911! Congratulations on winning fanfic prompt from me! I'll contact you in a bit for the details.

An overwhelming 50% of you guessed the correct victim, out of the 15 who submitted. However, most of you picked the fire extinguisher over the bathtub. Sometimes it really does come down to luck, but any tip in the right direction can help you make a better guess.

This next one's an interesting one. I'm very excited to see what you guys pick.

To refresh on the rules, check the Notice 2 in the chapters.

To refresh on the riddle, participants, and weapons, check the Riddle in the chapters.

To take up the next survey, click the link on my profile!

I bid you good luck!