Here be next chapter. Action right from the get-go so let's get started.

Grimm were falling left and right. Dad was scoring hit after hit in the monsters' necks and chests. Each burst from his rifle felled another foe. Two grimm came up on his flank and he expertly took out the nearest before turning to the rest of the horde. Before the other was in pouncing range, I lined it up in my scope and scored two perfect shots in its neck. I continued forward till I was next to dad. Yang had already run in front, leveling grimm with ease. The magazines for her gun slide in sideways and worked their way through the gun as it fired. Yang decided to modified each so she could link different magazines together at their ends, so she didn't have to stop firing due to an empty mag.

Blake was covering our flank, using her sword and pistol to great effect with her semblance. Cutting down beowolves as they pounced at her, delivering a point blank round to the bottom of the head; the satisfying squish of their brains being burst each time.

Pyrrha and the others came up alongside me and started firing too. She, like me was landing well placed shots to the their weak spots. The other three clearly didn't have any form of training. Their shots were ineffective against the bone plates and mask that protected their attackers.

"Aim for the neck. Their bones are too thick to kill them if you aim for the head."

They started making a clear effort to do as instructed, but their rate of fire dropped considerably and they still missed many shots.

"Ruby! Pocket's empty." I dashed up with my semblance and started to dig through Yang's bag to grab some more ammo for her.

She stopped firing, so I didn't throw off her aim and make her waste bullets. "I packed light." she shouted over the gunfire. I pulled out the five magazines in her bag, now knowing they were her last five. I took a moment to check my ammo too, I had only used two of the ten clips I brought. Dad was probably at four out of twelve. And I didn't know how much the others had.

Yang had taken her ammo already and had finished off a beowolf that Zewi had tackled to the ground. I realized she was going to run completely dry at this rate. We wouldn't even make it to the trapdoor. Dad must have figured it out too, and was advancing. Blake and Pyrrha took up the rear as the Philp and the others moved to let us encircle them.

The endless numbers of grimm must have sensed our concern. Pressing the attack harder, it wouldn't be long before they completely overran us. The entrances to the metros where were the heaviest concentration of grimm were, and the closer we got the more that fact sung true. Once we broke the initial encirclement of grimm we stopped fighting and started running in hopes of preserving ammo for when we actually had to hold them off.

We arrived at the trap door in the alleyway, each taking positions on either side. Philip and his group were first, Otho volunteered to take Zewi down. Me and everyone else formed a semicircle around the portal, using the buildings' walls to cover our backs. Yang followed them, only having half a clip left to fight with without using her gauntlets. With the lack of her devastating firepower, the horde were within pouncing range. Pyrrha took some convincing from dad, but submitted to going next. Blake followed closely soon after. A beowolf leapt at me, but I easily dodge it with my semblance and made for the trap door at the same time. Knowing he was the only one left dad twist around to swat the same beowolf with the back of his fist the bolted for safety as well. I barely made enough room for him to climb down when he started his descent. One hand fired his rifle while the other closed the trapdoor.

It was almost a perfect get away till a stray claw caught itself between the door and the frame. Dad cursed some adult word, but I knew now wasn't the time to call him out on it. He fired his rifle through the smaller opening before sliding the door back. with the newly freed hand he removed the grimm's claw from the portal. I didn't see what happened, but I heard him cry out in pain. He fired some more rounds into the grimm that must have attacked him. The sudden jerk of his arm threw his weight away from the ladder caused him to fall backwards. His heels hit me on the head as he fell, but I held on to the metal bars. I watched him fall till, landing with a thud on the ground. I called out to him and got a groan in response letting us know he wasn't to badly hurt.

I looked up to see what attacked him. A alpha beowolf stood with it's head in the trapdoor, its teeth red with blood. I fired a few rounds but the beast's face plates were too thick to penetrate and I didn't have a good angle at its vulnerable neck.

"Ursa!" One of the foreigners called. I looked back down forgetting about the open trap door to see two black bears charging at dad. Fearful for the man still laying on the ground struggling to get up, I jumped down landing with a hard thud. I hesitated for a moment to recover from the pain in my legs before opening fire on the two tanks.

I fired round after round into the lead one, and save for a few twitches the beast was unhindered by my weak bullets. Yang jumped down and landed in front of me. The grimm reared to swipe at Yang, the clank of metal sliding into place hinted at its fate. Sure enough, before it could strike Yang charged the few feet to close the distance, nailing it square in the gut. It fell back a few feet, landing on it's paws but not on even footing. Failing to fell the bear Yang swung again, this time a thundering boom coming from the gauntlet as it made contact with the white mask. The ursa fell but was not out till a second blow smashed it's face in.

The second ursa ran past her and me going right for dad. Yang ran to catch up while I fired at it's neck, again my bullets seemed to do nothing, very tiny red spots the on sign I even hit it. Pyrrha came down behind dad, who was now sitting up, leaning on his bloodied arm. Before the girl could strike, my dad lunged forward swinging his fist. His fist glowed gold just before contact with its head and completely gored it. liquified would be a better word actually. Only the head had been rendered to mush, the rest continued it's momentum; falling on dad.

He groaned as he was crushed under the massive form. Me, Yang and Pyrrha worked to push it off him. The others finished their climb and Blake lead the three men to the city, while Yang threw dad over her shoulder.

"I can walk, put me down." She didn't though, running off with Pyrrha toward Vale. I did a last check to make sure there were no grimm coming that would keep the guards from opening the door. Save the Alpha that still had its head in the trapdoor, nothing. The aforementioned grimm eyed me. It wasn't growling or trying to break it's way in; it was just watching. With the coast clear I used my semblance to catch up just as they opened the door. We all walked inside and Yang finally put dad down. I noticed Pyrrha had a gasmask on and asked her why she had it on.

"You had your respirator on, so I though the air must have been toxic down here." Realizing I still had mine on, I removed it, showing the air was harmless.

"No, it's fine down here. You only need it if you go down into the sewers or other places with lots of gas and fumes. Nice if you enter a dusty area of the metros too."

We shared a smile while we waited for the guards to do their check up before opening the door. Seeing it was clear of grimm, they let us in and we quickly debated what everyone would be doing. Philip and the others would inform Glynda that they had arrived, but most of their stuff was still on their boat. Yang went to take dad to the doctor, Blake went home, and I did the same to tell uncle what happened.

"It's awfully dark in here." I jumped, seeing Pyrrha had come up right behind me.

"You startled me," I breathed.

"My apologies, my uncle and the others are tired and asked me to make sure our living quarters are ready for when they arrive."

I started walking through the metro with the red haired girl at my heels.

"What do you mean it's dark? It's only eight in the morning, they only turn on a few of the lights so they don't disturb people trying to sleep in."

"That's not what I mean. In Mistral we have a skylight over much of the city so we get lots of natural light."

"Don't you get attacked by grimm?"

"Yes, on occasion. But being built into the cliffs, we have a vastly superior defensive position and we have Lake Mistral to prevent us from being surrounded. Philip said we have it the best out of all the kingdoms, but I guess every kingdom has something that makes it special, it's just a matter of time till I figure out what Vale's is."

"Wow, you've been to the other kingdoms too?"

"Yes, you wouldn't believe it, but Vacuo thrives under the desert. They've even started making small forts on the surface again. In a decade or two I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they are living above ground." I was dumbstruck at the thought of people living on the surface.

"Atlas has running water and enough dust to mass produce weapons and ammunition."

"We have water too."

"They use dust to heat water. It's so nice to just soak in a warm bath."

I actually was kind of envious of the other kingdoms. They sounded so wonderful, Vale didn't really have anything special going for it.

I reached our house and walked in, Pyrrha giving a small wave as she went back to wherever she actually needed to go. Uncle was still passed out on the couch. He had come back from a mission yesterday so he didn't need to worry about being called to action and took the excuse to sleep in and relax. Seeing him reminded me of how tired I was. I shook his shoulder, but Zewi licking his hand is what woke him.

"Dad got hurt and is in the clinic, I'm going to bed." he gave a half-conscious wave and returned to his rest and I went to my room with the same intent.

:::::

I was awakened by Qrow. I grumbled, rubbing my eyes. He explained that a red haired girl was at the door looking for me. I would never say it to anyone, but I was a little annoyed that Pyrrha woke me from my rest. I went to the liberty of taking off my vest and other combat gear before opening the door for her.

"Hello again. I was hoping to get a look around the city, and since we are already acquainted I was hoping you would do me the honor of showing me around."

I groaned in complaint within my mind, but smiled and took her up on her request. She too had changed out of her combat gear, leaving her weapons and equipment wherever she was staying. We started for town, while I explained some basic information about Vale.

"Well this is Vale Central There is a South and West too. Central has the largest population at just over 100. There are also other small settlements scattered throughout the metros. Sideline is the closest and also second largest followed by Vale South, then WayPoint, Blockade on the very northern edge, Etcetera. As you saw Central is pretty much just a straight shot, with only a few recently made side passages. The houses are furthest from the gate, with appartments after, then the buildings people don't live in, like the dust store.

First lights is at six with full lights around eight. Last lights is at eight at night with lights out at ten. So make sure you have a light if you plan to stay out late. Bathhouses are over by the Hunter headquarters and at the very end a few houses from mine. I think that's about it, I've never had to tell someone about Vale before."

"Are there any restaurants you recommend? I'm a little hungry after the trip."

I raised an eyebrow at her question not fully understanding what she was asking for. When she didn't restate it on her own I asked "What?"

"A dinner, you know someplace to buy food."

"I don't think I understand what you mean. The general store sells some things if you want to make something..." She groaned her face falling into her palm.

"If you don't get what I mean then that means you don't have one here. In Mistral we have places called restaurants where you can pay to have people prepare food for you."

I gave her another confused look. I asked why you would pay someone to make food when you're fully able to make it yourself. She sighed again and told me I would understand if I ever experienced it. That still didn't settle the matter that she was still a little hungry, so I volunteered to be a good hostess and offered to make her something.

"No, I do not wish to impose-"

"Nonsense, It'll be nice to have someone to eat with." I grabbing her arm and pulling her along.

We arrived, and I sat her at the four person table. Qrow was already making something, and I asked if he could make it for three more. He asked why, since there were only two of us.

"I was going to invite Jaune too." He smiled and nodded.

"Who's Jaune?" Pyrrha asked while following me out of the house since she had nothing better to do.

"He's an old friend of mine. We've known each other since elementary school. He's super nice, you'll like him. He's a little goofy, and he's kind of a klutz, so we get along great. He's also a hunter, on a team with his dad and his friends Ren and Nora."

I walked into the first apartment on the left side of the street. We climbed to the second floor and knocked on door 23. A man opened it, clearly the one Jaune got his looks from.

"Hello Ruby, are you looking for Jaune?"

"Yes sir."

Mr. Arc called into the house to get his son. He ran around the corner from where his room must have been. He didn't have any shoes on, but was otherwise ready for the day.

"Ruby, do you need some... thing..." His eyes were locked with Pyrrha's.

"Who..."

I quickly made introductions. "Jaune this is Pyrrha, she just arrived today from Mistral. Pyrrha this is my friend Jaune."

The two looked at each other for a few seconds longer than I liked. Finally, Jaune brought his hand up to shake hers, stuttering "Nice to meet you."

"The privilege is mine," the red hair girl replied. The air became heavy with awkwardness, so I attempted to push it aside.

"So would you like to join us for lunch? I haven't eaten yet today."

"Yeah, sure!"

"Make sure you're back before lights out!" Mr Arc called from the living room.

I tried making conversation on the way back, but every time Pyrrha added her two cents the conversation would drift into a questioning about her, or Mistral. What's the weather like there? What kind of food does she like? What are her hobbies? Actually thinking of it, Jaune was asking a lot specifically of Pyrrha.

Trying to direct the conversation away from Pyrrha for the tenth time I mentioned that we have arrived. Sure enough they stopped their conversation as we entered. Uncle was seated at the small table already eating a creamy soup with a variety of ingredients from mushrooms to small amounts of pork.

Jaune, being the gentleman he was, pulled back our seats and pushed us in before taking his own. Him and Qrow shared greetings then uncle went back to eating.

"I apologize for forgetting my mannerisms, how is your father? He fell quite a distance, and his hand looked like it got really injured."

"Oh don't worry, dad will be fine."

"Taiyang is a tough cookie. You have to be, to be a hunter."

Pyrrha turned the conversation to him while we ate, "He was a hunter?"

"Is a hunter. We might be past our prime, though he'll never admit it, but we earned this title through sweat and blood; it's not something you just stop being."

"My apologies, I meant no offence."

"I knew what you meant. You kids just make us feel old, talking about our glory days like they were some distant memory. It wasn't that long ago, only 16 years, though I guess it would seem so for you guys not having any memories of that time."

"Well you and my dad make it sound like you were some heroes of legend defeating massive hordes of grimm like they were nothing."

"Honestly, the level your generation is at is very low. Ruby here is only as good as maybe a average huntress three years her junior. All of you have low auras for your age, and your actual combat skills are slightly under par. Your semblance control is pitiful too, especially you Jaune."

"Semblance is hard," Pyrrha interjected, feeling a need to stand up for her new friend, "I'm noted for being exceptional among my generation and I only recently started being able to use mine."

"That's the problem," Uncle retorted, "Me and Taiyang could use ours when we were ten. Most people who wanted to become a hunter or huntress could by that age, and if they couldn't then they would learn to half way through their first year of formal training."

Pyrrha sat back and I just looked into my soup in thought.

"Dad and the other hunters are so powerful, but the grimm still beat them. If we're so weak then what hope do we have when they get to old to fight."

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt a hand ruffle up my hair.

"Don't get so depressed, you got those 'Xiao Long genes' as your dad puts it. It might take longer than we did, but you'll get to that level too. Plus, you have far more live combat experience than we did when we were your age. Plus you grew up using these bean shooters, so you're use to using them. Me and your dad are still adjusting to them, but that's what happens when you grow up using the weapons you forged when you were kids. You forget yours while being taught restraint on their use."

I gave him a smile, and the others seemed to enjoy the compliment too. I guess that's the benefit of growing up in the metros, there weren't any standards to live up to. The only thing people cared about was you were good enough for the mission, they didn't care much outside that.

Danka for reading everyone. Thx to the awesome /u/redrumsprinkles and /u/Challos for editing. You should check out their stuff, /u/redrumsprinkles has a awesome RWBY/40k crossover. Thx to /u/madgamer2k7 for making the thumbnail art, and to the reviewers, I read all of them and It's nice to know that people enjoy my writing.

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