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There's a place where our shields will lay shattered

And the fear's all that's left in our hearts

Our strength and our courage have run out

We fall apart.

Ruby pulled the trigger once more and was rewarded by seeing a blossom of crimson where a Beowolf's head had been just a moment before. She chambered another round, not even glancing at the spent shell as it flew by her face. She fired again, taking a leg off a Boarbatusk that had been attempting to gore a student. He sent her a brief look of thanks before stabbing the injured Grimm in its gut.

She took a brief moment to survey the situation. Students and Grimm clashed everywhere. Beacon's forces were putting up a hell of a fight, but they were unable to push the Grimm back. They just couldn't contend with a force this size. That being said, things were going a lot better than she had expected them too. The Grimm didn't seem to be as organized as before. This worried her. Something felt wrong, off. She just couldn't place her finger on what it was.

She focused on the fight again. Now was not the time to be getting distracted.

"Team STAR," Ruby shouted, gaining the attention of the four teens. "Move up and cover JADE." She heard a growl, and turned to deal with whatever had gotten close enough to threaten her, but only found a large block of ice encapsulating an Ursa.

Weiss yanked Myrtenaster from the ground. "I thought we told you to focus on leading. We'll handle the enemies that get close."

"Listen to the princess, sis," Yang commented cheekily as she punched a Beowolf straight into the ground so hard a crater formed around it. "We'll keep them off your back." Minus a few scrapes, her sister was looking none the worse for wear, despite being the most active defender of the middle of the frontlines. She had been ducking back in occasionally to check up on her teammates.

"Ruby!" Blake, who she had assigned to be her scout, flashed into her view, golden eyes blazing. "The left flank is weakening. They need backup."

The younger girl nodded, and cast a searching glance towards the pocket in the center of the student formation, where she had kept a few teams out of combat as reserve . "RNBW," she called out. "Support the left flank." She turned behind her and picked one of the long-range teams. "BLUE, go with them. Remember, hang back and provide covering fire. Your team isn't specialized in close range combat."

The two teams acknowledged their orders and departed, heading for the thick of the battle.

"Blake, you're hurt!" Ruby heard Yang exclaim, and whipped around to see her sister fussing over a short gash in Blake's side.

The faunus batted her partner's hands away. "I'm fine, Yang. It's shallow. Just a scratch. Beowolf just got a bit too close."

Yang narrowed her eyes at her. "A bit too close can be the difference between life or death here." Her expression softened as she gripped Blake's hand lightly. "Just be careful, okay?" Blake nodded, surprised by the sudden sincerity in Yang's voice. It was quickly spoiled as the blonde let a smile stretch her face. "'cause Team RWY just sounds stupid."

Blake smacked her arm, but couldn't hold back a smile. Weiss rolled her eyes while Ruby smirked. Only Yang could manage that in the middle of a warzone. Her smile quickly died though as that unnerving feeling from earlier returned. Why? Why did she feel so anxious? What was wrong?

Somehow, it didn't seem to have anything to do with being in the middle of a battle, surrounding by the crashes and cacophony of guns, explosives, and other weapons sounding all around her. Nothing to do with the growls and snarls of the Grimm as they pressed in on all sides.

Ruby shook it off as she fired Crescent Rose multiple times more, taking down Grimm after Grimm. She hated only being able to do this much. She should be on the frontlines, fighting alongside her classmates. She had the top combat score in her year! She growled in frustration as she loaded a fresh clip into her weapon and chambered a round.

As if sensing her thoughts, Weiss was beside her. "I know it's frustrating, Ruby, but you need to stay here."

"I get that, but I want to do more!"

"We understand, Ruby." Blake paused to convert Gambol Shroud and throw it forward, the blade part lodging in a Beowolf's chest. She yanked on the ribbon, the resulting bullet took another out, and the weapon spun through an Ursa's thick neck on its way back to her hand. She continued, "But you need to stay safe. If something should happen to you, the leader, our entire defense would crumble."

"But I feel like I'm barely doing anything back here."

"Well, to be fair," Yang chimed in, taking a moment to catch her breath. "We do seem to be handling this way better than we were expecting. I thought this was gonna be a thousand times worse, honestly. At this rate, we might actually hold them off." She turned to Ruby with a wide smile. "Seems like your battle plan's working wonders, sis."

Ruby shook her head as her uneasiness intensified. "My battle plan shouldn't have been enough for us to be doing this well. Not against an army that si-"

The piece she had been missing finally settled into place, and Ruby's blood froze cold in her veins. Wide, silver eyes full of panic turned to the fight before her, sweeping it all up in one glance, confirming what she had already realized.

"Ruby?" Yang was worried by the sudden change in expression on her sister's face, especially now that it showed fear.

"Shit!"

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Ruby's panic was starting to spread to her. She had rarely ever seen her sister like this, and everytime she had, it had been because there was something bad going on.

"They got us," Ruby breathed. She spun Crescent Rose, unfolding it into the scythe form. She turned away from the battlefield and cocked the weapon. "Weiss, you're in charge. Hold them back at any cost."

"What? Ruby? Where the hell are you going?" Anger rolled through her voice. "You can't just leave in the middle of the fight!"

"If I don't, then we all die and Beacon falls," she hissed back, and Weiss recoiled as though burnt.

"Ruby, what's going on?" Yang demanded.

"There's not enough of them!"

"What?"

"No time, I have to go!"

"Then I'm coming with you!"

"No, Weiss!" Weiss looked at her, hurt and confused. "I need you to stay here and lead everyone. You're the only one who can do that in my place, the only one I trust to do it in my place." Ruby reached out with one arm and brought her in for a brief hug. "You'll be fine, Yang and Blake will look after you."

"Correction. Blake will look after her. What?" she added after seeing Ruby's glare. "Did you really think I'd let my sister go gallivanting off to god knows where by herself?" Ruby opened her mouth to retort, but Yang cut her off, her voice brooking no argument. "No, I'm not letting you follow in your mother's footsteps. You don't need me to lead, and Blake is more than capable of keeping Weiss safe. I am going with you."

"Fine! But we have to go, now!"

"Right behind you."

Ruby turned to give her teammates one more glance. "Be careful, you two."

"You too," Weiss responded. "When this is all over, Ruby, you had better explain to me in excruciating detail what exactly is going on. But for, hurry, and be safe."

Ruby nodded and fired, jetting off further into Beacon's campus. Yang offered them one more smile and a "See ya!" before she too was gone, Ember Celica blazing on her wrists as she caught up with her sister.

"Guess it's just us now," Weiss murmured to Blake as she watched their teammates disappear.

"That alone should be enough to have the Grimm running in fear."

Weiss smiled weakly, and shook off the feelings of apprehension she had. Ruby would explain exactly what was happening later.

For now, she would just have to trust in her partner.

Not dead.

It was his first thought. And as far as first thoughts go, he had to say he was pretty pleased with it. After all, it meant he could still think.

Jaune blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear away the harsh brightness that still infected them. The crackling of fire and shifting of burnt or broken debris greeted him, and he vaguely wondered how the explosion hadn't managed to absolutely annihilate his eardrums. The stench of scorched wood, melting metal, and crisped human hair assaulted his nose. The light began to fade from his vision, and the first thing he saw was his arm crossed protectively in front of him. Jaune snorted internally; as if he could have stopped explosion with his bare hands.

He glanced over arms and body, preparing himself for the worst in terms of damage. Those had been packaged crystals of pure red Dust. It was a wonder he was alive. There was no way he had escaped unscathed.

And yet, the more Jaune looked, the more he saw that he was perfectly fine. More than fine, he was pristine. It was like the dirt and soot from the blast hadn't even touch him.

What on Remnant?

As Jaune looked down at his hands, a white shimmer passed over his arms to the tips of his fingers briefly, and it clicked. This was just like the moment in Forever Fall the previous year, where Jaune had mysteriously blocked Cardin's punch with his face and yet came out somehow unhurt.

Semblance. It was something Pyrrha had-

Jaune's eyes flew wide. "Pyrrha!" he exclaimed, his voice raw. His throat felt like a desert, scorched from the intensity of the flames. He glanced around frantically. She wasn't beside him, as she had been before the explosion. Not standing, anyway. His eyes fell on a form lying on the ground. "Pyrrha!" he dropped to his knees.

She was face down, and Jaune couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. With trembling hands, he reached forward and rolled her over, pulling her torso into his lap and cradling her head in the crook of his arm. Tears pricked at his eyes as he surveyed his partner. Burns covered the left side of her torso, and her leg on that side was mangled by shrapnel so badly that it made him feel sick just by glancing at it. He could deal with a little blood, but seeing the flesh stripped away almost to the bone was too much. She was bleeding from more wounds than he could count, and her clothes were in tatters. The only reason she hadn't been entirely vaporized, he guessed, was that she had managed to drop behind the couch before the main blast had hit.

Jaune gripped Pyrrha closer to him, tears beginning to track down his cheeks. "Oh god, Pyrrha." The roof overtop groaned, and Jaune glanced around, only dimly noting the raging fires steadily eating away at the roof above them's support. He didn't care though. The only thing on his mind was the girl in his arms.

The girl who was impossibly still.

She's not breathing, he realized with a start. His fingers frantically fumbled their way to her neck, and Jaune felt his entire world collapse around him.

No pulse.

Pyrrha didn't have a pulse.

Pyrrha was dead.

A/N: ...please don't kill me? This shit is getting intense

I'm sorry about how short this one is guys, but you can see why I ended it where I did. Definitely gives a good end of chapter oompf you know? Anyway, I love you please don't hate me forever

Okay, I know I said 2 or 3 chapters last time, but I've actually spaced it all out now, and you've got three more chapters coming after this one, and that will be it for Book 1. They're going to be longer than this one. That much I can promise.

Anyway, as always, please review, let me know what you think

Until next time, my friends