Despite however much either wanted it, Ozpin could not send the Bullhead to pick them up, leaving Yang and Jaune to spend the night in Tinker, with a flight prepared for the morning. Figuring it was better than nothing, the two of them decided to spend the night in the room they had already paid for. When he got inside of them room, Jaune immediately took to putting the information into his Scroll, something that looked odd to Yang. But she didn't question it. In fact, there were only two questions on Yang's mind: When would she get to see Ruby? And when does she get to kill whoever tried harming her? It doesn't matter who they were, and that was honestly what Yang felt. There would be no force on the face of Remnant who would or could stop Yang in her quest for her sister. Nothing at all.

But that was something for another time. For now Yang reasoned it would be better to head back to Beacon, just as Jaune did. The two may be hellbent on trying to find Ruby and bring her home safely, but they also realized that certain things wouldn't happen immediately. Plus, Jaune saw something in all of the information they've gathered, and apparently he had a plan. One that Yang was unaware of. All Yang was entirely aware of was the fact that the moment Jaune had used his authority as a hunter of Beacon to get that information from the city guards, the look in his eyes changed. If Yang had to describe it, it looked like he'd just won the lotto or something. Something he'd pieced together from everything they'd found so far seemed to have Jaune eager to get back to Beacon, even at the cost of riding in an airship, something he hates with a passion.

Yang didn't like to admit it frequently, but she was around average in terms of intelligence. She had plenty of her street smarts and common sense, don't get her wrong on that. But when it came to book smarts, strategy, puzzles, detective stuff, etc., she was really lacking. In most cases, her response was similar to Wei Ning's, a sort of 'I'll just punch it.' approach. So seeing Jaune act like the exact opposite, being more able to take the rational approach to this situation, was pretty interesting. Considering Ruby is the leader of team RWBY- err, was the leader, their primary tactics consisted of what Ruby described as "the careful application of brute force." Though her leadership had gotten better, and she was pretty darn creative with attacks and combos, more often than not she just let the members of RWBY do what they wanted in a battle. Jaune's methods seemed to be a lot different. But it didn't matter. If a fight came up right now while she was with Vomit Boy, she would handle it.

His investigations into the current events gave Yang hope, hope beyond the shadow of doubt, that Ruby was still alive. To find her whereabouts, she would likely need Jaune's help. If anyone tried to harm him, Yang would defend him with the same zeal as though she were defending her own sister, that simple. In fact, if this all worked out, Yang doubted she would ever be able to pay Jaune back for all he's doing.

"Well," she mused out loud, keeping her voice low, so as to not awaken Jaune. "I can always turn a blind eye and let him date Ruby? But he'll have to wait until she's older for sure!" And there went Yang deciding things by herself. But whatever. Tomorrow, she'd be back at Beacon, and the situation with Ruby would grow closer to it's end. So, much like the blonde in the other bed, Yang closed her eyes and sent out a silent prayer for a restful sleep. She felt that she would end up needing it.

It wasn't even a minute after Ruby had blown the whistle that she felt that familiar presence at her back. Dinah was here. Good. She'd wondered about waiting for the others, but Ruby felt that would be a pain. She wanted her Creeps, and she wanted them now. The biggest problem would be finding a solid group of them, one with a strong leader. OR at the very least, finding a strong one altogether. Creeps have always been one of the hardest Grimm to identify the age of, and that is one of the things most people who study Grimm could agree one. Due to a Creep's severe lack of plates until around fifty years of age, it is hard to tell their age prior to that. Even when they do get their plates, they're still rather slow on the grow, with it taking to around one hundred or so years for their plates to finally expand past their head. The strongest Creep ever found was armored on most of it's body by the plates, a feat that must have taken centuries, even more so than Dinah. Ruby doubted that she would find one of those, but she still hoped to find a good one. While not the strongest, Creeps were rather good in overall situations. They could function as mounts, pack mules, and when a fight broke out they were more dangerous charging in a straight line than a Boarbatusk was.

Well, with Dinah at her heel, Ruby knew that she would be fine no matter what she had to face now. I mean, it's not like there re many creatures out there that can take on a centuries old Beowolf, right? With the exception of those Goliaths, or rather that one Goliath that Ruby saw in particular, Dinah would likely be able to kill anything Ruby came across. Even among her current party of Grimm, the number that could fight Dinah evenly could maybe be counted on one hand, and that count consisted really only of her Boarbatusks. Due to their insane defense, and heavy weight, Dinah would have trouble actually cutting through them enough to kill them. That would, despite the possible bloody outcome, be a fight that Ruby would want to see.

Bit with Dinah, Ruby passed through the worn down streets of Mountain Glenn, carefully observing all around her. It was sad, when one thought about it of course. Here once was a possible thriving community, outside of the main kingdoms, one of the few that had almost succeeded. Now while there are plenty that had, it was always kind of sobering to see the ones that hadn't. Taking a quick glance at Dinah, Ruby noted that her oldest Grimm companion almost seemed happy here. If she didn't know that it was technically impossible for a Grimm to actually experience happiness, she would swear that Dinah was currently ecstatic. But it made sense. Grimm were creatures born of darkness, a darkness that equally resides even in those who carry with them the light. Sorrow, Rage, Greed, Lust, etc. All of those that could tear a person apart appealed to Grimm. This place, likely filled with the despair, fear, and sorrow of the forgotten could be considered a holy land to the Grimm. Ruby tried to push that thought to the back of her mind as she kept on. She had to find some means of getting underground. Creeps were known mostly to be subterranean. Odd, considering they lacked arms or anything to dig with, but who was she to refute facts with logic? It was what it was.

While Ruby ruminated on this thought, a strange thing happened. She could swear she heard cracking. It didn't sound like dried leaves breaking, or even bones being cracked apart. So what exactly was it...?

"Ehh?"

It was in that single moment, that dawning of comprehension, that Ruby realized what it was. Feeling the ground beneath her feet lurch slightly, Ruby froze for a second out of panic. That second was long enough, as the ground beneath Ruby's feet gave way, causing her to fall to darkness unknown.

"Oh fu-!"

Quickly correcting her posture, Ruby whipped Crescent Rose off of her back, and pointed her gun slightly angled behind her, tried launching herself over to the nearest slab of falling concrete. After a little bit of attempted flying, she was met with some success, and managed to get on. The only problem was that Dinah didn't seem to have her ability to fly, leaving her still in a free fall. Not thinking about it for another second, Ruby stomped down on the slab she was on top of, angling it slightly. Bracing her feet, she fired in the direction opposite to Dinah, using the recoil from Crescent Rose' immensely high caliber to propel her and the slab towards Dinah. It took quite a bit of ammunition, but she eventually succeeded, getting Dinah on top of the chunk of concrete. Looking below, Ruby saw that ground was fast approaching, and taking no risks hopped off the stone, now using the recoil from her scythe and her own well trained muscles to handle the impact. And she was, for the most part, successful, the worst she felt being the slightly jarring impact. Looking to her side, Dinah seems to have stuck the landing, appearing entirely unfazed by the drop. After heaving a massive sigh of relief and jealousy, Ruby took a look around. And was stunned by what she saw.

She'd fallen, right? It seemed like a long fall, but in reality it wasn't. But still, she'd fallen, right? So why was the city right here? Right in front of her? Looking up, Ruby did indeed see an opening in the rock above her head. It didn't seem impossibly high up, but still. She'd fallen. Trying to wrap her head around this, Ruby could only groan in frustration. Thinking back on the history of Mountain Glenn, there was always the possibility that these caverns were created before hand to facilitate the creation of the city on the surface? Letting them work closely to their project while remaining safe from the Grimm above? No. That didn't make sense, not when you factored in the lower concentration of Grimm prior to the city being abandoned. So then what was going on?

"No, it doesn't matter." To Ruby, it really didn't. While she was curious about what that city was doing down there, she honestly didn't care at the moment. She'd found her way underground, and that was what she'd wanted in the end anyhow. But looking around, she didn't really spot any Grimm. She wasn't sure what was going on, so Ruby did the only thing that she could at this point. She decided to look for a way up. After all, she reasoned, if they built a city up there then obviously they would need a way to connect the two, right?

"...and that finishes today's lesson on the known biology of Grimm. Please review pages two thirty four through 2 forty six and write a two page essay for tomorrow. That will be all. Class dismissed."

Leaving Professor Oobleck's class, Pyrrha could feel nothing more than severe anxiety. The past few nights had not been healthy for her, as her mind would not settle at all. It was more active than Nora on a sugar binge. No matter what she tried, no matter how hard she tried, nothing would allow her to calm herself, or avail herself of the terrifying thoughts. Yes. It had all started a few nights ago, when she'd happened to see that report. The report on the Red Queen of Grimm, the human known to be leading Grimm. The Red Queen. Red. And she used a scythe. Everything pointed to her. To Ruby! But that couldn't be possible, right? Right?! Right?! But nothing seemed to support her hopes, the hopes that the dead could not come back.

Immediately after having found that report, Pyrrha had searched for every last news article related to the Red Queen, checking through all known sites for news, rumors, and even gossip. She looked for even the tiniest possible iota of information that she didn't already have. And everything she'd gotten, everything she'd learned, had only served to further fuel the fear running rampant through her body. Without even thinking, she'd messaged for all of them to meet her as soon as they could. All of them. Those that had helped her betray and kill Ruby. But, but did they actually kill her? No, they had to. Right? Where they'd stabbed her, that was definitely a kill. But the Red Queen, she had to be... Pyrrha had never heard of anyone her age having the type of skill with a scythe that Ruby did. If she had, she would likely have met them in all of the tournaments she'd participated in, as that level of skill would definitely be recognized in the kingdoms for a hunter to be.

Having arrived at the meeting spot first, Pyrrha had paced around relentlessly. Her heart was currently in a frenzy; fear, worry, concern, and even some relief surged around like a maelstrom inside. And one by one, her accomplices showed up. One, two... all ten of them. When they were gathered, Pyrrha showed them everything she'd found. How the Red Queen of Grimm came to be known a couple of months ago, but how investigations into older reports seemed to put her rise around the same time as Ruby's death. Ruby, who's body, weapon, nothing had been found. She'd left no trace, and there was evidence at the scene of their betrayal that she'd been moved, along with Beowolf foot prints. Massive Beowolf foot prints. It was a known fact that Grimm didn't really need to eat. Well, most hunters knew it, so long as they completed basic training at a school like Signal through their required seventeenth birthday. But with this known, why would a Beowolf drag Ruby's corpse away? They don't need to eat, nor do they have any use for it. With this is mind, what else could it have been. And then more proof. Reports of dead hunters found, all either being torn savagely by the claws of some massive elder Grimm or another, or by a clean cut. A clean cut that forensic investigations have determined, time and time again have determined, to be from a large bladed weapon, curved in a crescent moon shape. Likely a scythe, based on known injury patterns a scythe would cause. And when the scythe and the claws hadn't killed, bullets would be found. Not just normal military issue bullets used by the armed forces. No. These were hunter-grade rounds, meant to cleave through most of the world's worst Grimm kind. The same type of ammunition that Ruby's precious scythe used. On top of it all, most of the cases attributed to the Queen showed a pattern, one that seemed to be moving away from Vale, towards the southeast, then curving around north along the western coast, slowly making it's way back to Vale. Everything fit. The weapon, the skill, the timing, pattern. Everything.

While Pyrrha explained it all, and while her sanity was delving dangerously close to the bad zone, she could see. She could see it in all of their eyes too. Even those with a mocking sneer on their faces could not hide that look. They all believed her too. And why wouldn't they? It was evident, wasn't it? She was alive. Ruby was alive. Their dirty little secret wasn't buried. No, it was still there for all the world to see. And if it came back...

And it was then, in that dawning moment of comprehension that they all realized the situation they were in. Not only had they all broken the biggest taboo of human and faunus kind, the one law, the one unspoken law that should never be broken. The greatest taboo of the hunter, who's creed was to protect those who could not protect themselves, and to protect the innocent. Not only had they broken every rule they'd given their lives to. Now that karma was coming back for them. It was coming back in the form of an extremely angry, S~ class criminal, one whose designation wasn't fully decided, but was known to require might on par with elder Grimm hunts to subdue. And she wasn't alone. She would be followed by the hunter's greatest nemesis, now her greatest ally and her thorns. Those that had perfected ways to kill those born of the light. The Grimm.

"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no."

"Calm down Belladonna!" Shouted Cardin Winchester. It wasn't an understatement to say even he was shaken up, despite his bravado. "This is crazy talk. It's not like what Nikos has showed us is irrefutable proof that Rose is still alive."

"That's right. I personally saw to her death."

"Remember that we never confirmed it for ourselves." Quipped in Weiss. The ice queen, usually frosty and hateful around most, was now even more so than usual. It seemed that similar to Cardin's bravado, she was using her anger to try and cope. "Listen, Pyrrha. This never happened, got it? It's not like that little runt could do anything to us anyhow."

"No, no! Don't you guys see? We have to tell the truth, we've just got to! If Ruby really is coming back for us-"

"Belladonna, if you continue talking I will be the one to silence you."

"Do you really think you alone could stop me Cardin? We all know that out of those of us here, I'm the fastest."

"Blake, just calm down! We can't tell anyone anything! If we admit what we'd done, then all of our hiding will have been for naught. We have to be careful. Anyhow, it's not like that dunce can even touch us here. If she tries, we can fight back in self defense. If she lives, then we can say that the wounds she suffered from the hunt made her crazy, and they'd have to take our word for it. She can't touch us. We've won."

"No Weiss." Blake said, her voice eerily calm, coming out more like a high whisper than anything. "We're going to face judgment soon. The past will always catch up with you. Aren't I proof enough?"

After what amounted to about an hour of searching, Ruby finally managed her way back up to the surface, and taking a deep breath, she thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air. It reminded her of why she hated caves. With the sunlight just beginning to creep over the horizon, Ruby and her companion stepped out of the old service elevator they'd found. Unfortunately, the elevator had long since run out of electricity. In order to actually move it, Ruby had to open the roof panel, take the cables, and attach them to a jury rigged pulley system she'd made from some spare parts. To spare you the explanation, she took a few wheels, made some hooks with some spare metal, and using Crescent Rose's mechanical system spun the wheels. The immense force required to move the elevator took it's toll on the system, leaving Ruby with the thought that maintenance would be required, but it still worked well enough. Giving some thanks to her sweetheart, Ruby stepped out. Without an idea of how to find the Creeps, Ruby settled on just getting those big Grimm she saw earlier, then searching around afterwards for the Creeps. She wasn't sure how they'd respond to her, but whatever. It was worth the risk. Dinah was there, meaning Ruby wouldn't be alone. That was all she needed to know, and it was all she felt was the light up, her augmented vision would be more than enough to find and identify the Grimm from before. Motioning for Dinah to stay, Ruby took to the highest roof she could find, climbing her way up with the agility and dexterity of a monkey. After situating herself well enough on top of a nicely sized building, about twelve or thirteen stories up, Ruby scanned the horizon. She searched for those Grimm from before, those ones that could rival, and in one's case even dwarf, Dinah. The Goliaths. Grimm of such immense size and power that their aid would be more than anything she could have dreamed of. And she saw them, with relative ease no less. But it didn't surprise her, especially considering their size.

Hopping off of the roof, Ruby used the scattered I beams sticking out from the decrepit structure to slow her descent, almost as though going down a set of very rusty and rickety stairs. After landing next to Dinah, Ruby motioned to her companion to follow her, as Dinah did. The two moved quickly through the empty streets, making their way over to where Ruby saw the Goliaths, and he next conquer. Or rather, she hoped it would be so easy. After all, she didn't want to fight those monsters. Neither she nor Dinah would likely get out unscathed. Against one? Maybe. Two? Only if there was some sort of God watching out for her. Three? Not unless you dropped a crate of explosive Dust on them and let loose with the fireworks. And sadly, she severely lacked that much Dust. Or even fireworks. Damn. Now she wanted to just randomly play with fireworks. But that would have to come later, Ruby thought as she shook her head, trying to dispel that random thought as quickly as it'd come.

Walking to the city's outer boundaries, Ruby felt herself tensing up. Why wouldn't she? She was about to go face to face with Grimm that could accidently crush her like a bug. Even her head could barely come up past their knees. While they did have stubby and short-ish legs for their size, it was still a considerable height. One that made even Ruby, who'd never let her small-ish stature affect her, feel very tiny and insignificant. But it was too late to turn back. Before her, separated by only tens of meters, was the large one she'd seen earlier. Bigger than any other it seemingly led, this Goliath truly lived up to it's name. It was beyond anything Ruby had seen before. Covering it's face was scarred and cracked plating, with no visible eyes showing. But the markings indicated that it's age was advanced, easily past a couple hundred years. On top of that, the plates covering it's body actually extended out, unlike most of the others, covering it's back in what appeared to look like an elephantine saddle. Down it's legs, on where the knees would be, were bony plates covering the joints, as though the Grimm had evolved to realize that out of all of the places on it's body that would be the most susceptible. It was an awe inspiring Grimm, and one that's presence made Ruby want to shrink back. But she'd be damned if that thing thought it was going to make her cower. Steeling herself, Ruby marched right up to the Grimm, disregarding the fact that it could crush her at any time it pleased.

"Hey!"

A bit gruff, but it worked. Despite mostly ignoring her while she approached, the Goliaths quickly turned around to see what was making the noise, and found Ruby and Dinah approaching. Of the two, the Goliaths seemed wary, and also patient. As though they were observing these two new intruders. What this could mean, Ruby had no idea. All she knew was that she was going to have to play this carefully. With it's advanced age, it should have a decent grasp on human and faunus speak, as most Grimm tend to acquire as they age. Banking on this,Ruby began.

"Hello there. My name is Ruby, and I would like for you guys to work for me." There may only have been around five or so in front of her, but Ruby was still kind of afraid. Even with all of her Grimm, beating them all would require some luck. Nevertheless, she persisted. "You guys don't seem very active. Why? Why do you just bide your time here, waiting for a chance that won't come? You are great, you are impressive. So then why wait for the humans to give you a chance? Why not take it? Why not join me and take that chance. Make that chance. What do you say?"

Understanding it's master's intentions, Dinah stepped forward, seemingly supplementing what Ruby had just told the Goliaths with what Ruby assumed was some sort of Grimm speak. It seemed that Dinah and the Goliath that was in charge were speaking for quite a while, as the Sun which before had only begun to peak over the horizon was now illuminating everything with a greater luminescence than before. Ruby reasoned that maybe a quarter hour had passed before anything changed. Dinah back up, falling back to Ruby's side, and lowered her head slightly to the Goliath. Not as in fealty, as Ruby observed. It seemed more like a threat or a challenge, though why Ruby could not comprehend. But it wasn't anything to worry about, as a second or so later, the Goliaths as one lowered their heads to Ruby, something she'd come to learn sort of was like a Grimm's way of acknowledging your being superior to them. It was perfect. Perfect. She'd gotten them, those monsters. Those Goliaths.

"Ohh boy. Do I have big plans for you fellas."

*Author's Note*

And that's that. Welcome to yet another chapter of The Red Queen.

This chapter was a so-so chapter. Ruby got her Goliaths, and I'm going to have her give up on the Creeps. The next couple of chapters will finally be it, the final arc to The Red Queen. With this in mind, I'd like to say that this will likely end up as being one of my biggest projects yet.

There isn't really much I can explain here, so for now let's just leave it at the usual. Any comments, criticisms, or concerns that you have, let me know. I'll try to get back on you if I can, address it in the next A/N, maybe even PM you first if it's a good enough question (though please do not PM me with any questions, as somebody else may have them, thus leading me to answer multiple times), or maybe even address it in the story proper. Anyhow, stay classy you guys, and have a good night.

Revise: So many of you have misunderstood where this fic is going that I had to rewrite the A/N to explain this. First, I wrote Love is a Knight-mare, and I am not at all above putting RubyxJaune into my fic. However, while I may allude to it, it won't happen. Realize, I'm adding those moments in there tto lighten sstuff up. There is no Romance tag on The Red Queen, and there will be no Romance this time around.

Thank you.

Dravyn out.