AN: The next installment of this budding story is here! This should shed some light on the girls' current situation. Anyway, here's the chapter, read it, enjoy it, and review.

Thanks to Spartacus400 on /r/RWBY for beta reading.

Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

The Incident

Ruby yawned and stretched out her limbs. Her back creating a somewhat audible pop that attracted a disgusted look from her immediate classmates. She dismissed their glances and wiped her eyes. Upon finishing, the young girl flopped back down into her slouched position, listening to Professor-No, Dr. Oobleck ramble on. Ruby sloppily jotted down his words while barely even contemplating them. It was all she could do as she waited for the time to pass by and the bell to ring. She just wanted to escape the classroom at all costs.

Her white-themed teammate witnessed Ruby's actions and acknowledged them with a disapproving shake of the head. Mentally transmitting a lengthy lecture to the younger girl, who sighed in reply.

"Ruby." The heiress' quiet, commanding voice intruded their silent exchange.

Ruby peered out the tall glass window and mumbled, "What?"

"What did I tell you about-"

"I know, I know. 'Paying attention in class,'" Ruby sat her chin into her palm.

Weiss crossed her arms, "And?"

There was a small pause before the scythe-wielder murmured, "'Taking neat notes...'"

"It's not that hard, Ruby."

"I know," Ruby groaned, "It's just, I don't want to learn this with a pen and paper...I'd rather learn it with my own two eyes and two feet...like when we went to Mountain Glenn…"

Weiss rested a hand on her team leader's shoulder, "Look, I know you want to get out there, but you need to do this first. And you need to do it right. You have all the time you need to go out and explore after this." She sat back up, "It's not like today is the end of the world." She added.

"I guess you're right…" Ruby adjusted the pen in her grip and continued on with the lesson.

Oobleck put his chalk down and turned to the ensemble of students, "Alright, class, you know the drill! Standard paper on my desk tomorrow!"

Yang and Ruby groaned in sync with their bell.

The team leader inhaled a deep breath of the fresh summer air as her and her team made their way through the school's gigantic courtyard. Her steps almost prancing in a thrill as to experiencing the outdoors once again. She felt the radiant sun against her chilled skin. A small, cool breeze accompanying the yellow star in the complicated dance that was nature. Hidden in the branches of the flourishing trees, an orchestra of beaked woodwinds played the dance's rhythm along with the whistle of the leaves. Truly, a wonderful day for an explorer.

"I told you, Ruby," Weiss piped up, "You have all the time in the world to come out here."

Ruby spun around the group, "I get it, Weiss, you were right!" She skipped off to her team's right, near the edge of the path. Careening alongside of the stone walkway was the beginning of one of Beacon's beautiful gardens. The nature preserves were home to all different kinds of life, hundreds of species of plants and dozens of species of animals. In the garden, all the life coexisted peacefully, even with the students.

"Woah, Sis, you can calm down a little."

The beaming girl giggled and spied a lovely white rose down by her feet, "I'm just happy to get out of that classroom…" She squatted to meet the flower, cupping it with her palm, "Aren't you guys too?"

No response.

"Guys?"

Again, No response.

"Guys, are you ok?" Ruby turned to her teammates. Weiss, Blake, and Yang were staring up into the sky. Then she noticed everyone else in the courtyard had froze too, mesmerized by something in the sky. The just all stopped in their places. Books and scrolls slowly slipped from hands. Everyone just froze like a terrified animal. Ruby cautiously craned her head up.

The yellow sun was gone. And a red one had taken its place.

The star so dearest to them, the star that gave them life with shining radiance and beauty. The star they took for granted had vanished. Only to be replaced with the dim dwarf emitting a terrifying red glow.

A tiny pool of a dark roast swirled inside its porcelain confinement. Radiating it steam into the air and against the skin of the aging headmaster. The heat prickling up against his senses as he took in the sweet aroma of his caffeinated nectar. His hand cupped the mug for its warmth and pushed the rim up to his lips, letting the piping drug flow into his system. A relaxed sigh welcomed the searing heat. It seemed to melt the troubles away for the moment, like the calm before taking on the storm.

He sniffed his roast once more and opened his eyes to the world. To his school. Looking down out his emerald-tinted observation deck, he oversaw his students traverse the university's elaborate courtyards. Everything had finally been settling down after the incident in downtown Vale. Most of those involved with the Breach, as it's been coined, have almost completely recovered; physically and emotionally. The White Fang had also seemingly dropped off the face of Remnant for the time being. Grimm densities were at an all time low. The kingdom was silent.

Too silent.

A few minutes ticked by as he watched his school operate. It wasn't until he went for another sip of coffee he realized something about his students.

They had stopped. Every single one. Frozen where they stood.

Books were dropped, bags slid off their owners' shoulders, scrolls fell from fingers' grasp. They all stared at up into the blue sky, captivated by whatever they saw.

Ozpin turned to discover what sight could cause such a reaction. That's when his jaw nearly dropped. He watched the red sun blankly for a few seconds before realizing that something needed to be done about the students below. The last thing anyone needed right now was panic.

He spun to his desk and plopped his coffee onto its surface, almost spilling it. Opening up his holopanel, he readied the schools intercom. He approached his window, intercom in hand, as the holopanel behind him dialed a 'General Ironwood'.

Silver eyes widened in witness of the red orb in the sky. Ruby was petrified, she couldn't bring herself to move an inch. She didn't know what was happening and no one else seemed to know either. No one had any idea how this was going to affect them. If they did, they chose not to speak up, leaving everybody in the dark. And for the first time in a long time, Ruby was afraid.

"Attention students and faculty." Ozpin's voice surfaced through the silence, snapping team RWBY out of their daze, "Students must immediately return to their dorms and all faculty must immediately return to their classrooms and/or lounges."

Before the headmaster had finished, Weiss had already begun making her way for the dorms, "Come on, dolts." She called back.

Blake and Yang decided not to give a retort and just follow the Schnee. Ruby, putting caution in her step, tailed her team, her eyes still locked with the menacing red sun.

"Ruby, hurry up!" Yang called back, pulling the younger sibling from her gaze. Ruby shook her head and quickly caught up to her friends.

"I don't like this." Ruby said from her bunk.

Weiss sighed and set down her pen onto her history paper, "None of us do, Ruby."

"I know...It's just…" The brunette sat up, "It's been over an hour since..whatever that was outside...happened, and we still haven't heard a thing about it!"

"Ozpin probably knows as much as us, Ruby," Blake looked up from her weapon, "It was most likely his instinct to get everyone inside."

Ruby hopped off her bed, "Someone has to have an idea of what is going on! I say we go find them!"

"No. Ruby." Yang shot her sister down from behind her scroll, "Ozpin said to stay in the dorms."

"But doesn't not knowing bother you guys?" The team leader approached the dorm's window.

Weiss rolled her eyes and spun her chair to face the red girl, "Yes, but there is nothing we can do about it at the moment. So we just have to wait."

Ruby huffed, hunching over as she looked out the window. In a sign of defeat she let her forehead fall onto the glass. Contact was barely made before she immediately recoiled, almost losing her balance.

"You ok, Rubes?" The blonde raised a brow.

"Yeah…" Ruby placed her hand on the pane. An icy chill pierced her skin, causing her to shiver, "It's spring right?"

The other three girls hummed a simultaneous 'Yes.' "This week was the warmest it's been this month," Blake added.

"Hey, guys, look at this," Yang conjugated her team in the center of the room around her scroll.

"Let's me see that," Weiss swiped the tablet away from her teammate, who clamored a loud, "HEY!"

The Ice Queen gave Yang a searing stare, backing her off, "...It's an announcement from General Ironwood." She tapped the screen.

"Attention citizens of Vale." Ironwood's voice boomed through the scroll's speakers, "An evacuation of the kingdom is under way. Immediately start packing your belongings; notice, you are only allowed to pack fifteen kilograms per person. You will then immediately rendezvous with the nearest evac point, those points are in a list attached with this announcement. Once there, you will board a series of infantry transport vehicles that will transport you to Mountain Glenn. Further instructions will be given to you upon your arrival. End Message."

"Hmph.." Weiss handed the device back to Yang and swiftly spun on her heel to begin packing her bag. Blake followed her without a word.

Yang pocketed her scroll and patted her sister's back, "Better get packin'..." She said lightheartedly before leaving her sibling's side.

Ruby drifted in the center of the room, hanging in her own silence. This had to be a dream. There was no possible way something like this could be happening. Not now. There was still so much she wanted to do. So much she needed to do. She needed to explore her world, but she hadn't even finished her first year of college. Now this happens.

"Attention students and faculty," The team paused for their headmaster's message, "Bullhead dropships are on standby to deliver you to the closet rendezvous point. Please move expediently."

Ruby forced herself over to her bunk bed and pulled out a suitcase from underneath it. She placed it on Weiss' bed and snapped it open. She transferred several pairs of clothes into her luggage, filling it halfway. Then she reached for Crescent Rose.

"Ruby, what are you doing? We can't take our weapons, they're too heavy," Weiss interjected from her left.

"Then I'll leave the clothes…"

"Ruby…" Came Yang's voice, "Forgot Crescent Rose, clothing is more important...Now come on, we have to get down to the bullheads."

Ruby tried looked down at her knees wobbling in her seat. Her vision was blurry as her head rocked in all sorts of directions. She bounced in the flat seat repeatedly. She swore that the driver of this truck was purposefully hitting every bump in their path. Straining to keep herself still, her fingertips grabbed at the edge of her seat.

Her body shuddered in the cold air. It was getting near winter temperatures.

When they were dropped off at the rendezvous, they were almost immediately loaded up onto military grade trucks. Ruby had conversed with some of the other passengers to try and form a theory on what was happening. So far, no one knew anything.

She tilted her head up to look at the armed soldier to her right. He stared straight on, out the back of the canopied truck bed. The barrel of his rifle was in his palm as its stock pivoted against the floor of the bed as terrible suspension attempted to keep the vehicle stable. He looked to be tired, and the unconscious chewing of his jaw was a red flag for anxiety. He did his best not to make any eye contact with the evacuees.

"Excuse me!" Ruby shouted over the loud diesel engine and truck's impact against the terrain.

Before turning to face the schoolgirl, he glanced down for a moment, mentally preparing himself, "What is it?"

"Do you have any idea what's happening?"

The soldier took a minute to carefully contemplate his answer. His eyes drifted over Ruby, her team, and the dozen and a half of civilians aboard the transport. He had to give a reply without stirring up any sort of panic. But was that possible at moment like this? Every passing moment grew tension. If he was vague in any way, alarm would arise and if he was too descriptive, the same response would be found. There was no correct answer right now. It was now just whether he gave them the truth or a lie.

"Ok, everybody, listen up!" The soldier stomped up to his feet, "I have something to tell you all that no one here is gonna like," He sighed to himself as everybody had locked their focus on him, "I do not know the full extent of what happened about two hours ago, but I do know this; Life as you knew it is gone." The passengers blinked at him, "All the citizens of Vale, men, women, children, are being transported to Mountain Glenn. There you will be dropped off to wait to be brought down into Mountain Glenn."

No.

Please.

No.

Another ten minutes ticked by. It was freezing. Ice was starting to form out on the ground around them. Any longer and some of the other civilians might start showing signs of hypothermia.

"Next group of fifty, get in!" A soldier called out as the crowd diminished slightly.

"Don't push or shove! Remain orderly!" The voice of another soldier echoed

The four were close enough to the front of the crowd to catch a glimpse of what they were being led to. Ruby stood on the toes of her boots to look over people in front of them. Civilians, shoulder to shoulder, were being packed into a freight elevator the size of a small room. She watched as the heavy doors closed and clanked together, locking and sealing. After about a minute, the lift initiated its decent.

"They're bringing us underground?" Yang raised her brow.

Blake looked up into the red dusk sky, "Maybe it has to do something with the cold?"

Weiss shook her head, "But Mountain Glenn's underground city is level with the subway system, it's not deep enough to have a large effect on temperature differences…This doesn't make sense, all of this."

"That doesn't seem to make a difference with them," Ruby said

"Next fifty, standby!"

Blake's spine stiffened. A chill ran down her back. Her ears twitched. Something was off. Someone was watching her. She combed the crowd, searching for any peering eyes. Though all the people constantly conversing with each other made it difficult to spot the one oddball in the sea of heads.

"You ok, Blake?" Yang glanced down at her troubled teammate.

"I…" The faunus let her answer hang for a moment before abandoning her sweep, "I'm fine."

The elevator rose back up above the surface, its metal doors opening wide wide for its next serving. The soldiers ordered the next group forward. Team RWBY was pulled into the lift. They were pushed, shoved, and squeezed by the others until they finally settled at the front of the fifty. Panicked civilians mumbled aloud over the humming of the overhead lights. But their voices were soon drowned out by the doors swinging shut.

As they closed, that's when Blake saw it.

Saw him. His horns.

He stared directly into her until the until the doors closed him off from view.

Adam.

Action on all character fronts!

Love,

~Vox