The drums beat a throbbing tone, filling the matron's head and matching her heartbeat. Surrounded by robed figures, she danced in the forest, lit by a red, hellish glow. Spitting dark, foul words, she bobbed and weaved over two objects on a table. Laying her hands on both, she unwrapped one, then the other, revealing them to be children. Eyes cast up to the heavens, she clutched the support, screaming her dark words. Reaching into her robe, she brought out a blood-red dagger, encrusted by rubies and jet. Her cries reached a crescendo, and she plunged the dagger down, and there was silence.

The Breach. That was what they were calling it. The first time in centuries a major city had been infiltrated by Grimm. At Beacon, things continued at normal, but you could see it. The determination in everyone's eyes, the hushed whispers in dark hallways. The innocence and luster of being a Huntress or Hunter had worn off, replaced, whether you liked it or not, by the reality of the situation, which was this: things would never be the same. Interaction between schools was low, neither one trusting the other. The Vytal tournament had been pushed back a week, so that troops could be flown in to guard the festivities. Cinder Fall observed it all with quiet satisfaction. They were fools, only reacting to stimuli. This changed nothing, she was still in control. She held all the cards. Leave Roman to rot or free him, it was of no consequence. He would only give Ironwood what she told him, which wasn't much. Tools, all of them. If they broke, it was only an inevitability. She would find another if need be. Cinder let a slight smile grace her featureless face. Her two proteges, Emerald and Mercury, observed Cinder with quiet interest. Let them think what they will, try to decipher what I'm thinking. Keep them occupied. She could not let those two get any thoughts of ambition. They would be deterred once they saw her in the tournament. She would win, of course. That Pyrrha girl was interesting, as well as a choice few others. Breaking them would fun. Cinder turned around from the window she was looking out of, and spoke to Emerald and Mercury.

"Are you up for a challenge?" Mercury didn't speak, merely scoffed. Emerald addressed Cinder,

"What do need us to do?"

"I have decided that Roman is useful enough for us to break him out. Not yet: you don't need to move now. I want him freed the day before the tournament begins. Maximum chaos, Ironwood and his cronies pissing themselves over how such a thing could've happened. Ozpin will start to question his actions, Ironwood will push for him to step up security. Yes, the day before. Now leave me alone. I have things I must attend to that you are not required for." Mercury merely shrugged and left. Emerald lagged behind.

"Do you want him broken out quiet or loud?"

"Loud." Perfect. Emerald nodded and closed the door.

"Mister…what may I call you?" Professor Ozpin said, looking past the transcript in his hand.

"Just uh…call me Amber, I guess."

"Amber. While I may not stoke you as a particularly observant person, I assure you I am. I require your complete honesty, otherwise there will be serious…repercussions in the future, should I find out you lied."

"I understand, sir."

"Now. Let's start with your hometown. You didn't mark anything."

"I don't know where I come from."

"Where were you before your time here?"

"Vacuo."

"Anywhere specific?" the headmaster steepled his fingers.

"Outside the walls."

"I see. Amber, your name on this transcript is troubling. If your last name is the same as.."

"It is."

"I see." the man nodded his head. "If this is true, this changes everything. She was a lunatic, none of those rituals ever worked, but if you are who you say you are, there may be some…fallout."

"I understand."

"Very well. But remember this: when someone finds what you work so hard to keep under wraps, there will be no more hiding. There is no telling if the world will be ready, but I ask this of you: will you?" Amber didn't answer: merely turned and walked out.

"Welcome to Beacon, Mister Fiend." muttered Ozpin, looking at the transcript. "Oum help us all."

Ruby sat alongside Weiss in her bed, facing Blake and Yang, who were doing the same in Yang's bed.

"I know we haven't talked about it, but..." said Ruby, before getting interrupted by Yang.

"I know. We haven't done any work for our little side project in a while. But with the tournament coming up" Yang was interrupted by her Faunus partner.

"I don't know if we should enter the tournament. I mean, how much time will it take up? Besides, with other students distracted, we have more breathing room." Blake interjected.

"That's preposterous!"

"Guys, stop, don't fight like this..."

"We can't just sit by and-"

"We aren't! We can't go on forever, we just took a major step!"

"Did we? Because all I have since the Breach are more questions and not any answers!" yelled Blake. Her golden eyes turned downcast once she saw her shocked teammates. "I'm sorry, it's just...frustrating. How do you deal with not knowing? Do you even care?" she finished, voice cracking at the last sentence. Yang put her arm around the girl.

"Of course we care," she said softly. "That's why I've done some digging. Well, look, it's better if he just shows you. I know a guy, and I think he can help us with some answers."

Yang was trustworthy, if a little headstrong and reckless. Ruby trusted her sister with her life. However, when they strode all the way across Beacon to the third-year student quarters, containing people possibly 6 years older than Ruby, she could not help but shudder.

"It'll be fine," reassured Yang, with a wave of her hand.

"Where is Weiss?" asked Ruby. She always felt more safe around her partner.

"She's got some Dust presentation, this is just getting information anyway. Even so, I thought you would like to see our mysterious benefactor." said Yang, with a mischievous smile. Ruby was not reassured, nor did Blake look very comfortable. However the Faunus felt, however, she didn't speak up about it. Yang stopped in front of a standard dormitory door. Knocking lightly, she announced,

"Hey, Amber? It's me, Yang." The door opened, revealing a small man with hair darker than a raven's, with irises so brown they were almost black. Or were just they black, thought Ruby with a shudder. He looked tired, with crow's feet under his eyes. However, his face lit up when he saw Yang.

"So soon? I thought you said..." he trailed off, seeing the look on Yang's face.

"It's about the other thing," she said in a darker tone.

"Oh. Uh, please, come in, make yourself at home." Amber patted a black feaux leather couch.

"Woah," said Ruby, marveling at his room. To start, there was only one bed, not four. It was shoved in the far corner, next to a fridge and microwave. On the other side of the room, the couch faced a large T.V, which had multitudes of wires connecting it to a desktop computer. Ruby peered at the screen, trying to decipher the strange text displayed.

"You code much?" asked Amber. Ruby ignored him, until she realized he was talking to her.

"No, not at all," she remarked sheepishly.

"Well, it'll probably be a little hard for you to understand this," he said, plopping down in an office chair in front of the computer. "Ok, let's see here, what was I doing? Yang's project...hmm...ok..." He turned to the girls, who looked bewildered, except Yang, who bounced with excitement. "Sorry for the wait, just let me refresh my memory." The girls patiently waited. Ruby leaned over to Yang, speaking quietly.

"So, uh, sis? How do you know this guy?"

"He uh...helps me with homework. Mostly the flight lessons, stuff like that." Yang replied. She looked over at Blake, who raised an eyebrow. Helped you? Or just plain did your homework for you? Her eyes seemed to ask. Yang was about to elaborate, but was interrupted by Amber.

"Ok! So Yang here asked me to do some very strange things. But me, liking money, accepted, and I've got some info you might like about your...targets in the White Fang. First up, Roman Torchwick. He's pretty easy, always been a thorn in the side of the police, but now he's stepped up his game. A lot. With the help, obviously, of the White Fang." Amber paused, looking at the girls' unimpressed faces.

"You know, I found this out myself," he elaborated. Ruby was astonished.

"How?!" she spluttered.

"Well, I'm a bit...unorthodox. While most Hunters do field work, I sit here in my lair, tapping away at a computer. You would be surprised what you can find with a few password-spoof keys." Ruby, satisfied, sat back on the couch. Amber continued.

"So, I managed to find out their schedule, and where they have their meetings. Dust is getting moved somewhere to the southeast, I assume Mountain Glenn. However, where Roman and the top-level admins in White Fang will be, I can't find out. The public postings and basic grunt intel are all I can gather, however, I think that Roman will be wherever the most Dust is getting loaded. From information on the meeting, I've managed to plot points on the map, indicating where these shipments are loaded." Amber tapped on his computer, and the T.V screen lit up with a map of Vale City. Angry red dots indicated where the shipments were being loaded. However, it didn't take long to notice a pattern...

"He's moving across the shoreline!" exclaimed Ruby, eliciting looks from her teammates. Amber waited for silence, then spoke.

"Precisely. Therefore, with the new information combined with our knowledge of his pattern, this will be where Roman is next." Amber tapped a key, and a green dot lit up the screen. "Now, you can either attack now, which while sounding good, has some drawbacks, or wait until a new pattern emerges, and attack then."

"Why not attack now?" asked Yang, always thinking of offense.

"Well, from what I can tell, this area is totally owned by the White Fang. Police response is minimal to nonexistent on crimes there, and the body count for henchmen is higher than any other site visited."

"A possible HQ?" asked Blake, thinking out loud.

"Maybe. But, I am merely a gatherer of information. The decision is up to you," said Amber, pulling a flash drive from his computer and handing it to Yang. "Now, as for my payment..." he flashed a smile as Yang pulled out 200 Lien and gave it to him. "Oh that's right," Amber said, stopping the girls before they left. "If you want any help...I could help with getting you there, and...well, I am a Huntsman." He said. Ruby looked at his small, wiry frame skeptically.

"What's your weapon?" she asked innocently. He pulled a rifle with a bayonet from the wall, blowing dust off of it. The design was simple enough, reminiscent of a musket from the Faunus War, but instead of gray steel binding the wood stock, a metallic substance the color of jet was used instead. The bayonet was also the same black color, perhaps made of obsidian. It looked like more of an antique than a weapon. Ruby looked at Amber sheepishly.

"Are you sure you know how to use that?" she asked. Amber barked a confident laugh.

"Sure I do! What's so complicated about swish, swish, stab?"