And here it is, at last! The first chapter of Ten Little Hunters is finally out. Get your detective caps ready, because after the chapter the sleuthing commences - the part where YOU come in! More will be explained at the end of the chapter, but how about I stop talking and let you get started on the case?

After all, you have quite a lot of work to do.

Chapter 1: AND THEN THERE WERE NINE

It could have been a dark and stormy night. Maybe it wasn't. Point is, nobody fucking cares because that's super cliché and not part of the plot at all.

The end of Team RWBY's first year had come, and not a moment too soon. Before they all went back home for the summer break, the team decided to kick back and celebrate what had come and what had gone. Most of the school had already departed, but the stragglers were making the best of their last day, and currently Team RWBY was lounging in Team JNPR's room along with all of Team JNPR and Sun and Neptune. Yang had whipped a bottle of champagne from out of thin air and poured a cup for some of the occupants. Pyrrha had declined and opted to make tea for herself and anyone else who wanted it, to which Sun, Ren, and Blake graciously accepted.

The scene was not quite one of absolute chaos, but considering that it was RWBY, JNPR, and half of SSSN all in one room, it was about as close as you could get to absolute chaos while still having not broken anything yet. Yang, Ruby, Jaune, and Nora surrounded a very loud and intense round of Remnant: The Game, with Yang and Jaune tied neck and neck for first, Ruby in fetal position as she watched her army get destroyed by yet another Giant Nevermore card, and Nora just happy to be there.

At the kitchen table, Sun sighed contently as he leaned back in his chair. "This sight never gets old," he commented as he sipped at the steaming-hot tea from his mug. "Y'know, I never expected you to be a tea bag kinda guy, Ren."

Ren blew on his own mug. "It's more convenient. Dorm regulations don't leave much room for classic brewing."

"Suppose not," murmured Sun. "These still taste pretty good, honestly."

"They're a bit overdone for my taste," chimed Blake, adjacent to Sun. "This one's too tangy. Tea shouldn't taste like that."

"Bit of a hipster there, aren't ya?" Sun grinned at Blake.

"No, just well-cultured, you philistine."

"… For the record, I hate it when you call me that."

"Because you don't know what the word means?"

"No!... Yes… maybe?"

"Uh-huh."

Pyrrha chucked at the two. "Glad to see us all relaxing like this. It's been quite the long year," She turned to glance at the table of bickering board game players, namely Jaune. "Everyone's been a bit high-strung with exams and whatnot."

Sun resumed leaning back in his chair. "Yup! We're relaxed alright!" He heard a giggle from off to the side. "Some of us more than others."

They all turned towards the far corner of the room, where Weiss and Neptune were endlessly chatting and laughing with each other by the window, about what no one knew, as the pandemonium of the board game drowned them out. Weiss was swaying like a palm frond in the wind, and Neptune was doing his best to keep her from falling out of her seat.

"Is she… getting drunk… off champagne?" whispered Sun incredulously.

Ren shrugged. "It's not the most surprising thing in the world. She's not a particularly big person, by any stretch of the imagination."

Sun laughed. "I believe the word you're looking for is 'midget'."

"That's offensive, Sun," chided Blake, jabbing and elbow at Sun's ribs.

He grunted. "Yeah? Well, so is philistine!"

"You don't even know what it means."

"It sure sounds offensive…" Sun scowled, before turning back to the pair by the window. "I'd sure like to know what her New Year's Eves are like, with that kind of alcohol tolerance."

He turned towards Pyrrha. "What do you think?"

Pyrrha cocked her head, confused. "About them? Well, I think they make quite the cute couple," she answered politely.

"No no no no," Sun waved his hands in front of him. "I meant when are you and Jaune getting together?"

Pyrrha's face immediately flushed red. "M-me and J-J-Jaune? W-well, what makes you say that?" she stammered.

Sun grinned. "I see how you look at that boy. Watching his every move, smiling at his every quirk. You fall head over heels for him every time he literally falls head over heels. And everyone knows it, too."

Pyrrha tried to sink back in her chair and make herself as small as possible. "He's my partner. I'm just looking out for him, as any good partner should!"

Sun took a large swig of his tea. "Nah, you're totally in love and it's super obvious, too!"

Pyrrha frowned. "I am not super obvious. Besides, it's not that big of a deal. Nobody really wants to hear any of this, right? Right, Blake?" She glanced pleadingly at Blake for any help.

Blake sipped on her tea nonchalantly. "You're not the best at drawing attention away from yourself, considering your experience with fame, ironically. But…" she said with a smirk. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to hear what you have to say about you and Jaune."

Pyrrha blanched, and turned to her fellow teammate. "Ren? Am I…?" she trailed off, going to her last line of defense.

"Yes."

She slumped back in her chair – a rare posture for the champion – as her heart begin to sink, when suddenly (to Pyrrha's relief) an uproar from the other table drew everyone's attention.

"I WIN!" bellowed Yang, standing atop the table in a victorious pose. "Take that!" she yelled pointedly at Jaune, whose head was in his hands as he tried to make sense of his kingdom's shattering downfall.

"Nooooo…" he moaned.

"…ra?" chimed Nora happily, seemingly unaware that she had lost just as utterly.

Pyrrha instinctively rose out of her seat to go comfort the crestfallen Arc – and felt three pairs of eyes upon her. With an exasperated sigh, she turned to face Ren, Blake, and Sun. "It's not what you think."

Sun shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it's exactly what we think."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and made her way over to Jaune, putting her hands on his shoulders and rubbing them.

The monkey faunus grinned and was about to share snarky remarks with Blake when the sound of clinking glass rang out over the room.

"Ahem… Well, now that this… disaster is over…" Ruby glanced dolefully over at the disheveled game board before raising her glass. "Sisters! Friends! Wei-"

"Doooon't you daaaare," slurred Weiss, semiconsciously contributing from inside Neptune's arms. Neptune grinned sheepishly at the rest of the group.

"Uh, right!" Ruby cleared her throat. "It's been one heck of a year! From kicking terrorist butt to saving people from big scary Grimm, I'd say we're pretty accomplished for first years! Firstly, we all managed to pass those finals, so that's an accomplishment in itself! Congrats everybody."

A round of applause chorused in the room.

"Second, Pyrrha straight up destroyed competition in this year's Vytal Tournament with the giant trophy to prove it! A hand for our resident badass!" Woots and claps echoed as Pyrrha blushed and grinned humbly, reaching a hand to scratch the back of her head. Jaune squeezed her other hand proudly.

"And of course, a toast to some pretty cool new friends we made this year! Our favorite petty criminal friend Sun…" Ruby grinned at Sun, who rolled his eyes, "… who almost became our friend by just showing up all the time. And Neptune, who happened to be dragged along for the ride!" Ruby pointed in Weiss and Neptune's general direction, and he flashed a sparkling white grin.

"Although now that he's here," added Yang, gesturing towards Neptune and Weiss with a twinkle in her eye. "I guess you could say he got… frozen in place?"

A collective groan filled the room. Sun, who had been sipping his tea, choked at the abysmal punchline, and Blake rubbed his back as he erupted into a coughing fit.

Ruby facepalmed. "Thanks Yang… now with that out of the way, I just wanna say that I'm so glad to have met you all. I honestly don't know where I would be if I hadn't met you guys. Sheesh, I wasn't even thinking about making friends before Beacon, but now that I have, I wouldn't trade any of you for the world. You guys are the best. Cheers!"

A resounding "Cheers!" echoed amongst the ten hunters, and Yang grabbed Ruby in a crushing bear hug. "Awww, I'm so proud of my little sister!" said Yang as Ruby squirmed in her grasp.

"It's nothing," muttered Ruby, muffled in her sister's bosom. "Now would be a great time to let go-"

"Uh… guys?" blurted Jaune. "I hate to break up the city of sisterly love here, but I think something's wrong with Sun."

It was true. The monkey faunus had not stopped choking and his face was starting to turn blue. Suddenly, Sun fell out of his chair and crumpled on the floor.

"SUN!" yelled Blake and Neptune simultaneously. Blake immediately knelt by his side to aid him in any way she could while Neptune propped Weiss up against the chair before rushing over. The rest of the room had gone deathly quiet.

Slowly the choking ceased, but that wasn't the only thing. "He's not breathing," murmured Neptune, fingers on his teammate's neck as he tried to feel for a pulse.

Blake had abruptly stood back up and promptly grabbed Sun's almost empty tea mug to sniff at it. After a brief pause, she set the cup back down, the color drained from her face. "Almonds."

"Almonds…? Oh no…" Pyrrha's hand flew up to her mouth. She instantly grabbed her tea and sniffed it. "Mine doesn't smell like it. Blake? Ren? What about yours?" She inquired worriedly, and both responded in the negative.

Nora looked between the three, a confused look on her face. "Uh… what's so bad about almonds? I get that some people don't like them, but you must have some really big grudge against them to go as far as blaming almonds for some choking Sun out…"

"He was poisoned with cyanide," said Blake flatly.

"Oh."

Ruby stared wide-eyed at Sun's unmoving body. "Who would do such a thing?" she mumbled, still in shock.

"Maybe somebody misplaced the almonds and the cyanide?" offered Nora.

Blake examined the cup. "It would've had to be someone who could access chemicals like this with ease. Also, considering that Sun is a faunus, it may be someone with a faunus vendetta." Blake looked out of the corner of her eye at Weiss, who shot up clumsily, knocking her chair over.

"That's preposterous!" she slurred angrily. "Even if he's a bit of a rogue, I have absolutely no reason to kill him at all. Maybe you should be blaming the person who poured the cups!" All eyes turned to Pyrrha.

For once, Pyrrha looked indignant. "You can't be serious. Like Ruby said, I'm glad to have you all as friends, so don't you dare assume that I would murder any of my closest allies. The nerve…"

"Okay!" Ruby reigned in everyone's attention. "We can't start throwing fingers at people. We have to do this the logical way. First off, we need to see if we can get Sun any help – if we're fast enough, he may be able to survive. Second, we need to let Ozpin know what the situation is. I say we split into our teams – we'll get Ozpin and you guys grab the nurses. Neptune, you can come with us. We'll take care of these things then meet in the commons. Make sure to grab your weapons as well. Are we good?"

A collective nod.

"Great. Let's go!" And with that, the teams exited the JNPR dorm room noiselessly and made their way through the eerily quiet halls of Beacon.

About ten minutes later, the groups reconvened in the commons area.

"You guys get Ozpin?" huffed Jaune as his team came to a halt.

Weiss narrowed her already barely open eyes. "Yup. He's right here," she slurred in mock cheerfulness, motioning exasperatedly to the empty space beside her.

Jaune winced. "I think I liked you better sober. Somehow you got meaner."

Ren looked past Weiss's seething sarcasm. "Figured as much. We couldn't find the nurses either."

"On that note, have you seen anybody else?" chimed Ruby. "It's as if they all just disappeared into thin air…"

Pyrrha nodded. "You're right. Ozpin would be the most likely to stay back here, but it concerns me that his post is empty."

"Do you think he forgot about us?" inquired Nora.

Pyrrha frown. "That doesn't seem like something the headmaster would do."

Nora shrugged. "I guess so. He's the old type, but not the forgetful type."

Blake's head drooped. "Dammit. We couldn't help Sun…" she sniffed bitterly.

Yang wrapped Blake comfortingly in a hug. "It's okay. It's not your fault, Blake."

A short, somber silence washed over the nine hunters as the impact of the situation weighed down on them. One of their own was dead, and there seemed to not be a single other soul in the whole of the academy.

Finally, Jaune broke the silence. "Weiss. Blake. Neptune. Where are your weapons?"

Blake and Weiss looked at each other. "We couldn't find them," confessed Weiss. "Our lockers were open when we got there. As if someone had stolen them."

"Sun and I left ours back at the place Sun and I were staying at," shrugged Neptune. "We didn't think we'd be needing them, although I guess we should've known better at this point."

"That's unfortunate," sighed Jaune. "So, what do we do now?"

"Why don't we try to get out of Beacon?" offered Ren. "Once we're out, we can probably be able to get someone to help us out, be it the authorities or whatnot."

"Good idea, Renny!" exclaimed Nora immediately. "I'm on board. Everyone?"

No one disagreed.

However, when they reached the main door, they found it to be locked shut.

"Dammit!" grumbled Yang, who attempted to punch the door open but to no avail.

"Oh no…" moaned Jaune. "What do we do now?"

"We could read this."

Blake had snatched a single leaf of paper that had been taped somewhat discreetly to the door. The others quickly gathered around her as she began to read the paper out loud.

"Ten little hunters all gathered to dine, one choked on a joke and then there were nine.

Nine little hunters all took the bait, one died for their lover and then there were eight.

Eight little hunters, a torch for the lemon, a light was snuffed out and then there were seven.

Seven little hunters, three out of the mix, one sacrificed all and then there were six.

Six little hunters, none yet to shrive, one ran from themselves and then there were five.

Five little hunters, one behind a cage door, curiosity killed the cat and then there were four.

Four little hunters, one loved to make tea, one died like a god and then there were three.

Left were three hunters, one's tables were spun.

The killer cut down, and then there was one."

The subsequent silence stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. Then Ren spoke what was all on their minds:

"The killer is among us."

And just like that, fingers began pointing.

"It was YOU, Weiss! You never liked Sun! Not to mention this killer's got a huge god complex, it has to be you with your overinflated ego!"

"Nonsense! He's still a rascal, but I don't hate him! And I do not have an ego!"

"What about you, Neptune? He always dragged you places you didn't want to be!"

"H-hey! Don't point at me! Killing isn't cool! I can't stand for it. I stand for love. And now, I stand for justice!"

"… that's from a show, isn't it?"

"NO!... Yes…? Shut up, Jaune."

"And I thought the not being able to dance excuse was bad…"

"S-shut up! It's a cool show!"

"EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" thundered Yang, whose eyes flashed a deep red. "I can't fucking think when you're all shouting like Ursas with their heads cut off!"

The chaos stopped at once. After Yang had the chance to simmer down, she spoke with more composure. "Any ideas what we should do, people?"

"W-we should try to find the other exits!" cried Weiss. "I don't want to keep wandering around here while the killer is loose!"

"No," interjected Ren. "Since the killer is one of us, we have the best chance of finding him or her and stopping them as soon as possible. Once we leave the building, it'll give the killer a chance to get away."

"That's true!" chirped Nora. "There are nine… I mean, eight of us and only one of them. The odds are stacked in our favor!"

"Can we not take care of it for once?" groaned Jaune.

"I'd have to agree with Jaune," added Pyrrha. "As capable as we are as Hunters and Huntresses in-training, we're still only first years. This is a very prepared killer we're dealing with, and it's one of our own, so he or she knows us better than most. We should leave this to the people who are more qualified to take this job."

"That's exactly what I meant…" muttered Jaune under his breath.

Yang sighed and turned to her little sister. "Ruby, do you any idea what we should do?"

"Why me?" whined Ruby.

"Because you're good at coming up with what to do. You're our leader, after all."

Ruby took a deep breath and began. "Well, if we decide to stay here, then our best bet is to stick together, because at least then, we'll never lose sight of the killer, whoever they may be. Second, we should actually try to figure out these riddles. Does the killer have a concise plan of who they're going to target next, and can we find out quick enough to save the next person? Finally, keep your weapons drawn and your eyes open for any clues or traps the killer may have set down. Maybe then with context clues we can find out who the killer is before he or she can do any…" Ruby gulped. "… any more damage. Everyone good with that plan?"

"Yeah!"

"It sounds like a solid strategy."

"Gonna go catch us a killer and beat their ass!"

Ruby allowed herself a shaky smile. "Alright then. Let's-"

Suddenly it was dark. Confusion and panic ensued as Ruby struggled to find a light amidst the screams and flailing of arms, legs, and metal. When she finally reached what felt like a light switch, Ruby flicked it up, and light once again illuminated the hall and her teammates.

Except that they weren't there.

Ruby blinked.

She frantically searched the spot where they had just been standing. Glanced up, down, left, right – nothing. Not a single trace of their existence remained.

"So much for the plan," muttered Ruby, and she shivered as a chill crawled up her spine.

One choked on a joke and then there were nine.

HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN!

Now would usually be the part where I ask you for and criticisms you might have (they're always welcome, of course), but tonight we have a task of far greater importance to attend to. This is the part where YOU become the detective and try to solve the mystery!

On my profile page, there will be a link for you to complete a survey where you try to guess who get's killed next and how they are killed. This week, however, you have to try to find the killer and the survivor as well. THIS WEEK WILL BE YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO FIND THOSE TWO, so take a good long look at the riddles and weapons before submitting.

A few points to go over:

1. This mystery uses everything as clues, from RWBY lore, to other popular fanfics, to mythology that the characters are based on, to even some external references that you may get from finding some of those hidden Easter eggs in the story. Use all of these to your advantage.

2. RED HERRINGS EXIST. If the clues just seem way too simple, then it's probably not the right one. Just like the killer doesn't come forward to say "I did it," the clues will not just blatantly say who dies next. Make your judgement calls at your own risk.

3. For every couplet, the first line is insignificant. The second line of each pair is what you should worry about.

4. You will have up until Tuesday 7:30PM Central Time to submit your guesses; past then they will NOT be accepted.

5. And of course, PRIZES! (that's what you're here for, right?) Every week, a random winning guess will be picked to win a prize - I will write a one-shot prompt of your choice in the realm of RWBY! ... Yeah, I guess I could've had better prizes, but I'm a broke college kid, so I make do with what I got. (DISCLAIMER: I do not do smut.)

However, the person who makes the most correct guesses over the span of the entire mystery will win a grand prize! I'm not quite sure what it will be, but I think at this point, it's a few posters that I've made in the past for RT that never got taken or maybe a game on Steam. So even if you didn't get this weeks guesses right, just keep doing the surveys every week and you could win something that's actually substantial and costs me money!

6. Lastly, YOU MUST HAVE A REDDIT OR FANFICTION USERNAME TO BE PICKED FOR A PRIZE.

Whew. That's quite an amount to read. Glad that's done.

Ready to tackle the case? Take the survey on my page!

Happy hunting!