Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The mid-day air was warm, being near the ocean meant that Beacon and its surrounding grounds had a fairly mild fall and winter. The trees dropped their leaves and the flowers wilted, but very seldom was there snowfall and most days stayed comfortably warm. This was exactly one of those days. A slight breeze ruffled the trees and wicked a few lazy leaves across the open meadow, drifting erratically through the air like butterflies.

A sharp whipping noise echoed through the clearing and the leaves plummeted to the dirt in pieces. There was a clashing of steel and a flash of red, Ren reeled back StormFlower gripped tightly in an X in front of his face to ward of the blow. Jaune skidded to a halt next to him, shield up and sword at the ready.

"Are you okay Ren? She's so fast." Jaune's eyes were searching the forest canopy, trying to catch a glimpse of red in the sea of green.

"I am unhurt," Ren lowered his pistols and deepened his stance readying for the next assault. A series of clangs rang out from the thicket of trees behind them and Jaune cast a wary glance over his shoulder. "Pyrrha and Nora will be fine Jaune, focus here."

When Ren turned to cast Jaune a sympathetic look he saw nothing but air. Jaune's arms were flailing about as a thick black ribbon pulled his feet towards the dense underbrush. Ren leapt into action, an easy summersault carrying him through the air and over Jaune. As he descended he let loose a volley into the bushes Jaune was so precariously near. The green clad ninja landed, planting his feet on either side of Jaune and continued his assault on the hedge. Jaune had a moment of respite and swung his blade down hard at the ribbon, freeing his legs and immediately scampered to his feet, backpedaling.

Ren leapt back to Jaune's side and raised his guns in a defensive stance as the ribbon recoiled quickly into the undergrowth. Jaune spun in a tight circle, raising his shield just in time to catch a heavy blow from a gigantic red scythe. Ruby's momentum stopped as her blade's progress was halted, she dropped to the ground, landing lightly on her feet, a small look of surprise on her face. There was little time to consider what had just happened as Jaune came charging in, sword held high. Ruby widened her grip on the scythe and prepared to guard against his assault.

A flash of green appeared above her and Ren was firing down, unleashing round after round from his bladed pistols. Ruby spun the scythe in a tight circle above her head, shielding her from the barrage and swung the instrument of death down around her hips, holding the blade now flush across her back between her and Jaune spinning on her heel to face Ren as he landed. Jaune let out a cry as he saw his opportunity to strike. With the opposing leader's back turned he brought his blade down hard.

A loud bang sounded and Jaune hit nothing but air and rose petals, the giggling brunette sailing back into the trees carried on the combined momentum of her sniper rifle and her semblance. Jaune and Ren spun about on their heels, putting their backs together and searching the trees.

"I wasn't worried for them. I was wondering if they could spare a second to help us." Jaune laughed and readied himself for the next assault.

Pyrrha had never realized the complexity of Yang's fighting style before. The boisterous blonde seemed to rely on brute force and overwhelming power to accomplish her victories but now they were met in single combat Pyrrha could see that an intricate pattern of footwork and telegraphing went into her every movement. Yang was always looking to set herself up to deal the destructive force she was known for with maximum effect.

Unfortunately for her, she would never get that chance against the champion tourney fighter. Pyrrha had tapped one of her gauntlets early on in the fight and was now waiting for her opportunity to tap the other. Once that was complete dealing with Yang would simply be a matter of giving her an opening and then tossing her strike slightly off with her semblance and capitalizing on the opening. She had done it a million times before and the blonde, no matter how powerful, would be no different.

Yang yelled defiantly and charged at Pyrrha once more, Ember Celica gleaming in the sun. The gauntlets gave off a series of reports as Yang landed blow after blow on Pyrrha's shield and blade. The redhead was incredibly fast and had a mastery of her weapon that was only even approached by Ruby and Crescent Rose. The blade never slipped out of line, the shield never gave an inch, and they were always exactly where Yang didn't need them to be. Pyrrha spun and twirled, ducked and bobbed. Yang knew she was quick but this was uncanny.

As a heavy left hook from Yang was caught on Pyrrha's upraised shield she saw her chance. The girl was crouched low to the ground, right arm high above her head fending off Yang's hook and her other hand was extended to her side, counterbalancing her weight as she spun to her knee. Pyrrha's chest was wide open and exposed, the thin breastplate would be like paper against a direct hit from Yang's dominant hand. She swung wide, putting her shoulder and considerable body weight behind the blow. She felt a light tap on her wrist and found herself facing the opposite direction.

Pyrrha smiled internally, the overconfident blonde had been too easy to bait into that punch. Pyrrha had purposefully left herself overexposed so she could have another chance at magnetizing Yang's firearms and it had paid off in spades. With both of Yang's arms now hers to control, Pyrrha put some distance between the two of them and allowed herself a glance to her teammate but Nora was handling herself just fine. Weiss was definitely more of a supporting fighter on Team RWBY, lacking Blake's speed and not able to put out damage on the same level as Yang or Ruby. Weiss's role seemed to revolve mostly around keeping the other three moving and distracting enemies with a long range volley of dust based attacks. Jaune had seen this in their other encounters and from observing team RWBY practice so he had suggested that Nora simply, hit her with her hammer. This was an idea Nora took to immediately. Pyrrha let a small smile grace her lips as she watched the team's other redhead mercilessly pursue the Schnee through the trees, never letting up in her assault. She would be fine.

Pyrrha returned her attention to the situation at hand and saw a rather furious Yang facing her, fists at her sides, clenched in hard.

"Ohhh ho ho, okay then Nikos. Let's try something different." Yang laughed and lowered

her stance, leveling her fists at Pyrrha as if she was a punching bag. Pyrrha barely had time to raise Akoúo̱ before the blows were upon her. Yang had charged straight forward and was battering Pyrrha with blows too fast and hard to count. All she could do was duck behind her shield and pray her aura held longer than Yang's stamina which did not seem like a bright prospect. Jaune had been right in making sure that Pyrrha fought the blonde boxer, no one else on the team would have been able to withstand this sort of barrage. Pyrrha decided enough was enough with a simple flick of her fingers and a light side step sent one of Yang's blows skitting off the side of her shield. Yang stumbled forward from the unexpected miss, hands waving at her sides to regain her balance. Pyrrha spun in a tight circle, Milo above her head and brought it down hard into Yang's lower back. She could hear the girl's aura hum against the blow and followed through with a flex of her shoulder and a twist of her wrist, sending the other girl sprawling in the dirt.

Pyrrha whipped her sword in a circle, raising her shield and leveling Miló by her head and preparing to charge in and drop her aura to the point they had all agreed beforehand counted as a victory. It was as her blade fell to the side of her face that Pyrrha caught sight of something which truly terrified her, a few strands of blonde hair were clinging to the side of her crimson blade. No, Pyrrha had aimed low to avoid this, dust damn that immense mane of hers and how much she cared for it. Pyrrha gasped as a wave of aura buffeted into her with the heat of a forest fire. She braced against the sheer force of Yang's anger and knew she needed to act quickly. The other girl sprang to her feet and turned on her, blood red eyes glaring across the small clearing their battle had caused.

"This was a friendly match Nikos! Now it's personal!" The blonde leapt across the gap separating them, both hands raised above her head, fingers interlocked. Pyrrha pushed back with her semblance but it only served to slow the attack slightly. She hid behind her shield as both of Yang's fists came down hard, a small red wave of energy emitting from where they hit. She pulled her right fist back and landed a blow in the notch on the side of the disc shaped shield. With an extra push from one of Ember Celica's shells Yang broke the champions guard. Pyrrha reeled back from the force and pushed hard with her semblance, pouring her aura into the effort to ward of the furious fighter's punches, dodging each successive blow by a smaller and smaller margin until finally one connected.

The knuckles of Yang fist connected with the top of Pyrrha's crown and sent her facedown into the dirt., Pyrrha caught herself on her hands and knees if only barely and pushed as hard as she could, rolling quickly to the side and raising her shield. That hit had taken a noticeable chunk of her aura out and she was already running low from the effort of diverting Yang's powerful blows. Would the blonde know to stop now? Would she be blinded by her rage and keep fighting, if that happened Pyrrha would have no choice but to defend herself to the full extent of her abilities. She crouched as she came out of her roll and peered over the edge of her shield. Yang was standing at ease now, smiling like a fool and holding up something in her left hand. Pyrrha eased her stance and squinted to see several strands of bright crimson hair.

"Okay, now we're even," Yang laughed heartily and dropped the hairs, "That last blow

was good enough right? You're out of the match?"

Pyrrha let her hands fall to her sides and breathed a sigh of relief, "That it was Yang. Well fought." Pyrrha dipped her brow slightly in a respectful bow to her opponent and replaced her weapons on her back with a light flourish. Yang's grin widened, if that was even possible and she waved.

"Alright, gotta go now." She fired both gauntlets directly at the ground, fired herself up into a tree and ricocheted off towards Nora and Weiss with a loud battle cry. Pyrrha smiled and relaxed her shoulder slightly. She opened her scroll to confirm her suspicions and saw only a tiny sliver of red remaining in her aura bar. The seasoned warrior had a very acute sense of her aura levels and was impressed at the accuracy of the device and that of Yang's perception. She chuckled quietly and retreated from the battlefield, not wanting to interfere in the rest of the match.

Nora heard an ominous yell from behind her and knew she needed to address the inevitable assault from an overpowered blonde that was coming her way. She brought her hammer up in both hands and swung it down directly at Weiss's skull, the nimble girl leapt backwards off the branch she had been perched on, leaving the surface moments before it was blown to pieces by Magnhild. Alight flip carried her petite frame through the air and to another branch a considerable distance away. Nora let the momentum of the mighty hammer carry her through a half flip so she was upside down and looking behind her. She saw the blonde coming, flying through the air, fists raised high in anticipation.

"Go help Rubes, I got this!" Weiss needed no further encouragement and placed a glyph at her feet, launching off in the direction of Ruby and Blake's battle. Nora twisted at the waist and planted her feet on the tree, among the shards of the branch she had most recently shattered, still jutting from the mighty trunk. She smiled a devilish smile and screamed as she launched forward to meet Yang's attack.

Jaune swung out with his blade, deflecting Gambol Shroud as it came plummeting out of the dense woods to his right. He stepped back, allowing Ren's flip to carry him between himself and the attacker. Ren let loose, emptying both guns into the brush, clearing away any place for the lithe Faunus to hide. The clearing was now substantially wider than when the battle had begun, Jaune smiled to himself, this was perfect. Ruby and Blake had been trying to bait the two boys into a committed attack and hamper them with constant hidden strikes from the shadows. Blake's stealth and Ruby's speed made it possible for the two girls to work in concert. Blake would strike unseen from the bushes or dark shadows of the trees, distracting them and then Ruby would swoop in, riding a stream of rose petals to deliver devastating strikes with her massive scythe. Jaune and Ren had immediately adopted a strategy of trading off, Jaune tanking the blows as best he could and Ren delivering a flurry of strikes to their attacker. If they could hold them off this way, they might tire them out and cause a change in strategy or buy enough time for Pyrrha or Nora to upset the balance of their scuffle. The second part of Jaune's admittedly brilliant plan was to use Ren's incredible fire rate to clear away Blake's cover. Every time Ren let loose into a shrubbery of cluster of ivy the plants would be shredded and demolished. At this point in the battle Jaune figured that the circle of tattered leaves and splintered wood was reaching the extent of Blake's range and every inch gave him another fraction of a second to react to Ruby's charges. He might not need Pyrrha or Nora to help after all.

Ren slid around behind Jaune again and spun StormFlower by the trigger guards, launching two empty clips into the woods. He dipped his hand quickly into his robe, using his free fingers to grasp two more clips and toss them into the air. He halted the spin of his pistols, holding them barrel down and let the clips fall into place in the guns. A flick of each wrist and they were back in his palms, ready to use. No emotion crossed the boys face, not even a hint of a smile. His eyes kept scanning the woods, combat his sole purpose.

"Jaune, we may have a problem." Ren took a step back and adopted a lower, faster stance as he spoke.

"What?-" Jaune cut himself short and looked to his feet. A steady black glow was coming

from the dirt, an intricate snowflake symbol emanating from the ground, "Oh c'mon! Ren at my feet"

Ren moved without hesitation and crouched at Jaune's feet, peering around his knees as the glyph took hold. Both he and Jaune were now rooted to the ground by Weiss's dust. The heiress landed behind Jaune, Myrtenaster extended towards the boys, channeling her power. Jaune crossed his arms behind his shield and tensed as Gambol Shroud came rocketing out of the distance and slammed into him. He caught the brunt of the light blow, relying on the power of the glyph to steady his feet.

"Go!" Jaune yelled and Ren let loose on Weiss, forcing her to change stance and guard. The glyph at their feet was disrupted as she threw another in front of herself to block Ren's volley. Ren tucked his arms and rolled to the side as Jaune leapt over his head and towards the now exposed Blake. Ren continued his assault, covering Jaune from Weiss by keeping her under constant assault. Jaune charged forward, swinging for the Faunus's neck, he made contact with a sickening crunch, Crocea Mors biting deep. Jaune recoiled at the contact, ripping his blade free from an exact replica of Blake made of ice. He turned forty five degrees to his right and dropped to a crouch, shield at the ready and caught a direct blow from the girl. He swung out as she hand springed away, slicing through a wisp of shadow where she had been.

Jaune followed her retreat and glanced over her shoulder. A bright pink blotch was making its way through the trees towards them and he smiled. Jaune charged forward, pressing his attack. He swung for her legs and Blake leapt straight up into air, she twisted about seemingly defying gravity and kicked at the tree to her side sending herself several yards away and landing in a roll. Jaune kicked off the ground and charged, he spun on his heel, keeping his shield between them and catching the katana's brought his sword up in an arc causing the girl to dodge roll under the sweep and away. She came up in a crouch and smiled, Jaune was over extended and no where near as fast as her, she flipped her blade around and flexed her legs to pounce and saw Jaune…smiling.

Nora whooped as Magnhild came down hard on Blake's exposed back, flattening the girl to the ground. Blake groaned as she hit the ground and shook her head. Beaten by Jaune and Nora, she would never live this down.

"Alright Nora! Hurry, Arc Cannon," Jaune strapped his shield to his back and gripped his sword with both hands.

"YES!" Nora lurched forward and prepared her hammer. Jaune tensed and closed his eyes, "Ready Jaune?" Nora asked and Jaune opened his eyes, uncertain. But, Nora didn't wait, she slammed him in the back and sent him flying towards Weiss. Jaune screamed a very unmanly yell as he went sailing through the air, sword gripped tightly in both hands. Weiss spun away from Ren and towards the incoming, wailing young man. She raised her rapier in a guard and threw a glyph desperately in the way but it was no use. Jaune came smashing down with a sound of shattering glass as the glyph flew to pieces. He rammed into Weiss hard, both of them falling to the ground.

Jaune rolled off his back and away from Weiss, he removed his shield and readied for combat, but a blinking red light caught his eye. He threw his hands up in the air.

"I'm out! I'm out!" he yelled, praying no one would hit him. A small gust of wind ruffled his hair and he turned to look behind him, catching sight of a single rose petal on his shoulder. He slowly finished his turn and saw the tip of Crescent Rose centimeters from his neck. Ruby smiled at him and did a quick backflip to avoid a barrage from Ren. Jaune turned back to Weiss who was still on the ground, "You okay, Snow Flake?"

He extended a hand to help her up but was promptly refused.

"That is the most barbaric, heathenistic, unreformed attack I have ever seen. What made you think that was a good idea?" She picked herself up and began beating at her soiled combat skirt in an attempt to get the dirt out of it.

"Hey it worked didn't it?"

"Hardly. You were just as injured as I. An attack that disables you as well as your opponent is not-" Weiss was caught off guard by the sound of bullets ricocheting off of Jaune's upraised shield.

"Let's get out of here." Jaune grabbed Weiss by the hand and pulled her out of the line of fire.

"Unhand me you savage. I am perfectly capable of leaving a combat zone." Jaune ignored the heiress's cries as he drug her away.

Resounding booms echoed in the forest as Nora expanded on Jaune's clearing. She wielded Magnhild with an efficiency that would put Remnant's greatest lumberjacks to shame, clearing nearly an acre of dense forest in a matter of seconds with her dust powered grenade launcher.

"Nowhere left to hide Ruby!" she called out to the smoldering woods. Ren came to her side defensively. A flash of red drew both of their eyes up and they dashed apart, narrowly avoiding Crescent Rose's massive blade as it dug deep into the ground where they had been.

"Not hiding." Ruby smiled as she yanked the scythe free with a backflip and kicked off the ground towards Nora. She chased the other diminutive girl down, relying on the reach of her scythe and her incredible speed to push her back. Nora was able to dodge most of her strikes, taking a few glancing blows with grace, floating the hits and letting the force carry her farther from the reaper now pursuing her. Ren followed, hot on Ruby's tail, attempting to get in close to strike but the way that Ruby whirled the scythe about herself made it nearly impossible to find an opening, the girl seemed to be surrounded by a constant whirlwind of metal. Ren knew though that she couldn't maintain this pace for long, she was a talented fighter but even her stamina had it's limits, so he patiently waited and prepared to deliver his blow.

The scythe came whirling about, obliterating the side of a tree where Nora had just been, the force of the blow launching the girl back several hundred feet. Ruby took advantage of the distance to rest a moment, letting the scythe fall into place at her hip. Ren did not hesitate at all, he launched himself at her exposed back, firing away rapidly with both pistols. She ducked the majority of the barrage but he had expected that, he had to close the gap and strike her with his blades to do serious damage. He landed behind her, bringing his guns down in a sweeping motion to strike the broad of her back but was launched backwards with a resounding bang. As he flew through the forest, his limp form smashing through branches as his aura soaked up the damage he looked down to see the little huntress flying the opposite direction, propelled by the force of her sniper rifle towards Nora. Ren sighed and kicked his legs up, carrying him up and over to land on his feet near the top of a tree.

"Come on down Ren. You're done." Ren looked down to see his team leader standing at the base of the tree, pointing to the aura meters on the back of his shield. He nodded in consent and stepped off the branch, landing lightly on the ground next to Jaune.

"She is a formidable opponent."

"That's my baby sis," Yang was there with the rest of the fighters who had been knocked out, "Looks like it's just the two of them now."

Nora saw Ren go flying off into the distance and felt a twinge of anger touch her. She flipped Magnhild around into its projectile form and unleashed a series of shells at the brunette barreling towards her. Every time she fired the girl would veer off course with her semblance, ricocheting off of trees and boulders as she dodged the pink explosions. Ruby arrived at the base of the tree and spun the great scythe around, going straight through the trunk in a single swing. Nora leapt as her perch fell out from underneath her, flipping Magnhild back into a hammer and falling directly towards her target. Ruby jumped backwards, avoiding the hit and the immense shock wave as the hammer struck the ground, shattering the forest floor into large chunks.

Ruby planted her feet against a tree trunk and bunched herself up, she launched forward, straight past Nora into another tree, bounced off that one into a third tree and repeated this until she was a dizzying blur of metal and rose petals. Nora swung out with her hammer in vain attempts to catch her mid flight but struck air every time. As she overextended herself into a swing she felt a cool touch against her back and her aura dropped drastically and then the touch was gone. Nora turned to see Ruby standing behind her, panting hard and doubled over.

"Ruby you are sooo fast! That was incredible!" Nora ran forward and gave the other team's leader a hug, lifting her off the ground, scythe and all.

"Oh Nora ow" Ruby groaned as the other girl crushed her ribcage with her bear hug. Nora put her down and rubbed the back of her head.

"Oops, sorry" they both laughed and Ruby spun Crescent Rose back into its compact form, replacing it on her back holster. The rest of the two teams came over the top of the crater Ruby and Nora were inhabiting and called down.

"Who won?"

The small courtyard glowed in the late afternoon sun, any breeze from earlier in the day having petered out a few hours ago. The afternoon was warmer than most would have liked but the hanging ivy and lattice work of tresses kept the small courtyard comfortably cool. The slow burble of a fountain mingled with the two teams idle chatter.

Jaune fell back against the deck chair with an exhausted and exaggerated sigh. "Agghh you girls sure ran me ragged." The girls all snickered and Ren smiled slightly.

"It was a good workout. We should train like this more." Pyrrha smiled as she took a seat near Jaune, crossing her legs at the knees and leaning slightly in his direction. Ren and Nora both sat on a long chair which was most likely intended for laying on but could easily accommodate the two of them side by side with a respectable gap remaining between the pair. Team RWBY followed them in and took up spots on chairs which completed a sort of half circle around a small fire pit which lay cold and unused at this time of year.

"It was sooo great," Nora was still giddy with being the last standing member of her team, "It was like we were being hunted down in the woods by a merciless group of- uhhh- huntresses I guess. And they got us one by one until I was the only one left and I had to fight them off but eventually fell to their power." Nora began formulating the plot of a bad B movie about inter-hunter conflict in her head, growing more excited with every twist.

"Yeah and we got to see just how strong you all are. That was some incredible stuff Ruby." Jaune picked himself up and addressed the other team leader.

"What? Noooo, I just got lucky there at the end, they were both already so low from their other fights." Ruby deferred the praise with a wave of her hand, if Yang hadn't dealt with Pyrrha or Blake hadn't helped me keep you and Ren busy. Plus Nora must have been tired from chasing Weiss."

Nora turned at her name, "Not as tired as Yang though. I crushed her right when she got to me! So much for the invincible Xiao Long."

"Oh okay, let's see how you look after taking down the champion of Mistral." Yang was indignant, crossing her arms with a huff.

"Oh yes, Yang fought incredibly well." Pyrrha smiled and turned to the blonde, "I am sorry again about your hair." Weiss, Ruby and Blake all recoiled in shock.

"You hurt her hair?" Blake was the first able to speak.

"And you're still with us?" Weiss regained her composure, forcing her facial features back into place and correcting her posture.

"Yaaang! It's a sparring match, that's gonna happen! Stop getting so mad!" Ruby had turned and was beating playfully on her sister's shoulder with tiny clenched fists.

"Oh it was quite fun though. Her power was incredible when she got angry." Pyrrha hid a small laugh behind her hand.

"Yeah, maybe next time we hunt Grimm we should just cut a few strands off and let Yang deal with them all." Jaune's laughter went silent as he opened his eyes and caught Yang's furious glare.

"You touch my hair and you'll be the first thing I 'deal with' Arc." Jaune's blood would have run cold from the threat if not for the heat emanating from Yang.

"Big talk for someone who got their butt kicked." Nora literally poked Yang in the forehead and her eyes snapped back to a tranquil purple and she laughed.

"Yeah yeah, let's go one on one and see what happens." A competitive grin flashed across Yang's face.

"Any time blondie. Let's go right now." Nora jumped up from her seat and Yang went to stand but Ren pulled Nora back to the chair with a single swift hand at her collar.

"Nora, we are not allowed to spar openly on school grounds," Ren's calm demeanor never broke and his eyes were actually fixed on Yang as she relaxed in her seat, "Definitely not anymore."

"That was one time and Goodwitch fixed everything super quick anyways." Nora crossed her arms in a pout.

"Oh yeah," Ruby snorted out a laugh, "It took so long to get all the ketchup and stuff out of our hair." Yang solemnly stroked her mane, remembering the horrific aftermath of the food fight.

"At least they still allow us to train in the forest. Those training rooms are just so cramped and leave no room for the kinds of maneuvers our styles require." Weiss turned to Jaune, "Thank you so much for the idea. It really was a wonderful opportunity."

"Oh yeah of course, I just thought it would be fun to see how we've all grown since we fought that Nevermore and the Death Stalker together at initiation." Jaune rubbed the back of his head abashedly.

"Well we have certainly all grown since then. Your teamwork has improved significantly Ruby. You must have been pushing your team very hard." Pyrrha turned to inspect the small girl, whose legs didn't even reach the floor as she kicked her heavy combat boots back and forth carelessly.

"Oh yeah, we've been training a lot. But we just work together really well. I'm lucky I got such a great team." She smiled back, her grin pushing her eyes shut.

"I know what you mean. I don't know what I would have done without everyone. They really are dragging me along with them." Jaune leaned back in his chair, complete honesty evident in his self deprecation.

"Jaune. You don't give yourself enough credit. You are a fantastic leader." Pyrrha turned on him.

"Yes Jaune, you've turned us into a team." Ren nodded solemnly.

"Nobody else would have seen through Blake's plan to hit you from the treeline and pairing Nora off against Weiss was a perfect mismatch." Ruby turned her infectious grin on Jaune.

"I guess. I just try to put everybody where they fit best." Jaune straightened a bit, heartened by the praise from all his friends.

"Yeah you're directions are great, hit 'em with my hammer. My favorite thing to do!" Nora punched both of her fists into the air in glee.

"Oh I noticed. We may have to move our training area to somewhere more durable if Nora's level of destruction remains that high. I do believe we did more deforestation than a month's work by an SDC logging crew." Weiss smiled slightly, "perhaps a bank vault, or the inside of a mountain would be more suitable."

"Not likely, I'd just bring it down on all of us. Ultimate destruction!" Nora laughed maniacally.

"We can try lots of different places," Ruby laughed at Nora's excitement, "Different layouts will make our training more realistic. Wanna plan some days later Jaune? We can go out for coffee again and talk it all over."

"Ooooh Ruby, look at you, you sly dog." Yang jabbed her jokingly in the arm, "Using 'training' as an excuse to go out with Jaune." She laughed out loud as Ruby's face was covered in a bright red blush.

"Wuh? Huh? No. Nononononono. That's not what I mean. Really. It's just that it would be easier to plan it like that. And we went out the other night when you and Nora were dancing and had a lot of fun. And we need to plan these things to make them work. Jaune's a team leader and I'm a team leader and so we have to meet about things. It's not that I wouldn't or that I don't want to. But, I don't want to. I mean Jaune's great but that might be weird. I never even thought about-" Ruby rattled off every explanation she could think of and threw in some others for good measure before she was cut off by Jaune.

"Relax Ruby, I knew what you meant."

"Honestly, how did you ever grow up with her for a sister and still get so flustered by her jokes?" Weiss shook her head in disbelief.

Ruby's blush turned to a grin of embarrassment and she looked at the floor some distance away, "I don't know. She's just always does that," Yang laughed and clapped Ruby on the back.

"Love you too sis." She stood and stretched her arms high above her head, "Well I'm gonna hit the gym a little before bed. Nora you wanna come?"

Nora jumped at the prospect, "Of course! Let's go see who can bench or squat more. I will be the strongest!" Nora screamed and ran out of the seating area towards the gym.

"Alright then, anybody else?" the rest of the group shook their heads emphatically at Yang's offer, "See ya later then." Yang donned her sunglasses against the sunset's glare and headed off after Nora, albeit at a much more leisurely pace.

"Unbelievable, how can those two keep going?" Weiss watched in disbelief as they left.

"I was actually planning on a run after we finished here. And Jaune and I have our nightly swordsmanship practice still to do." Pyrrha stood slowly.

"Oh yeah," Jaune chuckled, "We do don't we?"

"Yes Jaune, you must keep it up. I will see you on the roof at seven." Pyrrha gave him a smile and then a polite nod to everyone else as a group before being carried away by her long legs.

Blake stood and spoke for the first time since they had arrived, "I believe I'll go to the library to study. "Jaune." a light nod, "Ren" The boy smiled politely.

"Oh wow, I guess we're all breaking up then huh? I'm gonna go sleep some before I have to train then." Jaune stood and shook out his tired legs, "You coming Ren?"

The boy stood slowly and made his way to Jaune's side.

"Thanks again for today Ruby. Everyone really enjoyed it and it was good practice." Jaune smiled from ear to ear."

Ruby returned his smile, "Yeah! Thanks, we really should do it again soon."

"Definitely. I'll see you two later." Jaune waved to them and Ren bowed his head slightly and the two boys left Weiss and Ruby alone under the setting sun.

"Well that was quite the afternoon." Weiss allowed her posture to relax now that it was just her and her partner, "I can't believe Yang beat Pyrrha."

"That's Yang for ya, it must have been because Pyrrha hurt her hair though." Ruby curled up in her chair, tucking her knees between her chest and the armrest so she could sit sideways and face Weiss. The heiress simply reclined slightly against the opposite armrest of her chair facing Ruby in a much more dignified manner.

"So what are your plans for the evening Miss Team Leader?" Weiss shot her a quizzical stare.

"Well I should probably take Zwei for a walk, he's been cooped up all day." Ruby put a finger to her chin and stared up at the sky through the crisscrossing wooden beams and veins above them, "Then I guess I'll play some games or calibrate Crescent Rose for a while."

"Up pup pup, no no. You will coming with me to the room to study. We can take Zwei for his walk, but only because that's your responsibility. Then we must work on your school work."

"Uggggghhhh but Weeiiiisss. We've been training all day. Can't I have a little time off?"

"Was anyone else taking time off Ruby? No, they all left to exercise or rest for more training. Just because you won doesn't mean you can slack off." Weiss leveled her most authoritative gaze at the pouting young girl.

"Fine, fine. Let's go get it over with." Ruby stood but let her arms fall slack at her sides and stared despondently at the ground.

"To Study" Weiss jumped up and pointed in the direction of their dorm room with an attempt at Ruby's usual level of excitement.

"Oh yeah… Wooooo… Studying." a subdued Ruby raised a lax arm to point before trudging off to her torture.

A/N - That was a long one wasn't it? I know, the fight scene was over two thirds of the chapter but to a bunch of Huntresses and Huntsmen in training their combat is really important so I let the little training session take center stage for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and that it wasn't too boring. I really really like writing fight scenes and occasionally they will get away from me, I actually had to trim this one down considerably because the chapter was approaching 10k words... So, please oh please let me know what you thought. If it was boring tell me, if it was exciting tell me, if it was so dull that you skimmed right through it please let me know (also go back and read it please). The only form of feedback I get on these is your reviews and PMs. i don't have an editor or a spell checker or anything so I rely on my wonderful readers to tell me when I'm doing a horrible job.

Thanks so much for reading the story so far. Chapter 6 will be out on Thursday along with another chapter of "Clubbin' " so please watch out for those.

-Zach