Obnoxiously loud rock music blared so loud that it seemed to be coming from everywhere, shaking Yang's brain in her skull. Her vision almost blurry, she clenched her teeth and pounded the wall.

"Ruby!" she screamed, trying to be heard over the din. "Turn it down!"

Her sister, across from her, was merely staring at the floor, elbows on knees, bobbing her head to the music. Yang, with the assistance of Ember Celica, pounded the wall again. Ruby looked up at Yang.

"What!?" she yelled.

"Turn it down!" Yang demanded, accompanied by wild gestures. Her sister obliged grudgingly.

"Seriously Yang, you're such a party pooper!" Ruby whined. "It's my turn to pick. It's at least better than when Weiss put on that weird opera music!"

"It's orchestral!" retorted her white-haired partner. She crossed her arms and shook her head. "That was absurdly loud. I could have brain damage, you dolt!" Ruby, used to Weiss and her berating, took the insult in stride.

"This is how I get prepared, guys! We all have our own ways, she replied, puffing her cheeks out.

"Well, the way you do it is absolutely atrocious" huffed Weiss. Upon seeing Ruby's crestfallen face, she relented. "I'm sorry, Ruby. That was unfair. We shouldn't be fighting over a stupid song." Ruby, unconvinced, gave Weiss a hurt look. The heiress let out a huff and crossed her arms. "Fine, not a stupid song. Just a… song. We have other things to worry about."

The rest of team RWBY nodded. This was the 5th day in a row they had been called by Vale's government to thin Grimm numbers by the city limits. Why, the beasts were nearly upon the walls! The failure of robotic soldiers had brought a staggering blow to the city. With a small reserve force of trained human soldiers, Hunters, and Huntresses, civilization and safety hung by a thread. Any men and woman fit for combat was being drafted into the military and sent to the front lines to fight Grimm. To die.

The Breach had first been considered a lucky miss, a victory. Nobody expected Grimm to be attracted in the numbers they were. Numbers that showed no signs of lessening or relenting. The small taste of blood in the air from the Breach was all they needed to be sent into a bloodlust for human flesh. The first wave had nearly destroyed the city. When the android soldiers were sent to combat the Grimm, the units failed across the board. Sabotage was suspected. A human, wanting this to happen? Even the White Fang, radicals and terrorists, fought Grimm. Anyone who did this had to be crazy, or genius. Maybe both.

So Team RWBY fought. Not alone. Their friends from Beacon, Signal, and regular soldiers all fought together against the black tide. The Hunters and Huntresses were used as elite troops, provided to the waning platoons the most in need.

A rumble sounded throughout the cabin. Ruby's stomach dropped as the Bullhead descended for a drop, engines protesting. As they drew closer to the ground, the hatch popped open, and the pilot called out to them.

"Alright, you're ready to go!" He said, giving them the A-O.K. sign with his hand.

Ruby dropped to the ground, falling to a crouch and unfolding Crescent Rose behind her. Her eyes scanned the battlefield. Yells, screams, and orders, as well as the clash of steel all mingled, vying for her attention. It was barely organized chaos, a ragged line of soldiers working together to fight hordes of Grimm. Behind them, mere hundreds of yards away, lay an endless field of tents. Occasional Grimm that breached the line were set upon by reserve soldiers, who primarily fired rifles into the roiling black mass that was the Grimm horde.

Ruby's eyes darted around, trying to find the most prominent threat. Just ahead of her, surrounded by a circle of armored city guards, was a large Beowolf. One of them stabbed at the monster's leg with a spear, and the beast reeled back, roaring in pain. It staggered, knocking one of the other guards over in the process. It fell to all fours, loaded its back legs, and sprang.

Ruby activated her semblance, blurring into movement. Her feet pounded against the ground as the grimm's jaws approached one of the men. Ruby pushed hard against the blood soaked dirt underneath her, launching into the air. She flipped to be parallel with the Grimm and extended her scythe behind her. She flew by the grimm like a bullet, feeling her scythe sink into hard muscle. Her momentum carried her in a circle around the creature's neck. She could feel sinews and skin slide off her honed blade, and as she fell back to the earth, she dropped beside a freshly decapitated grimm head. She landed in a kneeling position with one arm planted, the other holding Crescent Rose behind her. A moment later, the ground shook as the large Beowolf fell. She looked up, silver eyes already scanning for their next target.

Behind her, Yang had one of her hands grabbing the eyehole in an Ursa Major's bony mask while the other repeatedly slammed into the opposite eye. The grimm roared in pain, thrashing around, trying to dislodge its attacker, but Yang held on tightly. It tried a new tactic, and instead of swinging its head from side to side, it launched its body up and flicked it, bucking Yang off. She let out a loud whoop as she was tossed into the air, her arms flailing for a moment. Then she grinned.

She tucked her knees to her chest until she was parallel to the ground and opened up, firing off Ember Celica. The grimm snarled as she rocketed towards it, her shotgun accelerated fist driving towards its head like a comet. Yang felt her gauntlet connect with it, and bone gave way to steel as it passed straight through the beast's head.

Weiss drifted away from the edge of the fray, making her way towards where a group of burly and well muscled men and women were standing with weapons bared, screaming and shouting orders. They had been trained well and years of experience made them excellent commanders, but in an assault like this, every extra pair of eyes was welcome.

Blake, now left alone, was set upon by a small pack of Creeps. The smaller grimm prowled around her in a circle, and Blake warily raised her hand to where Gambol Shroud rested on her back. She waited, slowly spinning as the circle got tighter until they were only a few feet from her. But Blake was patient, and then one of them lunged at her.

Blake jumped, leaving behind a shadow clone. The creep bit down on thin air as Blake fell towards it, Gambol Shroud drawn and primed to strike. She landed lightly on the ball of one foot atop the confused grimm. She cartwheeled, slashing across its back as she avoided the second creep that had leapt for where she had just been standing. The beast underneath her hissed in pain as it twisted around. It would have knocked Blake off had she not already left, flipping elegantly off its back and twisting, slashing before she could see the grimm that was aiming to bite her in the side. It got a cut across its face for its troubles.

Blake twirled again, collapsing Gambol Shroud as another creep jumped at her. She wondered if they would ever learn. She stuck the end of her chain scythe just under the grimm's jaw as it flew by, a simple sidestep having taken Blake out of harm's way.

She drew her sheath, sliding to her knees as a set of jaws closed just above her bow. She exploded up from the earth, bringing her blade up in a backhand slash and beheading the Creep. The three remaining grimm began circling her again, wary now.

Blake gave a sly smile and pulled the trigger of Gambol Shroud, detonating the blade still lodged under the nearest one's head. The attached blade sliced through the creature's throat as it shot towards the Creep in front of Blake with pinpoint accuracy, impaling its eye.

Suddenly, three grimm had become one.

She turned towards the last one, which was slinking close to the ground, its glowing red eyes tracking her every movement. She flicked the handle of her whip and Gambol Shroud reassembled itself as a pistol. Blake levelled it at the creature's skull, which was tensed and ready to leap at the slightest twitch of a muscle.

A flicker of movement caught her eye, and Blake saw a young faunus that had been knocked into the dirt and was scrambling backwards as a small Taijitu buried its black head where he had been a fraction of a second before. The creep forgotten, Blake sprong to the young faunus' aid.

Weiss watched her teammates, a flicker of a smile ghosting across her face. But those three couldn't be everywhere at once. They would reinforce the line where they could but three people couldn't win a battle of this scale. Weiss turned her attention to the ebb and flow of the battle, looking for patterns in movement. The grimm attacks were unreasonable though, chaotic in nature. There was little that Weiss could learn from watching their ranks, she had to concern herself with the more human side of things.

Near where her team had entered, the troops had begun fighting with more zeal. That section of the line began to bulge forward, bubbling outward and fear gripped Weiss' chest. If they over extended, the Grimm might break through the sides and cut that entire section of forces off. If that happened, it was only a matter of time until they would be overwhelmed by the sea of black and bony beasts.

"Fall back!" Weiss shouted, a few of the other commanders giving her questioning looks, but reluctantly relaying the order. Bringing the line forward and pushing the Grimm back was the end goal, but it had to be controlled. Despite her order though, the grimm began pinching in on the edge of the bubble, forming two distinct failure points. Weiss pointed to the one on the left. "Go help them there, make sure the line doesn't buckle or break." She commanded, and the others took off towards the fault.

Unsheathing Myrtenaster, Weiss abandoned command, instead leaping forward to shore up the other point of potential failure.

"Team, my area is under high pressure. Need some help." She called out on the team radio, then turned back as towering Ursa, easily fifteen feet tall, scattered five men with one sweep of its massive claw, bellowing. Weiss did a handspring backward to avoid the attack, raising her hand to summon a red glyph in front of her. She swept her rapier up and then slashed down towards her hip, releasing a flurry of fiery crystals flying towards the beast. They pelted its dark fur, making it rear up and roar at the sky in pain. Weiss took a half step back, levelling Myrtenaster as the beast landed and growled menacingly. It charged, faster than Weiss was prepared for, forcing her to dive roll to the side. She came up, seeing the Ursa raising a claw to strike. She gave Myrtenaster a slight twist with her wrist, flicking the cylinder inside the guard, then cut upwards viciously. The ice dust trailed off her sword, giving it a glowing arc as it cut through the Ursa's chest, opening a thick gash. Frost spread outwards from the wound, constricting its muscles, and Weiss summoned a black glyph to pull her backwards, away from the threat.

Three soldiers, dressed in the traditional garb of the military, raced forward with raised swords. They descended on the beast, hacking away at, repeatedly skewering it. One of the men jumped off its hind leg and used his sword to dig into the Ursa's back. He grabbed its shoulder, hauled himself up so he was straddling its neck, then brought the blade down to separate its vertebrae. The beast went limp, falling forward, bring the man with him. His face was covered in dirt and grime, little beads of sweat leaving traces of clean skin behind. He looked up and locked eyes with the heiress, opening his mouth to give her his thanks.

A black ball of fur shot out from the maelstrom of combat beside them, and Weiss lost sight of the man as it collided with him, though she could hear his strangled scream before it was abruptly cut off. The other two soldiers raced to help their already doomed comrade as the Beowolf skittered to a halt a few feet away, its powerful jaws already tearing into soft flesh, little flecks of scarlet raining down around it.

Before the two remaining soldiers could reach them, more Beowolves leapt onto them. One of the men managed to roll away and avoid the three new sets of snapping jaws, but the other was not so lucky. Weiss sprang into action, raising her hand to summon a white glyph and dashing off it, her blade poised as she fell through the air. One of the grimm saw her and raised its head, growling. It was silenced when her rapier pierced through its throat and she brought it to the ground, pinning it by its neck in the dirt.

traced glyphs in the air, blasting it back with ice and fire until more men could finish the beast. A group of five men with pikes eventually spiked the hulk, bringing it down. However, as soon as the Ursa fell, a pack of Beowolves set upon them. Weiss brought her rapier to bear, and skewered one.

Her comrades fought bravely, but their weapons were not suited to fight this type of Grimm. The quick beasts got inside the range of their pikes, and they were done for. Just when they were about to retreat, a flash of rose petals filled the air, and the pack fell, bearing deep slashes. Ruby had come. Weiss followed her partner, fighting alongside her, until a yell got their attention. A soldier was on the ground, a hungry Beowolf above him. The two girls rushed to his aid, quickly dispatching the beast, then turned to the soldier.

"Here, let me help you up-" said Ruby, turning. She said nothing, but her mouth was a rictus of horror. The man's glassy eyes stared through her and beyond. His chest bore a deep gash, spilling and pooling blood all around him. He was dead. Weiss turned to her partner, averting her eyes. She had seen men die, but Ruby… she had always gone too fast to talk. What made her stop this time, one could only guess. Weiss quickly grabbed Ruby.

"Not now, Ruby. You can't do this. We have to fight." She shook her partner. "Ruby. Later. Now, we need to help." Ruby nodded, taking a deep breath and semblance-dashing away. Good, Weiss thought. But what will I tell her? She thinks she can save everyone, but she can't! Dust, it'll tear her apart. Weiss shook her head. She couldn't afford to think about it. Just keep fighting, she reminded herself, joining back in the carnage.

The rest of the day, Weiss saw men torn apart, slashed, bitten, and crushed. Before, she had seen death, but not this much. Not up close. Especially seeing Ruby's reaction. Each soldier was not just a soldier, but a person. One who lived a full life, longer than she had. Cut short by some heartless, faceless monster. As the battle wound down, the numbers of Grimm thinned. As if by some unspoken consensus, the beasts suddenly ceased to fight, and retreated over the horizon, baying, howling, and screaming primal noises all the way.

Team RWBY boarded their Bullhead and made the journey back to Beacon, where the defense effort was spearheaded. Ruby barely made it into her seat before collapsing in exhaustion. There was a long silence as the aircraft pushed up into the air, leaving the front lines. Finally, Ruby spoke.

"There were even more." Her team nodded. The numbers of Grimm, instead of decreasing as the war dragged on, were growing ever larger. Not just that, the seemingly dumb animals were learning. Evolving. Instead of attacking humans head on, they tested the areas of least resistance, spreading forces thin. The thought of the line breaking haunted the girls.

"We can't do everything. If my soldiers hadn't pushed forward, we wouldn't have needed to waste time keeping them alive. They need better training! The men fighting are almost kids, now," exclaimed Weiss. The other three didn't respond, but they all knew. People had died today, good people, people with families. Could they have prevented some of them? Any of them? Responsibility was a heavy burden to carry. Ruby looked hit especially hard. They had never fought this hard before. The Grimm were relentless, and deaths of the soldiers didn't effect the beasts. Ruby, however, couldn't handle being surrounded by dying soldiers. Blake, Weiss, and Yang all knew why she skirted around the medics, why she used her semblance to dash away before she could see the face of who she helped.

Team RWBY was doing good work, but they were being worn thin. Weiss saw her partner's downcast eyes, and took her hand. Giving a light squeeze, Weiss whispered, "It'll be okay."

Ruby just nodded and rested her head on Weiss' shoulder. Closing her eyes, she was asleep in seconds. They were all tired from today's combat. Yang raised her head, flicking hair out of her eyes.

"We can't keep this up much longer," she remarked with a sigh. "Eventually, one of us will slip up, and then… we'll be just like the regular soldiers." Weiss cut Yang off with one hand, the other stroking Ruby's hair.

"Enough with the negative talk. This will be resolved by the end of the week. Let's just take it one day at a time." She whispered, careful not to wake the girl slumbering contentedly on her shoulder.

"But what if this doesn't end soon? We're talking war, war that Remnant hasn't seen for… forever!" Yang whispered back.

"If this doesn't end…" Weiss sighed. She looked at Ruby, a rare smile gracing her lips, but not for long.

"If this doesn't end…

Dust help us."

Team RWBY lay in their respective bunk beds, resting uneasily for the practically certain fight the following day.. Yang played a game on her scroll, Blake read, Weiss reviewed troop movements, and Ruby was asleep. Yang finished the game on her scroll, flamboyantly flinging it in victory.

"Sweet! That does it for me, see ya in the morning," called Yang, as she threw her covers over herself and turned over in her bed. Blake closed her book, scanned the room, then resumed her reading. Weiss turned off her scroll, eyes stinging from the glaring white screen. Peeking her head out from her bottom bunk, she noticed Ruby's red cloak hanging off the edge. She swung her legs out of bed, standing in her ice-blue nightgown. Scaling the ladder she had placed there for her use, Weiss came upon a strange sight. Ruby's legs and cloak stuck out from a mountainous heap of covers, all of which were piled on Ruby's back. Weiss climbed fully up the ladder, diving into bed next to Ruby.

"That doesn't look very comfortable," remarked Weiss with a grin as she observed the jumble of limbs before her. Ruby had her hood on with her face in the mattress. Her only response was a muffled grunt, which, while it may have been intended to be words, sounded like "Mrrrflaffffbblllf."

Weiss stifled a giggle, shimmying closer to Ruby. Ruby popped her face out of the mattress, facing away from Weiss. "Not tonight, Weiss, I'm tired…" Weiss was confused for a second, then it dawned on her.

"Ruby, please! I wouldn't even think about it. I was just… uh, cold. Yeah, I was cold, and I need my girlfriend to warm me up." Weiss shimmied closer. She and Ruby were almost touching now. Weiss reached to the mountain of covers and knocked it over, taking a blanket and making sure she was covered, then extending it as a peace offering to Ruby. Upon touching her shoulder, Ruby turned over, silver eyes peeking out from her hood.

"Hey." she murmured.

"Hey." Weiss whispered back. In these troubling times, sometimes a little cuddle was all you needed. Ruby's eyes were beautiful, mesmerising. Weiss could see her own face in those eyes. A child's face. Yet, here they were, fighting a war. Weiss smiled bitterly. She laid a hand on Ruby's cheek, surprised to find tears. "Ruby, what's wrong?" Weiss asked, concern filling her voice.

"I'm just tired, ya know?" replied Ruby sadly. Weiss thought about the battle earlier, to the mangled bodies of the dead.

"Yes, Ruby. I know." Weiss lifted the hood from Ruby's head, stroking her dark hair. Ruby's gray orbs stared past her, a thousand-yard stare in a 20 foot room.

"When my mom… disappeared… I was scared. Dad told me and Yang that there was nothing to worry about, that she was late all the time. But we knew. We saw the fear in his eyes, that dread, that voice that screamed all the worst that could happen straight in your ear. After a day went by, when I was going to bed, I made an offering. I broke open my piggy bank, and brought out 10 Lien. I tucked it under my mom's pillow. I don't know why. It was an offering to Remnant, to give me my mom back. She never got those 10 Lien." Ruby's voice finally cracked, and she let out a sob before continuing. Tears flowed freely down her face, etching paths in her pale face.

"I just think of all the little kids out there, wanting their moms and dads back, putting–" Ruby took a ragged breath. "putting Lien under their pillow, waiting for them to come back!" Ruby was wailing now, screaming. Weiss looked behind her at her teammates, but they were content to let her handle matters. Weiss was shocked. She had never seen Ruby like this, had never heard her story. She just kept stroking the girl's hair.

"I'm here for you, Ruby. I'll never leave you." Weiss whispered, trying to reassure the emotional wreck in front of her.

"How do you know?" Ruby spat. She sniffled, wiping her nose. Weiss conjured a handkerchief, wiping Ruby's tear-streaked face.

"I just do, Ruby. I love you." Weiss took Ruby's chin, looking her in the eye. "I will never leave you, no matter what." Ruby's face was screwed up in a mix of anger, confusion, and despair.

"You don't know that! You say that, but you don't know! You act all grown up, but you're scared like me! Like the rest of us! You're scared to death!" Ruby sobbed. She buried her head in Weiss' shoulder.

"Everything works out the way it's supposed to," Weiss reassured. Ruby didn't speak, merely bawled into her partner's shoulder. So Weiss made herself comfortable, while her love cried herself to sleep.

A/N: There it is, the first chapter of what I hope to be many. Special thanks to Unjax and Raquz, my partners in crime for this particular story. Hopefully we can churn out a chapter a week. Thank you for reading, feel free to follow/fav/review if you want to see more:

White Rose!

Bumblebee!

Arkos!

and much, much more…

See ya!