19

Chapter 18-Forever Fall Part I

Team HAIL Dorm; Beacon Academy; Vale, Kingdom of Vale; 1:13 A.M.

Lily gasped loudly as she bolt from her bed. Her hair was disheveled and sticking up in several places, and her night shirt was slipping down her shoulder, revealing her dark red bra underneath. She greedily sucked in more air as she tried to calm herself. Finally catching her breath, she groaned loudly.

"Tenth dream this week," she muttered. A week ago, during one of Summer's 'training sessions' in the Forever Fall forest, she began having terrible nightmares. Usually, her nightmares only consisted of the memories of those two odd men yelling over her fate, but now the redheaded youth continued experiencing the horrible vision she experienced from the Dementors. Of the redheaded woman much like herself protecting her kids against a hooded assailant. Of a green light ending the woman's life. Of hearing two voices crying out in pain as their mother died…

Lily shook her head furiously, not wanting to think of the depressing thoughts plaguing her mind. She looked around and noticed the others were sound asleep. However, she looked to her partner's bed and saw it was empty. She frowned and looked around for him, but didn't see anything.

Her ears picked up mumblings from outside the room. Curious, she got out of her bed and sneaked over to the door. Opening it a smidge, she peaked out and saw Harry on his Scroll looking really annoyed.

"…better be good, Whitley," Harry growled. "I'm losing sleep for this!"

"Well, sorry if you're like my sisters when it comes to your beauty sleep, your highness," a high pitched boy's voice rang from Harry's Scroll, chuckling in mirth. Harry's face showed he was not amused. "Ok, ok, I get it. You're not in the mood, so I'll get straight to the point."

"Please do!" Harry said.

"Alright then, you remember those radio receivers I asked you to place around Forever Fall a week ago?" the boy, Whitley apparently, asked.

"Yes, my team and I nearly fell down a nearly 200 ft. cliff after nearly being struck by lightning trying to set one up," Harry replied. "What about them?"

"Well, I found a large concentration of magic centered somewhere in the forest," Whitley told him. "I can't get a solid lock on it, but all my algorithms are telling me the same thing." Harry hummed in interest.

"That is something," Harry said. "Do you at least have a starting place for me?"

"No, unfortunately. But if you activate the triangulation algorithm I installed on your Scroll, I can find one for you."

"Well, Summer's having us go into Forever Fall tomorrow to collect some sap for Professor Peach, so I'll talk to you more then," Harry replied.

"Sounds like a plan! I'll talk to you more then!" Whitley said as he canceled the call. Harry sighed and put his Scroll away. Lily quickly moved away from the door and returned to her bed as Harry opened the door and walked in.

"Some little science project you got going on?" she asked him as he walked in.

Harry looked shocked that she was awake, but recovered quickly and said, "Something like that. Since being brought here two years ago, I began searching for magic hotspots of this world. Before, it was to try and get home, but now it's more of nostalgia, or misplaced curiosity nowadays. Whitley, Weiss's younger brother, has a knack for making programs that can trace magic, and for the past year, we've noticed massive concentrations of magic around the world but could never pinpoint where they were."

Harry sighed in exhaustion. "Might still be a wild goose chase, hey, old habits die hard," he finished. Lily laughed.

"Sounds like it!" she giggled. She sobered up and asked, "So what do you expect to find, Harry? If you do discover magic on Remnant?" Harry stopped and thought about it for a moment. Lily waited patiently for his answer.

Finally, after what felt like a long time, the wolf Faunus shrugged and smiled. "Don't know. Never really thought that far ahead," he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Lily blinked at him in shock for a moment, before she began to giggle uncontrollably at how childish his answer and reaction was.

He laughed with her. "Alright! I think we need to get back to sleep!" he said. "We've got a long day tomorrow." Lily nodded and yawned.

"Yeah, sounds like it," she agreed.

1st year Dorms hallway; outside of team JNPR's room; 2:10 A.M.

Jaune walked out of his dorm room and sighed as he slumped against the door. He was having trouble sleeping over a recent message he received from his parents. Apparently, his sister Joan was missing and no one knew where she was. Joan always tried her best to help him be a Huntsman, so her disappearance was weighing him down.

He sighed dejectedly and hung his head. "What a day," he groaned.

"Jaune? Are you ok?" The blonde swordsman looked up to see Ruby standing in front of him rubbing her eyes in a rather childlike fashion. Jaune recovered quickly and nodded slowly.

"I guess…Maybe? I don't know," he said, hanging his head again. Ruby looked at him curiously.

"You lock yourself out of your room again?" she asked. His response was to hold up his Scroll, showing he wasn't. "Then what's wrong?"

"My parents messaged me earlier saying they can't find my sister Joan," he explained. "Normally, this wouldn't bother them but she's yet to contact them, and then they found her laser lance broken in the woods near they're house and are worried. They don't know where she is or if she's ok or not." Ruby tilted her head in confusion.

"Your sister?"

"My eldest sister," he answered. "I'm worried about her. I know I shouldn't be, as she's an excellent Huntress in her own right, but…" He sighed. "She did so much for me, believed in me more than anyone else. It's just…" He couldn't finish the thought.

Ruby understood though, and sat down next to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm sure she's ok, Jaune." He looked to her dubiously. "Big sisters are good like that! You said she was a great Huntress right?" Jaune nodded. "Then have faith in her! Don't worry about anything until you have the proof she's in danger."

"You make it sound so easy," Jaune mumbled.

"Well, saying something is always easier than doing something," Ruby admitted sheepishly, chuckling a little bit. Jaune couldn't help but laugh a little bit as well. Despite her rather meek attempt to make him feel better, it, surprisingly, worked, if only slightly. But then, Ruby could make anyone feel better. Be it from her youthful cuteness, her charming and perky demeanor, or her surprisingly insightful words, Ruby Rose was quite proficient in helping other feel better.

If only for a moment.

1st year dorms, Team CRDL's room, same time

Cardin hissed in displeasure as he slammed his dorm room's door shut. Being at Beacon was supposed to be the best times of his life, but for the past few months, it was anything but! He'd been laughed at, punished for no reason numerous times, and made a fool of so many times he was ready to kill something!

And he knew who was at fault. Jaune Arc, Ruby Rose, and Harry-fucking-Potter. Jauney was a loser who couldn't lift a butterfly, yet he was slowly growing to the point that he was becoming a challenge! A challenge! He shouldn't have had to struggle against such a weakling like him! Rose was a brat of a kid who shouldn't even be at Beacon no matter how skilled she was! She didn't have the mentality to be a Huntress and would one day get herself killed because she wasn't taking herself seriously!

And Potter. Cardin snarled loudly at the thought of that filthy mangy little mutt dirtying the sacred halls of Beacon. He was a menace! Every time Cardin and his friends tried to just chill out, he'd do something to embarrass them! Of course, since there was no evidence, the professors couldn't blame him, but Cardin knew. He was always there when the 'accidents' happened. He always had something snarky to say. He always knew they'd happen! HE was the one to set them! Cardin was absolutely sure of this.

But now…Cardin smiled darkly as he walked over to his desk, which held three boxes. This time, he'd get the better of them. It had taken a while, but he now had enough Rapier Wasps to incapacitate both teams RWBY and JNPR.

But HAIL…no. They deserved worse. Those damn animals and animal loving bitch. So Cardin went and found some Bullet Hornets just for them. He reached over to the metal box and patted the lid. A couple of stings from these guys, and those disgusting Faunus would knocked out cold for a month.

And their animal loving whore…well, if she didn't die, she'd wish she was so lucky.

Especially after he was done with her.

Cardin chuckled as he placed the boxes in a duffle bag, ready for easy carrying for tomorrow.

The next day; Forever Fall; Vale; 11:25 A.M.

"Alright! My pretty monster slaying wanna-be kiddies!" Summer chirped as she skipped in front of the assembled group of first and second year students. "Professor Peach is in need of more sap from the trees here, so we've graciously volunteered to harvest her some!"

"Yeah, graciously volunteered, my butt," one student mumbled. His friends laughed silently.

"And since the eight in the back agree with me, they get to collect a whole gallon of sap before the day is done!" Summer shouted, making the eight groan. Summer then stopped abruptly and turned to face her charges. "Ok, then!" she shouted, clapping her hands. "Today will also be about teamwork! I'm going to assign you a partner, and the two of you must collect the amount of sap I specify…expect you eight in the back, you guys go on and collect that gallon for me!"

The eight groaned again, but Summer wasn't paying attention. "Alright, kiddies!" she clapped. "Line up!" They did so, and the experienced Huntress began separating the assembled teens into two man teams. Harry smiled at a nervous Velvet as she was assigned to him while Lily was assigned to Jaune. Adam and Blake, ironically enough, ended up partners as Yang paired with Isabella, Ruby with Nora, Ren with Weiss, and Pyrrha with some guy named Rag-something or other. Harry couldn't remember.

"Well, Miss Scarlatina, let's get that sap collected, shall we?" he asked. She nodded hesitantly.

Cardin was fuming at how unlucky he was to be broken away from his team and separated from his targets. Oh well. It was a small setback. He'd have his revenge. No matter what.