The Fall Begins

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for! The one on one finals!"

Today was the day of the singles rounds. Everyone had been more excited than ever before. Today the winner of one of the academies will walk away as the victor. Everyone had been pumped and they couldn't wait for the fights to take place. They all cheered and clapped for the contestants that stood on the stage wishing all of them the best of luck.

A total of eight people stood in the middle. Five of them being Yang, Sun, Penny, Mercury and Pyrrha.

"Barty? Why don't you explain the rules?" Professor Port asked.

"Ah it's quite simple Peter!" Oobleck said, "Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will randomly be determined immediately before the match takes place!"

"Much like a good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!"

"Now with that being said, let's see who the first match will be!"

Team RWBY members Ruby, Blake and Weiss were sitting in their usual seats, next to Team JNPR members Jaune, Nora and Ren. There were just two people missing however; that would be the sisters, Destiny and Cristal.

"Hmm…" Ruby said worried, "... I wonder where they could be."

"Cristal did text us that Destiny had to use the restroom." Weiss said, "I assume the lines are pretty long."

"Still… They're taking a long time." Blake said, "I wonder what's keeping them."

"They had better get here soon!" Nora said, "They're about to announce the first matchup!"

She had spoken too soon when they saw that the randomization process had already begun. They watched up on the screen as it began to slow down. The first two people up were Mercury Black and Yang Xiao Long.

"The first match of the day will be Yang Xiao Long of Beacon vs Mercury Black of Haven!" Port said, "Would all other contestants please leave the stage?"

The other contestants did just that and Pyrrha went to go join up with the rest of her friends. She noticed a couple of people missing. "Where's Destiny and Cristal?" Pyrrha asked, "I thought that they were with you."

"Cristal told us she had to take Destiny to the restroom." Ren replied.

"Maybe it was something she ate." Jaune added, "Her message sounded urgent."

Blake soon stood up from her seat, "Maybe I should go get them."

"No wait." Pyrrha said, stopping her, "I'll go get them. I think Yang would want all of her teammates to see her fight." Before anyone could stop her, she went to take her leave. The stage began to set itself up for the fight between Yang and Mercury. Instead of it being split up, it had just lifted the two of them up off the ground so that everyone could see the fight that would take place.

Yang smiled at Mercury, "You better not go easy on me."

Mercury chuckled, "You wish."

Both of them took their stance and approached each other, slowly to the point where their hands almost touched each other.

Port started to countdown, "Three… Two… One… FIGHT!"

Thus the fight began.

Yang threw a punch while Mercury kicked, both of the shots echoed throughout the arena causing Mercury to fly back. He charged and tried to kick at her, though Yang had been quick to dodge him. When he started to throw punches she began to block and counter his attacks. Right when he was about to hit her though Yang quickly fired just near his feet, making him hover.

He kicked towards her head though she blocked him again. His foot landed on the ground and floor smashed into a crater. Once again he started to send kicks towards her, while she countered over and over.

They continued this pattern, until finally Yang pushed him back nearly falling off the stage, were it not for the gun on his heels. He threw his kicks at her, though she still had been able to defend. After rolling over on her back he had gotten a hit, pushing her back a good distance. He fired projectiles at her, causing her to either dodge or shoot them out of the air.

Mercury used this to his advantage as he charged. He kicked just underneath Yang's chin, as he had sent her flying into the air, before making himself hoover, delivering another attack.

Yang hit the ground hard, causing the ground to break a little. Mercury acted fast and quickly made more projectiles circle around her. With a simple movement from his leg, all the projectiles were sent flying towards Yang, hitting her all at once, creating a dust cloud. Some of the crowd cheered while most of them booed at Mercury just as he landed on the ground safely, brushing off some dirt that had landed on his shoulder. He proceeded to make his way off the stage to claim his victory.

BOOM!

Mercury stopped and turned to the source of the sound. He saw Yang with her eyes a crimson red and her hair lit up like the sun. She charged at him, giving him no time to guard. She started to throw punches at him, putting all her strength into each attack. At one point he tried to attack back though it turned out to be a mistake.

She started to punch him across the face and chest, repeating this pattern, until she hit him in the stomach making him land on his back. With his Aura finally broken, the buzzer sounded off, indicating that the match had been over and done with.

"What a way to kick off the finals!" Port said over the speakers.

Yang caught her breath before she raised her fist in the air, making the crowd cheer loudly. The stage soon lowered itself as the crowd continued. RWBY and JNPR especially cheered loudly at her win.

"YEAH!" Ruby exclaimed gleefully, "YOU DID IT SIS!"

"Aw man!" Nora couldn't help but complain, "They missed the whole fight!"

"I wonder where they could be?" Jaune wondered aloud as he looked to where Pyrrha had gone earlier.

On the stage Yang stretched her arms, cracking her shoulders a little as she looked at Mercury. "You put up a good fight." She said, "Though as they say, better luck next time!" She started to make her way off the stage, however…

"There's not going to be a next time blondie."

Yang turned around and saw Mercury charging at her, going to kick her. In the moment instinct seemed to have kicked into her head as she armed herself.

***

-Earlier-

Pyrrha had made her way towards the restrooms just as the match started to begin between Yang and Mercury. She saw that there had been a line for the ladies restroom, but saw the two sisters were nowhere to be seen. She asked the people she passed by if they had seen them anywhere, though the answers had all been the same.

At that point wondered where they could be and couldn't help but worry a little when she still couldn't find them.

She knew that they were somewhere, so they came with them to the stadium. Just as she was about to make her way back, she found something quite odd on the floor. A door that had been labeled staff, had been slightly open; the knob looked to be broken as she had examined it.

"What in the world?"

Pyrrha didn't know, but she felt compelled to go inside; and so she did. The staff area had a large hallway, leading into more rooms that the coliseum had provided. She felt the atmosphere around her change, as she stepped further down into the dimly lit hall.

"Hello? Is it anywhere here?"

Just than she heard the sound of a bang that had been muffled in her ears. She jumped when she saw Cristal toppling out of one of the rooms, hitting the wall just behind her.

"Cristal!" Pyrrha exclaimed running towards her, "Are you alright!?"

"Pyrrha?" Cristal said as she groaned, picking herself up off the floor, "What are you doing here?"

"The others were worried when you and Destiny didn't show up, so I came looking for you." Pyrrha had replied as she helped Cristal to stand. As she did this she noticed that Cristal had a bruise on her arm and cheek. "What happened to you?"

"That's--" Cristal started to say, before her eyes widened, from within the room, "--LOOK OUT!!"

Cristal immediately pushed Pyrrha out of the way; as she did Pyrrha had caught a glimpse of what looked to be a black sphere covered in purple flames, hitting the wall just behind them blackening a part of it. As Pyrrha and Cristal recovered, a familiar person stepped out of the room.

It was Destiny.

Though Pyrrha could clearly see the child look different. Underneath the eyepatch there looked to be a purple light; her left hand appeared to have purple mist around it. The look in her eye was cold and dead as it had been nothing more than a bottomless pit; almost as if her eye was gone.

She thought she had been seeing, she could've sworn she saw a small horn, on the right side of her forehead, while the left, had a small insignia of what looked to be a butterfly's wing.

"... Destiny…?" Pyrrha said, surprised to see her in such a state.

"It hurts…" She heard the child say with a whisper, "...It hurts… The pain… Won't stop…"

Pyrrha looked to her confused but soon noticed blood had been dripping from her index finger on her right. The child turned to them; her head had been moving as if she was a wooden puppet. "The pain… Won't stop…" She continued on.

She lifted her hand to the both of them, and Pyrrha saw in the palm of her hand a dark sphere began to form, taking the two of them back.

"Kill…"

The sphere grew larger in her hand.

"Kill…"

Purple flames soon appeared around it, making the two gasp.

"Kill them all…"

"Destiny what are--?" Pyrrha started to say, as she reached out to her.

BANG!

The three of them were drawn to the sound of gunfire just from within the stadium. This even drew the child's attention as she heard the people from within the stadium scream. Cristal on the other hand saw this as an opportunity.

Acting fast she tackled the child to the ground, pinning her wrist allowing the sphere to disappear. Destiny went to bite her shoulder, but had been quick to move out of the way as she pinned her on her front; Destiny began to struggle.

"Cristal stop!" Pyrrha told her, "You're hurting her!"

Cristal seemed to have ignored her as she had been struggling to hold Destiny still, "Pyrrha listen to me! This ain't the same Destiny you know right now! If she comes in contact with others than all hell will break loose! You need to go and find something to tie her up with!"

Pyrrha looked to Cristal before she looked at the child as she struggled beneath her. She heard Destiny let out a series of growls trying to break free. Her eyes locked onto hers for a moment and though her eye looked to be of a black abyss she could see that the child…

Looked to be scared.

"Didn't you hear me!?" Cristal said to her, "Don't just stand there! Hurry!"

Clenching her fist, Pyrrha stepped towards them; she had practically shoved Cristal off of her and quickly took Destiny into her arms, giving her a hug despite her bag getting in the way.

"Pyrrha?" Cristal said concerned. Destiny's teeth launched onto Pyrrha's shoulder aggressively drawing a small amount of blood, causing Cristal to jump at this; Pyrrha bit the bottom of her lip to prevent herself from crying out in agony.

"There now, little one…" Pyrrha soon said softly as she stroked the back of her head, brushing her fingers through the child's hair; she kept a gentle yet firm hold as Destiny struggled to get free, "... It's alright now… There are no monsters here… They can't hurt you… You don't have to be afraid… You're safe…"

Destiny growled but her movements seemed to have slowed down. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, as she began to whimper. Pyrrha shushed her gently as she tightened her hold slightly, "It's okay… Everything's gonna be okay… You're not alone… You never are…"

And just like that, Cristal saw the mist around her hand disappear, along with the purple light. The horn seemed to have evaporated, and the insignia of the wing, as her body had gone limp in Pyrrha's arms as she began to breathe softly against her shoulder.

Cristal looked surprised at what she had just witnessed. Normally anyone in any given situation would be afraid and run the other way; though Pyrrha, she had no hesitation to stop Destiny. Despite her getting hurt she didn't even think about running the other way.

She truly is amazing, is what Cristal thought in her head.

Cristal soon placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, getting her attention. "Come on." She said to her, "Let's go before someone finds us."

Pyrrha nodded her head; holding onto Destiny, they made their way out of the staff area and towards where the ships had been.

***

The crowd all had mixed reactions by what they had just witnessed. Mercury was on the ground holding onto his leg as he looked to be in pain.

"MY LEG!" He shouted, "MY LEG!!"

Yang glared at him, "That's what you get you little--Huh?"

Before Yang knew, she found herself surrounded by Atlas soldiers; guns pointed directly at her, armed and ready to fire at any given moment.

"Yang Xiao Long, stand down!" One of them said.

Yang had been hesitant, but did what she was told as she was more scared than she was confused by what was going on. "Wha--what's going on?" She stammered, though none of them had didn't answer her question. Emerald soon came onto the stage, running to her comrade as she had been worried about him.

"Mercury!" She said, "Are you okay!?'

"She attacked me!" Mercury said as he sounded scared and had been in pain, "Why on Earth would she attack me!?"

Yang had been more confused than ever, as she was trying to put together what was going on. Though she soon got her answer when she looked to the screens above as the crowd became more and more distraught. Her eyes widened in horror by what she was seeing. Though she witnessed Mercury attack her…

She saw him defenseless as she had attacked him.

***

-One Week Earlier-

Today team RWBY and JNPR, along with Destiny, Cristal and Zwei had gone to the Forever Fall forest to get some red sap from the trees. The reason being that Ren was going to make his signature pancakes and he needed the sap to make the syrup. Ruby stood tall in front of the group as the red leaves fell around them.

"Alright everybody!" She said to the group, "Thanks to Professor Goodwitch's permission we're going to be collecting some more of that delicious red sap!"

"We've got enough time to get a week's worth, but remember that there's Grimm around this area." Jaune said, "We'll stay in contact with our scrolls in case we get separated, but other than that, let's have fun with this!"

Yang soon held up a camera she had gotten from her bag, "Come on everybody! Let's get a group photo for Dessie's collection!"

Yang set up a tripod before setting up the timer; everyone had gotten together and readied themselves to take the photo. "Quick!" Nora said with a smile, "Everyone says pancakes!"

"Pancakes!" Everyone said as they gave a smile, before the camera went off with a flash.

After the photo had been printed the group went to work, as they started to collect the red sap. They had a scroll on, playing music to fill the void, as they filled the jars they had been carrying. Destiny on the other hand laughed and played with Zwei as she had been sitting under one of the trees; She and him had been playing tug of war as they were both putting up a good fight.

They kept this up until Weiss had called to her.

"Destiny!" Weiss said, "Can you come here please?"

"Kay!" Destiny said as she stood up. She went over to Weiss who had been with Yang as Zwei had followed her. "Do you guys need something?"

"As a matter of fact we do!" Weiss said to her, "We just need your help to reach up to that vein of the tree."

Destiny looked up and saw where Weiss had been pointing; she saw it had been out of reach from either of them. "But I can't reach that high." Destiny told them.

"We know!" Yang said before taking her by surprise. She reached just underneath her armpits letting out a squeak. She soon found herself sitting on her shoulders as she had now been within reach to where they needed to be. "There! Problem solved!" Yang said with her usual smile.

"But is it really okay?" Destiny asked, "I don't want to accidentally pull your hair."

"Oh don't worry about it!" Yang reassured her, "Because it's you, I'll let it slide!"

"Just make sure you don't slide off." Weiss said as she handed her the empty jar.

Destiny nodded and took the jar from her and began to fill with sap. Within moments it had been all filled up. She handed the full jar back over to Weiss before Yang put her back onto the ground. "Thanks, this will do!" Weiss said to her.

"I'm just glad I was able to help." Destiny said, "Though I'm really surprised that all these trees have this stuff."

"All that syrup you put on your pancakes and waffles have to come from somewhere now don't they?" Yang said to her, "Though fun fact about this red sap here, is sweeter than maple!"

"It is?"

"See for yourself, just don't eat the whole jar."

Yang held the jar towards her, and Destiny looked at the red sap curiously. Dipping two of her fingers into the jar she gave the red sap a lick. Though it was not a second later, her eyes sparkled before she sucked the red sap dry, almost as if she had been sucking on a lollipop.

"See? I told you." Yang said with a smile at the look on the child's face.

Cristal saw from where she stood as she watched Destiny hang with Yang and Weiss; She saw her happily eating the red sap, as she had allowed her to have more of the red sap. "Seems like she's having a good time." Cristal said to Ruby.

"It's good that she is." Ruby said, "It's nice to see that she's having fun. I can tell your having a good time too."

"I honestly thought collecting sap would be boring, but boy was I wrong." Cristal said, "I appreciate you guys bringing us out here."

Before Ruby could say anything more they soon noticed Blake looking alert about something. Soon enough a young woman emerged from the bushes, looking distressed about something.

"Help, please!" She begged, "They came out of nowhere--! They attacked us--!"

"Take deep breaths miss." Blake said to the woman gently, "What happened?"

"The Grimm--!" The woman said, "They attacked my husband and I, down at the ravine! He's still back there, please you have to help him!"

"Don't worry ma'am!" Ruby said as she armed herself with her Crescent Rose, "We'll save him! Let's go team RWBY!"

They all armed themselves before they quickly followed behind Ruby. "Cristal! Call Jaune, and get her and your sister somewhere safe!"

"We'll do!" Cristal said. RWBY went off in the direction to where the woman had pointed; Zwei stayed with the two girls. Cristal started to lead the woman towards the path, but found Destiny looking to where RWBY went as she had been unmoving.

"Destiny!" Cristal said, "What are you doing!? We gotta go!"

"But… The others…" Destiny said.

"They'll be fine, they're trained Huntresses, remember?" Cristal said, "They'll be just fine. Now come on, we have to go."

Destiny had been hesitant as she looked back to where RWBY had gone. After a few moments Cristal found her sister running in the direction where RWBY went. "Destiny wait!" Cristal exclaimed, "Come back! Don't do what I think you're gonna do!" She couldn't help but groan annoyingly; she told the woman where to go before she took off where Destiny had gone in. Zwei stayed to keep the woman company.

***

Team RWBY had been quick to get to where the woman's husband had been. They followed the sounds of Grimm, eventually getting to the ravine where the woman said her husband would be. There they saw a total of three large Ursa, surrounding the man. He looked to be out of breath, and a light shimmer went around his body, indicating that his aura had been depleted.

Ruby saw that an Ursa went to attack the man from behind.

"CHECKMATE!" Ruby shouted.

Weiss and Blake quickly went to engage the Grimm. They jumped the Ursa from behind, and with Weiss activating her glyphs and Blake with her semblance, they were able to evade the Ursa before they had managed to land a hit on them. Yang went to take care of the other two while Ruby went to check on the man, who had fallen to his knees.

"Are you okay?" She asked, as she helped him to stand.

"You girls are life savers!" The man said, "I thought I was a goner!"

"We'll take care of the Grimm!" Ruby told the man, "Your wife is waiting for you down the path!"

The man understood and quickly made his way out of the ravine. Just as he did, Ruby suddenly felt herself flying into the water that had been nearby; she lost her Crescent Rose in the process. "RUBY!" Yang exclaimed. She was about to run to her but had soon been hit away by one of the Ursa. She flew right into Weiss and Blake.

Ruby stood though the rocks in the river caused her to trip and fall. The ursa stepped towards Ruby, and she tried to get herself away from the Ursa as it towered over her. The Ursa looked ready to kill her, and she saw that there had been no way out. She shut her eyes as to not see the final blow but--

"Stop!"

The girls were taken back when they heard a familiar voice. They turned and saw it had been the child, Destiny standing at the top of the ravine. She slid down the rocks as the ursa's looked to the child, getting ready to pounce at her.

"Destiny!?" Weiss exclaimed, "What are you doing here!?"

"It's not safe, you need to go!" Blake told her.

Destiny ignored them, as she walked towards the ursa that had been towering Ruby, as they had than realized that the three ursa hadn't been making a move to attack the little one.

"Please…" Destiny said to the ursa gently, as it turned it's sights to her, "... No one has to die."

She stepped just in front of Ruby; the moment her back had been to her, she removed the eyepatch, tossing it to the floor. The girls had been taken back when the ursa leaned over and started to sniff her face; letting out a series of whimpers, as if… It was speaking to her. Destiny reached out to the Ursa and started to pet the creature; leaning it's head so that it had been resting on her shoulder.

"I know…" They heard Destiny say, "... I know it hurts. But you don't have to kill… Here… Let me help you…"

She placed a hand on top of it's head, and they saw a white light glow between them. For but a brief moment, they could've sworn they saw the eyes of the Ursa change to white, before it blinked and it's eyes changed back. The Ursa turned to it's comrades and growled; thus the ursa dispersed leaving the team just in shock and awe. Destiny fell to her knees as she caught her breath.

Ruby saw Destiny begin to sweat from whatever had just happened. Just as when she reached out to her, another familiar voice came ringing through their ears.

"Destiny!"

There came Destiny's older sister, Cristal, jumping down from where she was and into the ravine. She ran over to the child, sliding to her side when she saw the way she was. She placed a hand on the child's forehead before.

"Princess… You didn't have to do that…" Cristal said as she took her in her arms, before standing, "Now look at what you did to yourself."

"I… Had to…" The child had groaned, "He was in pain…"

"Even so--"

"Cristal!"

Cristal looked to Ruby as she suddenly had what looked to be a look of fear; when she had turned Ruby noticed that one of Cristal's hands had been covering her left eye. Ruby stepped out of the river and towards them.

"What is going on…?" She asked.

"I--" Cristal began to stammer, tightening her hold on her sister, "--I don't know what you're talking about."

"But what Destiny did just now--!" Yang soon said, "--That was no Semblance she used just now."

"That's--" Cristal tried to say, but stopped herself when she couldn't come up with an excuse.

"She just walked up to a Grimm and did something to it." Blake said, "It's eye changed, we all saw it."

"What did she do to make them just walk away?" Weiss soon asked.

Cristal tried to say something but found her words stuck in the back of her throat, knowing very well she couldn't talk her way out of it. "It's okay…" She soon heard Destiny say.

"But…" Cristal said, "... We promised dad we wouldn't remember?"

"I know." She said, "... But they have a right."

"Your eye…" Ruby soon said to the child, "... We all thought you lost it but… It's not gone is it?"

Destiny looked at Ruby and shook her head.

"What you did to the Grimm… Does it have something to do with it?" She soon asked.

Destiny nodded her head once again. Placing a hand on top of Cristal's she gave her a pleading look. Cristal for a moment turned her gaze to the four girls before them. One look in their eyes, she ultimately let out a sigh of defeat, before her hand finally moved from the child's face.

That's when RWBY gave an equally shocked look on their faces. They half-expected to see her eye missing from it's socket, or at the very least, her eye to be sewn shut, to prevent bacteria going into where her eye had been.

But what they didn't expect at all was that her eye had been in the color of orange and yellow, resembling that of a Grimm.