Ruby and what remained of team JNPR trudged through the forest on their way towards the coast where they would hop on a ship and sail to Mistral, where they hoped answers about Cinder, and her connections to the Grimm could be found.

They'd been unknowingly stalked by Ruby's Uncle Qrow ever since Jaune, Lie Ren, and Nora had all picked up Ruby from her home on the Island of Patch five days ago. Now they were well into Grimm territory, and they were being fiercely reminded of it at the moment.

"Jaune! Beowolf at your 6' o clock!" Ruby called out as she impaled a Boarbatusk on her scythe, Crescent Rose. Without looking, she quickly fired a shot to her left and was rewarded with the sound of pained hissing, killing a Grimm that had tried to sneak up on Ren and Nora, who were tag teaming a King Taijitu.

Jaune turned and cleanly sliced his sword, Crocea Mors through the lone Beowolf, before turning back towards the Ursa Major that had been waiting for the Beowolf's strike to attack. He ducked under the Ursa Major's first strike and blocked the second with his shield before casting a worried look at Nora and Ren who had just managed to kill the Taijitu's first head, and were just beginning work on the second, white head as he looked. Satisfied that his team was safe, he haphazardly blocked another swipe from the Ursa Major as he turned his full attentions back to his fight with the Ursa as he cut into the tendons just below one of the beast's paws, causing it to go limp as Crocea Mors sliced through. Jaune quickly backed away from the beast's next swipe and jumped out of the way of the Ursa's giant maw as it had clearly decided to try biting him in half, rather than simply beat it's prey's shield or swipe thin air over and over . Sighing in relief at the worst possible moment, Jaune just barely avoided being impaled on the spikes of his opponent as it charged him in a bid to end the fight quickly so it could go lick it's wounds. Jaune raised his shield in desperation as the beast saw it's opening at last, ready to kill it's prey and begin on it's next victim.

CRACK

Jaune looked up at the noise, seeing the Ursa Major staring down at him, with dimming red eyes, and a new hole through the top of it's head, where Ruby stood proudly, Crescent Rose folded into sniper mode, pointed down at the top of the beast's head. Jaune offered a weak smile of appreciation, which Ruby replied to with a wide grin of her own before she back flipped off the beast's dissolving back and offered her fellow leader a hand, which he took quietly, before turning around just in time to watch the end of Nora and Ren's fight with the King Taijitu.

Ren jumped out of the way of the remaining head of the Taijitu, barely avoiding its attempt to club him with it's dead half in the process, he fired at the Grimm's eyes with his twin machine pistols, Storm Flower, distracting the beast just long enough for his partner to get in position.

"Nora Smash!" Said partner screamed as she cartwheeled through the air before bringing her large Hammer/Grenade Launcher, Magnhild to bear, slamming the large hammer into the skull of the King Taijitu's last head, causing it to scream out in pain, just before she pulled the trigger on the handle, causing the snake's scream to turn into a deathly wail as it went into its death throes, it's baleful red eyes dimming as it's body began to dissolve into black wisps in the air.

Ren and Ruby did a quick check of their immediate surroundings before pronouncing the area as clear, causing the four of them to wearily put away their weapons and pick up their supplies once more.

"We need to move, the Grimm will be moving in on us" Jaune said tiredly, but firmly, causing a murmur of agreement mixed with their groans of weariness. "I know guys, but if we stay here any longer, we'll be fighting even mo-" he paused, "oh, you agreed, right." He coughed slightly. "Moving forward then!"

Unbeknownst to them, a crow appeared to nod to itself from a branch above the fading carnage, before following them once again.

However, neither the Huntsmen in training, nor the disguised Qrow noticed that they were being herded, not simply attacked, but led into a deadly trap laid by their shadowy adversary herself.

"Okay, the cave is secure!" Ruby said, mocking the tone of a soldier as she did so. Jaune nodded in acknowledgement.

"Thanks Ruby, let's set up camp then, I'll take first watch." Jaune said as he unpacked his sleeping bag and cooking supplies. "Ruby, you have second, Ren has third, and Nora has last, same as always,any problems with that?" He asked them, getting shakes of the head from two of them and an exuberant "Negatory!" from Nora, who was cheerfully checking her hammer for any damage before flopping down on her sleeping bag. Jaune smiled slightly at this, he hadn't been himself since that day where Beacon had been attacked...where Pyrrha had..

'No!' Jaune thought to himself, pushing the thoughts of his deceased partner from his mind. 'I can't think of that right now, the rest of my team, and Ruby need me.' He took a fortifying breath before looking over at Ren. "It's your turn to get firewood, Ren." He said as he began picking up rocks from around the cave to act as a fire ring. Ren nodded stoically and stood up from his position sat against the cave entrance, dusting himself off, he began moving silently into the brush.

Ruby, pass me a bag of deer meat please" Jaune asked as he got his cooking utensils laid out on a towel next to the fire pit. Before that could happen however, Ren came sprinting in, winded and looking worse for wear than he was when he left. There was also the glaring absence of any firewood, at all. Jaune raised an eyebrow at his friend, hoping nothing was wrong, and stamping mercilessly on that sinking feeling in his stomach. "Uh, Ren, a few twigs do no not a fire make." He said in a deadpan snark trying to hide his worry for the moment. Ren quickly caught his breath and pointed outside the cave, where an ominous chattering noise was echoing throughout the rapidly darkening forest. He spoke in the closest to a panic that Jaune had ever heard.

"There's an entire cyclone of Death Stalkers headed our way, we need to move." Though to an outsider he would have sounded calm, it was clear to everyone in the group that Ren was panicking as much as they were, granted, it was all internal, rather than the frenzied packing and deploying of weapons that his friends showed.

Taking a steadying breath, Jaune took point with Ruby, stepping outside the cave and blanching at the sight before them, Ren may not have been specific in the amount of Death Stalkers in the group before them, but it was most definitely a cyclone. A very large one.

And they were all at least as large as the ones they had fought in their initiation at Beacon just a semester ago.

"Uhh Jaune?" Ruby said uncertainly, she had no problem leading, but she'd been deferring to Jaune's command the last few days, because this was still his team.

Jaune took another look at the rapidly approaching Death Stalkers, they were still a fair distance away, but they knew they were here, not to mention the way they were spread made it nearly impossible for him to visualize them escaping through the large Grimm, leaving only one way to go.

Back in the cave.

Later on, Jaune would question how the Grimm knew they were there, and how they were smart enough to spread out in such a perfect formation, but that was for later.

Right now they only had one thing they could do.

"Back into the cave! We should have the advantage in there, and maybe another way out!" With that said, Ruby and his team followed him without a moment's hesitation, running back into the cave, Nora and Ruby in the lead, Ren in the middle, and Jaune taking up the rear.

The four teens quickly ran into the cave, noticing in their rush for a good ambush point that the cave felt far large than it should, and that it was slowly turning from cave into tunnel, the walls looking more and more man made as they continued down their path.

"Why does it look like this?" Ruby asked as they continued their trek, noticing that the chattering that was so characteristic of the Grimm that were pursuing them had died out.

"Because I had it built that way of course." Came a familiar voice from just beyond their vision. Ren raised an eyebrow, and Nora looked confused.

Ruby and Jaune were staring with wide eyes as the figure lit up the end of the tunnel…

Revealing Cinder Fall.

"What are you doing here!?" Jaune asked, his anger spiking at his partner's murderer. Cinder smirked at the four people before her.

"Removing some threats" she said causally, flames igniting around her eyes as she smirked evilly at them as she rose a single white gloved hand towards them, an evil red orb glowing in her palm.

Ruby's body decided to cease standing stock still in shock at this moment, her body burst forth in a flurry of rose petals, moving to strike the woman before she could do...whatever it was she was doing.

Cinder however, just casually flicked her free hand, sending a wall of flame at her adversary.

Ruby quickly disengaged her semblance, firing Crescent Rose towards the flames, sending her into a recoil assisted flip that she used to send herself hurling back out out of the way. Cinder shook her head in a disappointed manner.

"I thought you would put up a better fight." She let out a sardonic laugh at the team in front of her as the orb that had been charging in her offhand fired towards them. They ducked out of the way, allowing it slam into the cave wall behind smirked evilly at the slight shimmer forming against the rock as she she formed her weapon, the saber and bow combination forming together from black razor thin glass. "Salem sends her regards." And with that, she released the string, the arrows glowing in a menacing orange as they soared towards the stunned group. They dodged once again, the explosive arrows slamming into the same wall the odd red orb had, an even stronger shimmer than before rippling through the smooth rock.

"I thought you would be a better shot?" Nora pointed out in a cheery tune as she swung Magnhild, the blow easily deflected by Cinder's sabers.

"Oh, I wasn't aiming for you four" she replied in a smirk as she stabbed a sword behind her, a seemingly random crow flying upwards to avoid it.

"You weren't aiming for me either, I expect?" Came the slurred sounding reply from where the crow had once been. Cinder's eyes widened briefly before going back into her controlled mask.

"Well hello Qrow, long time no see, here to attempt finishing what you started when I fought Amber, I suspect?" She asked, blocking Qrow's sword with her own twin sabers, while seemingly conjuring a storm around her. Qrow responded by jumping out of the cyclone as it formed around his opponent. He hurriedly transformed his sword into it's scythe and circled her warily.

"And what did Salem say about me to get you gracing me personally with your presence?" He could just make out Cinder smirking amusedly at him.

"Oh Qrow, how arrogant of you, what makes you think I was sent here for you?" She sent a stream of fire at him, taking full advantage of the Maiden powers she had taken from their previous owner to push back one of the biggest threats to her and her boss' plans. "I was sent here for her" she pointed at Ruby who looked confused, gripping her weapon tightly. "You're just an added bonus." With that she sent a large wave of the maiden's powers at them, sending them stumbling into the cave wall, but instead of crashing into it, her five opponents went sailing through it, off to who knew where. She smirked as they disappeared, releasing the power of the Maiden as she floated to the ground. With that, she sauntered out of the cave, idly weaving between the docile Death stalkers that herded them here.

Two of her boss' biggest threats had just been eliminated.