Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. I do, however, own a bag of pizza rolls. Which isn't the same thing, I know.
Road to the End
By: athrunzala
01: Beginning of a Journey
"Jaune..."
Ruby reached out her hand towards her friend, the blonde being slumped on the ground.
"Jaune. I'm sorry..."
The blonde male shook his head and brought his hand up to his head, wiping away the tears from his blue eyes. He then looked up at Ruby, his expression still full of pain and loss.
"Ruby... It... It's not your fault. It's mine."
"Jaune..."
"No, Ruby. I... I wasn't strong enough. I should have stopped her! Don't you get that!?"
"Jaune," Ren interjected, stepping between the two teens, "Ruby is only here to help. She did what she could, and so did you. Pyrrha... she..."
"Ren, I know. I just..."
The blonde was silenced when Ruby, who had managed to zip around Ren, pulled him into a hug.
"We all miss her."
"That's just it, Ruby. She... And I... Oh god I was so stupid!"
"Come on, Jaune. Let's get you out of here."
The trio then headed off to the safe zone, where airships were waiting to take the survivors to where they needed to go.
~Three months later~
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah. You guys know that you don't have to come with me, right?"
"Ruby, we agreed to come along. We are in this until the end."
The younger girl nodded at Ren.
"So our first lead is in Mistral, right?"
The quartet headed off, away from Ruby's home in Patch, where Yang lay in her bed, staring out of the window of her bedroom, her eyes devoid of the fiery passion that once dwelt there. She could still feel it. Even though her arm was severed, and she could see that it was gone, she could still feel the limb. As she stared, a lone black bird took off from the barren tree nearby.
On a cliff overlooking the single road away from the house, Qrow stood, looking over his younger niece and her friends. In his hands, he held Ozpin's signature cane. After one last look, he jumped, a large black crow replacing him in the air.
~Four months later~
"Are we there yet?"
"Nora, please don't ask that again," Ren politely protested.
This wasn't the first time that the orange haired girl had asked, and it probably wasn't going to be the last. Even though she was a towering mountain of power in combat, the inaction scared her to no end.
"Actually, according to this map, we should be in Mistral already."
Jaune was studying a large, creased piece of paper, attempting to track their route with one hand as the slight breeze attempted to abscond with their only way of finding their direction.
"Lost?"
The group jumped at the sudden utterance.
"GYAH! UNCLE QROW! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!?"
"Chill, kiddo. We need to go the same way. I'm just tagging along."
He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his flask, which he took a sip from. As he lowered it, he held it out.
"Any other takers?"
"Uncle Qrow? I'm 15..."
Jaune stepped forward.
"Sure."
"You're what? 17?"
"Look. I have seen my whole world, which I thought I had just sorta gotten under control, get ripped away from me. The first woman to believe in me, and even love me, no offense to my mother, was killed."
"Fair point. Just a warning: This is some strong stuff."
The blonde nodded and accepted the vessel, raising the neck to his lips. He tipped it back, allowing the amber liquid to flow into his mouth and down his throat, the whiskey leaving a trail of fire in its wake. He immediately returned it to being upright, and, with a cough, stared at the container in disbelief.
"What... What is in there!?"
"Whiskey. From Vacuo."
"Jaune, you were warned."
"Listen to your friend with the pink stripe, kid. And don't follow in my example. This stuff only serves to dull the pain for a bit. Then it comes back. There is no helping it."
Qrow then walked over to the blonde and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Look. I can tell you give a damn. Keep that, and you can help more people than you will hurt."
He then looked past them, in the direction of a series of tufts of smoke.
"There. That is where we need to go."
To Be Continued...