Unseen Scenes:
Your Favorite Fairytale
Takes place in Vol.4 between Ch.7 & 8

Jaune watched the breathtaking fight unfold with a mixture of horror and fascination. He had not recognized the older huntsman until he told Tyrian to "leave my niece alone," and then Jaune realized this grey-harried man was the one who had carried an unconscious Ruby into Vale's overflowing hospital on the night Beacon fell.

The combatants now moved at an almost uncomprehendable speed. As her uncle's aura began to flicker, Ruby dived into the fray. Jaune moved to help, but Ren held him back. Although the two worked well together, Ruby's uncle shouted at her to "Get Back!"

She refused, and the fight continued. A precariously balanced timber from one of Oniyuri's numerous incomplete structures came toppling toward Ruby. Her uncle dived to her rescue, slicing the timber in half and causing it to topple away before it struck her. But a moment's inattention to the fight had its costs. Tyrian's tail sliced a thin gash across the huntsman's side.

But the lunatic's gloating victory morphed into a howling scream of agony as Ruby lowered her scythe and sliced off the end of his tail. He lurched, swearing and muttering to himself. Jaune, Ren, and Nora quickly moved into position, guarding Ruby and her wounded uncle. The lunatic scurried off.

Moments later, the team surrounded the wounded huntsman, barraging him with questions. He dismisses concerns about his injury and caught his breath while their list of questions wound down. After a moment's silence, Ruby simplified all their questions into one. "Uncle Qrow, what's going on?"

"What's your favorite fairytale?"

"What?" Ruby's simple response summed up the bewilderment Team RNJR shared at the random question.

Qrow laughed and then winced at the pain of his wound. "Just something Ozpin used to say. Let's get out of this ruin, set up camp, and then I'll tell you what I can."

As the others began helping the wounded man up, Jaune just stared. Ruby had called the man Qrow. Jaune immediately flashed back to that night and the last thing he heard Ozpin say. "Find Ironwood, Glynda, Qrow. Bring them here right away. The tower must not fall."

The final name on that list had never meant anything to him. It did now. After all these months, he was finally facing someone who could explain what happened in that sinister vault beneath Beacon.

Determined not to be useless, Jaune rushed to help Ruby with Qrow so that Ren and Nora could run ahead to set up camp. Qrow seemed fit enough to walk on his own, but Ruby and Jaune accompanied him on either side just in case he stumbled.

As they walked, Jaune pondered the strangeness of it all. They were headed to Haven because Ruby's uncle believed that school held a clue to understanding the attack on Beacon, but now Jaune thought of it, he could not remember her ever mentioning her uncle's name. His immediate instinct to interrogate the man halted as soon as he saw Ruby's concern. Whatever tantalizing answers this man might have, Jaune still had to respect that Qrow was his friend's uncle. How had he never realized that before?

He tried to tell himself that for the moment Qrow's connection to that night did not matter, because helping the wounded huntsman should be his only priority. But long-suppressed emotions mixed with his own frustration at having taken so long to make the connection, and as he lost himself in memories of that night, he found it hard not to blame this mysterious wounded man who had played a part in it all.

They arrived at the campsite just as Nora finished dragging in the last of four fallen logs. She kicked it into place so that the logs could act as benches around the fire Ren was building.

Qrow sat heavily on one of the logs, and Ruby helped him bandage his wound. Jaune broke out their food supplies. As the five of them ate in silence under the setting sun, they waited for Qrow to offer his promised explanation, but the skilled huntsman seemed he was still regaining his strength. As frustrating as the wait seemed, the team waited patiently. Even the usually excitable Nora was silent.

Finally, after taking a swig from his ever-present flask, Qrow spoke. "So, where do I start? You kids know the Story of the Seasons, right?"

"Of course." Ruby wondered where this was going and hoping her uncle was not becoming delirious. "But what does that have to do with…"

"It's all true." Qrow interrupted.

"What's all true?" Jaune asked, desperately searching each word for answers.

"The Story of the Seasons. I just said that. Pay attention. Those four maidens with unimaginable powers really do exist."

"Excuse me?" Nora's usually bubbly energy seemed transformed into aggressive incredulity. "I don't know mister, but you sure that wound isn't infected or something? Cause you're soundin' kinda crazy?"

Coming from Nora, that was practically a professional opinion. Qrow chuckled and winced at the pain from his wound. "Oh, I don't mean all the frilly stuff in that story is true. Personally, I always thought those girls showing up one at a time exactly when they were needed seemed kinda planed. But my ideas on that don't matter. What matters is the end result of that fluffy kid's story is actually true."

"Meaning?" Ruby's hesitant response showed her uncertainty about where this odd explanation might lead.

"Four girls that wield more power than practically anyone on Remnant. Been around for thousands of years. One dies…" Qrow chose this exact moment to take another drink, leaving that sentence hanging for far too long. "…and the last young lady she thought of inherits the power. Unless there isn't one. Then things get really messed up."

"But isn't that story just a metaphor for valuing what every season had to offer?" Ren did not show his bewilderment like his other three teammates, but his question demonstrated that he shared their struggle to make sense of the explanation from this drunkard who had just saved them from a cackling madman.

Qrow waved the hand with his flask as if to brush away Ren's objections. "Oh you can be as metaphorical about it as you want as long as you realize it's real as well. You four should know that better than anyone after what happened at Beacon."

Jaune remained silent during most of the discussion as he tried to piece things together. As horrifying as Qrow's explanation was, it made sense. Ozpin mentioned Qrow assuming Pyrrah would recognize the name. Qrow clearly had ties to whatever happened in the vault under Beacon on that night. And for the first time, Jaune began to have an inkling of understanding concerning what he had witnessed. And of what Pyrrah might have been dealing with. She had been so upset the day before the nightmare began. The last day. It was almost as if she knew what was coming. His mind drifted to the woman who interrupted them in the vault. The woman who destroyed so much. The woman who, in the end, had…had…

Jaune pressed his eyes shut in an attempt to prevent the painful thought from returning, but as he did so, Ruby seemed to speak his thoughts with a single bitter word. "Cinder."

Qrow nodded. "Yeah. From what we know, Cinder was recruited to steal the fall maiden's powers. She might think of herself as something special, but she's nothing more than a useful weapon, a pawn in Salem's game. Salem, by the way, is who that loony-bin back there called his queen. It's her popular nickname among her little cult of followers."

"And she's the one who planned the attack on Beacon?" Jaune finally found his voice.

"Yeah. She plans to use the maidens for her own purposes. And that's why the maidens play such an important part in the fight we're facing. If you're going to be part of this, it's important you understand the forces we're facing." He paused to give each of them a deadly serious look. "So, in the spirit of understanding, any questions?"

Circuits chirped in the early evening. Team RNJR remained silent as Qrow took another drink. Apparently he got tired of waiting. "Really, no questions?"

"Of course we have questions." Jaune snapped as he tried to gather his thought. "This is just a lot to take in."

"Sure. Of course."