Chapter 1 – Huntress

Jaune

He traces his fingertip across the Isomacium forged blade of Crocea Mors, able to feel every single groove where the ancient Arkhoni Markings have been engraved onto. He can see exactly where the light shimmered from, and every now and then as he touches it, there is a very slight shimmer. It could not be the reflection of the sunlight – since the window and the sun are not in reach of the blade itself.

His large blue eyes focus on the blade...wondering constantly what its secrets are.

Why was it passed down to me?

Who is the Final Knight?

Is it me?

Is it one of my sisters?

Did my parents know about whatever that man said? My great...great grandfather how many times over?

Before he can wonder any further, he lifts his head at Nora and Ren who have both fallen asleep after keeping their eyes on their friends the whole night. Nora mumbles as she sleeps with her head on her boyfriend's shoulder, then her head slips from his shoulder. And she gasps with a snort as well, looking around as she jolts awake. Then she sees Jaune awake as well, with that same smile on his face as ever.

She takes a powerful inhalation of air when seeing him awake, and she punches Ren in the shoulder – pretty hard as well. "Ow!" Ren exclaims as he presses his hand to his shoulder, snapping back into the realm of the awake. Then he sees Jaune sat upright and his eyes widen with disbelief, and he immediately gets up at the same time as Nora. Whom instantly wraps her arms around him, and he yelps as she squeezes him tight with her freakishly unnaturally strong arms.

"You're okay! By the gods!" Nora squeaks with ecstatic joy as she bounces up and down like a crazy Kangaroo.

"Hey...love you too Nora...can you please stop crushing me?" Jaune strains as his face starts to turn purple and his voice becomes harder to decipher as he struggles in her grasp.

"Oop!" She squeaks, releasing him and colour returns back into his face and he sighs with relief, looking up at Ren to see him with a kind...yet saddened look on his face. Then he looks at Nora, and sees the same expression.

Neither he or Pyrrha know of what happened in the courtyard.

What Vir Nominis Umbra has done...

"Guys...what's wrong?" He asks them, and they both sit down beside him with shaken expressions. Their joy did not last long...it was as if that happiness was drained from them the moment that they remembered what happened. The sound of the impacts of that hammer against Oobleck's head...the shriek that Raven let out when watching her fiancé die right in front of her eyes.

The things that Vir Nominis Umbra can never be undone, they will never forget the punishment he inflicted upon them. Then they hear Pyrrha waking up as well, groaning as she presses her hand to her head as she rolls round and she looks at Jaune first...then seeing Nora and Ren.

But seeing the looks in their eyes...

"Guys?" Pyrrha whimpers fearfully as she looks at them with teary emerald eyes.

Nora is about to say it, but Ren does it for her...so then she does not have to be the one to break the news. He holds her hand gently, rubbing his thumb across the top of her hand. "Vir Nominis Umbra came here...just after you two and Kassius went looking for the meds to help Yang." Ren reveals and they both look worried. Because they did see him there with Kassius, but they never knew what he did.

"He was with us as well...he told us that he punished us for something...what did he do?" Jaune fearfully asks and that is when he sees Nora rub a tear from her eye.

"He..." Nora stammers tearfully, but Ren is the one that takes the shot.

"He murdered Oobleck, Roy, Nolan...and Taiyang." He reveals – Jaune and Pyrrha's eyes both widen with horror and it is like getting stabbed by Kassius all over again. A shockwave of heartbroken emotions flow through his body when hearing those names...and he can literally picture their faces. Oobleck's...after everything that he had done for them all...as if losing Professor Port wasn't enough!

He clenches his hand into a fist and he snarls with anger, his eyes squeezed shut. Pyrrha turns and looks at him, clutching the bed cover over her body. "Jaune?" Pyrrha gently speaks as she reaches out to him.

"How?" Jaune questions with a rage fuelled voice and Pyrrha looks increasingly worried. Both Ren and Nora are delighted for them to be alive...but the loss of their friends...it is drowning their joy out with sadness. Jaune grips onto the hilt of Crocea Mors with every ounce of strength in his hand, almost stopping the blood flow in his entire hand. He is shaking with anger, and all he wants to know is how they died.

"Jaune...you don't –" Nora whimpers fearfully, not of Jaune...but of having to repeat the memories in their heads. How sadistically he murdered them all...they have never witnessed anything like it – something pure evil.

But Jaune needs to know.

"How did they die?" He repeats with his eyes closed, trying to focus his emotions as best he can. He knows that his emotions may grant him strength but he also knows that he cannot let them overpower him...otherwise he will end up like some of their foes that they have to fight. Like Ortega with the loss of Penny and how Hazel turned out with the loss of his own daughter, Amber. But he managed to pull himself out of that darkness that he was trapped inside of.

Ren looks at Nora...and he sighs, then looking at Pyrrha who is scared of the answer that they are beating around the bush about. But they know that they deserve to know the truth, even if it is haunting. "Umbra...took a claw hammer and he...smashed Oobleck's head in...beat him to death...right in front of us." Ren stammers as he can hear the sound of the metal hammer crashing against his skull. The wet squelching crunch that ever bang followed up with...enough to send nightmares through his soul.

Jaune flinches and Pyrrha begins to sob, covering her mouth as she hears the words. He never deserved to die like that – nobody deserves to die like that, she would never wish that kind of death upon anybody.

Not even Umbra.

What he deserves is something far more severe.

"Ruby got angry and she aimed her rifle at him...but it didn't matter, because he used her to kill Nolan. Pulled the trigger for her, and killed him as the bullet went through him." Nora describes with a trembling voice and Jaune tenses more and more as he hears the way that they died. "Then he just murdered Roy because he felt like it – threw a damn spear through his chest."

Pyrrha shakes her head...waking up to this news is not what she ever wanted to hear. But then again, after what they witnessed, and that Kassius has vanished out in the wilderness...how will they ever wake up with a happy morning ever again with this as their foe? "And Tai?" Jaune asks, calling him by the nickname that both the Branwen Twins named him by. It still feels surreal for Nora and Ren to come to terms with the fact that they will never see Taiyang again.

Or Oobleck...

How must Ruby and Yang be feeling?

Wherever Ruby has disappeared off to?

Raven and Qrow must be heartbroken as well, both of them lost something very close to them last night. Qrow lost a brother, and Raven lost the love of her life...in a single second...everything she ever dreamt of having...was snatched away from her in an instant. Ren sighs, as he gives Jaune the answer to his question finally. "Vir Nominis Umbra challenged Ruby to a game of his – she never told us what happened where he took her. But she must have failed – because the next moment...Umbra launched one of those goddamn spears through him." Ren describes.

Still hearing Raven's cry for the man she loved.

Nora begins to cry as well, having to cover her eyes as she sobs beside Ren, and he gently puts his arm around her, pulling her close to his side as he caresses her ginger hair with his hand. He kisses the top of her head affectionately...

Until he notices that Crocea Mors is beginning to glow brighter instead of shimmering when in the grasp of Jaune. Pyrrha notices it as well, along with the sweat which beads from his pores and the sight of his muscles tensing up and the sound of his breath getting harsher and harsher. Pyrrha would normally be attracted to the sight of Jaune's body being as muscular as it is...but this is different.

The air is thick with anger and it surrounds him, then his eyes open up slowly as he grits his teeth with fury. "Umbra..." He growls, then he screams with rage and there is a pulse that erupts from the blade of Crocea Mors, fluttering their hair around, and both Nora and Ren gasp with disbelief from what had just happened there. Pyrrha stares at Jaune with shocked eyes, remembering when she saw something similar happen after Hyde had stabbed her.

The blade glowed and when the swords impacted, there was an incredible shockwave.

Like when he gets angry, the sword seems to channel something through him, or perhaps the other way around? Either way that sword has some mysteries to it – mysteries that they need to find out soon...because if it can help take down Vir Nominis Umbra...they need to know about it. Jaune ends his cry of anguish, enraged that he could not save those who have been butchered by a monster...and after what he saw in the Charred Forest...he cannot even think of what Umbra could be doing to their souls right now.

The only thing they can do now is avenge them.

Is to find the weakness to Vir Nominis Umbra, the chink in his armour...so then they can kill him once and for all.

The aura that swirled from the blade of Crocea Mors fades back into his own and he calms down, still dripping from the hair with sweat. "Damn it..." He sniffles with anguish, sick of failing.

Neither of them decides to ask the question on their minds...because clearly neither Pyrrha or Jaune really have any idea of what the hell is happening with Jaune and Crocea Mors right now.

"There wasn't anything you could have done, Jaune." Nora states, and she is confident of that after seeing the epic battle that took place in the courtyard between Ozpin and Umbra.

"Where is he?" Jaune questions, staring at them...and that is where they are faced with the rather perilous task of telling him about the return of a certain individual. An individual both he and Pyrrha do not trust for as far as they can throw him.

"Ozpin...woke up...and challenged him." Ren reveals...

And the silence that fills the room sends chills through both their bodies at hearing those words. After all these years...he has finally woken up. "Ozpin's...awake?" Pyrrha fearfully questions and for good reason – Cinder may have been the one to kill her but Ozpin was the reason it all went down that way. He would have sacrificed her future, her own soul to become the Fall Maiden.

"Yes...and...he has a lot to explain." Nora states as she looks at Ren.

"But he hasn't said a word, not since...well..." Ren awkwardly says, since everything has gone wrong.

All in one night.

"Since what?" Jaune asks.

"Ruby has gone missing, just like Kassius. We could not track either of them down, they have both vanished off the map. Not even Cinder can track Kassius down, she thinks he might be knocked out." Ren explains, remembering the things that Cinder had told them about her efforts to try and contact her brother.

"What about Ruby? What do you mean she is gone?" Pyrrha asks fearfully for the safety of her friend. They all are, especially after that letter that she had left behind.

"We found a note on her bed where Oscar had left her to recover...Umbra did something to her. She was being possessed by him at the end of the battle...and...she said he threatened to kill us all. I think she's ran because she wants to protect us...after the deaths of her dad and everyone else..." Ren sighs as he thinks about her, but Nora shakes her head.

"It isn't her fault though, it is Umbra messing with her. He is lying to her." Nora states, but she does not know Umbra as well as both Pyrrha and Jaune do. And they know that there is one thing about Umbra that he never lies about.

And that is that he never lies to begin with.

He tells the truth, just not the full truth at times. Or he will tell others a truth or plant potential ideas into people's heads.

But he never changes the truth...he never lies...he just misconceives them for those he tells them to.

"He wouldn't lie." Jaune states, and they look at him with confusion.

"Huh?" Ren asks.

"Pyrrha and I spent a long time with him in the Charred Forest – he is many things but a liar is not one of them. Whatever happened...Ruby must have messed up and gotten it wrong." Jaune states, not trying to sound cold towards her, but not lying either. Probably the only good quality that they have seen Vir Nominis Umbra display so far is the fact he never lies to people.

"Ozpin has told us that he is not going to tell us what he has to say until we find Ruby. And then we can have the funeral for everybody that we lost to him." Ren explains to him, then Jaune sighs, throwing the covers off his body and he slides off the bed and onto his feet. Nora looks at him with worried eyes.

"Jaune?" She asks.

"Where's Ozpin?" Jaune questions as he sheathes Crocea Mors into the scabbard attached to his belt.

"Jaune he won't say a word, he is being stubborn." Ren states.

"I don't care, where is he? Where is everyone else?" Jaune asks, and he turns to see Pyrrha getting up as well, her armour has been fixed up after the battle against Hyde luckily and her wound has healed. Just another scar to her collection, this time it is on her stomach, same as the one Jaune now has. Along with a couple others, like the slash across his chest from the Beowulf years ago in Mistral. And the burns in areas from the battle he had against Pyrrha when she was under the control of the Onyx Phantom.

Who according to Vir Nominis Umbra is also still alive somewhere...hopefully Ozpin has the answers to that as well.

Ren looks at Nora and he stands back up, opening the door for their friends. "They are in the courtyard, Glynda is trying her best to repair the damage." Ren tells them.

"Okay...let's go have a chat with our dear professor." Jaune states, walking in front of his team, and they follow him.

As a black crow with red eyes and a crystal beam in the tree outside their window watches as they leave.

And it caws, before flying away.

Vir Nominis Umbra is always watching.

Always.

Oscar

Glynda holds her crop upwards, using her magical semblance to rebuild the damage done to the school's courtyard, telekinetic energy lifting up huge chunks of rubble and fusing it back together. She has already rebuilt the Colonnades luckily, even after the battle she had against Umbra. She levitates the largest chunks from the tower that was smashed apart during the godly battle between the Soothsayer and the Knight of Vengeance. It fuses back together but she sighs, dropping forward to regain her strength whilst pressing her hands to her knees.

As she regains her strength to continue with the reconstruction after the battle while she still can...Oscar is sat on the edge of the fountain with his hands gripped onto the letter which Ruby had left behind. His hazel coloured eyes staring straight at the words, and while he reads them Hazel is looking at him, then at Ozpin who is knelt down on one knee. They have never noticed before the ways in which he actually did act like a Knight.

Very calm.

And he would always have his mind focused on his objective and nothing else...it is bizarre that they never noticed it before.

Oscar reads ever single word...

Every letter as he pictures the beautiful face of the woman he loves.

I'm sorry...

I'm so, so sorry...

This is all my fault, and I never should have gotten anybody into any of this. I let my anger control me and I killed Dew, I was not fast enough to save Gray, Serena and Vos and they all died. And now I Oobleck, Roy and Nolan...even my dad..they're all dead because I failed.

I know you are all my strength.

But he made a threat to me before he left...

He threatened to kill all of you...

He made good on his last threat and I will not challenge that again. I will not allow anyone else to die for me, not after this.

Oscar if you are reading this then please do not come after me.

I am going after that fucking Soothsayer myself.

And I will kill him.

But nobody else will die because of me.

I'm no Huntress anymore.

I am whatever I need to be to kill Vir Nominis Umbra.

I'm sorry.

And I love you all.

- Ruby Rose

He knows her handwriting off by heart and this definitely was written by her...and he can even see the tear stains on the paper where she began to cry. Her torment must be eating away at her constantly, and with Torchwick always present in the back of her mind...it must be getting worse and worse without him there to help her. It is killing him – not knowing where she could have gone.

The only consolation he has is that she could not have gotten far.

Hazel sits down beside Oscar and the massive man's presence completely breaks Oscar's endless chain of thought that surrounds his girlfriend, and he turns to the large man. "How are you holding up, Oscar?" Hazel asks him, and he looks up at him. It is strange, both he and Cinder have had a child and father relationship with this man.

And once he tried to kill Oscar and she killed his real daughter.

Perhaps people really can change.

Perhaps forgiveness is possible even for the most horrendous of crimes.

Oscar folds the letter up and he presses it down on his lap and he presses his hands to his face as he sits forward, exhaling heavily through the gaps between his fingers. "Goddamn it...this is all such a mess." He says to Hazel with a trembling voice and the deep gruff voiced man nods his head.

"Hmph...I know...I didn't know Oobleck...or any of them that well...I'm sorry." Hazel says to him, and Oscar sighs as he pushes one of his hands through his messy black hair. He cannot help but think on how much of a defeat they have suffered, and not just with the deaths of their friends.

Everything they fought to save, to free...and now they are back at square one. Atlas is under Acolytes of Lien control, Mistral too and the White Fang have fallen back into the old rule with Mazen as their new High Leader. And Vacuo has been completely taken over by the Grimm as well. "How are we supposed to beat something that managed to take down three kingdoms in half an hour? How are we meant to challenge him when after everything we threw at him he just countered it all?"

"Except for Ruby." Hazel states, and he pauses with a sigh. Most people would be hopeful at that, but Oscar knows Ruby well and he knows that she would never want such a burden to be hung on her shoulders like that. She already has enough to cope with in her own mind, let alone the power that she wields...a power that could kill Umbra.

And even then after she did it he was not killed, they just managed to hurt him.

"Not much of a victory though, is it?" He sighs. "We hurt him...that's it." He sighs as he sits there, looking at Ozpin and he looks pretty resentful. "Why the hell is he holding all of it back? Why didn't you come and save them before he killed Oobleck?" Oscar mutters with anger, and it seems that Hazel is in agreement...perhaps all of them are this time as well. They are sick of him not telling them things, but he seems insistent that Ruby be here for his explanation.

Oscar and Hazel's attention turns when they see Team J.N.P.R storming towards Ozpin, all four of them with angry looks on their faces. Ozpin just stares down at the ground as he waits, seemingly meditating, and Jaune stands right behind him. "Talk." Jaune demands with a growling voice, and Ozpin slowly opens his brown eyes, turning them ever so slightly to look in his direction.

"Mr. Arc...I'm glad to see you are awake." He says.

"Cut the bullshit, talk. Now!" He demands, and Ozpin sighs, taking his cane and standing tall. No longer wearing his cog based Armour that everybody referred to as the Entity of Time – and now wearing his old traditional outfit he always wore.

"I will explain everything when Ruby Rose has returned to us." Ozpin states.

"Just Ruby? What about Kassius?" Jaune questions sternfully, desperately wanting to punch the Headmaster for countless reasons. Pyrrha may be alive now, but he is still partially responsible for what she endured.

"How do we know he is still on our side? Things did not look particularly promising from your side." Ozpin asks, and Jaune scoffs with amazement at how quickly he is throwing both Kassius and Hyde under the bus for what happened.

"It wasn't him, or Hyde! Umbra did something to Hyde, he was not in control." Jaune explains, remembering it perfectly well.

"And how can we be sure of that?" Ozpin asks him, but then the familiar voice of Kragen Nox appears behind him.

"He is telling the truth, Oz." Kragen reveals and the Knight of Vengeance turns to the old Silver Eyed Wizard who stands there, with his robes around his body again. He approaches them with his cane in his grasp, and Oscar watches him approach cautiously. At the moment, he is the only one here that knows of what he did back on Menagerie.

Of how Gray, Vos and Serena died, and why.

"I saw the aftermath of their fight, Hyde seemed to come back at the end. He was freaked out and he ran away when I tried to calm him down. Even Cinder cannot find him with her semblance, he could have been captured." Kragen explains, and they turn to see Cinder leant against the wall.

"If someone gets knocked out I cannot contact them." Cinder states, worry is clear in her eye as she stands there, twiddling her fingers around. Pyrrha looks at her, and she looks away...she has conflicted thoughts of Cinder right now and so does Jaune. They both respect she is trying to atone but both remember her crimes.

That is not easy to forgive.

"Well...if he has been captured then we must continue without him." Ozpin states, but Jaune cannot hold it back any longer and he yells with rage. He punches Ozpin straight in the jaw and the Headmaster recoils back with a grunt, staggering across the cobblestone and everyone gasps. Pyrrha grabs his hand and pulls him back, and Ozpin chuckles as he cracks his jaw and stares at Jaune. "Okay...I might have deserved that."

"Oh trust me I was holding back." He snarls with anger, fury almost glowing in his blue eyes. Ozpin sighs as he paces back and forth.

"In all honesty? There are only four individuals that are of priority for this explanation. And only three of them are here right now." Ozpin explains, looking at the trio.

Jaune

Pyrrha

And Oscar

All they are missing is Ruby. "I am sure that Kragen has informed you that the four of you are pivotal in the war that has begun?" Ozpin asks them, and Pyrrha looks at Oscar as he approaches.

"He brought it up." Oscar answers as he walks over, his hazel eyes trained on the old Warrior, who knows why he is cautious of him.

"Then you must understand why I am holding back until she is here. The information I have is too important for me to risk repeating myself without her here. Umbra could be watching us at this very moment and none of us could know." Ozpin explains, looking at the many trees that surround them, looking for the Crystal Beaked Crows.

None to be seen for now...

But that does not mean that they are not there.

None of them are thrilled to see him up and walking, especially after the fact that he only seemed to wake up after Taiyang died, and Oobleck, Roy and Nolan before him. But as they all focus their attention on the mysterious professor, Glynda looks to her scroll when she feels it vibrating in her pocket. She pulls it out and she flicks it open, seeing it is call from the Valerian Police Department. With a curious expression, she answers the call since they rarely ever get calls from the police since they handle most small stuff. "Hello, this is Professor Glynda Goodwitch speaking." Glynda announces, and they all look at her, listening to what she says to them.

But as the officer on the other end speaks to her, Jaune glares at Ozpin who stands tall. Still not saying a word, not until they locate Ruby.

"Arc?" Goodwitch questions, instantly getting Jaune's attention off Ozpin, his eyes looking surprised, then Glynda looks at Jaune. "Um okay...I will be sure to send some Huntsmen and Huntresses there right away." Glynda assures, as she ends the call and puts her scroll away.

On the edge of his seat, Jaune asks what rattles in his mind. "Professor? What is going on?" Jaune asks her.

"Do you have a twelve year old sister called Alyssa?" Glynda asks him, and his heart skips a beat when hearing her name. His youngest sister, she is the sweetest of them and now he is terrified to find out why they had to call Goodwitch about this.

"What's happened to her?" Jaune fearfully asks.

"She's fine, but she has been found in the streets after there was a fight. Apparently a bunch of armed thugs were found murdered, and she is saying that a Huntress saved her life. She seems certain it was Ruby." Glynda explains, remembering what the officer had told her. All of them look very hopeful now, just hearing her name gets Oscar ready to locate her.

"Where is she?" Jaune asks, still concerned for his baby sister.

"She's at a dust shop...it's...the same one where I first met Ruby." She points out...the irony as well.

"I know the place." Jaune assures, since he has passed that place a couple times before.

"I'll get Blake; she needs to be with us in finding her. Qrow...what about you?" Oscar asks him, but he sighs.

"I need to help my sister...I don't think she'll want to see me...especially after what happened to Tai." He says with a deeply saddened voice, he desperately wants to come with them but after what happened, he is right. He needs to help Raven, and soon they need to track down the Witches in the Restless Marshlands all the way in Mistral.

"It's okay, we can find her." Oscar assures as he goes to the Amphitheatre to see Blake, and she is still sat with the Afflicted. Yang is the only one still asleep, passed out technically...she has been stabilised by the medication but it is not enough to save her. It just gives her some strength, but the Witches must know how to make a cure...somehow.

Blake is sat down beside Sun, caressing his blonde hair affectionately, and he is turning his back to his girlfriend. He has tears in his eyes...feeling so much guilt in his bones. "It wasn't you fault, Sun...He said it himself." Blake gently whispers to him – seems that he is taking it personally...thinking he is the reason that the four died.

Because he called Umbra a freak to try and lighten the mood as he always did. But she is right – Vir Nominis Umbra was always going to kill them, he just took the opportunity when he could to come back.

But Sun does not see it that way. "If I wasn't a damn idiot...they would all be alive." Sun sniffles, tearfully and it is heartbreaking to hear someone usually filled with joy to be crying. Neptune is shaken too; as is Weiss...she is shaking on the spot as she lays there. Still seeing the deaths of them in her head, the sounds of their deaths...the cries that echoed across the courtyard when he murdered Tai and Oobleck.

She kisses his cheek lovingly; pressing her cheek to his gently as she warmly holds him. "Nobody blames you; he was always going to do what he did." Blake whispers. "I need you Sun...Please don't let this break you..." She whispers, trying to hold her own tears back. He has always been so supportive for her, now it is the other way around. And it is so strange for her to see him so fragile...and not just physically. She can literally feel his muscles deteriorating from the lack of exercise compared to his normal daily workout routines.

Oscar closes his eyes then he sighs. "Blake?" He calls out, and her black feline ears perk upwards to the sound of his voice. Blake turns to him, seeing the young man standing there.

"Yes, Oscar?" She replies.

"We have a lead on where to find Ruby." Oscar tells her and her eyes widen, even Sun turns his eyes slightly but refuses to show his face. Refuses to show the tears that stream down his cheeks as he sniffles.

"You do? How?" Blake asks with intense curiosity in her voice, Neptune and Weiss both look interested as well.

"The Police Department, they called Glynda. Jaune's little sister claims that Ruby just saved her life from a bunch of criminals. All of them are dead though." Oscar tells her, and Weiss looks increasingly concerned. She never did forget that moment back in Vacuo when Ruby snapped at her because she was hiding stuff from her. Or when she cut down Dew when Team N.D.G.O betrayed them.

Ruby's Inner Demons are getting worse and worse, because the Ruby they used to know would never callously kill somebody.

Even if they are enemies.

Blake turns and looks at Sun, and she affectionately holds his hand as she kisses him gently on the cheek again. "I'll be back soon...hopefully with Ruby with us." Blake assures with her loving voice. He nods ever so slightly, and she stands up, but before she leaves she adds one last statement.

"And Ozpin better have some answers for us." She states, with narrowed amber feline eyes.

Jaune

The six of them took a couple of cars to the site of which the Officers reported, Blake and Oscar in one and Team J.N.P.R in the other, all searching for their very dear friend. The two cars decelerate as they approach the Dust Shop that Ruby Rose defended from Torchwick.

And now it has come to light that the man she saved was Umbra all along, just in hiding, most likely causing the events to happen in the first place. He let her go after Roman, which most likely lead to her meeting Glynda and got her to meet Ozpin...and started the whole chain of events. Vir Nominis Umbra was behind it all, and none of them ever expected the joke they had running for so long...to be their ultimate foe after all this time.

They both park up by the other police cars outside the shop, which now has an all new owner. With the Old Man Shopkeep no longer in sight...it sends chills down their spines to come back here. Jaune opens the door with Pyrrha beside him, looking around at the place with nervous expressions. On the way there, they were informed about Old Man Shopkeep, and Ozpin being the Knight of Vengeance.

But there is still so many more questions that Ozpin must answer...but at the moment...their priority is just to find and help their friend. Because that is what family does for their friends...they look out for each other.

They all have their weapons on them, and Nora looks at the shop with Ren beside her. "So this is where it all started?" Nora asks, looking at Blake as she walks past. She sighs, remembering when Ruby showed them where she first met Torchwick when they were looking into the Dust Robberies seven years ago.

"Yes." Blake answers as she looks at Nora and she looks at her Faunus friend. Nora smiles kindly as she pats her friend's shoulder.

"Come on, let's go see what happened here." Nora says, she does not even need to bring up the problems that Sun is suffering from. Because she knows that Blake is trying her best to help him get over it. Even though it was not his fault in any way, Umbra probably planned on that happening.

Jaune walks towards the yellow tape where the cops have sectioned off the shop, and one of the officers walks up to them. "Excuse me, civilian – you cannot enter here. Crime Scene." The Officer states as he holds him back.

"We're from Beacon Academy, Professor Glynda Goodwitch sent us. You asked for some Huntsman to check it out." Jaune reminds, understanding their caution since they are just wearing casual clothing opposed to armour.

Easy to make that mistake.

Then her small and adorable voice gleefully cheers as he sees her running past the officers to him with a fluffy blanket wrapped round him. "Jaune!" Alyssa happily coos, running right into his arms. She is tiny, with a tiny blonde ponytail and blue eyes just like her brother. She wears – under the blanket – a pink hoodie with the Pumpkin Pete's Bunny on the breast pocket. She also has her teddy bear constantly in her grasp, and Pyrrha smiles gently with happiness in her eyes. He catches her and he holds her close with relief, seeing with the officers is one of his other sisters.

Her name is Nylah Arc – she is the oldest of the seven sisters...or the six, since Skyler is dead. She has blonde hair too and it is much longer than Jaune's, but not as long as Yang's. In fact it is around the same length as Blake's, curly as well. Her large blue eyes look to her brother, and her Commanding Officer allows her to go speak with him. She is a very beautiful young woman, and she immediately wraps her arms around her brother, relieved to see him. "Hey you two..." Jaune whispers softly as he holds them both close.

"I've missed you!" Alyssa squeaks happily, but her naivety does not notice the pain in the eyes of everyone here. But Nylah notices it practically immediately, seeing it in all their eyes.

"Are you okay little brother?" Nylah asks him, and he sighs, grunting as he feels a little pain in his stomach. It is natural for some pains to still be there even after Aura has fixed the damage, but it is like the pain someone feels in a bruise. He looks at Alyssa and then at Nylah...he cannot say fully with her baby sister there...and Nylah might not even believe him. So he just briefs it.

"We've suffered a heavy loss." Jaune tells her, and her eyes widen and she closes her eyes sadly. She may not have known the people that died but she has the respect and care for her brother to feel his pain.

"I'm sorry, bro." She gently says as she looks at him. Then her eyes drift to Pyrrha Nikos...she is filled with so many questions...but also knows that she would not understand. There is a reason why she chose being a Police Officer above being a Huntress.

"Hello..." Pyrrha sweetly says with a little wave, and then Nora and Ren both do the same. Blake and Oscar also wave too, they must have probably heard some stories over the years from Jaune.

"You're her..." Nylah gasps with amazement...mostly from how beautiful she is...proud that her brother has found such a perfect partner. But also Jaune has told stories about her, clearly she must have heard about what happened in Beacon all those years ago.

But Jaune did not come here to catch up, perhaps that can be saved for when he goes to visit them again. He crouches down by his youngest sister and he sees the little scuff on her cheek, one that could have been given to her by the thugs. "What happened there, Alyssa? I got the call...did they hurt you?" He asks her with a concerned voice.

"I...um..." She nervously stammers, as she always has as well. "T-Th-They..." She stutters, revealing a little issue that his sister has. Alyssa has always suffered with a stutter since she was born, but that is always due to being stressed out in certain situations. Clearly the trauma is causing her stutter to activate again, until Pyrrha crouches down and she smiles as she reaches into her bag.

"Hello...I'm Pyrrha." She touchingly greets, and in her handbag that Goodwitch was nice enough to loan her before she purchases her own one is a candy bar. "Do you like sweets?" She asks her with a beautiful smile, truly showing that Pyrrha is completely back now, not a shattered memory of whom she used to be. The mirror of Pyrrha Nikos is fully rebuilt and now she is the girl she was before Cinder had killed her again.

Like a fish, Alyssa is drawn to the candy bar. "Yes..." She nervously coos as she looks at the sweetie.

"Here you go." She assures with a smile, placing it into the tiny hands of the child, her delicate smooth hands dwarfing Alyssa's. Jaune smiles happily as he looks at Pyrrha, filled with gratitude that she did that.

"Thank you." Alyssa adorably thanks with a shy smile as she hides in her blanket, nibbling on the chocolate.

"Pyrrha is my new girlfriend – do you like her?" He then covers his mouth jokingly as if Pyrrha cannot hear her. "You can say no if you like." He jokes, in which Pyrrha gasps and sarcastically slaps his arm with a smile. The fact that they can put on these smiles for her – in light of what has happened – is impressive enough.

Alyssa giggles, and that is enough to warm the injured hearts of the Huntresses and Huntsmen. "Yes." Alyssa replies with a happy smile, bouncing up and down with a giggle.

Jaune smiles, and he looks at her hand...noticing something in her clutches. His eyes widen when he realises what it is. "Alyssa...can you show me what that is in your hand, please?" He asks her softly and she smiles, doing so and she opens her palm...and it is what he thought it was.

It is Ruby's Steel Rose Badge, the one inspired by her mothers.

"Alyssa – why do you have that badge?" Jaune asks her, and she stops nibbling on the sweet that Pyrrha gave her. Both of them look at her, not sternly, just curiously...which gives an answer.

"Huntress..." She shyly answers.

Alyssa

"What were you even doing out this late?" Jaune questions, his voice echoing through her mind as she remembers.

"I was having a sleepover – r-round a friend's..." She answers with a stutter, that's when her memory returns.

The little girl sleeps silently in a sleeping bag in the living room of her friend's house, with five other kids the same age as her down there too. Two on each sofa, whereas she chose to sleep on the floor, her head resting on her comfy pillow she has. The bag warmly encases her, happily asleep for a few hours.

Until she and she alone was woken up by the sound of somebody screaming down the street. She opens her large blue eyes and she sits upright, rubbing her eyes with her hand, looking around. She can hear nearby yelling and thuds as well, thuds that sound like punches and kicks.

Curious as ever, she gets up as silently as she possibly not to wake her friends up. Not even so then she does not get caught, but just because she is so sweet that she does not want to annoy anybody or disturb them. She is as stealthy as a cat, as she moves towards the back door and she can still hear the shouting. So she sees the key still left in the door and she turns it as quietly as she possibly can.

Every parent's worst nightmare.

And she is making it a reality for the Arcs, as she opens and closes the door so quietly that nobody would have even noticed. She sneaks her way down the street in the night, with the faint glow of the sun soon rising – she knows that the dawn is about to approach. But she keeps going so then she can investigate what is happening nearby, and why she can hear yelling.

She turns the corner and gasps, hiding behind a motorcycle parked when she sees the dust store. There are five armed thugs, but six motorcycles, meaning one of them is probably elsewhere right now. They all have weapons but only one of them has a gun, pointing it at the head as the dust shop owner. "Please! I don't want any trouble! Just take the money!" He begs with terror in his voice.

"Oh no buddy boy, we want you to give us the money. Come on!" One of the thugs yells with anger as he punches the man in the face and drags him over the counter to kick him in the face. The man cries out with pain, on the ground with the other store worker that they have been beating on. He is unconscious from the beating that put on him and they all start kicking and punching him over and over again. Whilst one of them starts to take the money from his pockets and from the counter.

But as they punch, one of them notices Alyssa at their bike and he stops. "Whoa! Hold up!" He yells, and they all freeze and look in the same direction he is. And that is when they all saw her, staring straight into her blue eyes.

She gasps, trying to run but she falls, hitting her face against the floor which scuffed it as well. Her skin is scratched and slightly bleeds as she whimpers...she turns to see the men walking towards her. "Well, well...looks like we got ourselves a little spy." The ringleader chuckles as he stares at the little girl. She shields her eyes with her hand with fear.

"P-Plea-Please do-do-don't hurt me!" She stutters with terror, beginning to cry, but the men laugh at her impediment like the pathetic pieces of scum that they are.

"W-W-W-Wh-Wh-Why?" One of the men mimics, and they all start to do the same thing, all making sounds to make fun of her impediment. The more she sees it, the more she begins to cry as she hears the bullies she has to deal with at school do the same thing in her head. She sniffles and begins to cry.

But then...

There is a blood curdling screech that echoes from down the alley, the direction of which the sixth member wandered off to. The five men all spin around with bone chilled scared expressions on their faces. The echo passes through the city of Vale for while until nothing but silence remains. The Ringleader is the one to break that silence though, aiming his pistol in multiple directions whilst the others hold their melee weapons tight. "Marco! Marco where are you! Are you hurt?" He yells, screaming for his friend.

No response.

"Marco!" He yells again.

Still not response.

"Marco!" He repeats.

"Polo." The female yet stern voice announces from above and they all gasp, looking up at the roof to see a young woman with a tactical suit of clothing on and a long red cape and hood over her head. Her single silver eye staring down at them all with blood dripping from Crescent Rose.

It is Ruby Rose.

She suddenly fires the rifle and shoots down towards them and immediately cuts the head of one of the thugs clean from his shoulders. A spray of crimson blood shatters into the sky, and Ruby has landed right before them, with gritted teeth on her face. The thug crumples to the floor and his head bounces and rolls across the floor as Ruby stands there.

One of the thugs yells as he runs and swings his baseball bat at her, but she ducks down and spirals round to smash her arm right across his face, spinning the scythe through her fingers as she growls with pure rage, slashing straight across the throat of another. So hard that she cut his machete clean in half in the impact, blood sprays like a fountain from his throat as he staggers back and falls. As another jumps onto her back she dashes away from him and he falls onto the ground, surrounded by red petals.

Ruby suddenly brings the curved blade down with all her might, stabbing straight through his spine and leaving Crescent Rose there, instantly killing him as well, adding to the pool of blood. "Stay there." She snarls as she ducks down to deliver one powerful punch square in the centre of the Ringleader's face, making him stagger and breaking his nose. With only two left for her to defeat, she draws her combat dagger that she has sheathed on her leg, and she slashes it across the hand of one of the thugs and she rolls across the back of another.

With an incredible display of skill, she manages to take the knife and carve it straight through his throat, and it his throat hisses with blood as she lands on both feet, only for her to push him to the ground with her boot. The Ringleader rushes towards her and he fires his pistol at her but Ruby ducks, before grabbing the hand that holds the gun and forcing him round, as she then drives the dagger right into his temple. She pushes him across small fighting zone and stabs the blade with his head impaled onto it against the wall, pinning him there and killing him instantly.

Ruby swiftly rips the blade from his head, panting so aggressively.

This is not the Ruby Rose they remember anymore.

Finally she turns to the thug she stabbed, who is still barely alive, choking on his own blood as she walks towards him. Taking out the rest of her anger – and it might not even be all of it – she rips Crescent Rose from his back and he tries to beg for mercy. "P-Please." He chokes, only for Ruby to transform the scythe into its rifle form. She takes the stock of the rifle, and violently smashes it against the back of his head.

Over and over again.

"Die!"

She hits again.

"Die!"

Every crash sends a jolt through Alyssa as she watches the whole bloody ordeal. "Die!" She cries out, desperately letting her rage that she wants to direct at Vir Nominis Umbra out on these men.

The final one kills the man, putting him out of his misery, then she looks up at Alyssa, seeing her staring at the event that just happened. She sighs, standing tall again, but then she flinches with a snarl as she feels a slight pain in her side where Corsac stabbed her with his knife back on Menagerie. Residing pains still there even afterwards. She turns and looks round, staring at a crow that watches her from the tree with a growl.

But it is not one of Umbra's, it is just a normal Crow.

Then Alyssa speaks again. "You...you s-saved m-me..." She stutters, her hands still shaking with terror from those men. She may be scared of Ruby because of what she did to them, but she also hopes for Ruby to have a reason. Nobody else would have done what she did. "Wh-Why?" She stutters.

Ruby snarls, sharply turning and glaring at Alyssa, her silver eye glowing fiercely as she stares at her. So harshly that Alyssa gasps fearfully, expecting Ruby to snap at her.

But she doesn't...

She calms down and sighs, closing her eye, and Alyssa can see how tired Ruby is. Not just physically but mentally. "I guess I can only save people I don't know..." She sighs, before looking at the young girl again. "Get out of here, girl. It ain't safe in Vale at night." She reminds, staring at her as she stands there.

As Alyssa listens to her voice...

It hits her and she gasps, with a smile.

But Ruby is not smiling.

She just stares at her with a cold and cynical expression – and she is only twenty one years old, and she has this sort of mindset now. Ruby just turns and walks away from her, but Alyssa stands back up. "Wait!" She calls, and Ruby stops. "You're Ruby Rose! That Huntress from B-Beacon! A-Aren't you?" She stammers, but with excitement this time, because from the stories that Jaune told her.

She became a fan of Ruby.

Ruby stands there, and she looks down at the badge she always wears, and takes it off, staring at her own reflection.

Her answer cuts deep.

"Not anymore." She replies, dropping the rose onto the ground, and walking away from Alyssa, as a petal drops from behind her and it lands on the rose, before crumbling away.

Alyssa watches as she walks away...

She can see the pain she feels.

Jaune

He holds the rose in his hand...

Knowing that Ruby is getting worse. He looks at Oscar and can see the concern in his hazel coloured eyes and he looks at Jaune. "This is bad, Jaune." Oscar states. "She would never kill callously like that, yes she kills people when in major combat situations. But only one had a gun, she would have incapacitated them." Oscar explains to Jaune, and he knows that is the truth as well.

"Do you think that...Torchwick is starting to get worse for her after what happened?" Ren asks.

"I hope not." Oscar stammers with fear for the girl he loves.

"She can't be far." Blake states as she looks around, seeing the body bags that hold the thugs that she killed.

Jaune stands up and he gently rubs the top of his sister's head. "I'll visit soon." He assures, and she smiles, hugging his leg. Then he looks at Nylah.

"I'll take her home, my boss has allowed me." Nylah assures.

"Thank you." Jaune says with a smile.

Nylah smiles back and she crouches down to her sister as he turns to the team of six he is a part of.

"We need to find her."

Author Note - Ruby has changed so much, and as you can see I am aiming to write this version of her as more of an Anti-Hero.

Showing two of Jaune's sister's was really fun and we will see more of them in the future along with the rest of the family. As I have said, the Arcs will play a much bigger part in this Act than the others. The difference in this intro to 3 is so apparent as well, the beginning to 3 had them all in Beacon with happiness in their souls. Penny dancing...but now?

Now they know what their real enemy is.

And Ruby's fighting style has changed a lot too, since she has become more aggressive than before.

One of the things I loved about this chapter as well is the parallel we have to the start of the show - when Ruby was once the curious little girl rescued by a cynical Huntress. And now? The tables are turned...except she is in a very different position as Glynda when they first met.

I hope you enjoyed the first proper chapter! Please review, follow and favourite if you did!

Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Traffickers

- Matt