A/N: This chapter has been planned since, well, before the fic was a thing. Hope I can make the ideas in my head make it onto the page.
The morning comes with a sharp knock on the front door. Their escort is there already, Qrow is very annoyed at the vagueness of the "threat." He decides to not take it out on the soldiers though. They are only still in Atlas on James good graces after all. They are all loaded up, the soldiers are being very polite and professional which is helping Qrow keep his temper in check.
"Where are we going? Ironwood didn't exactly advise me on the specifics last night." The huntsman grouches pointing to his scroll.
One of the soldiers looks to him. "The General has arranged a cabin on the outskirts of Solitas. It's going to take several hours to get there, it's quite remote." A perfectly adequate answer that causes Qrow to grunt and nod in response.
Maria is telling stories about her adventures before she lost her eyes. The tales are riveting but just remind Jaune that Salem is after Ruby. The same thing that happened to Maria could happen to the tiny reaper, worse she could end up like her mother. Qrow never mentioned the specifics, but it wasn't reaching to understand what happened to Summer. Qrow feels the young knights gaze on him, almost reading his mind. The huntsman nods solemnly causing Jaune to stiffen his posture and turn his gaze towards his girlfriend. Qrow smiles to himself, the kid is a good one. They have several military guards with them, as such Qrow doesn't see the harm in catching a little cat nap.
He's woken some time later roughly as an explosion rocks their caravan. Their vehicle squalls to a stop. "What's going on?" Qrow demands of the nearest soldier.
"We're under attack, a pack of grimm and a few bandits too." The soldier explains readying his weapon.
"Weapons ready everyone." Qrow shouts, more as a formality at this point. Blake's ears flatten, she hasn't found a replacement yet.
Yang reaches out and places a calming hand on her partners arm. "You'll do fine." Blake nods.
Qrow catches Jaune's eye for a second the determined look they share stating if these bandits are after Ruby they will rue the day.
Nora looks out the window and gasps. "That's a lot of grimm."
"Ruby, if the grimm can't be taken down you're our last line of defense, remember what I've been teaching you." Maria's stern voice carries.
Ruby nods." Team, lets do this." The soldier tries to protest but they all jump out of their transport. "Ranger left, RWBY right, Qrow keep Maria safe!" Ruby shouts, the soldier blinks dumbfounded for a second at the fact that a professional huntsman taking orders from a kid. Nora wasn't kidding when she said it was a LOT of grimm. There were dozens upon dozens, ursa, nevermore, griffins, beowolfs and most menacingly a few beringles. They along with the soldiers are hard at work clearing the grimm, but there's no sign of the bandits the soldier mentioned. That is until a fireball explodes between Ruby and Yang who are fighting side by side. They are sent flying opposite directions. Ruby lands disoriented next to one of the ape grimm. It roars picking her up and launches her effortlessly.
Jaune stares in shock the fireball having grabbed his attention. "Cinder." He growls out, she smirks at him and launches a volley of fire attacks at the group scattering them.
"Keep it together kid." Qrow warns
"I'm okay." Jaune replies and takes a deep breath calming his nerves. In the chaos of the battle they haven't realized Ruby has been separated from them.
Ruby growls pulling herself up ready to spring back into battle with the ape grimm when a crunching behind her catches her attention. She turns and gasps nearly losing her grip on Crescent Rose. "Pyrrha?"
The redhead simply smirks at her before charging the tiny reaper. Ruby blocks blow after blow parryng with her scythe. "How are you even here?" Ruby calls out attempting to get the other to talk, her mind refusing to believe that the girl in front of her is anything but her friend.
Pyrrha in one swift move uses her spear to disarm and send Ruby flying into a nearby tree.
"What's going on, we're friends aren't we? I won't fight you." Ruby says picking herself up trying to reason with the advancing Spartan. The form of Pyrrha's eyes takes on a deadly glint as she strikes with a series of kicks, many of which Ruby manages to block while pleading with the girl to just talk to her. "If you're okay you need to tell the others they miss you." She tries to reason. A kick connects with Ruby's midsection sending her flying again into another tree. Her opponent is super strong and Ruby can feel her aura depleting rapidly.
Qrow and the others have managed to deal with most of the grimm and between them they are doing an okay job of holding Cinder off. A small lull in the combat and they quickly realize that they are minus one. Jaune's eyes widen.
"She's been toying with us! Where's Ruby?" He shouts swinging his sword.
Qrows jaw drops and a look of panic spreads on his face. "No."
"Yes, bird boy." Cinder calmly states smirking launching herself at the group.
"Yang, Jaune, Ren, Nora, go find Ruby, the rest of us will handle her!" Qrow barks running towards Cinder.
"Which way do we go?" Yang yells above the din of the battle, the concern written on her face. A thud and the sound of metal on wood answers their question and the four run in the direction of the sound.
They break through a few trees with obvious signs of a recent battle and they are all stopped in their tracks momentarily. Ruby is flung lifelessly through the air not even flinching when she makes contact with the ground. The form of Pyrrha stalking purposely forward with her spear raised intent clear. Jaune is first to break out of his stupor running at full speed to get between Ruby and the imposter. His sword barely manages to interset the spear and the clang of metal on metal prompts Ren, Nora and Yang into action. "You're not Pyrrha, you're disgracing her memory in that form. Pyrrha was kind and would never attack her friends." It's not shouted, his voice is deathly calm and it causes Neo to take a step back. He charges her and their weapons clang against each other briefly before he hears his name called in panic.
"Jaune, Ruby needs you NOW!" Ren shouts, the young knight's face falls in dread and he runs turning his back on his opponent. Neo thinks she's won and starts walking off when the ground explodes around her as Yang clad in her semblance and Nora attack together. Ren can't ever remember seeing that much rage on the redheads face before.
The dark haired boy gently turns Ruby to her back and leans her head back attempting to make sure her airway was clear. Jaune slides to a stop and shouts Ruby's name, if she hears she makes no indication. The blonde boy is near panic when both he and Ren watch her breathing become more shallow. Jaune has both of his hands encased with his semblance the golden light coursing over the small girls body. Ren refrains from stating how dire the situation is though he casts a glare at the retreating form of Neo who had finally given up the illusion. "Ruby, c'mon you can do it, come back to us." Jaune whispers through tears.
Ruby found herself in the most gorgeous garden she had ever seen. There were large white pillars and pavers made of white marble with gold veins running through them. There was every kind of flower she had ever dreamed of in full bloom and she could hear the bubbling of a little fountain. She follows the sound and finds an elegant fountain at the base of a little golden stream. She kneels down dipping her fingers in the cool clear water.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" A soft, kind, and familiar voice calls to her. "Hello again." She offers warmly
Ruby stands, her eyes are wide and the look of shock on her face quite evident. The look of shock is replaced with a look of fear as Ruby takes a defense stance.
"That wasn't me Ruby, don't you know that?" Pyrrha asks gently, an undercurrent of hurt in her voice.
The tiny reaper falls to her knees in tears. "I'm sorry." She breathe out, she's soon wrapped in a warm hug.
Pyrrha chuckles a little. "That's my line, but Ruby, why are you here? It's much too soon."
Ruby blinks. "Here?" Her confusion comes through in her voice.
"I passed on, remember, if you're here.." Pyrrha wants to let Ruby realize on her own.
"Oh, Oh NO, the grimm!" Ruby jumps up in panic looking for a way out.
"It's okay Ruby, look at yourself." Pyrrha instructs.
The tiny reaper squeaks in fright her body is fading. "What's happening?"
Pyrrha smiles gently. "Jaune is happening."
"His semblance." Ruby whispers.
"Yes." The pride in Pyrrha's voice makes Ruby smile.
"He really does love you, ya know." Pyrrha winks at the ever fading Ruby. "I'm happy for you both, but Ruby, I don't want to see either of you for at least eighty years, you got that?" Pyrrha shouts waving the smile on her face never fading.
"She's coming to!" She hears Ren shout in relief, she coughs and sputters her lungs burning for air. The memory of her encounter with Pyrrha already fading, feeling like an important memory ripped away. She remembers where she is and her eyes fly open and she attempts to sit up, eyes wide, she gasps everything hurts. Yang and Jaune gently guide her back down but Ruby's eyes dart around the area terrified. "Pyrrha" she breathes out through clenched teeth, talking hurt her ribs.
"That wasn't Pyrrha." Jaune's voice has a cold steely quality to it. Ruby can't help the tears that begin to flow.
"Ruby?" Yang calls softly as her sister manages to cover her face with her arm.
"Ruby, you're okay now, we're all here." Nora speaks quietly and reassuringly.
Blake, Qrow, and Weiss break into the clearing where Jaune is boosting Ruby's aura. "What happened?" the three shout in unison seeing their leader battered and bruised.
"Pyrrha was attacking Ruby, no, someone wearing Pyrrha's face did." Ren nearly spat.
"The one that attacked me on the train back then, it was her." Yang growls
Qrow's face falls. "I'm an idiot, she tried telling me a few days ago she thought she was seeing Pyrrha, I chalked it up to her training."
"It's not safe here, we need to go NOW." Maria's voice booms over everyone. "We managed to run the fire lady off for now, we need her to lose our trail"
"I don't know if Ruby's stable enough to move yet." Jaune calls.
"We'll have to risk it, carry her if you need to but we need to be gone five minutes ago." Maria calls sternly.
The group all nod, Jaune picks Ruby up attempting to use his semblance and run with her at the same time, he finds he can't. He knows she's out of the woods for the most part but she is still very badly injured. He has to maneuver over a fallen log at one point and her breath hitches when he lands. "I'm sorry, we're almost back to the transport" he says looking down with what he hopes is a reassuring smile. His heart drops at the haunted look in her eyes. He opens his mouth to comfort her when her head lulls to the side as she falls unconscious again. Panicking he picks up the pace and rushes her into the transport, he sits keeping her in his lap and focuses all of his effort on his semblance boosting her aura to heal her injuries. She stabilizes and falls into a dreamless sleep. An unsaid resolution among the group as their eyes meet. Neo would never touch their leader again.
A/N: Pretty decent representation of what the scenes were like in my head Ruby forgets she saw Pry in "heaven" as soon as she woke up, if that wasn't clear enough, there's a reason for that. I appreciate reviews so, my loves if you like this let me know. Two or three chapters left of this arc before we move on to the Blake/Yang arc