"You think this is it?"

Jaune and Pyrrha found themselves standing before the opening of a deep looking cavern. By the entrance they saw a cave painting depicting a large group of humans in combat with what seemed to be a gigantic scorpion.

"I'm not so sure" Pyrrha replied.

"Well, only one way to find out."

Jaune picked up a stray piece of wood. Giving it a good look over, he took out some materials from his pouch and went to work. A few minutes later he was holding a small torch. Taking a match from one of his pouches, he lit up the stave and turned to Pyrrha.

"Let's go" He urged his companion

"Well aren't you the boyscout." Pyrrha commented, rather impressed with the boy's handiwork

"Yeah well, haven't been much use in the fights. I have to make it up somehow." he chuckled.

They entered the cave, hoping that their intuitions would pay off.

"Just where are we now exactly?" Ruby complained.

"We're on the right track, so just shut up and follow me." Weiss replied.

The bickering duo had been walking through the woods aimlessly for quite some time now. Though she wouldn't admit it, Ruby could tell that Weiss wasn't all too sure where they were currently heading.

"Why can't you just admit that you don't know where we're going?"

"And what could you possibly suggest that could help us out?" Weiss asked back.

"Well we coul-"

Ruby's words were cut short when a loud cry pierced the air. The two slowly turned their gazes to the sky, wondering what could have made such a loud noise. Both their eyes widened.

"What is that?" Weiss asked, her voice a bit shaken.

A cocky grin formed on Ruby's face.

"Our ticket to the relic."

Gabe, Blake and Yang worked their way out of the forest and into a wide field. In the middle of the clearing was an ancient looking stone building, kind of like a temple. It was perfectly circular in structure, with moss and mildew covering its crumbling walls. From their position, they could make out what appeared to be pedestals lining the ruin's edge.

"You guys think this is it?" Yang asked.

"After all that walking, it better be." Gabe said, stretching his arms a bit.

The three went down to take a closer look.

"Chess pieces?" Blake questioned, looking at the gold and black pieces placed on each pedestal.

"Some of them are missing." Yang commented, noting that there were a couple of empty ones.

"Then that means we probably weren't the first ones here." Gabe noted. "This has to be it."

"I guess we should pick one then." Blake said.

"How about a cute little pony?" Yang said, picking up one of the white knight pieces.

"Hmm, I'll be taking another one just to be safe." Gabe said, taking a black rook.

"What for?" Yang asked.

"We were supposed to do this by pairs right? The rules didn't say anything about a trio. Better safe than sorry." Gabe explained, pocketing the relic in his jacket.

"Suit yourself" Blake shrugged.

Finishing up, the three convened in the middle of the temple. "That wasn't too hard!" Yang remarked.

"Well, it's not like this place was difficult to find." Blake added.

"I just hope the others are doing good too." Gabe said, thinking about Ruby and Jaune. The two girls nodded in agreement.

"I'm not sure this is it."

Jaune sighed at Pyrrha's comment. Admittedly they had been trekking through the cave for quite some time now without any luck.

"Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you at least humor me for maybe, 5 more fe- UWOAH!" The blonde boy suddenly tripped over, dropping the torch into a small puddle and extinguishing their only source of light.

"Ow.." Jaune groaned as he struggled to get up.

Pyrrha however noticed something odd. "Do you feel that?" She asked Jaune.

"Soul crushing regret?" Jaune replied, forlorn about the results of their little expedition.

"No… it's warm" Pyrrha said.

The boy wondered just what the redhead was referring to. Suddenly, a strange yellow glow appeared further off along their path.

"Hey, I'm not the only one seeing that right?" Jaune asked.

"Don't worry, I see it too." Pyrrha confirmed.

Their curiosity piqued, the two walked toward the light. As the two neared the source, they noticed the glow coming from a strange looking object. It looked kind of like a giant tear drop made out of gold.

"That's the relic!" Jaune exclaimed before reaching his hand out. The object reacted and jerked backward, avoiding Jaune's grasp.

"Hey!" The boy blurted out. "Bad relic!"

He tried to go for it again, and was met with the same result. Annoyance getting the better of him, Jaune jumped on and took hold of the object with both hands.

"GOTCHA"

As he held on to his prize, an eerie red glow began illuminating in front of them.

Pyrrha's soon realized what they had gotten themselves into. A look of fear crossed her face.

"Jaune?" She called out worriedly.

Jaune wondered what got Pyrrha so wound up, until he came face to face with the owner of the object he was fixated on. Large, glowing red eyes glared at him.

Back at the temple, Gabe, Blake and Yang were just about ready to head back to the cliff when suddenly a shrill scream rang through the forest.

"Sounds like a girl's in trouble!" Yang said, looking to where it came from.

"You think we should help?" Gabe asked.

"Uhhh guys…" Blake said, pointing to the sky above them.

The two followed her finger and looked to the sky above them. They noticed something, or rather someone falling from the sky.

"HEADS UUUUP!"

Yang recognized the red cape. "Ruby?"

The girl was plummeting fast right on top of them. However, before they could attempt to catch her, Ruby was knocked out the sky by another speeding object, sending her crashing into a nearby tree.

"Ughhh what was that… …?" Shaking off the daze from the impact, Ruby found herself resting atop a tree's branch.

"Ahem" the girl looked up, and saw Jaune hanging upside down above her.

"Heya Ruby" the boy greeted.

Gabe, Blake and Yang were surprised to say the least.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked.

"I uh -"

A loud crash interrupted Yang's response. They noticed the trees in the woods in front of them were falling one by one.

"Oh what now?" Gabe groaned, still mentally recovering from the baffling turn of events.

Out of the forest burst an Ursa. The grimm was growling profusely and appeared to be struggling, like something had latched onto it's back. It flailed it's arms wildly.

"Yeehaw!"

A pink spark lit up behind the bear and it suddenly dropped dead. From atop its back a girl jumped down. She had short orange hair and wore a rather casual looking ensemble, a black vest over a white top, a pink skirt and matching boots By the looks of things, it appeared that she was treating the Ursa like it was some sort of rodeo ride.

"Aww it's broken." the girl whined, approaching the downed creature for a closer look.

From behind the dead Ursa appeared another person, this time a boy clad in a green oriental shirt over white pants. He looked exhausted judging by the way he was trying to catch his breath, probably from keeping up with the girl.

"Nora? Please… don't ever do that again." He wheezed.

His plea fell on deaf ears. The girl had already rushed towards one of the pedestals. She looked at one of the relics curiously. Picking up a white rook, she did a little celebratory dance.

"I'm Queen of the Castle ,I'm Queen of the Castle "

The three just looked at her, not sure how to react.

Unfortunately, it the boy had just about enough of her bubbly antics. "NORAA!" he scolded. The outburst managed to catch the girl's attention.

"Hehehe, coming Ren!" The girl gave a playful salute before taking the rook in her hand and skipping back to her companion.

"Did she just come here on an Ursa?" Blake asked. Gabe just shrugged and shook his head.

No sooner had the new pair arrived that another commotion erupted in the forest. Pyrrha came running out of the woods and behind her was the gigantic grimm that they encountered in the cave. It took the form of a scorpion, complete with large claws and an enormous golden stinger.

"Jaune!" the girl called out.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune struggled to get out down, desperate to assist his partner.

"Whoa." was all Ruby could mutter upon seeing the giant grimm. She hurried down the tree, not realizing she left Jaune stuck upside down.

"Ruby wait!" Jaune implored, but his pleas were futile. Ruby had jumped off and raced towards the middle of the clearing, eyes focused on the large scorpion.

"Ruby!"she immediately knew whose voice it was.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed happily, finally reunited with her sister.

"NORA!" screamed the bubbly girl, getting in between the two sisters.

The giant scorpion continued to chase Pyrrha.

"Did she just run all the way here with a deathstalker on her tail?" Blake inquired.

"Are you seriously gonna ask every time?" Gabe replied, not really sure how to answer the question anymore.

Yang had just about enough of all the absurdity happening around them. She let out a frustrated growl as flames burst around her. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! Will everyone just chill out for like two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?"

Ren staggered through the field and joined up with the group as they took a moment to recover.

"Umm... Yang?" Ruby tapped her sister's shoulder and pointed up. Everyone looked to the sky for what felt like the umpteenth time today.

Encircling the airspace above them was a massive black bird, a Nevermore. By its large talon Weiss clung on for dear life.

"RUBY! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME UP HERE!" She shouted angrily.

"I said jump didn't I?" Ruby shouted back.

"She's gonna fall." Blake added.

"She'll be fine." Ruby assured them.

"She's falling." Ren finally confirmed.

Jaune had just managed to get himself out of his tree hanging predicament. As he breathed out a sigh of relief, he noticed someone falling from the sky. Realizing who it was, a large grin got plastered on his face. 'Finally this is my chance!'

Moving quickly he leapt from the branch, managing to catch Weiss bridal style mid-air.

"Just dropping in?" he said, trying to be as smooth as his awkward self would let him.

His moment of glory however came to a crashing halt when he realized that he too was now about to fall. "Oh God NOOOOOOO-"

Jaune fell face first to the dusty hard ground, before Weiss landed right on top of him, with a painful thud.

"My hero." Weiss said unamused.

"...my back…" Jaune creaked.

While this was all happening, the Deathstalker never let up the chase on Pyrrha. The grimm managed to finally catch up to her. The girl blocked the incoming attack and was knocked away. Pyrrha landed in a heap right in front of the group.

"Great the gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang proclaimed.

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby said, before letting out a battlecry and charging head first toward the Deathstalker.

"Ruby wait!" Yang cried.

Brandishing her scythe, Ruby launched herself towards the scorpion. The grimm just swatted her off like a fly. Ruby grunted in pain as she fell to the ground.

"Do-Don't worry! Totally fine!" she shakily called back.

Turning to the Deathstalker once again, she fired back with one final shot before retreating back towards their group. The large grimm was hot in pursuit, gaining up to her.

"RUBY!" Yang began running towards her sibling.

Things suddenly turned for the worse as the giant Nevermore began to descend towards the fleeing girl.

"Not good!" Gabe said before dashing towards the sisters.

Suddenly the flying creature flapped its wings forward and let loose a volley of feathers. They impaled the ground like arrows, cutting off Yang from her sister. One of the feathers pinned Ruby down by her cloak.

"RUBY GET OUT OF THERE!" The older sister cried helplessly.

"YANG WATCH OUT!"

"Huh?"

Too focused on her sister, Yang failed to notice one feather was hurtling straight towards her. By the time she realized what was going on, it was too late.

Yang squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for the inevitable, but it never came. Opening them once again, she saw Gabe standing in front of her, blocking the incoming projectile with his sword.

"You alright?" The young man asked, worried that she had gotten wounded.

"Y-yeah thanks"

Ruby however was still struggling to get her cape loose. The Deathstalker was now upon her, approaching its helpless prey. It raised its tail, preparing to land the killing blow. Realizing her efforts were futile, Ruby looked up, her expression twisted in dread. The golden stinger started to come down

"RUBY" Yang called out.

"Shit!" Gabe murmured. 'I'm not gonna make it in time!'

Just then a white blur sped past the two.

Ruby was already covering herself with her arms, hopelessly trying to defend against the large stinger. Suddenly she heard the distinct crackle of Ice forming. The air around her became noticeably colder.

"You are so childish"

Opening her eyes slowly, she saw the stinger inches away from her face, stopped frozen by a wall of ice.

"W-Weiss?"

"And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style." Weiss continued.

"And I can be a bit… difficult, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together." She tried her best to give Ruby a smile.

"So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be… nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off. I just want you to know I can do this." Ruby answered.

"You're fine" Weiss said, before walking off. Ruby let out a sigh in relief. It felt like a big thorn had been pulled off her chest.

With the Deathstalker restrained, Gabe approached Ruby and removed the feather impaling her robe.

"Thanks Gabe" Ruby said, and Gabe suddenly flicked her forehead.

"Oww, what was that for?!"

"For charging in like an idiot and almost getting your sister killed!" Gabe scolded. "Look, we're in a real life or death situation here. Reckless decisions like that are the last thing we need if we want to make it out of here in one piece!"

"Sorry…" Ruby said, her voice shaking slightly.

Gabe sighed. "Just don't do that again. If not for me, then at least for your sister." He pleaded, his voice a bit softer this time around.

Yang rushed to them and caught Ruby in a tight hug. "Oh I'm so happy you're okay" she said in relief. Ruby peeked over her shoulder and saw Gabe giving her a reassuring smile. The three then made their way back to the group.

"Guys, that thing's circling back" Jaune said, pointing to the Nevermore. "What do we do?"

"Nothing" Gabe said bluntly.

"Huh?"

"There's no sense in dilly-dallying, our objective's right in front of us." Weiss added, referring to the objects on the pedestals.

"Gabe and Weiss are right." Ruby said. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live. That's an idea I can get behind." Jaune agreed.

"Didn't seem that way when you jumped off that tree earlier…" Gabe said, garnering a small chuckle from the group.

Turning back to the pedestals, both Ruby and Jaune each took a chess piece.

Right on cue, the ice encasing the Deathstalker's stinger began to crack.

"Time we left!" Ren shouted

"Right. Let's go" Ruby said and led the group as they ran from the field.

Yang looked at her sister as she led the group a knowing smile on her face.

"What's up?" Blake asked.

Yang gave her a smirk. "Nothing."

"Oh and by the way…" Yang grabbed a passing Gabe by his collar.

"Ack! Yang? What is it?" Gabe asked, surprised by the sudden tug.

"If you hit my sister again, I'm going to punch you so hard you'll end up back in Signal." The blonde threatened, pupils turning red. Gabe realized she was probably referring to the flick to Ruby's forehead earlier when he reprimanded her.

Gabe swallowed a lump in his throat. "D-Duly noted. Won't happen again" he replied

"And one more thing…"

She let go of his collar. Gabe was nervous, not sure what was gonna come next. In an unexpected turn, Yang gave him a tight embrace. This definitely caught the boy off guard to say the least. He felt his face warming up.

"Uh.. Yang?"

"That was for saving me earlier. Thanks!" She said sweetly, before running off to catch up with the others.

Blake gave him a small grin and playfully punched his shoulder before heading off.

"You're... welcome" He said, mind still in a daze trying to comprehend what just happened . The sound of ice cracking brought him back to his senses, reminding him of the large killing machine behind them.

"Hey guys wait up!" he called out, running after them.