A/N: Heya readers! This update is for Side Story 3. Hope you enjoy! Fair warning, the side stories following this one will most likely be based on the events of 3.56. I'll certainly remind you guys again though. There are 2 more side stories after this one planned, and then the second arc will begin.

To yiggdrasill: Yeah, the story's far from over. I had planned a longer break, which was why the last chapter seemed fairly conclusive.

This side story is based on the end of the last chapter.

Side Story 3 – A certain obsession

On the way to Mistral – Ruby

It had been about a day since they parted ways with Elway and Yugiri. Ruby was lost in thought while team RNJR was taking a break, sitting on the ground. Jaune came up to her, curious.

"Ruby, what's up? You okay?" Jaune questioned kindly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I was just wondering about Elway and Yugiri." Ruby said. "It's just that he said they needed to leave quickly or something."

"Yeah, looked important." Jaune replied, sitting down alongside Ruby.

"Well, how are they gonna get back quickly then? It took us a while to just get to Maten, and we're only just getting to Mistral." Ruby hmm'd to herself. "Sure, we were helping out on random requests from villages now and then, killing Grimm and stuff. But even straight back to Kuroyuri, that's a pretty long way."

"Huh. You're right. I hope they make it, but I'm pretty sure that's at least 3 days on foot."

The two were interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind them. They turned around to see Nora standing up with her hands on her hips, a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Allow me to explain!" Nora said gleefully. "It's easy, they just got a ride!"

"Uh, from what?" Jaune asked, perplexed.

"Of course, an Ursa!" Nora's grin didn't leave her face. Ruby laughed loudly at the thought.

"I think that's too crazy, Nora." Ruby replied.

"Hey, it's not impossible, right?! I did it before!" Nora pointed a thumb at herself proudly. "How else are they gonna get somewhere short notice?"

"Most people don't have ideas like that, Nora." Ren appeared, ruffling Nora's hair from behind. "I'm sure they're a bit more levelheaded than that."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Road to Kuroyuri – Yugiri

"No, Elway." Yugiri sighed exasperatedly.

"Come on, Yugiri! Let's just try it." Elway begged, pointing to something behind him.

Yugiri followed his point to the Ursa they had recently incapacitated. She groaned at his pleading once again.

"It is simply too dangerous." Yugiri advised sternly.

"Oh, it's at least somewhat safe! I've rode on a bear before!" He wasn't wrong, per se. Elway earned himself a warbear as a mount at some point.

"This is technically not a bear." Elway pouted at her response.

"It's close enough."

Yugiri pinched the bridge of her nose, already feeling tired of the argument. Elway had a vast collection of mounts back in Eorzea. Where he got all of them, she'd never know. From obese chocobos to gobbues and legendary birds, even dragons and mythical horses. Gods, she didn't even know where he kept them. Maybe it was a secret better off untold.

"Please, Yugiri?" Elway pleaded once more, his red eyes brightening at the thought of obtaining a new mount.

"Ugh. Fine, as you wish." Yugiri conceded. "But you'll have to find a…"

Elway was already turned to face the bearlike creature and pulled a saddle from nowhere, almost perfectly fitting the Ursa's head. She noticed there was room for two on this saddle.

Oh no.

"Elway, I will not ride on the Ursa with you."

"W -WHAT?!" Elway shouted a bit loudly for her tastes. "But this opportunity might not come again! And we need to get back to Eorzea quickly, right?"

"I don't quite share your lack of self-preservation." Yugiri answered wearily. She wondered why she didn't just bring a chocobo with her and avoid this situation completely.

"Oh, you praise me too much…" Elway blushed, ignorant to her exhaustion of the situation.

"That wasn't a compliment."

Yugiri weighed her options. On one hand, she could probably convince Elway to just leave the Ursa well alone and get back on the road. However, she knew just how stubborn the man was, and it would probably take a long while.

On the other hand, if she just agreed to riding the Ursa, there might be even more danger involved. Like running into other Grimm, or Huntsman assuming the worst of them. It would, however, be favorable to walking. Maybe.

Elway patted the free spot on the saddle behind him excitedly, nodding at Yugiri with a big grin on his face. Yugiri sighed and climbed onto the Ursa.

"Just this once, then."

Road to Kuroyuri – Elway

Elway laughed giddily. Now normally, there shouldn't have been a way to command the Grimm exactly where to go. But there were scarcely any normal things about Elway. He possessed something that most didn't.

The Echo.

Grimm weren't like any of the beastmen tribes he had encountered, but there was a possibility of communication between them.

He turned around and grinned at Yugiri, who looked like she was about to sigh again. He mentally and physically shouted,

"Hya!" Elway dug his heels into the Grimm, who woke up with a start. It looked like it was about to try and shake off the two riders, but Elway sternly shook his head and issued a mental command to calm down. The Ursa lowered its stance and put itself into a neutral position. Elway gave a thumbs up to Yugiri, who resisted an urge to smack him on the head. She had a suspicion that he just used the Echo to tame the beast and groaned at the thought of a heroic power being used for his obsession with mounting unnatural beasts.

"Have … have you been using the Echo to…?"

Elway whistled as if he didn't hear her in response, beginning to sweat guiltily. He dug his heels into the side of the Ursa's head, signaling it to go back onto the road towards Kuroyuri.

"Whatever could you mean?" Elway asked nervously. Yugiri sighed, her shoulders dropping in defeat.

"You've been using the Echo to gain more mounts." Yugiri deadpanned, feeling the onset of a headache.

"N-No!" Elway denied unconvincingly. "I would never do such a thing, I'm more responsible than that!"

"Responsible?" Yugiri smirked. "I wouldn't call someone who voluntarily rides a murderous beast responsible."

"But it's fun!" Elway argued childishly.

"Ah, never mind." Her fatigue gave way and she leaned forward onto Elway. "Awaken me when we arrive, please."

Elway nodded as Yugiri fell asleep, and mentally commanded the Ursa to begin running faster. He crossed his arms with a grin as the Grimm ran forward.

Side Story 3 – A certain obsession (With mounts)

A/N: And there's Side Story 3, a bit shorter this time but I hope you enjoyed! The real power of the echo is mount collecting, everyone. Admittedly, this one comes from my habit of wanting every mount I see. Also, since Nora has rode on an Ursa before it wasn't too hard to imagine. Elway's just got better control of the thing. His arm crossing at the end is the Midlander pose for riding the warbear, by the way. Anyways, next side story will be up soon. There definitely will be spoilers for 3.56, so I suggest playing through that first if you haven't.

And please leave a review, I wanna know what you thought!