A whistle filled the air as Ruby cut down the last Grimm she had come across, looking around to find the source of the whistle. The sound of airships flying over filled the air as the sound of tapping feet behind her caught her attention. To her surprise, good old Team JNPR ran up to her, greeting her as if nothing had happened in the past few years. The small Grimm extermination had the city on edge as a few Atlesian ships flew overhead, the most notable being a ship in which General Ironwood began barking orders himself.

With a sigh, Ruby put Crescent Rose away, turning to talk to her old friends.

"So where were you guys coming from?"

"We were just hanging out at a local pub when Grimm suddenly began dropping out of the sky," Jaune explained. Ren nodded as Nora immediately followed up with, "Yeah, it was SUPER scary, but we smashed their heads in!"

Pyrrah laughed off her teammate, then said, "In other words, we defeated them."

"Yeah, I could've guessed," Ruby replied, giggling as Ren simply nodded.

"Excuse me, ma'am."

Ruby turned, surprised, as a man approached her, obviously very distressed. Confused, she turned to the man as he looked around nervously, then at her as he then asked, "D...do you know where...I can find the port?"

"The port? Yeah, it's that way-," Ruby pointed in the direction, then looked back at the man, "-why do you ask?"

"I-I just need...to find my family…," the man explained, "I...lost them in the commotion…."

"What? Really? We'll help you find them," Ruby immediately replied, then looked back at Team JNPR and asked, "Right guys?"

"Of couse," Jaune replied, giving a thumbs up. The man gave a nervous smile, then began walking in the direction that Ruby had pointed in. The five proceeded to follow along, on a lookout as the man explained how his family looked like. Ruby, keeping an eye out, listened very closely as Nora tried to keep a conversation going with the man, only for him to avoid almost all forms of communication, as if he were keeping a secret.

And suddenly, Ruby grew very suspicious.

The man's body language was very inconsistent with what he was doing. He seemed...nervous. Like he was plotting something. Glancing at Jaune, who happened to glance back at her, they exchanged silent words as Ruby slowly reached back for Crescent Rose. Jaune then glanced at Pyrrah, exchanging silent words with her as well as he slowly reached for his sword as well, followed by Pyrrah, then the other two.

Immediately, the man's body language turned to that of panic, causing Ruby to bring her scythe around his neck and stop him.

"Alright, I'm suspicious," Ruby immediately stated, "What's your motive?"

"Wh-wh-what m-motive?"

"Don't play stupid," Pyrrah stated next, pointing her sword at the man as well. Immediately, all weapons were on the nervous man, who began panicking and trying to tell inconsistencies in his story that he had been telling the five earlier. Having none of it, Ruby slowly approached him from behind, touching the blade of Crescent Rose ever so slightly as she said, "If you don't tell me, then I'll let my scythe do the talking for me."

The man's breathing suddenly became ragged, then he growled and pushed Ruby away. Pyrrah immediately moved to restrain him, only to be pushed off and thrown into Jaune as Nora and Ren made their move as well.

Backflipping through the shove, Ruby landed back on her feet, regaining her balance.

Only to see a red blade flying toward her face.

Gritting her teeth, she watched the blade clip off a piece of her hair as she fell on the ground, then spun out, causing her attacker to jump away from her. Getting back to her feet, she immediately grabbed Crescent Rose as a masked man with spiked red hair looked at her.

"White Fang," Ruby breathed out as the man spat, then raised his sword again. Raising Crescent Rose, Ruby mentally prepared herself, knowing the fight she was going to get into as the swordsman stood his ground, the man behind him putting up a good fight for the team. The two then began pacing each other, the White Fang member finally sheathing his sword.

Having seen the attack before, Ruby kept her distance, ready to jump out of the way in a moment's notice, knowing all too well the range of the man's slash.

And suddenly, the man was upon her.

Ruby's eyes widened as the man grinned, drawing his sword. In almost slow motion, she watched the sword escape the sheath, time and space warping before her very eyes. A million thoughts immediately filled her head as she slowly took her back step, trying to avoid the attack as the fabric of space was suddenly cut. She could hear the screams of her friends nearby as the blade was now inches away from her body, just barely knicking her shirt.

And then she was tackled to the side, wincing as she began skidding across the ground . The sound of boots scraping the ground in front of her filled her ears, causing her to open them as a silverette knife user looked back at her and asked, "Are you alright, Rosey?"

A single sword landed and stood upright in the ground.

Then the sound of grunting filled the air as two bodies tumbled across the ground.

Immediately following, the sound of metal clashing against metal.

Then the sound of scraping earth as two swordsman stared each other down, amethyst eyes locking squarely on a white Grimm mask.

"You…!"

"It's been a while, hasn't it Adam?"

"Are you alright, Rosey?"

Turning around, Sierra reached down, Ruby taking her hand as Lima stood up, patting herself down. Looking at Sierra, she then turned to Lima, then to a just-catching-up Hotel who was gasping for air. She stared at the three, then looked around again, confused, then flustered as her heart began to flutter. She looked around again, then again as Hotel went over to help Team JNPR before Sierra grabbed her by her shoulders, holding her still as she said, "Ruby, calm down."

Looking back at Sierra, the latter shook her head and said, "...come with me."

Swords clashed again, this time, one swordsman's sword keeping up with the other. Two evenly matched warriors once again stared at each other, having exchanged blows for several minutes. However, even in this brief exchange, they now had a newfound respect for each other, despite one having no respect for the race he fought against. Staring each other down, they exchanged silent words before sheathing their weapons, walking away from each other.

Ruby ran to the outskirts of Vale, following the lead of Sierra. Lima tagged along as well, seeing as Hotel had the situation in Vale under control, acting as the team's live radar as usual. They wasted little time getting to the area just outside Vale's walls, looking around and spotting a sword sticking out of the ground.

"...wait, isn't that…?"

Sierra glanced at Lima, who nodded as Ruby walked up to it, pulling it out of the ground. For some reason, she just felt so captivated by it. Clutching it tightly, she didn't know why she suddenly had the urge to drop to her knees. Just the feel of it. The very shape of it. Just the fact that the sword was in her arms. It made her...happy.

"RUBY!"

Blinking, she glanced up, seeing a giant fist flying toward her face. With almost no time to react, she suddenly felt hands pull at her necklaces' locket pendant, followed by loud clanging of metal against metal. She blinked, watching in awe as amethyst eyes watched the hands on her locket. Slowly, the hands opened up, revealing the locket had opened, showing a picture of Ruby and her fiance. The eyes blinked, then looked up at the silver irises staring back in surprised.

"D...D…."

The name was stuck in Ruby's throat. Her heart burst in happiness as the oh so familiar face she loved was right in front of her, taking the sword she had been clutching so tightly out of her grasp.

"...D...De…."

Slowly, the swordsman nodded, taking the sword from her completely before kissing her forehead, then turned and stood up, looking at the dark clad man, now grimacing at the swords holding his giant metal fist back.

"...Del...ta…."