A cracked signed bearing the name Kuroyuri rested against ruins. We see several images of the dilapidated village. Ruby, and Jaune walk down the road, carrying Qrow on a stretcher as Saphyra led the group. They paused and looked around unhappily.

"Oh, man." Jaune said.

"Everything's ruined. The Grimm destroyed everything. I'm surprised any buildings are still standing." Saphyra said.

"Come on." Ruby instructed as they continued forward. "I know Sai said his blood will heal uncle Qrow, but I still think we should get him some medicine. Any of these places look like a pharmacy?" She asked.

"It's... honestly hard to tell." Jaune asked.

Among the ruins is an abandoned bicycle. "Hey, look! A bike. And it's still in good shape." Saphyra said, inspecting it.

Ruby and Jaune smiled at this, seeing Saphyra enjoy herself and have a moment of childish curiosity. But this was short-lived as Ruby thought of our now divided team. "Ren and Nora really didn't want to come here, did they?" She asked.

"Uh... didn't seem so." Jaune said.

"Uncle Ren and Auntie Nora were exhibiting strange fear and anxiety about the mere mention of this town. These are signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I believe something very traumatic must have happened here, causing the two of them to fear this place and not wish to return." Saphyra explained.

The two of them looked at her in disbelief, before Jaune finally managed to shake it off. "Okay, this is crazy. How does a little girl like you know all this complicated stuff?!" Jaune asked, still slightly in awe.

Saphyra thought for a moment, before answering. "From what I am able to understand, during my creation, I absorbed all of Mommy's knowledge and much of Daddy's irrelevant knowledge, such as psychology, geography and knowledge of various poisons and venom." She explained, picking the bike up and riding a few circles around them with it.

"Really?! That's awesome!" Ruby said with stars in her eyes.

"He considers that stuff irrelevant?!" Jaune asked in disbelief.

"But if that's true and Ren and Nora have PTSD from this place... Do you know... why?" Ruby asked.

Jaune sighed at this. "I think I have a pretty good idea..." He said, starting to tell the story.


Back on the mountain trail, I trailed slightly behind Ren and Nora as I half-assedly dragged Draco behind me by the collar of his jacket, the dark-skinned warrior still loopy from my demon blood helping to combat the angel blood he was poisoned with. "Oh, no! Sai! There's zombies in the boat!" He screamed, struggling wildly.

I ignored this and looked to Ren and Nora, the two unusually silent as we progressed. "Ren... What was the real reason you didn't want to go to Kuroyuri. It's not just about saving time, is it. Something's clearly bothering you." I said to him, then looking to Nora. "Both of you." I added. There were a few moments of silence, before I sighed. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. I just want you to know both to know, you CAN talk to me about it if you need to. You can talk to me about anything. I'm your friend. And I want to do whatever I can for you." I told them.

There was another long pause, before... "It's... not really an easy story." Nora said.

Ren closed his eyes a bit, before finally opening them and deciding to talk about it. "Kuroyuri was my home. It's where I met Nora. It was destroyed by a monstrous Grimm. I just... Can't bring myself to go back. There's too many painful memories there." He explained.

"It was the scariest moment of our lives. Sometimes I still have nightmares about it." Nora admitted.

I looked down sadly at this. "I'm so sorry. No one should have to go through anything like that. But you're both so much stronger than you were back then. You're capable of more than you know. The two of you, especially along with Jaune and Ruby... You could accomplish anything. I don't even think I could stand a chance against all of you." I said.

Ren smiled at this. "Thank you, Sai." He said.

Nora, however, "pfft'd" at that comment. "What? No way. You never lose." Nora said.

I scoffed at this. "That's definitely not true. I've definitely suffered my fair share of losses. But it's from those losses that I've grown. Just as you've grown so much from your own losses. Whatever happened in Kuroyuri... you survived it and it made you stronger. Strong enough that together, you could take on the world. And I'll be beside you the whole time. Whenever you need me." I told them.

"Aww, my hero." Nora said, giving me a quick kiss on the lips, before regaining the pep in her step and skipping forward. "Well, come on!" She said.

I chuckled at this. "She's really something, isn't she?" I asked.

"Yes, she is." Ren agreed.

I looked at him, silent for a moment, before speaking. "Hey, listen, Ren. I know you and Nora have been together for a long time and how I pretty much just came out of nowhere and got together with her... I'm sorry if it seems like I took her from you." I said.

He simply chuckled and shook his head. "No. Nora and I have been friends for a long time, but we were only ever that. Just friends. She's more like a sister to me now. And you've made her happier than I ever could. So I thank you for that. And for your promise to protect her." He said.

"It's my pleasure. It comes from the heart. I really would give my life for her. She means as much to me as Pyrrha does." I said.

He smiled and nodded at this. "I'm glad to hear it. Let's go. We shouldn't keep her waiting." He said, walking after her.

"Right." I agreed, following him.


Jaune walked up to Ruby in the ruins of Kuroyuri. Both were looking dejected.

"Nothing." He told her.

"We should get back to Qrow." Ruby said.

Qrow leaned against a dead sakura tree, groaning. Though not conscious, he held a hand over his wound. Ruby was crouched near his legs and Jaune stood over them both.

"He'll be fine, Ruby. Sai promised." He said.

"Yeah, but Sai promises a lot of things. And some of his promises are too big for even him to make true." She said.

A creature made a loud noise from off in the distance, causing both Ruby and Jaune to turn. Jaune's hand immediately went to his sword and looked around for the source of the noise.

"It's far off." She assured him.

"I know, but Ren and Nora are still out there. And Sai and Draco aren't doing that great." He said sadly.

Ruby looked at Qrow before standing and approaching Jaune. "I'm sorry." She apologized.

"Huh?" Jaune asked as he turned around to face her, though she was not looking up.

"This is all my fault. I should have never dragged you guys into this." She said sadly.

"You didn't drag us in. We wanted to come." Jaune assured her.

"But you didn't know about Tyrian and those snake assassins, about—" She started.

Jaune soon cut her off, though. "Ruby. We lost... We lost lost her, too. And Penny, and your team, and in a way... your sister. But you're still here, despite everything you've lost, everything you could still lose, you chose to come out here." He told her as Ruby turned to face him, becoming emotional as he continued. "Because you felt like you could make a difference." He went on as she lifted her head and looked at him. "You didn't drag us along. You gave us the courage to follow you. Sai might carry this team from time to time, but you're the one that holds it together." He said as he put his hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him gratefully and he smiled back.

Ruby suddenly remembered something and looked around. "Hey, wait. Where's Saphyra?" She asked.

"Look what I found!" Saphyra suddenly called, the two turning and were shocked to see her attaching the bike she found to some kind of metal rickshaw that was like a limo: 3 rows of seats that could easily fit 3 people in one row. "This should make our travels easier. Daddy could easily pedal this bike with the rickshaw attached to it. You two could sit in one row, I'll the next with uncle Ren and Auntie Nora and we can lay Great Uncle Qrow in the last row with Uncle Draco on the floor." She explained.

The two looked at her in surprise and amazement. "Saphyra, this is amazing! We'll get to Haven in no time with this!" Ruby said.

Jaune chuckled at this and went up to Saphyra. "Good work, Saphyra. You really helped turn this adventure around." He said, to which she giggled and closed her eyes, smiling brightly.


Wind blew with the whistling note of high altitude as Ren walked a stony ledge. Before him was more of the mountain, with a cave just ahead.

"We never get the easy path, do we?" He asked as we came up behind him.

"Easy's no fun anyway." Nora said, putting her hands behind her head.

"Yeah. Everyone needs a good challenge every now and then. hiking up a mountain would certainly fall under that." I agreed.

"~What doesn't kill you makes you stronger~!" A still strung-out Draco sang.

Nora laughed at this. "Oh, Draco! You're so crazy." She said.

"Yeah, he's always the life of the party." I said.

"Come on. There's more than one way up a mountain." Nora said, gesturing with her hand as she moved forward.

"I love that woman. She always keeps our spirits high." I said, following her.

Ren watched us for a beat before smiling. Thunder rumbled and Ren lost the smile, turning to look up at the sky.

"Hey! There's wind blowing out of this cave!" Nora called.

"So, that means that there's at least one other possible route to take. And we have a place to hide if it rains." I said.

Shown from inside the cave, Ren caught up to us. Leaves blew outward towards us. "Think it might lead to the peak?" Nora asked.

"Anything's possible." I said.

"I suppose there's only one way to find ou—ah!" Ren started, but was cut off as a large piece of fabric abruptly blew out from the cave and covered his face. Nora giggled, covering her mouth with her hands as Ren free himself. "Yes, yes. Very funny." He said.

"Hey, man, this journey's perilous half the time, boring the other, we need all the laughs we can... get..." I said as we looked down at the marked fabric in his hands and went still. Nora lowered her hands and stepped closer.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked.

"This is the symbol for Shion Village." Ren said.

"Shion? But that's... that's the village where we found the Huntsman. It's weeks away from here!" She said.

"It must've been just ahead of us this whole time." I said. Ren dropped the fabric and ran into the cave. "Ren!" I called, following him.

"Ren! Wait!" Nora cried, following as well.

Ren stopped once he was far enough into the cave to have a good look at what's there. Nora and I caught up to him and became alarmed at what we saw.

"Oh my gosh..." She said.

"Unbelievable..." I said in shock.

"Inconceivable!" Draco shouted with a slur.

In the spacious area, weapons speckled every place you could look. Swords, axes and staffs were all either propped up or on the ground. Ren moved in and picked up an arrow. He studied it while Nora approached just behind him. As she looked he also saw what's on the ground... the Nuckelavee hoofprint. It was pointed toward another opening on the opposite end of the cave.

"Is that..." I started.

"A hoofprint. From the Grimm that destroyed Kuroyuri. And now Shion." Nora explained.

We headed to the opening on the other end of the cave. Several trees were outside this opening, just below. One at a time, they were moved away from the cave where Ren could be seen looking out, the trees shook.

"No..." Ren said, shaking his head.

Before the four of us were the shaking trees and the abandoned village of Kuroyuri. Nora held me tightly as I put an arm around her supportively as Ren clenched his fists so tight his entire arms were trembling before I put a hand on his shoulder as the Nuckelavee roared.


An arcing slash of fire moved across the black screen, quickly followed by another. There was a brief beat before two more fiery arcs slashed across the screen. An irregular circle of flame bursted outward from the center, revealing behind the black a panting Cinder Fall.

She was in a large, empty room. Behind her was a darkened arched hallway. On either side of the arch, the walls of the room have a low ledge the bear several burning white candles. Four Beowolves approached Cinder, moving in a semicircle formation. Cinder swung her left arm at them, sending another slash of fire. It cut through the middle of all four Grimm and they disintegrated away.

Cinder panted again, still upright yet taking a breather. She did not get long, as heavy footsteps approached from her left. She gasped and looked in their direction. A Beringel leapt into the air, ready to deliver a blow to her with its fist. Cinder, however, pulled back her right arm and pushed a ball of flame right at it. It, too, disintegrated.

As its body disappeared, Cinder fell to her knees, breathing heavily.

"Enough." Salem announced walking forward while Cinder continued to struggle for normal breathing. "I thought you were the girl who wanted power. Did you lie to me?" She asked. Cinder winced on the force of Salem's question before looking upward. Turning to face Salem, Cinder clearly shook her head negatively. "Then stop holding back. If you wish to master your new powers, you must-" She started, but was cut off by the sound of heavy doors opening.

On the opposite end of the stone hall, a panting Viper and sobbing Taipan entered, Viper supporting Taipan, who could barely walk. She soon fell to her hands and knees once in the room, Taipan dropping to his side and holding his crotch. "I'm sorry, Madam. Our attack on the demon failed." Viper apologized.

Cinder growled at this, angered that I was still alive. Salem approached them slowly and dangerously. "I see. And Tyrian?" She asked as she stood before them. Viper raised her body but remained sitting on his legs while Cinder rises from the stone floor behind Salem.

"He was killed by the demon, Your grace. Even after he took the angel's blood you gave him." She explained.

Cinder's eye widened. Salem also looked surprised for a moment before narrowing her eyes and walking away. Cinder watched their leader for her further reaction without looking at Viper or Taipan. "Get your brother to Watts. And stay out of my sight." Salem ordered.

"It wasn't a total failure, though! We poisoned Qrow Branwen and Draco Bloodgrave. Two of our greatest threats our gone." Viper explained.

"We tried, your grace... We tried..." Taipan said through tears.

"The last eye is blinded... you disappoint me." Salem said, before she left.

"Dammit! Damn that demon! He made us fail our mission! Made us disgrace Salem! And ruined my brother.." She said, looking to the still sobbing Taipan.

Cinder waved over Emeral, who had been standing near the door, waiting for Cinder. She whispered in the thief's ear, before Emerald turned to Viper. "She wants to know what Said did to him." Emerald explained.

"He entered that infernal devil form and crushed my brother's crotch with his tail." She explained.

Cinder was again surprised at this, before smirking and whispering something in Emerald's ear. "She said it's not over yet. She'll give you something that can let you finish Sai once and for all. With his condition, it will be easy." She informed.

Viper was shocked at this, before nodding. "I'll take it. And I'll make that demon regret the very day he was born!" She promised.


Outside of her home on Patch, Yang spray painted her robotic arm and half of Ember Celica bright yellow. She went into a tool shed and took off the tarp that had been covering her motorcycle, Bumblebee. She also noticed a few things beside it: Damion's swords and jacket I had given her. She held the jacket close for a minute, before putting it on and gathering the swords. "Damion..." She said sadly.

"The jacket looks good on you." Taiyang said as he leaned against the frame of the open shed door, arms crossed. "I don't remember saying that you were ready."

"Oh yeah? You're gonna try and stop me?" Yang asked without turning around.

Taiyang chuckled. "No. I think I'm still too sore after our last fight. I just wanted a better goodbye than a letter. And, I also have a question for you." He started, Yang turning around to face him. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Taiyang moved into the shed. "Well, despite asking him numerous times not to, I know that Qrow told you where your mother's been at these days. I know how much you wanna see her. I've stopped you in the past, but I won't anymore. And we both read the note. We know your sister's headed to Mistral. So, where are you going? What would Damion say you should do?" He asked.

Yang looked down at the tarp as Taiyang made his point. She remained gazing down for another couple of beats before looking up at her father. Her eyes narrowed in determination, her decision made.


It was daytime in Menagerie birds tweeted in the trees around the balcony outside Ghira's study. Inside, a shirtless Sun lied on the couch, his head propped on the arm and his hands folded over his abdomen. A slow pan of his body revealed a bloodied bandage on his left shoulder where Ilia's Weapon had struck him, as Sun blinked awake. He raised his head with a groan. "Blake? Nicolas?" He asked, sitting up and looking around.

Blake was sitting on a chair across from the couch, her body facing him. Her head was bowed and her hands were folded in her lap as Nicolas stood behind her, holding her shoulders.

"This... is why, Sun. This is why I left them all behind." Blake said.

"Oh, come on, babe. It's not your fault. They came after you." Nicolas said.

"What are you... wait, where am I?" Sun asked, sitting up.

Blake got up and walked over to the couch as Sun looked around in confusion. "I am done seeing my friends hurt because of me." She said.

"Blake..." Sun started.

"Shut up! Do you think I like being alone? Every day... every day I think about them! Ruby, Weiss, Yang... they were my friends! I loved them like I never thought I could love anybody. And I hope they hate me for leaving." Blake explained.

"You know that's not true." Nicolas said.

"Yeah, what he said. You don't mean that." Sun said, raising himself up to reach out to her.

"Yes, it is true and yes, I do mean it!" She snapped, forceful enough with her voice that they both pulled back.

"Everyone thinks they can help me, but they can't." Blake said, holding her hand to her head, before sitting down. "You saw Ilia last night and she's not even the worst! No. No more. They're better off without me. I made my choices and I'll deal with the consequences because they belong to me." She explained.

"You think you're being selfless, but you're not. Yeah, that chameleon friend of yours got me pretty good. But I'd do it all again if it meant protecting you." Sun explained, Blake turning to face him, surprised. "And I can promise Yang would say the same." He added.

Blake turned away, looking down, but Nicolas then walked up, lifting her head and kissing her. "It's true, Blake. I'd also do anything to protect you. I'd die for you. You're the wind beneath my wings... But running away like you did... That just took the wind out of my sails." He explained.

"You can make your own choices, sure. But you don't get to make ours. When your friends fight for you, it's because we want to. So stop pushing us out! It hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to us." Sun explained, sitting up fully, with effort.

"Yeah, listen to him. For once, he's not talking bananas." Nicolas said, getting a laugh out of the two.

Sun looked at the floor and Blake, who had turned to face him, turned away again. "But, if it makes you feel any better, the next time I go up against Lizard Girl, it won't be for you - it'll be to get even." He said as he attempted to point to his would with his left thumb, but he could not complete the motion and it aggravated his injury. Sun winced in pain and Blake laughed.

"My hero." She said.

Sun looked at Nicolas for a moment. "Hey, wait. Where were you when I got attacked, anyway? You probably could've taken her down with one hand." He demanded, glaring at Nicolas.

"Oh! Uh... I was attacked by 3 White Fang assassins off-screen! Yeah, that's it! It totally wasn't a result of poor and/or lazy editing on Sai's part." Nicolas explained, slightly panicked.

The door behind Blake, the same one that Sun crashed through the night before, crashed down again. This time it was Kali, embarrassing herself through eavesdropping too closely. Behind her, Ghira looked down at his wife on the ground with his hand on his hip. Kali popped upward again.

"Oh! Oh dear, would you look at that, he's awake! Thank goodness!" Kali said in an affected tone.

"Kali, please." Ghira groaned, covering his face with his hand.

"Mom!" Blake yelled, clearly embarrassed.

"Hey, Mrs. B!" Sun Greeted.

"Hello." Nicolas said.

"What are you doing?!" Blake demanded, walking over to her mother.

"Well, sweetheart, your father needed to speak with the three of you." Kali explained.

"Huh?" Blake asked.

A Scroll was set down on the coffee table. It showed a master folder labeled W. F. with six sub-folders inside. The sub-folders were labeled: Assignment, E.L., P.R., E.W., S. F., Untitled.

"I'm afraid you were right to be suspicious." Ghira told them.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"Adam Taurus is planning to overthrow the leader of the White Fang, and stage a full-scale attack on Haven Academy. It would be the Fall of Beacon all over again." Ghira explained.

"Not if we destroy the White Fang once and for all." Sun said.

"Hell yeah! Time for war, White Fang!" He shouted.

"No." Blake explained as she stood up, full of decision. "We're not going to destroy the White Fang. We're going to take it back." She explained.

"Oh. Sure. That works, too..." Nicolas said, disappointed.


Ren, Nora and I ran through the abandoned Kuroyuri. "Not again, not again..." Ren kept repeating.

"So, you guys wanna tell me exactly what it is we're up against?" I asked.

"Why are you guys spinning?" Draco asked as I dragged him along.

They come to a stop after passing under an arch leading to the center of town. Ren was panting and Draco was still drugged out of his mind, but Nora and I were hardly winded. Ren lifted his head and his worried eyes changed to ones smiling in relief.

In front of them, Jaune, Ruby and, to our surprise and confusion, Sapyhra on a bike connected to some rickshaw limo, faced the other way, but abruptly turned, Jaune putting his hand on his weapon. Qrow was laid in the last row of the rickshaw.

"Daddy!" Saphyra said, running to me.

"Hey, sweetie." I said, relieved she was safe, pulling her into a hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ruby asked.

"Did you hear that noise? What was that?!" Jaune asked.

"Bad shit, that's all I know." I said.

Ren's eyes grew wide and he fell to his knees, clearly alarmed. "No..." He said.

"Ren! What is it?!" Ruby asked.

The sound of plodding footsteps could be heard coming closer.

"Wait, you guys hear that?" Jaune asked.

"No..." Ren repeated in weak protest.

"Ren?" Nora asked.

The footsteps came to a stop. A bone horse head breathed loudly, exhaling black smoke. Within the bones were glowing red lights and around it was the black flesh of a Grimm.

Ren lifted his head.

Weapons could be seen, stuck into an off-screen body that had bones sticking out perpendicular to its spine. Slowly, a torso rose, revealing a horned, humanoid Grimm. The horns and front part of the face were bone while the mouth was merely thin strips of Grimm flesh stretching across an opening. The mouth, the bones, and the eyes all glowed red. The Nuckelavee twitched its head and roared.

"Run away! It's so incredibly scary!" Draco screamed.


A/N: Done! Man, it's been a long time since I updated this! I don't know how I forgot about it for so long, but I hope you enjoyed it!