Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Zelda, Kid Icarus, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, or any other franchise alluded to or included in this work (I don't own the background music either). All I own is this work and my OCs (these include Aris, Oleana, Nash, and any Grimm ideas I come up with).


BGM: Royal Crypt - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Ruby, Jaune, Aris, and Cloud had finally arrived in Kuroyuri, with the still-poisoned Qrow Branwen still resting on the back of Aris's Rapidash.

The village was in ruins, just like Shion and Oniyuri. The group took in their surroundings. "Oh man," Jaune breathed, fear lacing his voice.

They pressed on, Aris leading his Rapidash while Ruby, Cloud, and Jaune stayed on the alert for any threats.

"Anyone see a place that looks like a pharmacy?" Aris asked.

"It's hard to tell," Cloud answered. "I think this village's destruction may point to the reason as to why Ren didn't want to come here."

"Do you know what that reason is, exactly?" Ruby questioned, suddenly worried.

Jaune sighed. "I think I might have a pretty good idea."

The group continued searching the destroyed village.

Many years earlier...

Pause BGM

A lotus flower sat in a small, artificial stream of water, owned by a particular home for aesthetic purposes. A young boy, one who was clad in green and had a pink streak in his black hair, knelt down in front of the lotus flower and admired it.

A woman's voice addressed the boy. "Why, hello, Lie," she said. "Are we trying to catch a fish?"

Lie pointed to the lotus. "I've found a flower on the water!"

"Oh!" said the woman. "I see."

The boy named Lie went to the woman. "Can we take it home and plant it in the garden?"

The woman frowned at the boy Lie, who was her son. "Oh no, sweetheart, that flower lives here."

Lie hung his head, disappointed.

His mother gently patted his head. "But, I'll tell you what you can do." She reached into her left sleeve and pulled out some money. "Take some Lien and go find a nice gift for your father's return. He's been hunting for quite some time. I bet the journey's been very tiring for him, don't you think?"

Lie took the Lien and nodded. "Yes."

"Do you think you'll know what he wants?" his mother asked him.

"I think...he wants a water flower in the garden!" Lie answered, clearly still wanting to claim the lotus flower as his own.

His mother sighed. "Why did you have to inherit my sass?" She playfully nudged her son, who then set off to purchase a gift for his father.

The boy Lie went into the village square, and approached a blacksmith's booth. Holding up the Lien his mother had given him, he asked, "What can I buy with this?"

The blacksmith at the booth smirked. "I've got something just your size." He bent downward and retrieved a wooden sword. That wouldn't be a very good gift for one's father.

Lie sighed and hung his head. He made his way to another booth and held out his Lien. "Sake, please."

The man at the booth shook his head.

Lie trudged off to find a different gift. In a nearby window, he saw pastries. A baked treat, nice and warm, fresh out of the oven-now that would make a perfect gift for a tired father.

An unknown voice yelled at someone, originating from Lie's right. "Hey! Get back here!"

Lie went in the direction of the voice, and found a trio of boys his age amusing themselves by making fun of a girl with ginger hair. Said girl was holding a single piece of bread, and she looked to be rather...poor, for lack of a better term.

"Where'd you get that bread?" one of the boys jeered at her. "I didn't see you pay for it, thief!"

One of the other boys started joining in, "No, look! It's all moldy!"

"I think she got it from a trash can," quipped the first boy.

The third boy tried to reach for the bread. "Lemme see!"

The victimized girl nipped his finger, clutching the bread close to her chest.

The boy jerked his hand back. "Ow! She bit me!"

One of the other boys shoved the girl to the ground, knocking the bread out of her hands. She quickly got up and retrieved it, and held it close to her, as though her very life depended on this single piece of baked goods.

Meanwhile, Lie started slowly sneaking towards them.

"Where did she come from?" crooned one of the boys. "She's dressed all weird!"

"I bet she's abandoned," said another boy. "Like a dog, or something!"

"Does that mean I have rabies?" quipped the boy she'd bitten on the finger.

Suddenly, the boys looked over their shoulders, directly at Lie. The black-haired boy quickly turned on his heel and started to bolt, only to bump into a tall man and fall to the ground. Lie looked up at the man. He had black hair and a small beard, and Lie recognized him immediately. "Father?"

Lie's father, Li, ignored his son and analyzed the situation. "What is happening here?"

The three boys looked around, as if confused. Meanwhile, their ginger-haired victim jumped to her feet and ran, holding the piece of bread as though it were a football. The three boys ran in the other direction.

Li looked down at his son, Lie. "Do you wish to run with the rest of them?" he asked.

Lie looked at the ground in shame. Li knelt down in front of his son, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes, the worst action to take...is to not take action at all. Make your way home. I need to speak to the mayor."

As Li Ren walked away, his son, Lie Ren, stood there, and contemplated the words of his father.

Back to the present...

Resume BGM: Royal Crypt - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

The village had been searched. No luck. Qrow rested at the base of a leafless tree in the center of the ruined village, leaning against Aris's Rapidash.

"Nothing," said Cloud.

Ruby knelt down in front of her uncle to check on him.

A roar sounded. The three blonde swordsmen turned and prepared to draw their blades. Aris's Pikachu jumped from her trainer's shoulder, her cheeks crackling with electricity.

"It sounds like it's far off," Ruby said to them.

"I know," said Jaune, "but Ren, Nora, Pit, and Tifa are still out there."

Ruby got to her feet and hung her head shamefully. "I'm sorry," she said. "This is all my fault. I should've never dragged you guys into this."

Aris cupped Ruby's chin in his fingers, lifting her head to meet his gaze. "You didn't drag us into anything. We made a choice, and that choice was to come with you."

"But, you didn't know about Tyrian, about-"

"Ruby." Aris cut her off. "We lost...we lost Pyrrha. You lost her, too. And Penny, and your team, and in a way, your sister. But despite everything you could lose and have already lost, you're still here, and you're still kicking ass and taking names. You chose to press on. Because you felt like you could make a difference."

"You didn't drag us along," Cloud added. "You gave us the courage to follow you. And I barely even know who you are."

Many years earlier...

End BGM

The boy Lie Ren was sound asleep in his bedroom when a roar echoed throughout Kuroyuri. A Grimm.

His mother, An Ren, burst into the room. "Lie, get up. We have to go."

"Mother?" Lie tried to ask.

An grabbed Lie's hand. "Now, right now, okay? Let's go!"

An Ren pulled her son through the foyer and towards the front door. Li Ren burst into the foyer, stumbling into the house with his bow in hand. "An," he panted, "what are you doing? We have to hurry!"

"We can go to the safehouse!" said An.

"No," replied Li. "I saw the beast. We need a Huntsman, and you two need to leave."

"What?" said An.

The Grimm roared again.

Lie was becoming uneasy. "Mother..."

An Ren knelt in front of her son. "It's okay, darling. Everything's okay."

At that same moment, something burst through a wall behind An.

Later, Li Ren was breathing heavily as he carried Lie out of their now-destroyed home. "Father?" said Lie. "What...where's Mother?"

Li Ren said nothing, continuing to run as fast as he could.

"What's going on?!" cried Lie. "Where's Mother?!"

Several other residents of Kuroyuri ran for their lives. Li Ren tripped and fell to the ground, holding his abdomen.

"Father!" cried his son Lie.

Li Ren looked at his son. "Lie, you have to run."

"No!" cried Lie. "Don't! Please, get up!"

The Grimm roared once again. Lie Ren saw it-the beast looked like a demented horseman.

"Listen to me, son," said Li Ren. "You have to be brave now. Do you understand?"

"No," cried Lie, "please. Please, I can't!"

Li Ren unsheathed his dagger and handed it to Lie. "Yes, you can! Take action, son."

Lie looked at the dagger in his hand. Li staggered to his feet, still clutching his wound. "Your mother and I love you."

Lie suddenly started to get a grip. "Father..."

A massive hoof slammed the ground beside them. Li Ren took his bow and opened fire. "Run!" he exclaimed to his son.

Lie Ren got to his feet, clutching his father's dagger, and bolted away. He jumped under a nearby footbridge and took a breather. He heard someone sobbing.

He looked and saw who it was. The poor girl who'd been holding bread, hiding under a nearby building, crying out of terror.

Lie Ren began to sob, as well.

Veins of pink light began to coat his body. His aura had been unlocked. Though he didn't notice, his body bore a monochrome color. His Semblance had made itself known, too.

As the monochrome faded away, Lie Ren bolted towards the girl, kneeling next to her under the building. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey!"

The girl looked at him, and Lie could see it in her eyes: pure terror.

"We have to be brave," Lie calmly said to the girl.

On the roof of the building that served as their hiding place, a Nevermore landed on the roof and unleashed an earsplitting cry.

Meanwhile, the girl threw her arms around Lie Ren and sobbed into his shoulder. Lie returned her embrace, comforting her. His pink aura flowed over both of them, the duo taking on a monochromatic color scheme.

The Nevermore lowered its head and scanned the ground. Though its eyes seemed to find Lie and his companion, the Nevermore did not attack. Instead, it took flight and flew away.

The monochrome faded from Lie and his companion as the horseman Grimm made its way to their general area. The ginger girl released Lie, her fear seemingly gone. The horseman Grimm paused for a moment, then continued patrolling, satisfied that no living villagers were in the vicinity.

The girl looked at Lie. "I'm scared."

"Me too," Lie replied. His eyes drifted to the left, where he saw a small wooden hammer laying on the ground. He tried to get up and grab it, but the girl stopped him. "It's okay," Lie assured her.

The girl let go. Lie Ren crawled out from under the building and promptly retrieved the hammer, quickly retreating back to the temporary safe haven. Lie presented the trinket to his female companion. "We'll keep each other safe."

The girl took the hammer and cradled it in her arms. Lie asked her, "What's your name?"

The girl looked at him and responded, "Nora."

Lie smiled. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. "My name's Lie Ren," he said.

Present day, with Nora, Ren, Pit, and Tifa...

Ren continued to hike the mountain path, stopping for a break. "We never get the easy path, do we?"

Nora stood next to him. "Easy's no fun anyway."

Pit and Tifa continued to go ahead. Nora looked at her childhood friend. "You okay?"

"Mmhmm," Ren affirmed. "You?"

"I've got you here, right?" Nora smiled sweetly at Ren.

"Come on," said Nora as she resumed walking. "Pit and Tifa are probably waiting, and there's more than one way up a mountain."

Ren started to follow Nora, but the two of them stopped when they heard Tifa's voice. "Hey! There's wind blowing out of this cave!"

BGM: Subterranean 2 - Super Mario Odyssey

Ren followed Nora to the cave mouth, looking inside. "Think it'll lead us to the peak?" Pit said.

"Well," said Ren, "I suppose there's only one way to-ah!"

Something blew out of the cave and into Ren's face. It was a ripped piece of fabric. Pit, Tifa, and Nora all snickered, amused at what had just happened.

"Yes, yes," Ren deadpanned, "very funny." He examined the fabric and his face fell.

"Ren?" said Tifa. "What's up?"

She noticed the symbol on the fabric.

"This is the symbol for Shion village," Ren pointed out.

"Shion?" said Nora. "But that's...that's the village where we found the Huntsman."

"And it's weeks away from here!" added Pit.

Ren quickly dropped the fabric and ran into the cave. "Ren!" Nora cried. "Wait!"

She immediately followed him inside, with Pit and Tifa on her tail.

The party of four stopped and took in their surroundings. "Holy shit..." Tifa breathed.

Littering the cave were many and various weapons, mostly swords. Splatters of some black substance dotted the rock as well. Ren went forward and knelt down, picking up what looked to be an arrow. Nora, Pit, and Tifa walked over to him and noticed something else on the ground. The black substance in this spot had a set shape: a massive hoof, which was pointed towards the other side of the cave. Another mouth.

Ren, Nora, Pit, and Tifa walked up to the alternate opening and looked outside. On the ground below, trees rustled. "No..." Ren breathed.

Nora stood next to him and squeezed his hand. Ren returned the gesture.

Out in the forest below, a Grimm roared.