Chapter 28

"So what do we know about this next town?" Ruby asked, pulling back in line with Jaune.

"It's called Shion. It's a nice place. My family used to vacation here. There's trails and all types of fun touristy stuff to do. But most importantly, they've always had an airship. We can book a flight to Mistral!" Jaune responded, pointing the town out on the map.

"You never said you visited Mistral a lot Jaune." Pyrrha said with a smile. "Makes me wonder why you never knew who I was."

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I never paid much attention to that stuff. When we were around here we were relaxing, not catching up on who was a rising tournament star."

Pyrrha was about to say something when Ren and Nora stilled. They all turned to see the burned-out wreckage of Shion. Weapons were drawn in a moment and the group began to carefully pick their way through the village.

"There aren't any bodies…" Jaune said, voice barely above a whisper.

"Do you think they escaped?" Pyrrha asked.

Ruby shook her head. "The Grimm are gone. Surely we would have seen someone fleeing."

"Over there!" Ren said, pointing towards a body slumped against a wall. They all rushed forward into what once was some form of park. The man, who looked to be a Huntsman, looked up in surprise.

"What happened here?" Jaune asked.

"Bandits… then… the Grimm…" He choked out.

"Did anyone escape?" Jaune asked hopefully. The man shook his head slightly. Jaune stood and marched away. The others, excluding Ren, followed. "We can carry him to the next village. Ren and I can take turns carrying."

"Jaune I don't think he's going to make it." Ruby replied, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, we're pretty much out of medicine. We might be able to keep him going for a couple of days, but that'll just prolong his suffering."

"We have to try!" Jaune shouted back. He took a deep breath and when he spoke next it had returned to a calmer voice. "We can't just leave him to die. Not when we have a chance to save him!"

"But what if we need that medicine to save one of us later!?"

"Then-" Jaune was cut off as Ren placed his hands on their shoulders.

"He's dead." Ren said simply before walking away from the group. Nora followed him.

"Damn it!" Jaune cursed and walked away to take a breath. Pyrrha went after him but kept her distance.

Ruby, left alone, returned to the now-dead man. She moved her hand to his neck and nodded solemnly as she felt no pulse. After a quick look around to make sure there was nobody watching, she searched the Huntsman. He'd run out of bullets and his gun had jammed. Looks like the mechanisms for its transformation broke too. He ran out of ammo and couldn't swap to his melee weapon. Not that it would have saved him judging from the devastation.

He didn't carry anything of value aside from a locket with a picture of him and some girl. She left it, and his broken weapon on his body and rejoined the team. "We should bury him."

The others turned and nodded. Everyone quickly got to work. First, they scavenged a couple of damaged shovels and some spare wood. Soon enough a shallow grave was dug and the man buried. They built a small monument out of wood to mark the gravesite.

The town held no other supplies and the airship had crashed and burned long before. There was nothing to be done for the town of Shion.

Just one more dead town to add to the long list.

The team was quiet over the next couple of days, still reeling from the destruction of Shion. They all wanted to do something, to change what happened, but there was nothing to be done.

So they walked.

Ruby was aware that perspectives had shifted. She had advocated for not even trying to help the man. A year ago she would have tried her hardest to save him and damn the consequences. Now though? She'd surprised even herself with her decision.

It was moot of course, but it still revealed to the entire group, herself included, just how she had changed. I value our lives as higher. If we get hurt we need that medicine. Even if we could have saved him, it could have meant one of us died later. I won't allow that to happen.

She couldn't lose anyone else.

On some level, she knew that her team wouldn't be pleased. They put their lives on the line to save her, despite how injured she had been. But she would do whatever it took to keep her friends safe. Even at the expense of others.

Maybe it wasn't what they would have wanted her to do, but it was what she would do.

She had lost enough.

Everyone seemed to be introspective at the moment. Conversations were few and far between. They'd talked more after Kiku then they had here. One night, only a day away from the next town, while Ruby was on watch she thought back to Kiku, or more accurately a thought she had had there.

When I was breaking free, I thought of Jaune. She had also thought she was Cinder for a moment there, but Jaune had been a focal point for her desire to escape while under the effects of the Semblance. I thought of him as some form of protection. A safe place. Light and hope.

She sat there, staring into the embers of their campfire, pondering her own emotions.

Ruby wondered if she had deeper feelings towards Jaune than she had originally thought. But were they real, or was it just an attachment now that her team was gone? Did she think he was a beacon of hope because of his actions, or was it something else? Did it really matter?

There were no answers, only more questions.

Is there even a point in wondering? With the way Jaune and Pyrrha look at each other… Ruby sighed and poked the fire. If she was developing feelings, then she needed to temper them. Jaune wouldn't be happy with her. She was a broken mess while Pyrrha's biggest problem was being too popular! They were leagues apart.

Jaune and Pyrrha would be happy. Once they finally talked about how they felt. Seems like the whole team has that issue. Ren and Nora still haven't talked about how they feel. Honestly, they should just kiss already.

Then again, this wasn't exactly the best time or location to get romantically involved.

Ruby growled quietly to herself and fished out the maintenance kit from her bag and went to work tuning Ember Emortus. It might work well, but it still needed some fine adjustments.

Eventually, Nora took over and Ruby got some sleep. Fitful, restless and sometimes filled with nightmares. But sleep nonetheless.

Qrow took a deep breath as he entered the bar. The pip-squeaks had booked rooms in the Inn across the road. They should be safe here so he was going to enjoy himself while they were in civilisation.

Of course with his luck, things got complicated quickly. He'd barely been seated for ten minutes when the waitress came by and gave him a drink. Despite him not having ordered any.

"It was a gift from a lady up top. She said to give you something from the bottom shelf, but I went ahead and gave you top." She said with a wink. For a moment he admired her bountiful rear as she left before sighing and making his way to the second floor.

It was empty aside from one familiar figure. Qrow resisted the urge to grimace and sat across from her. "Raven."

"Qrow. It's been a while." His estranged twin replied, that smirk still as ever-present as always.

"So. What do you want?"

"Can't a woman just visit her dear brother?" She asked innocently. Qrow stared back at her, unmoved. She quickly gave up. "I wanted to check on what you plan to do now that Ozpin is dead."

"What does it matter to you?"

"You're my brother and that bastard is dead. I thought with you running around Mistral you might have finally seen reason."

"Reason? Do you actually think you're the reasonable one!?" Qrow clenched his fists.

"Of course I am. I'm the only one who saw Ozpin for what he was. What he still is."

"So you think any of us give a shit about that!?" Qrow slammed a fist down on the table, cracking the wood. "Did you even try to save your daughter!? I remember you saying something about a one time rescue, or was that just more of your bullshit!?" He roared.

Raven stared back, unmoved by his outburst. "She had her one chance."

"So where is she! Or did you save her from one Grimm only to leave her to another!?" Qrow stood, glaring down at his sister. "When did you decide she deserved to die!"

Raven didn't answer. She simply stood, grabbed her mask and walked away. As he heard that familiar sound of a portal opening he sat down. He had nothing to say. He just kept drawing blanks. He looked up and the portal was gone.

The waitress fumbled a drink, causing it to crash and shatter on the floor. She'd seen Raven's exit. He sighed and turned to her. "I'm gonna need the whole bottle."

He proceeded to drink for hours, hoping to wash away his sorrow. It was just his luck that by midnight he had thought of a hundred different ways he could have chewed Raven out for Yang's death.

Just another way his Semblance fucked him over.

"Woof!" Zwei said.

"Yeah. This place has seen some better days." Tai replied as the pair wandered through the streets of Kiku. Buildings were boarded up and militia manned the walls. Barely anybody walked the streets.

Something had happened and the town wasn't coping well.

Tai questioned as many people as he could but it took a while to find someone who talked. "What happened here? It'd be easier to ask what the fuck didn't happen here!" A former member of the militia growled angrily.

"What do you mean?"

"Our mayor was looking to turn us all into some brainwashed slaves! The captain of our own guard was in on it! They murdered who knows how many of our people! If it wasn't for some kids we'd still be stuck under those bastards."

"Kids?"

"Yeah, some teenager Huntsmen. Five of them came through, killed some Grimm in the mine and then got caught up in everything."

"How did they end it?"

"One of them killed the mayor. Impaled him right through. Stopped all his brainwashing and everything. Once I remembered what our captain was doing, I just couldn't stay in the militia. Bastard made me help him kill my neighbour." He spat to the side, filled with anger.

"Could you tell me which one killed the mayor?" Tai asked. His breath hitched on the answer.

"Yeah. As the rumours say it was a girl in a red hood. Snuck in and murdered the mayor in his secret torture basement."

Tai swallowed. "W-what was her weapon? Do you know?"

"Yeah, she had a big scythe. Why?" The man gave Tai a quizzical look. "Do you know them? Because most people round here don't. We just call her the 'Red Hooded Savior'! A pretty dumb name if you ask me, but it is what it is."

"Y-yes. I know them. She's my daughter."

"You're her dad?" He looked Tai up and down. "You don't look much like her…"

"She takes after her mother. Do you know what way they went?"

"Nah. The chief of the mine probably does though. He was the last to see them."

"Thank you." Tai threw the man a few Lien and walked away.

What happened Ruby? What led her to kill a man? Damn it, I knew I should have pulled her out of Beacon after that mission!

A/N: RIP random Huntsman, you shall be missed. Poor Tai, finding out his only remaining daughter killed a man. And poor Qrow, finding out Raven is a total biatch. Ah, good times.

I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!