It is a cloudy day, and our team is following a mossy stone tile path through the wilderness. While walking, Nora stretches her arms up wide "Another day, another adventure!".

Beside her, Jaune reads a map while Ruby and Ren continue alongside them.

"What's on the agenda today?" Ruby asked.

"Walking!" Jaune answered.

"With a side of...?" Nora asked, hoping for more

"Walking" Ren said.

Ruby sighs "Haven is a lot farther away than I thought".

"Ruby? How long did you think this journey was going to take?" Ren asked.

"I don't know! I grew up in a small area; I've never been this far away from home!" Ruby defended.

"Right but… how long?" Jaune asked.

"Maybe like, uh… two weeks?" Ruby said in an unsure voice

Jaune looks up from the map to glare at her "What?!".

"Okay, fine! Three or something!" Ruby snapped not making eye contact "Look, whatever".

After a few more minutes, the group comes upon an old town. Nora jumps onto a slightly fallen post of a fence to get a closer look at a wall and building ahead.

"That's… strange" Jaune said while checking his map "I didn't think we'd be hitting another village for a few days".

"Are those buildings… damaged?" Nora asked in worry.

"We should search for survivors!" Jaune said as he drops the map and all four go running into the village, with Nora leaping onto the wall and to a rooftop from there. They discover the town to be empty. Ruby lifts a fallen plank of wood to find only plant outgrowth underneath.

"Anything?" Ruby asked

"Nothing over here!" Nora called back.

"No one over here, either!" Jaune said.

"It almost seems like... the town was abandoned" Ren said.

Ruby looks around feeling unease in the wind.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Nora called out. Nora, Jaune and Ren are looking at a town sign. Nora moves the ivy growing over it to the side to read what it says "Oniyuri? Never heard of it".

"Me neither" Jaune said.

"I have" The other four look at Ren, surprise on Nora and Ruby's faces "You might think of it as Anima's Mountain Glenn, had it never been completed. Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the Kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources together to build their own city, with their own laws. They hoped that one day, it could maybe even become its own Kingdom. Many thought it would be the future. I know my parents did".

"What happened?" Ruby asked.

Ren brushes some dirt off of the stone border of a low wall to reveal claw marks "What always happens".

"The Grimm" Jaune said, knowing full well it was them.

Ren tightens his hands into fists "Not just any, two. And, looking back on it now, I'm not quite sure one of them was even a Grimm".

Ruby briefly faces Nora in confusion, but Nora doesn't move her concerned gaze away from Ren. Ruby turns back to him "Two?".

Several small black birds take off from a tree outside Oniyuri's wall. They fly over the village and the four travelers.

"Come on. Let's just get through here. This place gives me the creeps" Jaune said.

He turns and leaves, soon followed by Nora. Ren lingers for a few moments, seemingly in thought, then follows. Ruby is the last to move as she looks over the empty village. Leaves blow through behind her after she follows her friends.

As Team RNJR continues out of Oniyuri, Ren suddenly senses something. He puts out his hand to stop the other three, eyes closing as he focuses. He draws his weapon. Ruby, Nora and Jaune immediately follow suit. Suddenly, Tyrian leaps high over the wall to engage them in combat.

He immediately takes out his weapons in a seamless motion and, while laughing eagerly, moves to attack Ruby. Ren intervenes, StormFlower clashing with Tyrian's claw blades. Ren attempts to both kick and shoot Tyrian, but he dodges. The two have a couple more attack and parries until Tyrian kicks Ren several feet away.

Tyrian turns to go after Ruby again, who rushed forward with Crescent Rose to meet him. Tyrian uses his blades to block the scythe and kicks Ruby backward. She easily remains upright and they clash again. Tyrian manages to land a strike on Ruby's right arm, causing her to cry out at the pain and him to laugh. She's doesn't break stride however and leaps back to take a swing at him with her scythe. He dodges and then lands a moving blow against Crescent Rose, causing a red shimmer to cross her Aura in the area of the strike.

Jaune steps in at that moment and Tyrian climbs onto his shield and grins at him. Nora rushes in with Magnhild, but Tyrian just leaps from Jaune's shield to her hammer and up through the top story of a narrow, rectangular building. Holding himself up with his feet on wooden frames to either side of him, Tyrian looks down at the Team.

"We're not looking for a fight!" Jaune called out.

"Who are you?" Ren asked.

Tyrian leans forward, drops from the tower, does a front flip, and lands on his feet in front of them "Who I am matters not to you" He points to Ren "Or you" Points to Nora "Or-" He cuts himself off and pauses "Well... you do interest me".

Jaune gasps nervously, while Tyrian chuckles again.

"No, I only matter to you" Tyrian points to Ruby, and the rest of the team turn to look at her.

She tilts her head in confusion "Me?".

Tyrian breaks down into laughter "You, you haven't the slightest clue, do you? Oh, how exciting this must be".

"What do you want?" Ruby demanded.

Tyrian begins acting dramatically in response to her tone of voice "Oh, the rose has thorns! My little flower, I'm here to whisk you away with me!".

Nora steps in front of Ruby "Well, what if she doesn't want to go with you?".

Tyrian stares for a moment with his lips scrunched up before answering "Well, I'll take her".

Jaune walks over and stands between him and Ruby, his shield held in front of him "We're not going to let you do that".

Tyrian closes his eyes and inhales through his teeth. His eyes slowly open, and he happily growls a single word with a dark grin "Good".

Delighted that they're willing to fight, Tyrian moves fast to attack Jaune from behind.

"Jaune!" Ren deliberately shoots Jaune's shield so that the ricochet hits Tyrian.

Tyrian covers his eyes with his arm and then cartwheels onto Jaune's shield, using his claw blades to spin in the air against it. Ruby steps in to face Tyrian on his descent, but he just kicks her to the side. She regains her ground by using Crescent Rose to steady herself. Jaune takes a swing with his sword at Tyrian, but he simply dodges and kicks him away as well.

His next move is to run toward Nora. From across the way, Ruby grins and shoots Nora with lightning Dust. It passes just over Tyrian's left shoulder, and he turns as he senses it. Nora gets knocked down when the bolt makes contact, dropping Magnhild in the process.

Mistaking the move for an error on Ruby's part, Tyrian gives Nora a baffled stare and laughs while Ren, Jaune and Ruby simply watch and wait.

"Well, if that isn't ironic" He said but senses something is up and loses his mirth.

With a determined, satisfied grin, a now upright and supercharged Nora rushes Tyrian from behind, moving over his right shoulder and coming before him just in time to hit him with Magnhild. The blast from the contact has the other four covering their eyes from the backwash of dust and air, Jaune actually taking cover behind his shield.

The air clears to reveal a perfectly fine Tyrian in a crouch, using his now unveiled scorpion tail to block Magnhild. He giggles and curls his fingers at Nora "Surprise".

He kicks Nora twice in the face before leaping backward and upward onto a roof, leaving his coat behind.

"He's… a Faunus" Ren said in shock.

"What is this about? The White Fang? Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asked.

"Plastic soldiers and pawns. My heart and body belong only to our goddess" Tyrian answered.

Ruby glared "Cinder..."

"Hmph, only in her wildest dreams" Tyrian leaps back into the fray.

He uses his tail to knock Crescent Rose down. Though surprised, Ruby doesn't lose her grip on it. The two both attack each other and miss until Tyrian kicks Ruby backward again.

Tyrian uses his tail to go after Ren before finally kicking him away and attacking Jaune next.

A crow flies determinedly toward the fray while Tyrian kicks Jaune back and then Nora, and then Ren returns for more only to leap away again. Without missing a beat, Tyrian lets Ren be and goes after Ruby again. In quick succession, he delivers a right hook to her face and a left blow to her torso, causing red shimmers on her Aura on her head and chest respectively. He turns and swings his tail to knock her back into the air. She flies back several feet and he rushes forward to meet her before she lands. While Ruby's still midair, he kicks her right in the abdomen, causing a large red shimmer over her abdomen and hips.

The incoming crow turns into Qrow Branwen who keeps running forward after landing.

Tyrian approaches Ruby on the ground and raises his stinger, his eyes turning dark purple. Nora, who is comforting a fallen Ren, and Jaune both look on in horror.

Laughing, Tyrian is about to strike with his scorpion tail when Qrow bursts through a building and inserts himself between them, holding his weapon behind his back. There's a metallic noise as Tyrian's stinger hits against Qrow's weapon and clips into the blade. He lets out a nervous giggle of surprise while Ruby and Qrow make eye contact and smile at each other.

"Hey" Was all Qrow said.

Tyrian Callows pulls his tail back. Qrow turns around, swinging his weapon and holding at the ready by his side "As I live and breathe, Qrow Branwen. A true Huntsman has entered the fray!".

Ruby gets up and sets Crescent Rose on its end. Qrow glances back at her "I don't know, this guy's weird".

Qrow faced Tyrian again "Look, pal, I'm not sure who you are, but you need to leave my niece alone".

Tyrian chortles "Why, friend, my name is Tyrian. And I'm afraid that is not possible. My assignment from Her Grace was to retrieve this young girl. So, that is what I must do. One does not upset the Queen".

"Queen?" Ruby asked.

Qrow glared at Tyrian "Salem".

"Who?" Ruby asked again.

"Hmm, I think we've had enough talk now, don't you?" Tyrian said and assumes a crouching position.

"Took the words right out of-" Tyrian rushes Qrow before he can finish voicing the thought and the two fight.

Rushing Qrow, Tyrian twists to the right as he throws his weight into a slash at him with his left wrist blades. It is deflected by the body of Qrow's weapon and Tyrian easily comes round to attack with his right blades. His attack is once again deflected and Tyrian steps back from Qrow, his momentum carrying him.

Qrow slashes twice at Tyrian, missing both times. Tyrian jumps into the air and spins so that he can deliver a landing kick to Qrow followed by a slash with his blades. Qrow dodges both. Tyrian continues flipping, moving away from Qrow until he is ready to come at him again, laughing. Qrow meets his blades in the air with his own blade, resulting in a clash of metal that is strong enough to loudly propel them away from each other. Tyrian flips away while a slightly pushed back Qrow holds his ground in a lunge.

Tyrian uses his blades to help him stay upright and Qrow is immediately there, attacking. Tyrian dodges, blocks the second swing with his tail and leaps to the side. Their two blades meet several times as they match each other, metallic clashes ringing out, including when Qrow blocks attacks from Tyrian's stinger.

Qrow leaps up and somersaults downward to cut Tyrian with his descent, but Tyrian blocks it with his wrist blades. The powerful clash of their weapons sends out a ripple that blows the roof off of a building behind them. They both pause in that moment, the pressure the two of them are putting on their weapons creating tiny sparks. Tyrian grins and cocks his gloves, revealing the hidden double-barreled machine guns within his wrist blades. He shoots at Qrow, who jumps off him and continues to deflect every shot while twirling his weapon as Tyrian encircles him, firing at every possible angle while running.

Ren and Nora join in the fight at this point. Tyrian leans backward to look at them coming and ducks so that they both miss him in their dual attack. He follows with a spinning kick handstand that staggers them before a second forward handstand kick sends them both away. Laughing, he gives chase to the two teenagers, but Qrow is quick to block him mid-run with his collapsed scythe. Tyrian glares at Qrow, his right wrist blades up against Qrow's weapon. He attacks with his left as well, but Qrow uses the flat of his hand to move the blade to block both and then pushes Tyrian back a step.

"Don't come closer!" Qrow warns and the two men continue to fight.

"Fine!" Ruby said as she takes Crescent Rose to the top of a building and waits for an opening to shoot Tyrian.

The bird's-eye view shows the two combatants moving quickly across the town center, on the road and on the abandoned fountain. Ruby is unable to get a clear shot, much to her displeasure.

When Tyrian flips overhead, Qrow attempts to reach him midair, but Tyrian just bounces off the blade. He lands and attempts to deliver a strike with his tail, but Qrow dodges. Tyrian lands on his feet to attack with his blades, but Qrow has already turned his back and put his weapon up as a shield to block him.

A few more kicks from Tyrian and swings from Qrow gives neither an advantage, with Qrow ducking to avoid Tyrian's strikes and Tyrian lying flat on the floor with his back against the ground to avoid Qrow's swings. Tyrian tries a new tactic and fires again, flipping backward in the air to balance solely on his tail to aim. When Qrow dodges the bullets, Tyrian lands on his feet with a cry of triumph as Qrow fires a salvo from his weapon's hidden shotgun. Facing away from Qrow, he sends in his tail. Qrow jerks to the side, Tyrian's tail striking out at the space beside his head and over his shoulder. This was exactly what Tyrian planned as he pulls back his tail to wrap around Qrow's arm, yanking and sending the collapsible scythe flying.

The blade embeds into a wall and Qrow rubs his wrist before glaring at Tyrian. Tyrian straightens to laugh, but is immediately distracted by the projectile that passes in front of him. Qrow being disarmed allowed Ruby to finally find her opening, and she continues to shoot. Tyrian does not even bother to change positions, deflecting each bullet with a flick of his tail, his expression amused.

Meanwhile, Qrow decided his wrist was fine and punches Tyrian in the face. It is not a move Tyrian is expecting at all, and he covers his face and groans in pain. He straightens and looks at Qrow, surprised, only to get punched in the face again. Tyrian is driven back by Qrow, who follows with a right uppercut. A kick to Tyrian's torso sends him off and onto the ground. Tyrian remains crouched while Qrow casually retrieves his weapon.

The moment Qrow's back is turned to grasp the handle, Tyrian strikes, but Qrow was waiting for it. He dodges by flipping atop his weapon. He activates its scythe mode and Tyrian pulls back and the weapon gets closer and closer to his face. Qrow fires a round in order to use the recoil to project him onto the roof. As he goes upward, he switches his weapon into a sword again. Qrow perches on an upright plank, and Tyrian leaps up, taking the plank out from under him.

Qrow lands on the roof and Tyrian comes back for more. Tyrian's curving wrist blades scrape along both edges of the sword and Qrow sends him off with a swing. Using his tail to help him move around the broken roof, Tyrian fires more rounds at Qrow which, as usual, just get deflected.

The two continue to swing at each other and make contact through their weapons as they move across the roof. Qrow hears the wooden planks cracking and he moves to the opposite end. Tyrian pursues and steps directly on a plank that gives way underneath him. He uses his tail to grab Qrow by the ankle and pull him down as well.

This is enough to make Ruby decide to no longer stay back. Just as she reaches the building, Qrow comes out through a wall, his body and his weapon bouncing. The weapon lands with its blade in the ground, and Qrow perches atop it. Red flickers of damaged Aura move over his body twice.

Tyrian comes out of the floating dust and grime inside the building, purple flickers moving across his body. As the two begin to strike again, Ruby jumps in between and deflects Tyrian's blades with Crescent Rose.

"Ruby!" Jaune shouts but Ren holds him back from moving forward.

"Do you wish to be taken?" Tyrian asked in his crazy voice

"No! But I won't stand by and watch someone get hurt!" Ruby declares.

Both Ruby and Qrow move in to attack Tyrian. Ruby hooks her scythe around his body, but Tyrian blocks it by the extended staff before it can make contact with his back. Qrow attacks at the same time as Ruby, swinging his sword in from the opposite direction, but Tyrian uses his free hand to block the blade with the bracer portion of his weapon. Tyrian kicks Qrow away, focusing on Ruby.

Ruby blocks his tail and his bullets with Crescent Rose. Tyrian swings in closer, taking swipes at her. As he does so, his eyes turn purple. His stinger goes for Ruby, but Qrow blocks it. The two swing and reposition, resulting in them both pushing their weapons against each other.

"Ruby! What did I say?! Get back!" Qrow shouts at her.

"This is my fight, too!" Ruby argues as she attacks Tyrian while he's still locked blade-to-blade with Qrow, but his legs arch away from the swing of Crescent Rose.

"No, it's not that. It's-" Qrow could not finish.

Ruby attacks again, and Tyrian moves to her. He flips and sends her back with a two-footed kick. She slides closer to the building and gains her ground, but the wooden beams near the roof have been shaken up too much and a heavy one breaks and descends upon her. Qrow slices it in half so it falls in pieces to either side of Ruby without touching her.

She smiles at him in gratitude and affection, and he raises his head from his stance to look at her, only to gasp in pain as he is immediately cut in the abdomen by Tyrian's stinger.

Tyrian chuckles while Ruby kneels down to help Qrow. Suddenly, Qrow begins to chuckle, a move that catches even Tyrian off-guard.

"You enjoy pain?" Tyrian asked.

"No" Qrow replied, "But I do like when bastards like you fall for little distractions like mine. NOW!"

Before anyone could process what was happening, Tyrian was suddenly blasted by a stream of bullets, then barreled over by a motorcycle before he could even react. As the motorcycle stopped, Dante backflipped of and landed in between Tyrian and the others, his pistols, Ebony and Ivory, drawn and pointed right at Tyrian.

Tyrian gasps at this appearance: "Well, now THIS is an interesting sight. Dante, the legendary huntsman himself!"

"Glad to see you know me" Dante replied, "Introductions would have been a little awkward."

"Who is that?" Ruby asked Qrow.

"A friend" her uncle replied.

"I'm only gonna tell you this once" Dante threatened, "Leave now, and I'll let you keep your dignity along with all your limbs."

Tyrian burst out laughing: "Sorry, but I only care about my Queen's approval, but it looks like I'll have to go through you to get what I want now."

Tyrian lunged forward in a blinding move, but Dante moved just as fast and stepped to the side, bringing his sword down on Tyrian's tail and severing it. As purple liquid sprayed out, Tyrian stumbled back as he screamed in pain.

"You bastard!" he cried.

Dante gave a small smirk: "In my defense, I did give you a fair warning."

Tyrian takes a few awkward steps, not engaging. Then, he looked over at Ruby and the others.

"She'll be merciful to you. It was only your brother she wanted dead. At least she got THAT done faster." Tyrian said to himself before he runs away.

Qrow, who had still been upright with his weapon at the ready, collapses to one knee and clutches at the wound, panting heavily.

Ruby rushed to his side "Uncle Qrow! Are you okay?".

"I'll be fine. He just grazed me" Qrow said as he pulls his shaking hand away to show the blood on it. The other four arrive at his side.

"Who was that guy?" Nora asked. Then, pointing at Dante, "And who's THAT guy?"

"How did you get here?" Ren added.

"Why are people after Ruby?" Jaune all but demanded.

"Woah, woah, there" Dante said, "One question at a time."

Ruby looks at Qrow "Uncle Qrow? What's going on?".

Qrow was breathing heavily and clutching his abdomen again "We have a lot to talk about."

"Not here though" Dante explained, "We'll need more cover. I can carry him."

Dante walked over and picked Qrow up, fireman carrying him: "Come on, I saw a place we can lay low this way."

The others looked at each other, but decided it was wroth trusting this new guy of Qrow said he was a friend. They then followed the huntsman farther through Oniyuri, toward Dante's hiding spot.

.