It has been two years since May vanished off the face of Remnant. No one is left unknowing of this disaster by now, especially after the great search efforts organized by some particularly distressed Vacuans. The ragtag group of volunteers, initially numbering only around 6, quickly grew into the dozens as more and more people joined the prowl. It was so extensive that the entirely of Sanus was quickly mapped out in almost terrifying detail. But, of course, these efforts were all for naught.

Even Patch did not escape those tendrils. The memories of May, and the shock upon hearing of her disappearance floods back to everyone there when the search party made it over. Productivity went down that day. But even that is long, long past now. Now the topic on everyone's mind is the 40th Vytal Festival, which begins tomorrow. The seedings have already been decided, with team RWBY up against, you guessed it, Team BRN(z). BRN has only become stronger since that fateful day, easily cruising through the last year at Oscuro, and joining Shade without a hitch. Almost every Vacuan is cheering for them, and even many unaffiliated watchers from other kingdoms are eager for the upset.

But that's for tomorrow. Today, they are both currently in Vacuo, on their way to the May Zedong memorial. None of RWBY has even been in Vacuo before, even Blake, whose White Fang days never took her over into into the desert. They had others for that. Regardless, no one in the kingdom pays any mind to these new arrivals. Especially with BRN acting as their protectors.

The septuplet slowly meander along through the sand into Oscuro proper, with many students looking out the window, waving their arms to greet them. But they are not going into the academy directly, for on this trip they go to a small corner. Well, it used to be small. Now the monument stands over 20 feet high, taking up several hundred square feet. Flowers (well, the few that can survive) and various cacti line the base of this shrine, with several clones of May's famous sniper rifle standing about 6 inches above her headstone which reads:️

️

May Zedong
AP 63 – AP 78

This sniper is one of the most storied girls in the eighty-year history of Vacuo. Called The Queen of Stealth, she put several Grimm down in the ground with her excellence. Unfortunately the gods above had her in their crosshairs. She has forever tore a hole straight through our hearts. May she slay countless more Grimm in the afterlife.

If one wishes to honor her, one should take a gun and shoot one single bullet straight into this target. Do not feel bad if you do not get a 10, May would never judge you.️️

️️

WBY each grab a gun, and set themselves up for a shot. Ruby is looking over to Brawnz, seemingly wanting to ask a question. He knows what she's asking. Just the way she is holding Crescent Rose does all the talking that he needs.

"Go on, Ruby." Her face brightens as she sets her baby up.

"...She would have absolutely loved to see that…" He has to hold back tears, even despite the two years that have passed. WBY, who had finished by this time, all go to comfort him. The entire scene is complimented by the loud sound of a gun firing. There is now a large hole where the center of the target once was.

Nolan fills in to continue the tour as Ruby walks back, satisfied with her and her team's performance on that target, all 10s.

"Alright. The last place we're gonna go is the area around where we think she disappeared. Fair warning, it's gonna get real sandy around these parts." He then leads them back toward the main entrance, where a bullhead is already waiting. Yang walks up next to Blake, fiddling around on the top of her head, making sure that the bow is wound up extra tightly. All Blake does is smile before they both catch up with the rest of the crew.

25 minutes later, the bullhead drops them off in what looks like the middle of the desert. But instead of the unrelenting flatness that occupies most of this area, on this go-around there is a small ditch, wide enough for three people at once to walk through. Brawnz leads this crew down the trail that he has walked an uncountable number of times before. The rest follow behind with not a single complaint.

After three or four minutes of walking, the trail tapers off. Brawnz stops them here. Nolan and Roy come up beside him, and RWBY are right behind, themselves standing side-by-side.

"*clears throat* This is the area where she was supposedly launched when we started the mission together. After all the numbers were crunched, the circle where she would have been is about 3000 feet in diameter. We are standing in the center of it right now."

The silence that follows is one that no one wants to break. Instead of talking more, Brawnz merely starts walking due north, and after less than a minute, a skinny pole comes into view, with the flag of Vacuo standing proudly at the top.

"We personally set up this flag at this location as soon as we could bear coming over here. It's easily 100 feet deep, so there is no way it can fall over, no matter what this desert tries to throw at it."

RWBY all solemnly nod.

"Every couple of weeks one of us goes back here, just to see if maybe, just maybe, she will reappear for us. Or at least find her body… If you would like, all of you can search as well. We will stay around here by this flag. The next bullhead doesn't come around for another two hours, so no need to rush."

RWBY does not move a single muscle. Ruby and Yang are the two that want to search around the most for her. Yang sees Blake and Weiss's reluctance and gives them a nice little "nudge" to help make their minds up.

"C'mon guys! You two would do the same thing if Ruby was gone in her place, right?"

The tiniest hint of red enters their eyes, almost daring them to say no. Neither of them are stupid enough to try their luck, so they both reluctantly follow.

"Alright! All of us split up! We've got a beanie girl to find!" Yang is the first one to split off.

They all divide into their own camps, Weiss and Blake going east, with Ruby and Yang going west.

"Alright Rubes. I'm gonna go north a bit, you go south. Do you know what not to do with them sharp "cactus" things around here?"

Of course she does. It's not like she's heard this at least three times a day since this whole trip was scheduled or anything…

"Yes, Yang, don't touch them."
"Alright, now go look for her! Don't get yourself buried!"

Ruby is already gone. She continues to look down her way for a while, with that classic sisterly smile all over her face. And dust too. Her semblance sure did kick up a lot of dust.

*cough cough*

After a few coughs, she begins her search. The sand remains as boring as ever. One area of sand turns into two, to three, to ten with nothing. Near the northwest quadrant of the search area, she notices some oddly-placed rocks. 5 of them are clustered in the center seemingly trying to form a "star" shape (and failing), while four more stand around six inches away in some sort of half-circle.

Even though the symbol is completely meaningless, the fact that something moved these rocks in such a way piques her interest. She digs around, hoping to find at least something here. It's the best idea she's got. Her hands are completely full of sand as she continues to dig. There is no way there is not at least something here! She sees something very dark in color come through the sand and reaches for it.

But the void reaches for her instead.

She falls into the void, and can only watch as the sand shrinks farther and farther away from her. In a last-ditch effort, she gets Ember Celica out and fires directly into the hole.

Please, let someone see this…

Now resigned to her fate, she continues to fall. The dark void gradually gets bluer and bluer as time goes on. She almost treats this like a skydive, turning to the ground and waving her arms out, prepared for the inevitable thud that awaits her.

️

Back in Vacuo...

Weiss is slowly walking back to the flag after having combed through her area. Made easy thanks to the insane versatility of Myrtenaster, almost all of the area has been combed through thanks to the clever use of earth dust. Of course, not a single thing revealed itself, but no one can say there wasn't an effort.

She walks back with only the slightest look of disappointment when a bright light catches her eye. Her eyes turn and see the unmistakable form of Ember Celica's flare rising up into the air.

Weiss starts to run towards it, but quickly thinks better as she realizes how far away it is. She hastily realigns her run toward the flag, checking her scroll while running in a desperate hope that service extends this far north. But the emptiness of the cell service indicator dashes it all away.

She wants to let it get to her, but the flag grows ever closer.
Weiss reaches the flag, clearly out of breath, and almost yells out what she saw.

"I saw Yang let off a flare! She's in trouble!"

Brawnz's pupils grow to twice their size before he can serve up any response…

"WHERE?!"

Weiss points straight in the direction of the flare, causing all three of Team BRN to bolt over.
She quickly goes back north-east, desperately trying to find Blake and get her over there too.
It doesn't take long, because she barely gets out of Brawnz's sight before noticing the cat running toward the flag.

"You saw it too! Follow me, they already know!"

Blake turns to follow her, and her speed and agility allow her to quickly overtake Weiss in the race.

They move so blindingly fast that the race is over in less than a minute, with the pair coming in last despite the knowledge advantage. They both come up to see everyone huddled around a set of rock that seems almost completely randomized. In the center of said formation is some sand that radiates lots and lots of heat, so much so that it almost smokes like an overcooked steak. There's no doubt about it, the flare came from here.

All six of them look at each other, their eyes asking the exact same question:

What the fuck do we do now?

After this we go back to China. I don't know when we will leave there, but I also know I can't leave this plot thread cut off like this forever…