RWBY: Grimm Reaper

by jeit93

How do you live with a great burden on your back? How do you get to know people, friends and a special someone with the certain death chasing you? My name is Kaiden and this is my story.

100. One step closer

* Champagne bottle opens *

Hello, my dear readers.

Today is a great day with the 100th chapter of the story that has been in the works for almost 5 years. I would like to thank my loyal fans who have been with me all this time, reading whatever nonsense I can think of and still have stayed, and hoping to count on you for much more until the end.

I'm sorry for the long wait. There were some stuff at work plus some depressive moments that got me in a slumo, but I'm back for more.

The story so far will be following the plot of the series, but I'm preparing some serious stuff for the events in Vol 8 and possibly 9th.

I love you and enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 100: One step closer

-o-

Only Yang's motorcycle could be heard on the snow in the silence of the road. I thought that after our misadventure of the last two days, there would be no more surprises that day, but I was wrong to hear what Maria had told us. She had silver eyes, like Ruby, and besides she was the original Grim Reaper. She told us how she lost her sight to an ambush and the reason why she decided to end her legend and hide from the world. I couldn't believe that she was seeing the same person that I've heard so much about from Qrow and Alice. It was as if Keanu Reeves were in front of me and didn't say that I was breathtaking.

However, the old woman's attitude was pessimistic as she recalled her days as a hunter. She felt like a failure after eye surgery and decided to disappear from the world, in an attempt to prevent someone else from coming to finish what others failed to do. Such statements from the woman didn't do much to cheer up Qrow, who had told me about her as if she was her role model, to the point that he based her weapon and fighting style to simulate her. I offered to speak to the guys from the Atlas Research and Development Department to do the same job they did with my eye, but she politely declined.

Ruby was asking to teach her to use the power of her glowing eyes when I felt my scroll start to vibrate, giving me a pleasant surprise when I opened it and found the name Vomit Boy on the screen.

"It's Jaune!"

I briefly enjoyed the fact that my head fell into Ruby's lap as Yang slammed on the brakes before I gathered myself and I answered the call to put him on speaker.

"Jaune! Glad to hear your annoying voice!"

"Kaiden! Thanks! I've been checking my scroll all day in case your signal got through since I got to the city."

"The city?!" Ruby exclaimed in surprise, opening her scroll and checking the signal, which increased considerably as it pointed ahead of us where a hill rose.

Yang sped up as we clung to the incline to the top. We left the snow behind and the green grass greeted us as it stretched as far as the eye could see with the warm sun chasing away the cold that had plagued us since the previous day.

"We are a short distance from the entrance," I told Jaune.

"Good, see you there. I'm glad you guys are okay."

I ended the call and I was watching the beautiful passage, not wanting to move from there no matter how much I wanted to finally reach the city.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached Argus," Yang excitedly announced to us before beginning the short drive to the main entrance to the settlement.

Knowing that the worst was over and that we were close to reaching Atlas made me feel as if I could finally be calm, relaxing my shoulders and closing my eyes as I felt the sea breeze that came to us. I felt my hand being gently grasped and someone resting their head on my shoulder.

"We did it," Ruby whispered.

Feeling a warmth that made me feel peaceful despite recent events, I just firmly squeezed her hand and I was finally at peace.

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The high walls of the city loomed over us as we approached, giving me a view that was similar to when one arrived in Aztlan. At the main entrance there were a large number of people, some leaving or entering the settlement with others having installed themselves to sell various merchandise. On one side of the entrance a warehouse was rented where Yang's motorcycle was kept, planning to sell the cart at some point during our stay at the site in case we required some cash.

The first to arrive was Nora, who tackled Oscar and hugged him with such force that it almost turned him purple. Then Jaune and Ren arrived, who welcomed us warmly.

When I arrived with Jaune, he lunged at Ruby and me, hugging us with a few long seconds before releasing us with wet eyes. I understood the feeling, since, when I faced The Apathy and everything seemed lost, I felt regret for the people I would be leaving behind: Mary, my sisters, my grandmother, my father, Nora, Ren and him, whom we had promised that we would return safely.

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For a city somewhat far from the main kingdoms, Argus seemed to be a good place to settle, with stable economy and security. Mostly it was due to the base of Atlas where the transports arrived from the north; it could be said that they were the only glimmer of hope in those dark days.

Just when we were wondering where we weren't staying, we met Saphron, his sister, along with her wife, Terra, and their son Adrian. To say that Yang and Weiss were captivated by the little boy was to say little to how they pampered him; to the point that Yang started pestering Ruby and me about when we ordered the nephew. Girl, I'm 17 and your sister 16. Calm down.

To avoid all of us being on top of each other while we slept, the girls would be staying in Adrian's room while the boys would be in the guest room. The little one would be with his mothers. I honestly felt bad for having them do all that movement for us, but Saphron insisted.

Now, it was time to continue with our plan to bring the Relic of Knowledge to Atlas. If we contacted the base on Argus and explained the situation, they would most likely help us get to the kingdom... or so I thought. When I told that idea, Jaune, Ren and Nora made a disgruntled face about it. They didn't want to go into details, but apparently they had an altercation between the officer in command of the facilities and Nora that involved words about height, citizenship, and others that they preferred to omit.

"No regrets," the redhead said, crossing her arms.

Okay, new goal: make amends for Nora's mess. To do this, we would have to go to the base of Atlas, which is located at a distance from the coast, being connected to Argus by a long bridge. The islet housed the military installations that consisted of a wall several meters high that was electrified, with a huge metal gate being the only entrance inside.

After crossing the long bridge that connected to the military base, we ran into two guards on both sides of the gate.

"Stop there!" ordered one. "Identify yourself and establishyour reason for visit!"

"Qrow Branwen, Huntsman from Vale and friend of General Ironwood. We are here to request transportation to Atlas. We need to see him."

"Are they with you?" the other pointed behind us where Nora, Ren and Jaune had stopped away from us. "

"Well yeah-" Qrow barely said this and the huge metal door slammed shut in our faces.

"Hey!" Yang grabbed the bars of the fence and began to shake them hard. "Come on, they didn't even listen to us!"

"The orders are clear. The Mistral-Atlas border is closed! Please ..."

"Have a good day," the other continued.

"But-"

"A good day," they said in unison in sync.

I didn't know if it was their way of speaking or their refusal to listen to us that made me want to punch them in the face, but that would be counterproductive if we wanted to get to the kingdom without causing trouble. Then we would have to go for plan B.

"Gentlemen, I am part of the Research and Development Department at Atlas," I informed them, pulling out my identification, "and we are escorting Weiss Schnee back home."

The two soldiers looked at each other (if they could see anything with the visors of their caps covering their eyes), "Come closer!"

Weiss and I got close enough that they could see her face and also validate the authenticity of my identification while also observing me.

"Very Well!" They both said standing at attention again. "You can speak to our commanding officer. We will bring her back shortly."

They then turned and trotted away as they exhaled 'Atlas!' with every step.

"They were something ..." Blake started to say but apparently couldn't find the words to describe what happened.

"Super rare?" Ruby completed. "Yes of course."

"At this point in my life, I don't even know what's normal anymore," I replied.

"Mrs. Calavera, what is it?" Oscar asked the old woman, who was thoughtful and hadn't spoken the whole way.

"Well, maybe you know this commanding officer."

"That's good, right? If she's your friend, then she's more likely to help us."

"She wouldn't say we are 'friends'."

"Acquaintances?" Weiss suggested.

"Not like that."

"Colleagues?" Blake guessed.

"A little warmer."

"Enemies?" Yang followed.

"Exactly!"

Once again, the cloud of despair settled over me. It would have been fine for him to say that she was some distant relative or even her lover or ex, but it was worse.

"Anything we have to worry about?" Oscar asked.

"Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be fine," she said without concern. "I come here once every 10 years for my eye checkup at Atlas. You just take out a bag of cashews during a flight and suddenly you're put on the additional inspection list for life!

"Anything we have to worry about?" Oscar asked.

"Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be fine," she said without concern. "I come here once every 10 years for my eye checkup at Atlas. You just take out a bag of cashews during a flight and suddenly you're put on the additional inspection list for life!"

Great. We were screwed. We would have better luck buying a rowboat and using it to get to Atlas.

"Yeah, yeah. Take it easy. Let's not give up just yet... Maybe she's dead."

Really screwed.

The main entrance to the base reopened and we ran into the facility's commanding officer and he was nothing like I expected. Instead of meeting a tall and imposing figure, in front of us was a short woman with the face of few friends. I didn't know that Atlas made high-ranking uniforms for such little people.

"Introducing..."

"Special Operative ..."

"Caroline Cordovin!"

Incredible that hobbit was a high command. With a few strides (due to the woman's short legs), Officer Cordovin advanced to where Maria was, with whom she began a staring duel. I've never seen an old ladies fight, but all my bets were on Maria, being the former Grim Reaper.

"Witch," Cordovin snapped at our old lady.

"She-devil," Maria replied undeterred.

Friendship is magic.

Cordovin then looked at all of us like we were dirty laundry bags, "Hmm, I see you've chosen a bigger contraband to smuggle this time."

"Oh, Cordo. You know they say that time changes people, but I see you still have a stick in your-"

"H-hello! Miss, uh, Cordovin," Ruby interceded just in time before the old woman finished her sentence. Too bad, I would have liked to hear the rest. "My name is Ruby Rose, and I was wondering if you could hear us-"

"I've already heard what your other little friends had to say, Miss Rose." Cordovin gave my girlfriend an annoyed look before glancing behind us. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE AGAIN ?! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GO!"

"And I told you that we would not rest until you let us pass!" Nora responded angrily, while Ren and Jaune could barely get her to pounce on the old woman.

"Good to see you again as well!" Ren saluted, still with his irate girlfriend.

"You civilians are clearly incapable of understanding the importance of our mission here at Argus," Cordovin spoke to us as if our IQ was the same as Donald Trump (whoever the hell he is). "So let me say this slowly and in small words: this base, this relay tower, the mere security of Argus are gifts from the glorious Kingdom of Atlas. And it is my duty to uphold them, as I am the only one with the guts and tenacity for such a task."

Hell, not only did we have a hobbit with a Napoleon complex, but she was also a nationalist fan of Remnant's greater army. She had had to deal with the occasional Atlas student in Beacon who complained about the facilities and said that her school was superior. I didn't confront him head-on, but for some reason that person stumbled across his own shadow.

"Or maybe Atlas just wanted to get you out of the realm as much as possible," Maria said exactly what I (and perhaps most of us) were thinking at the time.

Cordovin furiously roared, "You're like the rest of the Argus ingrates! This city wouldn't be here if it weren't for our Atlesian ancestors, and what do we have about it? The whole world is ready to put a knife to our throats!"

"Ma'am, you know that Atlas had nothing to do with the attack on Beacon. We were all there, we fought together!" I tried to reason with the woman.

"No one is happy with the Atlas borders or the embargo, but we know General Ironwood is concerned," Weiss supported me. "That's why we need to talk-"

"The General is no coward!" Cordovin objected as if we had just insulted Chayanne. "Atlas is strong! If all kingdoms plan to make us their enemies, so be it! Atlas will prevail!"

"Atlas will prevail!" the two escorts repeated in unison.

Ok, first topic to discuss with dad when we get to Atlas: get that woman done a psychological study. A person who is eager to go to war with everyone shouldn't be in command of any power. (A / N: I'm looking at you, USA. Also, foreshadowing to vol 8? ;) )

"If Miss Schnee has truly come to her senses and wishes to return to her family, then of course Atlas's army will escort her home, but the kingdom will not be held responsible for her questionable 'friends'," Cordovin sneered at Blake, which made my friend feel self-conscious again about her faunus heritage.

"Excuse me, what do you mean?" I interceded, unwilling for someone to refer to someone I considered as my family.

"It means we're done here," Taking a step back, Cordovin returned to the base of him as the metal fence closed right in our face for the second time that day.

We were all in silence trying to understand what had happened. Not only had a bloody military dwarf despised us and denied Atlas passage, but he had also discriminated against Blake for being a faunus.

No, I wasn't going to let it happen.

Using my semblance, I turned to smoke and went through the metal bars, rushing over to Cordovin, who was still being escorted by his two gorillas.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm afraid I'm not done yet."

Cordovin turned around in alarm at my presence inside the base, "How do you get in? Security!"

Before I knew it, I was being targeted by various guns ready to fire with just one sneeze from me. I could become intangible as soon as they opened fire and the bullets would pass through undamaged, but I still raised my hands to avoid getting six warning shots in the back.

"I just want to talk."

"You have 10 seconds. It's up to you if they open fire or just take you out of here."

"Look, I only ask you to help us get to Atlas. It is of the utmost importance that we meet with General Ironwood. Besides, I will not say in what way, but I am close to him," I said slowly taking out my scroll and showing a photo . Dad and I were in it on my last days in the kingdom. We were both smiling as I accompanied him on the inspections of his forces. "If you help us, I will gladly speak highly of you."

"Ah, I see. Well, you are not the only one who is close to the General," she showed me a photo on her device. They were both side by side and exposing the great difference in heights, almost like a shitzu with a Great Dane. For some reason, while Cordovin seemed happy about the occasion, while Dad seemed like he would rather dance with an ursa than be there. "Now then. Normally I would throw you into a cell and leave you there until Atlas fell from the sky, but today I feel merciful. However, I will not feel forgiving if you dare to threaten the great kingdom of Atlas. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good." She turned to his guards, "Get him out of here."

"Yes ma'am!" they both said before taking me by the arms and then getting up and throwing me off the base as soon as the door had been opened.

"Kai!" Ruby rushed to help me up, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, all good," although I still felt pissed off at the smurf. "Pinche enana. He cagado mierdas más grandes que ella."

Suddenly I received a blow to the head from Maria, "Watch your language. Maybe they don't understand you, but I do."

"I think it would be better if I-" Weiss was starting to say before Ruby cut her off.

"Weiss, we promised we wouldn't leave your side for a second. We'll find a way to get to Atlas. Together."

She calmed down with those words and I didn't blame her. I knew what awaited him at her mansion in Solitas.

Qrow, who had been sullen lately, was walking away alone and leaving us behind.

"So what should we do now?" I asked with our route to Atlas having closed the passage in our noses.

"Yes, what is the plan?" Nora questioned as well.

"The plan? The plan just slammed into our faces for the third time. I'm going for a drink."

Ruby sighed wearily and hurried to catch up with her uncle to try to dialogue with him, but the man just ignored her and followed his path. I was about to face him for treating her own niece like that, but Ruby held my hand, in a non-verbal request to let him go.

"What's his problem?" Jaune grunted. "It's not your fault we can't go on."

Even with that farm and Apathy behind us, Qrow was still in a bad mood about what had happened with Ozpin. Knowing all that he had been keeping from us only made him more depressed and more intoxicated. I just hoped he didn't do something to upset our hostesses and get us out of their house.

"If he's going to be a jerk, then we'll think of something without him," Nora commented. "I mean, we got Ozpin with us. He usually knows what to do."

"What is it?" Ren noticed that we flinched at the mention of our late rector.

Alright, now it had become somewhat awkward having to break the bubble for those who weren't around when the uncomfortable truth about Ozpin came out.

"Well, a few things happened," I explained. "We better go to a more private place to talk."

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As we had the house to ourselves as Saphron and Terra at their jobs and little Adrian at daycare, we had the privacy we needed to update JNR on the current situation. And things didn't go so well. I could see their faces filled with anguish and concern as the conversation continued and knew what Ozpin had been hiding us. Nobody said anything until Jaune had the reaction I expected from someone who just heard all that shit. He was going to explain to his sister why there was a crack in the wall of their living room.

"Everything we did was for nothing," he exclaimed angrily.

"It's not true," Blake tried to calm him down, but Nora was also upset.

"Really? Cuz it sure sounds like it."

"If Salem can't be killed, then how are we supposed to win this?" Ren seemed calm, but I knew he was holding back.

Honestly, we were still digesting all that information, so no one spoke. How to kill something that had lived since humanity was born the second time?

"Something will come out," I said, trying to defuse the situation. "Maybe Djinn told Ozpin that HE couldn't kill Salem, maybe because of their close relationship, but that doesn't mean she couldn't be killed by someone else."

"Well, what do you think we can do? March to her lair, full of Grimm, and each take a turn to see if one manages to break a nail? Wow, great plan, guys."

"Look, none of this is great, we know," Oscar tried to calm things down, "but we're not the bad guys here."

"Are you sure about that?" Jaune said coldly, turning his back to her. "He's in your head, right? Did you already know about this?"

Jaune turned to Oscar and marched toward him with clenched hands.

"He didn't know about this!" Weiss tried to reason with him, but her words fell on deaf ears as he grabbed Oscar by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"How much longer can we even trust him ?! How do we know it's really him ?! What if I've been talking to that liar all this time ?!"

"Jaune, that's enough!" I intervened, making my friend let go of the boy, who was trembling in fear with his eyes closed.

"You followed his orders at Beacon," Jaune accused me, "you worked for him when we didn't know anything. Tell me how good that worked for you. Do you still remember when you lost your eye? Do you still remember Penny? Remember me one more time: how is Pyrrha?"

I could have defended myself from those words, but each one was true. As much as I wanted to apologize, the fact that I was the last to see Pyrrha alive and to see her die could not be ignored.

"JAUNE!" Ruby berated him, but he didn't care that she was upset.

"How lucky you are. At least your girlfriend still lives to defend you," he hissed at me before he climbed the stairs and locked himself in the guest room.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Blake asked something awkward.

"I don't know!" Nora exclaimed angrily. "Is any of this okay ?!"

"I think it would be best if we had some time to ourselves," Ren said in a calm voice before following his girlfriend upstairs, but I could feel the anger that was underneath those words. If someone like him was upset, then everything had gone to shit.

"Kai, are you okay?" Ruby was holding my hand.

"Yes... no... I don't know..."

I was heading to the bathroom when I caught Oscar's gaze, but quickly looked away. Maybe Jaune was right and Ozpin was still watching us, so from one moment to the next he would see that same look on the boy's face.

I locked the door and splashed the water on my face from the sink, as if that was going to refresh my mind and suddenly I had a perfect idea to get out of our stagnation. But nothing occurred to me. Feeling irritated, I was about to punch the mirror that reflected my tired face when I stopped, took a deep breath, and sat on the toilet.

I thought everything would be better after we prevented Haven from falling, hoping to make it to Atlas safely, secure the Relic of Knowledge with the Relic of Creation, and plan with Dad what our next step would be. But in the end we knew that we were just a replacement for the first humanity that existed and that Ozpin had hidden his relationship with Salem from us before losing him, after finishing a damn haunted house, only to be rejected by the Atlas base in Argus. Not even when I was traveling alone did I have so many problems. However, I also knew that I couldn't let myself fall. The boys must have felt lost too, and more so from what we now knew. Ren was right, it would be best if we all had a little time to think before deciding our first step.

I came out of the bathroom and noticed that Yang, Weiss, and Blake were looking around. I thought they were just browsing Jaune's sister's house, but I saw that her faces looked more concerned.

"Hey what's up?"

"We can't find Oscar," Weiss told me.

"What?" I started looking all over the place, but there was no sign of the boy in the house.

My heart began to race at a thought that until then had come to me: Oscar was gone. The arguments, the burden that he carried by being Ozpin's guest and now the guilt that everyone gave to his abandonment had already taken a toll. I had an idea of what he must be feeling, since I had felt the same way when I was arguing with Nathaniel about my desire to be a huntsman, and one of those times I had tried to run away to Vale.

"Damn it," I cursed, rushing to the door. "He shouldn't be too far away. I'll go ahead and put an alert on the train station and the front gate in case he goes to there."

Without waiting for an answer, I walked through the door and used my gauntlets to climb onto a roof and get a better view of the surroundings. There was no sign of Oscar, so I had to rush to the station before he caught a train.

I moved from roof to roof (apologizing if one of its owners complained) until I reached the train station, descending into an alley before approaching one of the guards at the door, showing them a photo of Oscar (from our time in Mistral) and asking if they had seen him pass by. The answer was negative, but I shared the image and my contact if there were news. At the main entrance gate of the city it was the same, so the only thing that could be done was to look for him in the streets.

I focused on places with more crowds, mostly parks. There was no success until I showed the photo to a couple of women, who, like the rest, had not seen the boy, but it was then that an old woman approached.

"Wait ... I've seen that boy."

"Have you seen him, ma'am?"

"Yes, it was recently. 3 blocks from here. Where are the huntsmen gear stores. He was looking at some display cases when he saw that I dropped my wallet and gave it back to me. What a good boy."

"How long?"

"About 15 minutes ago maybe."

"Thank you very much," I thanked him before running off in the indicated direction.

I couldn't waste time. Either I was on time before he disappeared or I was late and I would lose his trail. He couldn't let the others know by message if it ended in a fiasco.

When I got to the right place, I started looking around and it seemed to be a place totally dedicated to huntsman equipment, since there were stores that sold dust, weapons, ammunition, and specialized clothing; being one of the latter that caught my attention because a boy was looking at one of the display cases.

"Where the hell have you been? Do you know how worried we were?"

"Kaiden! I'm sorry. I wanted to get some air and I didn't want to disturb you, seeing how things were."

"You would have even left a note."

"I know. I don't think I was thinking clearly."

"The truth is that I understand it and I don't blame you. Things haven't been going well lately and that has us stressed out."

"Yes, I know and I also know that Jaune feels the same, so there are no hard feelings."

"I'm glad," I breathed out in relief. "So what are you doing here?"

"Mainly I wanted to clear my mind, but then I started looking at the windows and I think time flew by."

I looked at the glass and saw that behind it was a large collection of clothing designed for hunters, from flameproof pants to a wide variety of combat skirts. Then I saw Oscar and could see that his outfit was too simple for someone who had been fighting Grimm and Salem cronies for just over a month.

"It will be cold in Atlas, even more than here. How about we go in and see if they have thermal clothing?"

"Uh, sure."

Time passed while I got Oscar the clothing and accessories necessary to survive whatever came our way, such as a coat that could protect him enough from inclement weather while being light enough to move. in fight, pockets to store the necessary tools for emergency situations, and suitable boots for fighting. He obviously felt bad that I was paying for it all, but I kept telling him that I didn't mind it. Maybe that's how Alice would have felt if she had gone with me to buy my stuff for my entrance to Beacon.

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We were on our way home when we stopped by a supermarket and bought something for him to prepare a stew for us, as an apology for what happened. The boys must have already been going to the house after letting them know that I had already found Oscar. By the time we got there, no one was there, so we started cooking so the food would be ready as soon as possible.

We were already stirring the ingredients in the pot when I peeked in the front door when I saw everyone gathered... with Qrow sprawled on the stairs.

"Hey, did you lose someone?" I called out to them, stepping aside so they could see Oscar.

Everyone's eyes lit up when they saw him, to the point that they jumped down the stairs and pounced on him, Nora's war cry as my only warning to turn me to smoke and free me from the stampede.

"You had us worried sick!" Weiss scolded him.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, concerned.

"What are you wearing?" Nora showed interest in the boy's clothes.

"Is something cooking?" Terra asked, entering the house.

"Uh, I thought you'd like a hot meal after spending all day looking for me, according to Kaiden."

"And by the way, we update his outfit to suit the climate here," I added, putting an arm around her shoulder. "He now already looks more like a huntsman."

"It was my fault we were out there in the first place," Jaune was apologetic about his earlier attitude. "I owe you an apology. To both of you."

"No, it's okay," Oscar interrupted. "These last few days I've been scared of the same things as you. I don't know how long I'll still be myself. But I thought about it, and now I know that I want to do everything I can to help with the time I still have left."

"Good," Jaune was relieved, "this team wouldn't be the same without you, Oscar."

"What would become of us without our little brother?" I grabbed Oscar by the neck and ruffled the boy's hair before he freed himself.

It was all a heartwarming moment with everyone laughing and relieved to have Oscar with us ... until the alarm went off in the kitchen.

"The casserole!" Oscar yelled before turning to me. "Didn't you put the stove on low heat?!"

"Didn't you say to let it boil?"

"But in low heat or the potato will dissolve!"

"Don't worry, chefs, we'll take care of that," Saphron calmed him down by leaving Adrian with Marían and taking Terra with her to the kitchen and avoiding a possible fire.

Without us realizing it, Qrow was already staggering halfway up the stairs, reminding us that we still had to deal with the depression he was going through.

"Qrow, where are you going?" I called him.

"I don't want to spoil the nice celebration you guys have."

"But you've been gone all day! We need to sit down and think about what we're going to do now."

"Look kid, I'm glad you guys fixed whatever you had, but that doesn't change the fact that we're not even one step close to getting to Atlas. Tell me, have you thought of a way to do it?"

I was silent. I've been stuck on that topic since the moment Cordovin slammed the doors in our faces and couldn't think of any way to get to our destination. A boat would take us too long and we would end up frozen between reaching the nearest port and reaching the kingdom. Air transport had to be highly regulated by the military due to the embargo, so going with anyone with a nabe would be a sure invitation to get shot down at the first opportunity. There was nothing left but to turn to Cordovin, but it would be difficult to convince her to let us all go.

"Actually, I have an idea, but I think it would be more of a kind of no-return idea."

I was intrigued by what my friend had come up with, "Let's see, what do you have in mind?"

"With Cordo vigilant, and the Atlas ships being the only ones allowed to leave for Solitas, it occurred to me that, perhaps ... we steal an Atlas ship."

The reactions to such an idea were, for the most part, mouths open in shock; being Nora and Adrian who seemed more amused by the proposal, with the latter laughing.

"That's not just breaking the law," Weiss resorted to being the voice of the reason we all love her, "that's definitely worse."

"How would we even get to the hangars where the ships are?" Yang asked, concerned.

"I haven't thought well of that yet," Jaune replied, embarrassed. "What do you think Kaiden?"

To be honest, it was not expected that we would have to consider that idea. Stealing a ship from Remnant's greatest army might put a bounty on our heads, but we no longer had a choice with so many windows closed. If we got there and we could meet up with my dad, I could put on puppy dog eyes and avoid being taken to military court.

"Tell me you're not considering it," Qrow was frowning at me from the middle of the stairs. "If you go with this and everything goes south, it's not something we can make our way out fighting. We are talking about the Atlas army. You can do whatever you want, but you won't drag my nieces into that mess." Then he takes a deep breath and gives me a look that reflects defeat in his eyes, "For your sake, we better leave this. Your mother wouldn't want you to have this life."

Qrow was right. Even if everything was carefully planned, there was no guarantee that there would be success and that we would not end up in a cell on Argus. There would be a lot to lose if we failed and the last thing he wanted Ruby and the others to see behind bars for a bad decision. For a moment I thought about stealing the ship on my own, but that would be a terrible choice, since I didn't know much about piloting ships, and besides, I promised Ruby that I wouldn't leave her behind again. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming with the only form left to us but also the consequences.

I was about to laugh when I feel a soft warmth in my hand and Ruby stands next to me, "I want to hear him out."

"Ruby-"

"I want to hear him out!" Ruby faced her uncle. "I know you're trying to protect us and you're afraid we won't be able to do it, but right now I don't care what you think. Just because you have no idea doesn't mean we run out of options. Oz hasn't been here to tell us what to do, but we're still not happy to get this far. Together. We've been in bad situations before and didn't need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do. We just did it our way and I say we do this our way. And, if you think you can keep up with us kids, we'd be happy to have you."

I looked at the silver-eyed girl in surprise. She was willing to go against her uncle, whom she admired and had followed her whole life, to seek a new way to move forward. Seeing the challenge in her eyes made my heart pound like crazy, like the first one I saw them.

Maria giggled, "Looks like you don't give these guys enough credit. They're tougher than I thought."

Then Qrow's face seemed to calm down. Maybe it was the alcohol or if he was finally reasoning, but his features changed as he looked at Ruby and me, determined to take the bull by the horns if necessary.

"Alright, I think I don't lose anything if I listen to what you guys have in mind."

The girl's eyes lit up with excitement, "Okay, let's start planning everything with a nice dinner."

And that's how the first meeting of Operation "Stealing From The Elderly" began, a plan so crazy and risky that it could work.