The people of the village of Yuki started to panic. A Nevermore, which is a well known agent of destruction, was just spotted in the skies near the village. People were still spreading the word and preparing their weapons when another wolf-like object approached from below at high speeds. This new flying object had a rider, and it blasted a hole in the monster large enough to separate it into two. The remaining halves dissolved, and the villagers looked up with awe and recognition at the object that was now gliding safely to the ground.

"The Sky Warrior Usopp is back!"

"Quick, someone get some booze!"

"We have to thank him properly this time!"

In truth, over the last two months, Usopp had visited this village several times, often saving it from some disaster either at the last moment, or after spending time resting. The same was true for many other villages, though this one was particularly unlucky. As Usopp descended, the grateful villagers crowded around him.

"Usopp, are you going to stay here in Yuki tonight?" one villager asked.

"Sorry, I have to try and make it back to Mistral for more ammunition and then I need to go to Shiroyari to check up on some sightings there…"

"That's too bad, good luck with hunting those special Grimm!"

"Thank you!"

It often went like this. Despite how busy Usopp was, he wasn't making any real progress with his hunt. Not even finding one of the four Grimm he was trying to kill after two entire months should have frustrated him to no end, but Usopp was secretly relieved. All he had to deal with so far were small fry bandits and Grimm, which he had no issues with. He was ashamed to admit it, but fighting more of those Grimm with Pop Green traits was terrifying. His Observation haki that he trained so hard didn't even work on Grimm in the first place, and while he had a better grasp of his Semblance than when he fought the first one, the base Grimm for all four of his queries were more powerful.

If Maria still had her silver eyes, Usopp would have let her help him, but she didn't. She already felt bad for something that was out of her control though, so there was no way he could tell Maria he was scared.

Cinder, their main target, was also nowhere to be found. Even after two months, there was no sign of her both back at the city and at Usopp's patrol route. This was frustrating, as needless to say, defeating Cinder was a far more personal issue than these Grimm were.

I guess it's not like they don't know about my ability… Are they staying far away until their latest scheme is ready? How long is that going to take? Though I'm surprised that my Humandrake hasn't caught anyone either... At this rate, Ruby and everyone will arrive before Cinder is dealt with. If that happens, it will be even harder to try and keep them out of the conflict… Don't tell me that's part of their plan? Ruby's silver eyes are quite a threat to them after all.

Usopp shook his head and focused on leveling his emotions lest he attract more Grimm towards this poor village.

"Come by again!"

"Thank you for everything!"

"Next time come and tell more tales of your adventures!"

"I wanna hear more about that goldfish!"

Usopp waved off the villagers and set his sights back towards Mistral.

Maria was watering Usopp's Pop Green garden when she heard a group of people enter the house Lionheart let her stay at. Only moments later did they enter the range of her haki, and she was able to determine that they were a group of five. None of them had hostile intent, so she figured that she'd at least hear them out.

"Who are all of you?"

The group of five turned to her direction in surprise. "Who are we? I'd like to ask the same of you, ya know? Lionheart gave me this place a while back for any time I needed to stay in Mistral for some time."

"Lionheart let me stay here, so if you have an issue, take it up with him. But I suppose I can tell you that my name is Maria Calavera… Would you humor me with your own names?"

"Tsk… I'm Qrow, a professional Huntsman."

"Uhh, Jaune here."

"Ren."

"I'm Nora!"

"And I'm Ruby! Nice to meet you, Maria!"

"Ruby? Ah, you all must be Usopp's friends then."

In a burst of petals, Ruby sped right up to Maria. "You've seen Usopp?! Is he doing well? Where is he?"

The rest of Team RNJR also hurried towards Maria with only Qrow lagging behind.

"Usopp is doing fine… Probably. He's not in this city right now, but he should be coming back soon for ammunition."

"What do you mean by 'probably'?" Jaune asked.

"I say 'probably' because he's currently hunting some very dangerous Grimm. He hasn't had much luck finding them, though. He's also looking for Cinder and her gang, but neither of us have seen hide nor hair of any of them. Needless to say though, if he actually encountered any of them, they wouldn't go down without a fight."

"When Usopp gets back, there's a lot we need to catch him up on," Qrow said, "and if you're a Huntress, then we could certainly use your help as well."

"I'm a Huntress alright, and a damn good one at that. I got my license renewed recently, so take a look."

Qrow's eyes widened in shock as he read what was on her license. "The Grimm Reaper? That's… How? Everyone thought you were dead, and that was a long time ago."

"I believe you are all aware of Usopp's origins, correct?"

The group nodded. "Even if it's hard to believe," Qrow added.

"You don't have much room to talk here, considering all that stuff you told us," Ruby retorted.

"Long story short, I found myself in his world after I lost my eyes in this one. I spent three years there before falling back here, only to find that far more time had passed. That's how I'm so young."

"That… Well fine, whatever then. It's not the craziest thing I've heard. But, can you fight without your eyes?"

"Against anything with a soul, yes."

"Even that will be a great help," Qrow said, "We all were going to check in with Lionheart tomorrow morning, though if you're going to join us, then there are certain things we'll need to fill you in on now. As a warning though, if you choose to listen, you'll be dragged into a huge mess where victory is anything but guaranteed. This is your last chance to back out."

"...Perhaps a mere three years ago I would have backed off. However, victory not being certain is no reason for a true Huntress to run. And besides that, I suspect that this will be connected to those who were hunting the Silver Eyed Warriors like me, and I want to know more about that. So I'll hear you out."

Pietro and Penny were 'driving' towards the movie theater with Franky's tank track mode when Pietro received an emergency call from Ironwood on his scroll. "Pietro, were there any complications with restoring Penny?"

"No, thankfully there were none."

"Good, as we're going to need her. Penny needs to fly up to Atlas now. The timing isn't ideal, but this is an emergency."

Penny, who was filled with cheer only moments ago, had a small frown on her face. "Very we-"

"Hold on a second, Iron-bro," Franky interrupted, "I can't just let you interrupt a celebration between a father and daughter like that. And I can't let you saddle her with work on her first day back either."

Franky signaled with his nipple lights and pulled over to continue the conversation.

"Franosuke, I understand the circumstances, but an emergency is an emergency An absolutely massive Megoliath with unusual plantlike features is heading straight for Mantle, and if we let it get close, the city isn't going to survive. Two of our larger airships that were sent to deal with it were taken out in the blink of an eye. They were manned by drones fortunately enough, but I can't lose more airships without making this country vulnerable. I don't have any other options besides Penny."

"Hmm? Aren't you forgetting something, Iron-bro? If it's just one of those black monsters, I'll take care of it."

"This one's different from any one you've faced-"

"Like I told you... Leave it to me! If you think my niece could beat it, then so can I!"

"Your niece? ...Very well. I'll send a Manta down with spare Cola to pick you up. If you do fail, however, many people are going to die."

"Um..." Penny started, "Uncle, don't worry. I can just handle this myself. It's my duty after all..."

Franky shook his head. "You'll go crazy if all you ever do is your duty… Besides, last time I checked, your duty is to protect Mantle. But this thing is just some pest that's about to get a SUUUPER beatdown from yours truly, so it will never get the chance to threaten Mantle in the first place. Just enjoy the movie with your Dad over here, as I'll be back in time for the after party."

Maria had to take some time to process everything she'd been told… It was hard to believe, but she'd give Usopp's friends and Qrow the same courtesy they gave her and not question it too much. It did answer why those with silver eyes were hunted down, and at the very least, the idea of the Maidens' existence was supported by her earlier fight with Raven.

Still though, after a while, she came to a realization. "...I have one request, to all of you."

"What is it?" Qrow asked.

"Please, hold off on telling Usopp all of this for now."

"What?! Why? He needs to know this stuff!" Ruby protested.

"...I'll be frank. Usopp doesn't trust a single one of you to hold your own in a fight. And after sensing your Auras myself, I don't blame him."

Ruby's mouth stood agape, Ren and Jaune looked at the floor in shame, and Nora gritted her teeth.

"Usopp isn't taking everything upon himself because he wants to right now. He just feels that he doesn't have any other choice. Right now, if we told him that there was someone pulling Cinder's strings, he'd just put even more on his already full plate. He might even get himself killed. I'm sure you all know exactly what recent event made him fear for your lives so much."

There was only silence for a few moments before she continued.

"But it's not hopeless yet. I myself have earned his trust as a warrior. But for all of you, it won't be as simple as trying to fight by his side again. Against the enemies he's currently hunting, you'd be a burden at best. At worst, you'd die in front of him and he'll never trust any of his classmates to have his back ever again."

"...What do you want us to do?" Ruby asked, "Usopp's going to get himself killed trying to do everything himself! How can we call ourselves his friends if we aren't there for him?!"

"You're absolutely right… That's why I'm going to put you all through the wringer. If you don't mind truly risking your lives, there is a certain power you can learn that will give you the edge you need. And of course, I'll teach Ruby everything I know about her silver eyes. So I'll say this now; If you want to ever be something more than people Usopp wants to protect, you'll have to take a path where you could very well die. If we had more time, we could try a safer option, but Usopp's already been hunting those Grimm for two months, so if you want to help him, you'll need to decide now."

Team RNJR looked at each other briefly before nodding. "Please, we'll be in your care."

"Of course, the offer is extended to you too, Qrow."

"Bah… I'll just mess everything up for the kids. They'll need all the luck they can get, right?"

"A bad luck charm might actually be useful for what I have planned for them… Though it's not like something like that actually exists."

Qrow's eyes widened, but a small grin found its way onto his face. "Really then… Maybe… I'll tag along too."

Usopp was soaring close to the City of Mistral when he sensed that Ruby, Nora, Jaune, Ren, and Qrow had arrived. They were also staying at the house Maria was in, but thankfully it was the middle of the night. Everyone at least seemed asleep, but he knew he'd have to be extra quiet as he restocked on ammunition.

At least that was the plan. Even when being careful, the door squeaked its loudest squeak just for him, so he quickly made his way to the Pop Green garden. A burst of rose petals put the final nail in the coffin though, and Ruby stood before him.

Usopp put on a friendly face. "Yo, long time no see… But sorry, I can't really talk right now. I don't know if you've heard, but I don't have time to waste."

"I'll talk as you restock on your ammo then."

Usopp passed her, with Ruby staying silent for a few seconds before saying, "I'm sorry."

"You got nothing to apologize for."

"...I've always called myself your team leader, but you can't even rely on me… That's why I'm apologizing now."

"It's fine. None of you need to get involved in these fights in the first place."

"You don't need to get involved either! This isn't your world, so why are you going so far to protect it?"

"Because I made friends here! And those friends are now in danger!"

Usopp turned his head towards Ruby, and he was met with a hard glare. "And you're wondering why we're getting involved?! Usopp… I know you can't rely on any of us right now. But soon enough, that's going to change… Before that… Please, just don't die."

"Hey hey, saying that kind of thing is a bit of a flag, is it not?"

"Just promise me already!"

"...Alright, it's a promise. And I'll… I'll be looking forward to seeing what you can do. Maria knows as well as I how dangerous the Grimm I'm hunting are, so if she says you're ready, then I'll have no complaints. I'll promise that too."

"I'll remember that."

Usopp, having filled his bag with as many Pop Green seeds as he could, walked towards the door. He was in the middle of opening it when Ruby talked to him again.

"I… No, we, really missed you, you know."

For a moment, Usopp thought about just staying at the house. He could enjoy breakfast with his friends, look over their training, and catch up with everything that had happened. But the urgency of his current task made him give that up just as fast. He held his hand up to his eyes, which were tearing up. "Yeah… Me too. I'm sorry."

"Let's catch up on the scroll, when you get the chance."

"Ah right, that's an option… I'll call tomorrow, if that's alright."

Ruby nodded and smiled. "I'm sure everyone will be happy to hear that. Good luck, and don't forget our promises!"

Usopp nodded and waved at Ruby before leaving for real. I didn't realize it… But I was really making the same mistake Vivi did all that time ago. Luffy would yell at me if he saw me now. I have friends… I... I want to rely on them. I just don't know if I'll actually be able to do so.

"Is Uncle Franky really going to be alright?"

Pietro and Penny were at the movie theater, with Franky having been picked up for his mission a few moments ago. Despite Franky's reassurances, Penny was still worried. But Pietro simply put a hand on her shoulder. "I've worked with Franosuke for a good deal of time at this point... He is many things, but he's never been unable to do anything he said he could. At this point I've stopped doubting him when he says ridiculous things, so if he says he can deal with this problem, I'm sure he can."

As the two entered the theater, a new poster was being put up on the front wall outside. This poster had the Grimm Wyvern and Usopp facing off against each other, with Usopp's back to the camera. A documentary for the Fall of Beacon was coming out soon...

A/N: Now officially in the Volume 5 timeline, on Usopp's side at least. Things should theoretically move faster for now.