A/N: Made a small edit to the last chapter. Basically, Tyrian hasn't confronted team RNPR (Rainpour) yet.

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The blonde fell to the ground with a thud, the bright blue sky greeting his sight.

"Jeez, Pyrrha. I understand now how you became a four-time champion." Jaune said with a chuckle, pulling himself back up.

"Hah, yeah… Thanks. You're not bad yourself, though." Pyrrha replied in a hasty attempt to change the subject.

"Ah, you're just saying that," Jaune said, rubbing the back of his head at the praise, "I don't even think I got any good hits in."

"Don't sell yourself short, Jaune," Pyrrha countered as he patted the boy's shoulder, "You're better than you think."

"Thanks, Pyr. I'm pretty lucky to have you as a partner, huh?" Jaune said, missing the slight red that suddenly tinted his partner's cheeks, "So, you want to continue sparring or maybe take a quick five minute break first?"

"I think it's best if we took a short break. It wouldn't be wise to overwork ourselves, after all." Pyrrha answered before the two students sat on the nearby benches.

"You know, I've known you for a week now but I don't think you ever told me a whole lot about yourself." Jaune said, a bottle of water in his hand.

"There's not much to tell, honestly." Pyrrha said, "What would you like to know?"

"Like, where'd you learn to be so good at fighting?" Jaune asked.

"Well, I went to Sanctum, as you no doubt know." Pyrrha said as her partner replied with a nod, "There, I learned like everybody else: from a teacher but I did tend to spend most of my time in the school gym. I was never the most social girl in class, you see, and when I train, I just feel… at ease. It's like it all comes naturally to me, if that makes any sense."

"Nah, I get it. You're saying the gym where you trained was like a second home to you, right?"

"Something like that." Pyrrha said, a small smile on her face, "What about you, Jaune? You've hardly told us anything about your life before Beacon."

Jaune hesitated for a few seconds before he answered the girl's question, "…I lost my whole family and my village in a Grimm attack a long time ago."

Pyrrha gasped in shock at the boy's answer, "Jaune, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. You didn't know. How could you, right? My village is just one of many that gets lost to the Grimm every day." Jaune said, as he stared at the grass in front of him with a heavy look.

"Jaune, you… you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Pyrrha said, a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright. It was years ago now and I've gotten over it." Jaune said, sending a thankful smile to the redhead, "Anyway, after my village was gone, I was… adopted by this woman. She took me in to live with the rest of her family and that's where I was staying before Beacon."

"What are they like? This family that adopted you?"

"They're messed up." Jaune said without any hint of hesitation as Pyrrha stumbled at the blunt answer.

"M-messed up?" Pyrrha asked.

"Super messed up. There's this one guy who's crazy religious, another guy with a dumb mustache who always has to be the smartest in the room or else he'll throw a tantrum, and finally another guy who's just… big and quiet." Jaune said, a frown on his face as he thought back to the people he had been growing alongside with.

"T-they certainly sound like a colorful bunch."

"That's one way to put it. Honestly, I'm pretty sure I'd have gone insane if it wasn't for… her." Jaune said, a look of longing appearing on his face for the briefest of moments before it disappeared just as quickly. Getting up, Jaune then faced Pyrrha with a smile, "Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say about myself, I suppose. You want to continue sparring?"

"Of course." Pyrrha said, her mind lingering on the last person Jaune was talking about.

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"Pyrrha? Something wrong?" Ruby asked, shaking the redhead from her thoughts as the four continued their journey through Anima.

"Hmm? No, it's nothing, Ruby." the girl replied, sending Ruby a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"You know you can talk to us about whatever it is that's bothering you, right?" Ruby said, as the two girls trailed behind Ren and Nora, "We're not just a team out here. We're close friends who have been through a lot together."

"I know, Ruby. It's just-"

"And by a lot, I mean a lot." Ruby continued, cutting off whatever Pyrrha was about to say, "From Torchwick to the White Fang to Beacon being attacked. It's insane how much we've all been through and it's only our first year. Could you imagine what kind of stuff is waiting for us two or three years down the line?"

Pyrrha let out a small giggle at the young girl's attempts to cheer her up, "Thank you, Ruby. I really appreciate-"

"Hey, guys! What's that?" Nora suddenly asked from ahead of them. Turning their attention to where the ginger was pointing, the group saw that they had reached a settlement.

"Odd." Ren muttered, studying the map in his hand.

"Ren? What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked.

"This village… It isn't stated anywhere on the map." Ren said as he looked up from the piece of parchment in his hand with a troubled frown on his face, "It shouldn't be here."

The group shared a few worried glances before Pyrrha spoke up.

"Maybe this village was attacked?" the redhead asked, "You said it yourself, right? Villages are lost to the grimm on an almost daily basis."

"Whatever happened here, we should probably look for survivors." Ruby said, though even she could tell that the possibility for success was low. Walking into the ruined village, the four teens started looking through the ruble of ruined buildings. It was Ren who eventually called them over after a few minutes of fruitless searching.

"Ren? What is it? Did you find anything?" Ruby asked.

"The name of the village… Oniyuri." the boy said, rubbing on the sign that held the village's name.

"Oniyuri? I've never heard of it." Ruby said.

"Me neither." Nora added

"I'm not surprised you haven't." Ren said, looking at the two girls with a grim look on his face, "I suppose you could think of it as Anima's version of Mountain Glenn. If it was never completed, that is. Pyrrha probably knows what I'm talking about."

The girl in question simply nodded as a downcast look appeared on her face, "It was a long time ago but yes, I have been told stories about it before. About how the richest families of Mistral, frustrated with the way the council was running things, decided to pool their resources together and build a city of their own. With their own laws."

"They were hoping that it would one day even become its own kingdom but… well, Oniyuri is the only proof you'll need of what happened to their endeavors." Ren said.

"The Grim…" Ruby said, looking at the village around her as a flock of birds flew overhead.

"Come on, it's probably best if we just get through here without much trouble." Pyrrha said as she started walking towards the exit of the village, "There's nothing left for us here."

Ruby shared a nod with Ren and Nora even though an uncomfortable feeling set in her gut at Pyrrha's choice of words. The four teens were halfway through the ruined village before Ren and Pyrrha abruptly stopped in their tracks.

"Ren? Pyrrha? What's wrong?" Ruby asked before her hand fell to Crescent Rose.

"Something… doesn't feel right." The boy said, reaching for his weapons as he looked around the ruined buildings before Nora shifted her weapon into its hammer form. Pyrrha followed suit, as she and Ruby stood back to back, eyes wary of any sign of danger.

The boy was just about to dismiss the feeling in his gut as a sudden case of nerves before a man dressed in a brown jacket leapt from the building above, spinning through the air before landing just a few feet from Ren.

Cackling maniacally, the man then brandished a pair of blades around his wrists before he leapt towards Ruby. Acting quickly, Ren blocked the man's attempts at going any further, engaging him in what was quickly becoming a one-sided fight. Struggling to keep up with the man, there was nothing Ren could do before the man delivered a devastating kick that sent the boy sprawling to the ground.

Not wasting a single second, the man then turned his attention towards Ruby, leaping towards the girl. Finally springing into action, Ruby and Pyrrha attempted to double team the unknown attacker. Even so, the two girls found themselves barely able to hang on, his wild swings proving to be too unpredictable for the two former Beacon students.

After the man delivered a heavy strike that sent Ruby falling to the ground, Pyrrha immediately swooped in to save her friend from further danger. Even so, the man continued to toy with them, even choosing to stand on top of the redhead's shield.

"Ah, Pyrrha Nikos. I've heard so much about you." the man said, unfazed by the fact that he knew her name. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Nora appeared from behind him, hammer at the ready as she swung at their attacker.

Dodging at the last possible second, the man then performed a backflip through the air, landing behind the group without so much as a scratch on him.

"Who are you?!" Ren asked as he joined the girls, weapons pointed at the mysterious attack.

"Please, we're not looking for a fight." Pyrrha said, as Nora helped Ruby to get back up.

"My dear boy, you don't know who I am? I'm hurt." the man said, clutching at his chest in mocking fashion, "Because I know who all of you are. Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose and you, Pyrrha Nikos."

"You know who we are. So, what? Big deal." Nora challenged, Magnhild held close to her chest as she glared at the man.

"Oh, how could I not? After all, he has told me so much about you." the man said, eyeing each of them with a look of insanity, "Lie Ren, the quiet one of the team yet when he speaks, he speaks only wise words. Nora Valkyrie, the rambunctious and loud member of the team but also someone who cares deeply for her friends. Pyrrha Nikos, loyal friend and trusted partner and finally, Ruby Rose. Also loyal, kind, and righteous to a fault."

The four teens were unnerved by how much the man seemed to know about them.

"You're with Cinder, aren't you?" Ruby spoke up, taking a step forward as she glared at the man, "She's the one who told you about us, isn't she?"

In response, the man simply let out a maniacal laughter before facing Ruby, "Yes and no. I am colleagues with dear Cinder but she wasn't the one who told me about all of you."

"Then how? Who told you about us? What do you even want with us?" Pyrrha asked.

"Who? My dear, shouldn't it be obvious? I suppose I can give you a small hint. He was your team leader back in that little academy of yours." the man said, letting out a mad howl of laughter at the looks of realization on the faces of the teenagers in front of him, "Finally figured it out, have you?"

"Jaune? Why would he-"

"What have you done with him?!" Pyrrha suddenly shouted as the girl took a step closer towards the man, her knuckles turning white as she held a tight grip on her weapons.

"What have I-? Oh, you misunderstand, young lady. I have not done anything to young Jaune. Well, nothing that doesn't warrant the excuse of making him into a better fighter, that is. Why would I?" the man said, sending a mocking smile at the four of them, "After all, I'm the one who raised him."

"You? You're lying. He told me he was raised in a family that took him in after his village burned down." Pyrrha countered, not willing to believe a single word that came out of this man's mouth.

"Jaune thought of me as family? How sweet of him. I'll be sure to bring back a fruit basket to thank him when I get back." the man said, wiping a non-existent tear from his eyes, "That or a young girl with silver eyes. Either of those things would work in this scenario."

"Silver eyes? Me?" Ruby asked, surprised at the man's statement.

"Yes, you. Ah, as My Goddess commands it, so I will obey." the man said, before bowing towards the four of them, "Where are my manners? Tyrian Callows, at your service."

Seizing the chance in front of him, Pyrrha charged at Tyrian, eyes filled with something close to anger. Letting out an excited squeal, Tyrian crossed blades with the redheaded champion as he seemed to effortlessly dance and weave around the girl's attacks.

Pyrrha, meanwhile, was immediately put on the defensive as Tyrian turned the tides of battle and was about to deliver a devastating counter to one of Pyrrha's attacks before Ren and Nora swooped in, saving their friend from a potentially deadly attack.

Sending a grateful nod to the two of them, Pyrrha turned her attention back towards Tyrian.

"Oh, but if you're here, then who's to protect your silver-eyed friend over there?" the man spoke before appearing behind Ruby not a moment later.

"Ruby!" all three members of the former Team JNPR shouted, their weapons shifting to their ranged form as they shot at Tyrian. Effortlessly dodging their attacks, Tyrian delivered a kick to Ruby's side that sent the girl sprawling to the ground as Nora and Pyrrha charged in towards him.

Engaging both girls at once, Tyrian blocked both of their attacks with the blades on his wrist before quite literally grabbing Nora by her arms and throwing her at Pyrrha. Unable to react in time, both girls crashed into each other as Tyrian resumed his assault on Ruby.

At least, that was the plan before Ren appeared in front of him, StormFlower at the ready.

"My dear boy, if both of your friends were unable to deal so much as a scratch on me, what makes you think you will?" Tyrian asked, a frown on his face.

"Doesn't mean I won't try." Ren countered as Tyrian simply shrugged his shoulders.

"If you say so." the man said before engaging the young boy. Almost immediately, Ren was forced into the defensive as Tyrian effortlessly broke through his guard. A moment later, Tyrian threw the boy over his head at Nora and Pyrrha, sending him crashing into the two girls. Howling with laughter, Tyrian then returned his focus towards Ruby, "I'll give you an A for effort, child."

The man then charged towards the young girl, who was currently shaking with fear at the prospect of facing the man in front of her and she would have had it not been for a greatsword falling from the sky and embedding itself on the path between Tyrian and Ruby.

"Oh, now what?" Tyrian asked, annoyed at the constant interruptions to this task. His question was answered a moment later as a man with black, spiky hair dressed in gray dress shirts, black dress pants, and black dress shoes appeared.

"Hey there, kiddo." the man said, ignoring Tyrian as he greeted the girl on the ground in front of him.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby said, a relief look on her face at the man's sudden appearance.

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A/N: And that's a wrap on Chapter 4. I really hope you guys like this one. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. The flashback I believe could maybe use a little more work but I'm fine with it. Anyway, yeah. This chapter has Tyrian confronting Team RNPR (Rainpour), Tyrian letting them know some stuff about Jaune and RNPR reacting how I believe they would react. Then Qrow arrives in Qrow fashion. That was fun to write. Let me know what you guys think

Also, next chapter update: I WILL be releasing a new chapter on Christmas Eve and it will be a special holiday themed chapter so stay tuned for that. I won't go into details on what the chapter will be about because I want it to be a surprise. All you boys and girls need to know is that I am REALLY excited about this Christmas special and I am having a blast writing it so, stay tuned. Guesses and theories on the contents are welcome.

As always, faves, follows, and reviews are always appreciated.

Next Chapter: December 24 (Christmas Eve)

Praise be to Cinder Fall