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 three 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 begin to fight when a streak of blue flashes past, striking Tyrian i nthe shoulder and catching him off guard.
Jaune looks around to find the source of the bullet as Tyrian demands. "Who's out there?! Who else did you bring, Qrow?"
Qrow simply chuckled, "Trust me, you won't like that answer."
Tyrian growls in anger and lunges forward, only for the Ranger to appear behind him and slice off the tip of his tail with one swift stroke from his Argent Katanna, whose blade resonated with electric blue energy. Tyrian stumbled back as he screamed in pain.
"You bastard!" he cried, but then gasped at the sight of the Ranger as his anger melted into a deep fear.
The Ranger stands up and glares at Tyrian, making him shrink back a bit as he growls, "I'll only say this once. Leave now before I cut off another piece."
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, sheathes his sword and gives a smug grin. "Looks like someone knew a Night Sentinel when they saw one."
The Ranger simply scoffed. "He got lucky this time."
Ruby rushed to his side "Uncle Qrow!"
Ruby hugs Qrow tightly as the other three run up
"Who was that guy?" Nora asked. Then, pointing at the Ranger, "And who's THAT guy?"
"How did you get here?" Ren added.
"Why are people after Ruby?" Jaune all but demanded.
"Woah, woah, there" Qrow said, "One question at a time."
"To put it plainly" the Ranger interrupted, "You four were being hunted by the Enemy, and you were the main target, silver-eyed maiden."
Ruby looks at her uncle for answers, but Qrow just sighs. "We have a lot to talk about."
"Not here though" the Ranger explained, "We'll need more cover."
"Agreed" Qrow replied, "You think you can find us a spot?"
"I saw one on the way here. This way."
The others looked at each other, but decided it was wroth trusting this new guy of Qrow already seemed to do so. They then followed the Ranger farther through Oniyuri.
.