A/N: Welcome to Team COAL's Volume 9! I wanted it to be different from canon Volume 9 and not "Volume 9 with extra characters" like my version of Volume 8 was to canon Volume 8 (with a few changes, which you will see in a moment). Which should be pretty easy to do since canon Volume 9 hasn't even premiered yet. Diana Mirai and Hathor Isatari belong to my friend, decode9, and Aiden Keegan belongs to my friend Persona1. Updates will be slow because I am working on another fic at the same time and because I'm pretty much making up the Volume 9 plot as I go along.

On an island in another world…

Lily looked at her surroundings. She was on a tropical island of some sort with a huge tree in the center. The arctic fox faunus had no idea where this island was, other than that it was in a world other than her own. She knew this because she had been kicked into the void by the leader of the Red Fang, Ares Vesa, during a battle in the portal between Atlas and Vacuo. She looked over her right shoulder to see a startling sight.

"Ahh!" She jumped as she saw that the dead body of a male ram faunus with a huge split in his skull had washed up on the beach. Her fox ears shot straight up. She recognized it as belonging to Ares Vesa himself, and she knew what had happened as soon as she saw the split in his skull.

"This was Colby's doing," she said, referring to her team leader, initiation partner, and boyfriend, Colby Castanho. She hoped he was safe and had made it to Vacuo, and wondered how she would get back to Remnant. Looking over to her left, something caught her eye: footprints. They must have belonged to either another human or faunus like herself who had fallen into this world or an inhabitant of the island. Realizing that she had no choice but to investigate these prints if she ever wanted to return to her own world, she ran over and followed them into the forest.

On the other side of the island…

Kent Kasai washed up on the beach on the other side of the island, coughing up water. "I'm alive!" He thought to himself as he crawled up onto the dry sand. "I can't believe I'm alive!" He stood up, realizing the implications of his survival. "And if I'm alive, maybe Yang is too. I've got to find her and make sure she's safe! Nothing else matters to me now. I failed to save countless fellow hunters in Mistral and failed to save Atlas, but I'll be damned if I fail to save Yang. She's all I have left to live for." He walked toward the forest, wondering what he would find in there. If it wasn't Yang, he wasn't interested.

In Vacuo…

"Alright, guys!" Lie Ren called out to the other hunstmen and huntresses around him. "Our priority is to cover Penny while she clears up the sandstorm! We need to get her and the civilians to Vacuo!"

"Roger that!" Colby Castanho replied. "So many people gave their lives to get her here. I'm not about to let that be for nothing!" He was referring to those who had fallen into the void and (unbeknownst to him) to the island.

The red-haired girl known as Penny Polendina activated her Maiden powers, causing her eyes to light up with green flames. "Anne gave her life to save me," she said with a grim determination. "I will serve the purpose for which I've come to this kingdom!" The "Anne" she referred to was Andromeda Lumiere, who had saved her life from the evil Fall Maiden, Cinder Fall. Cinder was about to strike Penny with her Grimm arm, but Anne had shot the Fall Maiden before that could happen. Unfortunately, on her way out of the pocket dimension between Atlas and Vacuo, Anne had fallen into the void below the dimension's floating platforms while trying unsuccessfully to save Jaune Arc from the same fate. As far as Penny and the others knew, Anne and Jaune were both dead.

"Pyrrha, stay behind!" a blonde girl named Diana Mirai told the other red-haired girl, Pyrrha Nikos. "You're still hurt. The doctors at Shade will patch you up, but not if you die first!"

"Okay, Diana. I'm counting on you!"

Several different kinds of Grimm closed in on the group, drawn in by the negativity of thousands of refugees from the destroyed city of Atlas. Those with ranged weapons opened fire on them. Colby, Emerald, and Ren all fired their guns, killing several Ravagers and Sulfur Fish. The three aforementioned hunters concentrated their fire on the winged Ravagers, shooting several of them down. Autumn and Ouranos put their weapons in their ranged forms, a guitar that uses soundwaves to attack and a rocket launcher, respectively, and blew several sulfur fish away. Many other huntsmen and huntresses as well as surviving members of the Atlesian military opened fire on the Grimm, killing them.

"How's your progress with the sandstorm, Penny?" Asked Nora Valkyrie, another girl in the group.

"It's going fine," the girl said in deep concentration as she used her Maiden powers. "Just…give me a bit more time." It already appeared that the sandstorm was growing less intense. But then, more Grimm closed in. Beowolves, Ursai, Boarbatusks, and Deathstalkers. Many were gunned down before they could get close, but quite a few managed to get close enough to the huntsmen and huntresses to engage them in melee combat.

Nora pulled out her hammer and smashed the skulls of every Beowolf who came near her, causing them to disintegrate. But she had to jump out of the way when an Ursa Major charged in. Diana rushed in to help Nora and stabbed the Ursa with her spear. The creature roared in pain, and then Nora rushed in to finish it off.

Meanwhile, Fiona Thyme and Joanna Greenleaf, two members of the Happy Huntresses from Mantle, were fighting back some Boarbatusks that had managed to survive the barrage of gunfire from the other huntsmen and huntresses. The two huntresses managed to take several Boarbatusks down on their own, but they would need help against the sheer number of Grimm. Colby rushed in with his axes drawn and entered the fray to help the two huntresses. With his quick speed and maneuverability, he was able to kill several and take the pressure off of Fiona and Joanna.

"Great job!" Joanna told him when all the Boarbatusks were dead. "We didn't get to talk much back in Mantle, but Ruby told us a bit about you. You're Colby Castanho, right? The Gray Lightning?"

Colby smiled a bittersweet smile. "Yes, that's my title. But Ruby…she's gone. She sacrificed herself to get us this far. Bless her soul, wherever she is."

"She didn't die in vain," said Fiona. "Thanks to her, I have a chance to save my people. To fulfill my duty as a Happy Huntress and to accomplish the task that Robyn gave me." She sighed. "Robyn probably didn't make it either. She was one of the most selfless people I ever knew."

"I could say the same for Ruby. But come on, we have a job to do here." With that, the three of them went back into battle. Meanwhile, Autumn and Ouranos were fighting a Deathstalker. The creature moved fast and struck at them with its claw and tail, but the two managed to avoid its attacks and Autumn let out a sonic blast to knock it on its back so that Ouranos could finish it off with his axe. It seemed as though they were thinning out the Grimm horde that decided to attack the group. Around this time, the sandstorm came to a complete stop.

"It is done," Penny told them all when the winds had completely stopped.

"Well done, Penny!" Colby told her. "Now, we can get to Vacuo."

But just then, one final enemy came at them: a gigantic, elephant-like Grimm called a Goliath. It let out a loud trumpeting sound like elephants make, then charged at the group.

"Alright, guys!" Ren called out. "Let's take that thing down!" But before they could rush into battle against it, they saw a girl with yellow flames around her eyes flying toward it. She launched a barrage of hot rocks at the creature, which roared in pain and fell to the ground. Then, some people who appeared to be her teammates rushed in and finished it off on the ground. Once it was dead, she flew over to Team COAL.

"Team COAL!" She shouted happily when she saw them. "It's so good to see you all again!"

"Tsukiko!" Colby called back. "How'd you find us?"

"Our equipment back at Shade detected a massive energy spike in this area and a huge Grimm horde converging right here."

"You have no idea what we went through to get here," Colby told her with a sigh.

"I can't imagine. But I'm glad to see you again, Colby." Autumn and Ouranos approached. "And you too, Autumn and Ouranos…" She looked around. "But where's Lily?"

"She…she didn't make it…" Was all Colby could say.

"Oh gods…" Tsukiko gasped in horror. "I'm so sorry…"

"She was the one person who mattered to me the most…" He took a moment to compose himself, then spoke again. "But we can mourn later. Right now, we need to get to Shade Academy ASAP. But before we do, there's someone here we'd like you to meet."

"Really? Who's that?"

They called Penny over, and the red-haired girl came over as soon as she could. "Tsukiko, this is the Winter Maiden, Penny Polendina. Penny, this is Tsukiko Tachibana. The Summer Maiden."

"Salutations, Tsukiko Tachibana!" Penny told her.

"Good to meet you, Penny."

Colby spoke up. "As I said, we need to get to Shade Academy ASAP. You two are both in grave danger. Tsukiko, the person responsible for the Fall of Beacon is coming after both of you for your Maiden Powers. She caused the Fall in the first place so that she could take the Fall Maiden powers and kill Ozpin."

"Sounds dangerous. Who is this person?"

"Cinder Fall," Colby replied. "We had to fight her to get here. It's a long story. But she's the Fall Maiden, and she has a weird Grimm arm that allows her to steal Maiden powers."

"She nearly killed me," Penny added. "It was only thanks to my friend Anne that I made it here…And she had to sacrifice herself…"

"I won't let her do to Vacuo what she did to Vale and Atlas," Tsukiko said with determination. "But if she's after my powers, is she also after…?"

"Yes," Oscar answered as he walked up. "The Sword of Destruction. She needs your powers to open Shade's Vault and gain access to it."

"I won't let her. Alright, we need to get everyone back to Shade. But before we do, I'd like to introduce you to my teammates." Three figures walked up from behind Tsukiko. One of them was a monkey faunus with jet black hair going down to his shoulders, dark hazel brown eyes, and a monkey tail. The others were a human girl with shoulder-length orange hair and green eyes, and a human boy with blue eyes and dark brown hair.

"These are my teammates. Aiden Keegan, Sayuri Murasaki, and Allin Shale. Together, we are team TAMA. She pronounced the acronym as "tamarind." The members all waved hello.

"Are you the Team COAL that Tsukiko talked about?" Sayuri asked in wonder. "It's very exciting to finally meet you!"

"It's exciting to finally meet Tsukiko's teammates too," Autumn replied with a smile.

"I'm honored to be the Summer Maiden's teammate," Aiden told Autumn and her friends. "She saved our lives during the Fall, you know. But most importantly, she's my friend. She's a friend to all of us."

"It's an honor to meet the Winter Maiden as well," Allin told Penny. "I never would have guessed that Penny Polendina would not only come back to life after the Tournament, but become one of the most powerful women in the world."

"Life works that way sometimes," Penny replied with a sigh. "Anyway, we need to get moving. These people are counting on us to bring them to safety."

"Right," Tsukiko replied. "Come with us. And I should warn you, the people of Vacuo haven't been happy about all the refugees who have been coming in from Vale and Mistral. Stick with us. If anyone gives you trouble, they'll have to answer to me.

"Okay, Tsukiko. Let's go."

In the other world…

Anne washed up on shore a little ways east of where Lily did, for a while unable to believe that she had survived her fall. She noticed very quickly that she was on a tropical island, and wasn't happy about it at all. The girl had lived her whole life in the coldness of Atlas and wasn't used to this stifling heat.

"It's…gone…" Anne said to herself. "Atlas, Mantle, the Relics…All of it…" She took a moment to reflect on everything that had happened. Ruby Rose had convinced Penny to support her plan to save Atlas and Mantle instead of opening the Winter Maiden's Vault for General James Ironwood, which would have allowed him to raise Atlas to orbit and keep the Staff and the Winter Maiden powers out of Salem's reach. And then Penny had convinced her to betray Ironwood as well. The two girls thought they were doing the right thing, but Anne realized now that they were dooming Atlas and all of Remnant.

"It's all Ruby's fault," Anne concluded. "She tricked Penny, and Penny tricked me. If Ruby and her friends had just followed Ironwood's orders, we'd all be safe in orbit above Remnant right now. I wouldn't be here, and my friend wouldn't be out in a gods-damned desert in the middle of nowhere!" She pulled out her right sword and shoved it into the sand in frustration. A few moments later, she heard a familiar voice.

"Anne?!" Shouted the voice of Jaune Arc. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" He ran up to her.

Anne turned around. "Yes, I'm okay…" She paused for a second as her expression turned sour. "But Atlas isn't! So many people died, Jaune!"

"I…I know, Anne. But the people got out safely."

"But how many died on the way out?! Can't you see, Jaune? Ruby tricked us! If we hadn't fallen for it, or if Ruby had just obeyed Ironwood, we'd all be safe right now and Atlas wouldn't be underwater!"

"Anne, Ironwood would have left Mantle to die-"

"Mantle died anyway!" Anne shouted back, her eyes starting to tear up. "Penny and I were fools to trust you. We let our blind, youthful optimism get the better of us, and now countless people are dead, the greatest military power in Remnant is destroyed, and I'm stuck in here in this world!"

"Anne, we got Penny to Vacuo," Jaune replied. "We still have the Winter Maiden on our side thanks to you. If it weren't for you, she'd be dead!"

"Who knows how long she'll last in the burning heat of Vacuo? That kingdom is home to some of the toughest Grimm and the most inhospitable environment in Remnant! And even if she makes it, do you really think the people of Atlas will make it? They've lived their whole lives in the safety of Atlas and Mantle with zero survival skills! Not to mention, we no longer have the military power to even hold Salem off, let alone defeat her."

"I know, it sounds bad. It certainly isn't good. But there must be a way off this island and back to our world." He looked out and saw the tree in the middle of the island. "That tree might be the way. I've heard myths of a huge tree connecting worlds."

"What's the point? Why go back to a doomed world?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. And the world isn't doomed. It will only be doomed if people like us give up and let Salem destroy it."

"Whatever. I'm just gonna try to make the most of my new, short existence on this island!" She marched off toward the rainforest.

"Anne, come back!" Jaune shouted as he ran after her. But the Atlesian girl ignored him and kept walking deeper into the forest. They had no idea what they were about to get themselves into…

On another side of the island…

Hathor washed up on the beach like the others and ventured off into the forest to see if she could find any of her friends. As she went deeper into the forest, she caught sight of the enormous tree in the middle of the island. She remembered the tales that her mother had told her and wondered if this was the tree that connected all the worlds. If that were so, then maybe she would be able to return to her own world. "I can't give up," she thought to herself. "I promised too many people I would help build a better world. My friends. My mother. She wanted me to live a better life. And speaking of my friends, could they be alive here? Might I find Yang, Kent, Ruby, and Blake in this world?" As she thought this, however, she heard some rustling in a nearby bush. "Oh no," she thought to herself. "Are there Grimm here?! Or something even worse?" She ducked behind a nearby rock and pulled out her axe, but waited for the thing in the bush to come out. For all she knew, it might have been one of her friends.

A figure emerged from the bush, and Hathor was relieved to see that it was none other than Blake Belladonna. Hathor got out from behind the rock and ran up to the cat faunus.

"Blake!" She shouted as she hugged the catgirl. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Hathor?!" Blake asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Cinder blasted me into the void. But if you're safe…have you seen Ruby or Yang here by any chance? Or Kent?"

"No, I haven't…But there is someone else here whom I think would be glad to see you…Weiss, Hathor's here!"

Weiss Schnee walked up to where they were. "So glad we found you, Hathor!" Weiss said to the goat girl before giving her a hug.

"Weiss, you fell too?" Hathor asked. "How?"

"Cinder was strangling Anne with her Grimm arm," Weiss replied. "I had to step in and save her, but Cinder overpowered me and knocked me over the edge. I hope Anne made it to Vacuo. She saved Penny's life."

"Really?"

"Yep. Her and Jaune. And me. Or at least I hope. I never saw them go through the exit portal."

"They're tough. I'm sure they made it. Penny's the Winter Maiden, and she had two of her friends backing her up. In addition to you, of course."

"Well, thanks. I just hope Ruby's okay. If Blake and I survived the fall, I don't see why Ruby couldn't have either."

"Alright," said Hathor. "Let's go find her and then figure out how to get back to our world." They all went deeper into the forest in hopes of finding their friend. But they would soon learn that the world they had fallen into was unlike their own and did not follow the same rules…

Back in Vacuo…

The group of refugees entered the city. It was just as the members of Team COAL remembered it, except there was an air of hostility in the place. A few crowds of locals got together to throw objects at the incoming group, but they were scattered by Tsukiko and her teammates.

"I'm sorry everyone's so rude," the Summer Maiden told everyone. "They aren't happy about so many people coming over here from Vale and Mistral. And now Atlas."

"Jerks!" Autumn shouted angrily. "We're just trying to survive after our kingdoms were destroyed."

"We know, Autumn," Tsukiko told her. Colby then turned to Aiden.

"Where are you from, Aiden?" He asked the monkey faunus on Team TAMA.

"I'm from Oakwater. A town right on the border between Vale and Vacuo. My parents ran a store that sold supplies to huntsmen, and I decided I wanted to be a huntsman myself."

"Cool. Why'd you choose to go to Shade, though? You were right on the border and could have gone to Beacon too."

"I got acceptance letters from both Signal Academy and Oscuro Academy, but I chose to go to Oscuro because I heard better things about it and because Oakwater is technically within Vacuo's borders. After I graduated from Oscuro, I signed up at Shade."

"That's really cool," Colby said. "Well, not 'cool' because Shade is in a desert, but you know what I mean."

"I'm from somewhere cool," Allin told him. "I came here from Atlas. I didn't want to have to serve in the Atlesian military after graduating huntsman school, so I decided to go to Shade instead…but all those people in Atlas….my family…" His expression grew very sad.

"We're sorry," Ouranos told him. "We did everything we could to save your kingdom. But we got a lot of people out before it was destroyed. Your family may well be among the survivors."

"True," he said, his expression grew a bit less sad. "I don't blame you for what happened. You did everything you could, I'm sure. The only one truly at fault is that Salem witch that huntress warned us about…Ruby Rose, was it?"

"Yes," Colby said sadly. "I knew her, Allin. She was a great friend and a fearless huntress."

"Was…?" Sayuri asked with a horrified expression.

"She…didn't make it to Vacuo. We were attacked on our way here, and she gave her life so that we could make it to this kingdom. She died a hero's death."

"I can't imagine losing a friend like that…" The orange-haired girl replied. "I guess I should tell you where I'm from now. I grew up here in Vacuo. My parents were huntsmen, so I decided to become a huntress myself. I went to Oscuro, and then I graduated and came to Shade."

"As good a reason to become a huntress as any," Colby sighed, remembering his father Corbin Castanho. He hoped that his parents back in Vale were safe. "Anywhere in Remnant is safer than here," he thought to himself. The group approached a giant pyramid in the middle of Vacuo, and they all knew exactly where they were.

"Welcome to Shade," Tsukiko told Penny. "Professor Theodore will want to speak to you. We need to discuss our next move."

"Affirmative, friend Tsukiko. Take us to his office."

The group entered Shade Academy and were immediately greeted by a team of girls.

"Oh, great! More parasites have crawled into this kingdom!" one of them whined. "And look who's slithered back here with them. The legendary Team COAL…" Her words were full of mockery. "Let's teach them a lesson, girls!" They drew their weapons.

"Back off, Nebula!" Tsukiko told her. "All of you, Team NDGO. We don't have time for your nonsense today." They all backed off, as if in an acknowledgement of Tsukiko's power.

"This way, Penny." She led Penny toward an elevator that led to Theodore's office.

"Wait!" Pyrrha called out. "I have something I need to tell the headmaster. Something important."

"It'll have to wait," Diana told her. "You need medical attention."

"But-"

"No buts. Come on…" She led Pyrrha to the hospital wing.

"I should go up there too," Oscar said. "I'm Ozpin's reincarnation. It's a long story."

"After all the craziness that's happened lately," Aiden said in a deadpan tone. "I won't even question it. Let's go."

Tsukiko and her teammates led Penny, Oscar, and the three remaining members of Team COAL to Theodore's office.

"Come in," Theodore told them. "It's so good to see you again, Team COAL. Even if under dire circumstances. And who have you brought with you?"

"The Winter Maiden," Tsukiko replied. "And Ozpin's reincarnation."

Theodore smiled. "Is that right? It makes sense that the Protector of Mantle would become the new Winter Maiden." He turned to Oscar. "And you…you're Ozpin's reincarnation?"

"Yes." Oscar replied. "But we need to decide what to do next. Salem and her army are on her way here right now. The Fall Maiden, Cinder Fall, is going to be coming for Tsukiko and Penny's powers. And the Sword. We can't let her get them."

"No, no we can't. Alright, we'll need to strengthen our defenses…But to make matters worse, one of my top agents just said he might have uncovered some kind of plot here in this kingdom. One to divide us and make us more vulnerable."

"That's what Salem did with all the other kingdoms," Oscar replied. "She has always been a master of deception."

"Indeed. So you'll need to go talk to him. His name is Oren Halstein, and he's my school's Grimm Studies professor. But far more importantly, he's the leader of this elite team of huntsmen I trusted with the knowledge of Salem."

"Just like Team STRQ…" Oscar mused.

"Yes, just like them. Team ORCA is this team's name. But it has…a similarly tragic history. I don't have time to go over the gory details with you. But what you need to do now is go meet with him and assess the situation…some of you. Tsukiko will teach the new Winter Maiden how to use her powers."

"Understood, sir!" Sayuri replied.

"Is there anything else we need to discuss before I dismiss you?" Theodore asked.

Colby remembered something. "Pyrrha Nikos survived the Fall of Beacon," he explained. "She has something she wants to tell you."

"Pyrrha Nikos is alive?!"

"She sure is. But she was injured on our way here. She's in the hospital wing."

"Alright, I'll go to her." He got up from his chair and went out the door. The others followed him until they reached the hospital wing.

"So, Pyrrha Nikos did survive," Theodore said with a smile upon seeing her. She was lying in a hospital bed, hurt but safe.

"Professor Theodore," Pyrrha said. "I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"Summer Rose…She's alive. I was rescued by a member of her organization, who then led me to her."

Theodore's eyes widened. "Summer Rose is alive? Where is she?"

"She's in a remote corner of Anima. She and her followers made their base there."

"What do they do?"

"They find and protect silver-eyed warriors. They also collect ancient artifacts from the first age of humanity, before Salem's rebellion."

"I see. But why did you go to Atlas?"

"I saw Ruby's broadcast and decided to go help. But the situation was worse than I anticipated."

"None of us thought it would be as bad as it was," Colby added. "Don't beat yourself up."

"I can take some of you to go meet her," Pyrrha explained. "After I recover. The doctors said I'd only need to be here for a few days. My wounds were mostly superficial."

"Alright, I'll go!" Colby shouted.

"So will I," added Diana.

"Very well," said Theodore. "Alright, we have our work cut out for us: find Summer, find Oren, and strengthen our defenses. Shade Academy is the last bastion of resistance against Salem. It cannot fall no matter what. And remember: our top priority is to prevent the Sword from falling into the wrong hands. Salem could do incalculable damage with that Relic."

"We won't let her get it," Colby said confidently.

Theodore smiled. "That's what I wanted to hear. I'll send Oren's last known location to your scrolls. Now get some rest. You've earned it." The students all headed toward the dorm area, where they encountered some familiar faces.

"Howdy, partner!" Shouted Oakley Alon of Team IRON.

"Team IRON!" Colby shouted happily.

"I knew we'd see you again!" Irving Dunstan, the leader, told him before looking around. "But Lily…"

"She didn't make it…" Colby told him sadly.

"I know how much she meant to you," Naseem told him. "I'm very sorry to hear about her loss."

"Thanks, guys. We can't give up, you know. We still have a war to wage against Salem."

"Right. But for now, you need rest. But first, there are some people here I think you want to meet," said Ray Reed. He and his teammates stepped aside to reveal that Team CFVY was standing behind them.

"Team CFVY!" Colby greeted them. "How's Shade treating you?"

"We've had an…interesting time here," explained Coco Adel, the leader of the team. "But we can talk more about that later. You all need some rest."

"Indeed. But I'd love to talk to you guys later." They all went into their dorms to get some much-needed rest. The teams spent the next few days getting ready for their mission and talking about the events of the past few years. The members of Team COAL told of their first mission to Vacuo, the madness that had occurred in Mistral, and the destruction of Atlas. Team CFVY told them of their own adventures to and in Vacuo during the past year. But the memories of the events in Atlas haunted everyone who had been there. One day, Autumn went into the quad, pulled out her guitar, and started playing it like she did at Beacon during happier times. She started singing these lyrics:

We said goodbye

To all the things we loved

Gave up our lives

Just to find that it was not enough

We leapt in faith

Left our solitude, our carefree peace

What we thought could change the world

Was just a childish dream

We failed to stop our own demise

The tragic end's before our eyes

Hope has no place here

Maybe the path

That leads our way home

Will finally clear

Maybe the end

We tried to avoid

Is already here

Some roses will never bloom

Some dreams will rot on the vine

Some lives will end much too soon

Some evil will never ever die

Some wars will not end in peace

Some heroes choose the wrong side

Sometimes it's worth it all

To risk the fall

And fight for every life…

The song reminded them of everything they'd sacrificed to get that far, and of everyone who died. It reminded them of their greatest fears, that despite everything they'd done, Salem would win and everything they knew and loved would be destroyed. But they remembered that despite everything that had happened, they would not give up. They would fight for every life, or they would die trying.

Over the course of these days, they also encountered Sun Wukong, the monkey faunus who had beaten Colby in the doubles round of the Vytal Tournament. They told her of Blake's fate.

"I...I don't know what to say..." Sun told them sadly. "She was a great friend to me. The best."

"I know, Sun. But we can't give up now! We have to keep fighting."

"I will. Trust me."

Once Pyrrha had recovered from her injuries, the teams got together and headed out. Autumn, Ouranos, Oakley, Coco, Velvet, Yatsuhashi, Ray, and Naseem headed out to find Oren Halstein, leader of Team ORCA. Colby, Irving, Allin, Sayuri, Diana, Aiden, Sun, and Pyrrha went out to find Summer. Everyone else, including Oscar, Nora, Ren, Fox, and the rest of Team SSSN stayed at Shade Academy in order to prepare the defenses and protect the two Maidens. Tsukiko would give Penny training on how to use her powers more effectively, and the others would help when they had the time. Pyrrha's group would be going back to Anima, so they would need to board an airship. One waited for them outside Shade. Before they boarded their airship, they waved goodbye to the other group.

"Good luck, guys!" Autumn said to them. "Stay safe!"

"We will," said Colby. "We'll win here, and we will avenge Lily and everyone else who died in Atlas!"

Tsukiko and Penny stood by to watch them leave. Before he left, Aiden gave them some advice. "Good luck," he told them. "And don't neglect your weapons training."

"I won't," Tsukiko told him with a smile. "Goodbye, now."

With that, Pyrrha's group boarded the airship and took off. Autumn's group exited Shade through the main gate and headed toward the coordinates that Theodore had given them.

Meanwhile, in the skies between Atlas and Vacuo…

Qrow, Robyn, Steinbrecher, and the Ace Ops were still mourning the loss of Atlas, but they knew where they would need to go next.

"Winter told us that my nieces were going to evacuate everyone to Vacuo," Qrow told the others. "Let's go there."

"Alright!" Robyn replied. Suddenly, the ship's radio came on.

"Qrow, Robyn, can you hear me?" Asked the voice of Winter Schnee.

"Winter? Is that you?" Qrow asked.

"Yes. I escaped with Team FNKI shortly before Atlas fell onto Mantle. Where are you?"

"We're headed to Vacuo," Robyn replied.

"I thought so. We'll head there too."

"Good. See you later." With that, the radio turned off.

"I hope my nieces are okay…" Qrow said fearfully.

"I hope the people of Mantle are okay," said Steinbrecher. "Then maybe we could build a new Atlas. One run by the workers, and not the greedy corporate executives."

"Now isn't the time your communist propaganda," Qrow replied. " The Atlesian people are in danger in Vacuo. I just hope we don't get there too late…"

Meanwhile, in an unknown location…

Cinder Fall bowed before a throne that Salem was sitting on. Salem looked down at her and spoke.

"Tyrian and Mercury have already gotten to work destabilizing Vacuo," Salem explained. "When the time is right, you'll go in and take the Summer Maiden powers…" Her expression grew darker. "And not a moment before. Understand?"

"Understood, my Queen. I'm sure Vacuo will fall any day now."

"Don't underestimate them," Salem replied. "They're cornered rats. They will fight back harder than they ever have before."

"Vacuo was already falling apart," Cinder replied. "We have only to kick in the door, and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down."

"We'll see, Cinder. But whatever happens, don't disobey me this time. Our defeat at Haven was because of your arrogance and disobedience"

"It won't happen again, my queen."

"Good. Now go get ready. You've got a tough fight ahead of you." With that, Cinder left Salem's throne and got back to training.

Back on the island…

Lily followed the footprints off the beach and into the forest. She looked up at the big tree, remembering the fairy tales that she'd been told back in Mantle. "Is that Yggdrasil?" She asked herself in wonder. "Well, I've seen so many fairy tales come true, I can't see why this one wouldn't be." She kept walking toward it for what seemed like a very long time before noticing that she'd seen the tree she'd passed by before.

"That's odd."

She kept walking, but the same thing kept happening every time she tried to approach the tree. Finally, she gave up.

"I guess time and space don't function the same way here," the fox faunus said out loud.

"I had the same problem," said a familiar voice from behind her. Turning around, Lily saw none other than Ruby Rose. But Ruby wasn't alone. On her shoulder was a mouse, and this mouse did something Lily would never have expected.

The mouse jumped up and screamed. "Ahh! A fox!" It ran away and took cover behind a nearby tree.

Lily jumped as well. "Ahh! A talking mouse!"

"No, it's okay, everyone!" Ruby told them. "Calm down. Lily, this is my friend Little. Little, this is my friend Lily."

The mouse crawled out from behind the tree. "Interesting. How does one 'Lily?'"

"This world has talking mice?" Lily asked. "Just when you think you've seen it all…"

"Yep. But Little is taking us to their village. Maybe someone there knows how to help us."

"I hope so too." Lily looked at Little. "It's uh…nice to meet you, Little."

"Nice to meet you too, but…please don't eat me."

"Don't worry, I won't. Although I am kinda hungry right now. Do they have food at your village?"

"My friends are out foraging for food all the time. I'm sure they have something."

"Great!" Lily replied. "Now, let's go."

The three of them went on toward Little's village very intrigued by this new world. They wondered what other craziness they would encounter, and how they would get back to Remnant.

"I hope my friends are okay…" Lily thought to herself as she and Ruby continued toward Little's village.

A/N: That's the first chapter of my version of Volume 9, which was kind of an introductory chapter. More crazy stuff will happen in the next chapter, although it might take me a little while to come up with something crazy enough. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, though.