Author's Notes:
-Happy belated Halloween! I hope you all enjoyed your night! I myself watched Hocus Pocus 1 and 2 (and played some Splatoon 3.) and of course, there was discounted candy the next day, and the day after, and... Well, you get the picture.
-I hope you guys like the new name for team JNPR+Ruby. Thanks again to GeraltRex for coming up with the concept and name idea.
-Wow, has it really been four years already? (looks back at publishing date of the first chapter). Man, this has been going on for a while. And in the midst of personal drama, I forgot to mention; Happy fourth year anniversary, Everlasting Light! From freshman year of college to bachelor graduate, I've come a long way with this story and it shows.
Now that I have that out of the way, let's get on to the main event.
The rest of the evening was spent in near silence. The sound of breath was heard as team AVNRR moved forward. The sun was setting within the grey clouds, creating a grim yet hopeful sky of grey, yellow and hints of pink.
"Where are we?" Jaune asked, breaking the silence. "I can't believe we lost the map back in Shion."
Pyrrha apologized offscreen. "I'm sorry!"
"Don't worry, we can get a new one. I'm sure of it."
The team leader looked at his teammates, who were holding hands. "Hey Ren and Nora, do either of you know where we are?"
"There should be a village nearby..." Nora began.
"There it is. Higanbana. It's a well protected village with a popular inn." Pyrrha mentioned.
Nora smiled at this. "Which means, no camping in the rain!"
"See? Everything's going to be fine!" Ruby exclaimed.
"You know, we've had a lot of ups and downs. But things could be a lot worse. I really thought we'd see more Grimm. Or worse, even more of the Trojan Alliance." Jaune said with a small shudder.
Ren remained silent as they approached the gate, where a lone woman, presumably a huntress, stood guard as a different guard entered the village. She had maple brown hair, milk chocolate skin and ember eyes. Her hair was tied back into a long ponytail with a brown sugar ribbon. She wore an orange sundress with bronze chest armor and shoulder plating. Resting by her right side was a gun, and on her left- another gun.
She blinked in disbelief as the quintet came into view.
"Is that... Pyrrha? And team JNPR?" she asked.
"We are team AVNRR (Avenger)." Jaune answered. "Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Ruby Rose."
The huntress blinked, releasing small tears. "I thought... Pyrrha was dead."
"I'm afraid reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
She wiped away her tears and smiled. "You are alive. And you have formed a new team." She turned to Ruby. "You are lucky to have such good friends like them."
Ruby blinked. "And who are you?"
Her sorrow returned as she gave her answer. "Who am I? I am Maple Larsen. The last huntress of Higanbana."
The quintet was terrified upon hearing such news.
"The last huntress? What happened?"
The huntress looked down. "Mistral has been facing a shortage of huntsmen and huntresses. I do not know if this is the result of increased Grimm attacks, the Trojan Alliance eliminating opposition, and/or another factor that I do not know of, but I do know that the future of Mistral, and by extension Anima, are in dire straits."
Everyone gave each other worried looks.
Ren looked at Maple in sympathy. "And you are forced to bear the burden of guarding and protecting this village all alone?"
"Only during the night."
"What about the Trojan Alliance? What can you tell us?" Jaune asked. "Are there any here?"
Maple nodded. "None at all. At least, not to the best of my knowledge. All I know is that they are hunting Pyrrha... and her brother Ash. Go forth team AVNRR, and be careful."
She winced and turned away as the heroes entered the village.
Later, the five of them stood in their room in the village's best inn. The blue walls were dark and the tile floor appeared to be dark chocolate in the absence of light.
What's happening? Why is Mistral running out of so many huntsmen and huntresses? Pyrrha thought. Could this be the work of... Cinder, and her allies?
"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.
"You don't think..." The Mistralian warrior faltered. "Cinder and/or her allies could be behind this?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. Between Cinder, her allies, her mysterious boss, and the Trojan Alliance... there's a number of frightening possibilities."
"Great. Now we know what will be plaguing our nightmares." Nora sarcastically remarked.
"It's a long day. We all need some sleep." Ren told them, climbing under the covers.
Nearly everyone else followed suit, with Ruby taking up the air mattress given to her. All except the spartan warrior were asleep (or at the very least trying to).
Huntsmen and huntresses are falling like autumn leaves... Who is doing this? And more importantly, why? And perhaps above all- are we next?
Meanwhile, in a lonely hallway, Sun found himself looking at the family photo with him, his cousins, aunt and uncle, and his half-brother.
How does one grieve for someone who is still alive? The man I knew, or thought I knew, is dead. But yet, in some ways, he is still alive. In other ways, he's dead. I'm overthinking all of this.
The monkey tailed faunus gave a sigh.
At least I have some newfound allies to try and soothe my troubled mind.
[March 22nd, 80 AGW]
Sun and Kali were shown in awkward silence in the hotel room. Ghira and Blake were out trying to sell the promise ring, while the other two were trying to ease their minds. Sun sat at a desk, staring at a picture of a younger version of Zhu, whereas Kali seemed to be reading a book, only to look up in sorrow. She saw Sun and wondered what to say to him.
"You okay?"
He nodded. "Not really."
Her eyes darted to the red-haired boy in the photo. "Your half-brother I'm guessing?"
"Unfortunately. You don't have any siblings, do you Mrs. B?"
She slightly chuckled. "I'm afraid not. Grew up as an only child my whole life."
"Oh... does your husband have any siblings at all?"
"Two brothers, but he gets along with all of them. If that was the question behind the question."
"Oh." He looked down. "So it seems nobody truly understands the pain of a traitorous sibling."
Kali stood up. "I may not fully understand, but I can try to understand." She gave him a hug. "We're here for you. All of us."
Sun accepted the gesture. "Thank you."
As he returned the hug, he knew he wasn't completely alone.
He returned to the present with a sigh. Even though he knew he had friends who could comfort him, he shouldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. His stomach started to churn.
I've been so tormented by Zhu's presence... or more often than not the lack thereof, that I haven't asked the bigger question; if Zhu is the Vacuan White Fang leader, why is he here in Mistral?
He groaned, unable to come up with a feasible answer.
What are you planning Zhu? Why are you here?
Meanwhile, Zhu sat on the bed within his room, eating what appeared to be a bowl full of mussels and a plate of baguette slices to his left. He cracked open the mussels with his bare hands, tossing the empty shells into the nearby trash can, some of which didn't make it.
Suddenly a knock was heard on the door.
"I'm coming!"
Rising from his bed and putting the bowl aside, he opened the door to find a White Fang messenger with an envelope. "A letter from your lieutenant/temporary head, Master Wuneng, is it?"
"Wungeng." The Vacuan leader took the letter. "But thanks."
The messenger left him. After shutting the door, he retrieved a small knife and used it to open the envelope.
Normally, I'd skip this, but this seems important.
He retrieved the letter from the envelope and began reading it.
[Written February 10th, 80 AGW]
Dear Wungeng,
I hope your travels are going well, wherever you may be. Things in Vacuo... still aren't great.
Obvious bad news- The Crown is still active, recruiting more and more huntsmen, huntresses, trainees and vigilante fighters in Vacuo by the week. Dare I say by the day.
(Who knew so many of them were corrupt?)
Other bad news- We still have no idea who the ring leader is. And how they have so much money to bribe huntsmen with.
(At least I presume many of them are motivated by greed.)
Even worse news- You remember how Argento Pocoron deserted us and joined The Crown as one of their agents? Now he's killed three of our specialists within two weeks. I even had to replace my secondary lieutenant!
(insert long sigh of grievance here)
And of course, the dust embargo on Atlas is still up, making dust very hard to find and get, even through illegal means such as the black market. Hopefully the General comes to his senses and revokes the order- if he hasn't already. (Fingers crossed.)
(insert another sigh)
There is... some good news however. The huntsmen and huntresses of Shade Academy seem to be aware of The Crown's existence and may be trying to stop them. Most of the students, however, don't seem much interested in taking on many missions related to criminal activity, much less try to investigate their actions. I've also heard rumors of something in the capital city called The Mirage, but I need more information, which I plan to gather in the next week or two. By that time, I'll probably have the report completed and sent to you in a future message.
In unrelated news, I've heard reports of team CFVY (Coffee) enrolling in Shade Academy, along with numerous other Beacon students. The team is currently looking into the recent criminal activity and may even aid in taking them down. That bunny eared girl with the strange box is a wildcard, but she does look cute. If the stories I've heard are anything to go by, she is also a highly skilled fighter. Perhaps I can convince her to join us.
Basically, things haven't been going well. I hope you've been having better luck than I have and wish you good fortune in these trying times.
Yours truly, Lieutenant Green
Wungeng put aside the letter.
This is an important letter... Although, he probably has another messenger on his way here as we speak. Not to mention I have food that needs to be eaten before it gets cold. Perhaps I can think about my response in the meantime.
And with this, the pig returned to his feasting.
[June 2nd, 80 AGW, 3:00pm]
Later, Qrow was shown walking out of a tavern in Higanbana, somewhat drunk and disgruntled.
Man, that conversation with Raven got me nowhere! I know she's hiding something, but what?
He sighed.
At least the waitress was kind enough to give me top shelf. Two glasses of good stuff...
The drunken huntsman blinked.
Wait a minute...
He thought back to his sister's presence in the bar.
She says she has nothing to hide, but yet... you couldn't sense her magic. Did she give up...?
No, that's not possible. She's not that smart. Is she?
Maybe she found a way to hide it. But how? And more importantly, why would she want to conceal her powers? Does someone within the tribe suspect her? Or is it someone else?
He shook his head and groaned.
You need to move! Ruby and her friends are still out there!
With this, he darted into the nearest alley, turned into a bird and took to the skies.
Later that afternoon, at around 4:30pm, team AVNRR found themselves standing before a village. Jaune was shown holding a replacement map in his hands.
"Where are we?" Ruby asked.
Pyrrha looked ahead in shock. "Is that... Oniyuri?"
"No, that can't be it. Its construction was never completed." Ren reasoned. "But yet... Why are these buildings standing tall like nothing bad happened?"
Ruby gave a confused look to her teammates.
"Oniyuri could be considered Vale's Mountain Glen. Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the Kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council for numerous reasons, 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 believed it would be the future." Ren walked away from the other three. "I know my parents did."
Ruby asked, "What happened?"
He brushed some dirt off of the stone border of a low wall, revealing claw marks. "What always happens."
"The Grimm." Pyrrha answered.
Nora blinked twice. "But if Grimm attacked this place, then... Why isn't there any construction or remains of it?"
Jaune tried to steady himself and pocketed the map. "Maybe we can find answers."
The five of them went into the village, seeing the completed buildings, including a nearby church. Pyrrha froze upon seeing the banner on the west side building, not too far from the front entrance; the massive horse emblem woven in bright red against a crimson background.
The Trojan Alliance? They did this?
About fifty feet from her, Jaune began, "Did we just walk into..."
Ren felt a shiver. "Pyrrha, behind you!"
"Huh?!"
In her fear, the Mistralian champion failed to realize the presence of an old enemy behind her with purple eyes until it was too late.
She found herself clawed on the knuckles of her hands and lower arms by Tyrian's own hands, glowing with purple aura. She screamed in pain as he threw a bunch of chains, which automatically connected and ensnared her before being kicked down.
Jaune immediately ran over to her as she got to her knees. "Pyrrha! What did you do to her?!"
"Very handy semblance. I call it Poison Claws. Disrupts the aura of my chosen victim, rendering her unable to channel aura to the specific targeted area. No hands to channel aura with, she loses her semblance. How long? No one knows."
Tyrian laughed at her, causing Jaune to retaliate with, "You monster! Leave her alone!"
"Don't worry, I don't seek to kill her, as much as it would be a fitting retribution for humiliating me in Aletheia." He began, before slowly turning to the silver eyed warrior. "No, I just need her out of the way so I can focus on my real target."
Nora glared at the scorpion faunus, extending her arms out to protect Ruby. "Forget it, Tyrian. You'll never take her! Never!"
"Bold words from a valkyrie who failed."
A soft growl was heard from her.
"How are you here? Those cops put you in jail!" Jaune angrily demanded answers.
He cackled like the madman he was. "I have my ways. They don't call it Rotten Creek Low Security Prison for nothing."
His laughter continued as Jaune scowled. "Get him!" he ordered.
Ren fired towards Tyrian, only for him to deflect the shots with The Queen's Servants. He followed up and deliberately shot Jaune's shield so that the ricochet hit the escaped convict. He covered his eyes with his arm and then cartwheeled onto Jaune's shield, using his claw blades to spin in the air against it. Jaune took a swing with his sword at Tyrian, but he simply dodged and kicked him away as well.
Ruby pulled the trigger and fired a few shots at her former captor from afar, but he was too fast.
Dang it. I need a new plan...
Pyrrha struggled to get out of the chains off her.
Tyrian's next move was to run towards Nora. From across the way, Ruby spoke quietly, "A-ha." and shot Nora with lightning Dust. It passed just over Tyrian's left shoulder, and he turned as he sensed it. Nora was knocked down when the bolt made contact, still holding Magnhild in the process.
Believing the move to be an error on Ruby's part, Tyrian gave Nora a baffled stare and laughed while the others simply watched and waited.
Tyrian smirked. "Well, isn't that ironic?"
Sensing something, his mirth vanished. With a vengeful glare, a supercharged Nora rushed Tyrian from behind, moving over his right shoulder and coming forth to hit him with Magnhild.
"That's for Orville!"
The electricity blast had Ruby, Ren and Jaune covering their eyes from the backwash of dust and air, the team leader actually taking cover behind his shield. Pyrrha, still chained up, closed her eyes to avoid the dust.
When she opened them, Tyrian was uninjured and unfazed.
Drat! Ruby thought. Now what?
The scorpion giggled and curled his fingers at Nora. He fired shots at her, only for her to spin her hammer, deflecting them back. At that same time, Ren fired from behind him. Tyrian crouched down, stood on his hands and quickly kicked Nora down with his legs before using her hammer to propel himself. From there, he blocked an incoming Crocea Mors with the right part of The Queen's Servants, all before kicking him in the crotch.
"OW! Oh gosh, even with aura this hurts!"
Pyrrha was forced to watch on in terror. "Jaune!"
As he barreled over in pain, Pyrrha tried to concentrate on how to get out.
How long does this semblance last?!
Tyrian leapt towards Ruby, with an electrified Nora jumping in front of them. She struck a punch to Tyrian's face, but he only stumbled back a few feet. Pyrrha tried to forced her legs to push herself up. Now standing, she took a deep breath.
"You're a monster!"
Tyrian's eyes glowed purple again as he sidestepped one of Ruby's shots. Pyrrha lifted her left leg slightly, her foot beginning to emit a black glow.
"Nora, watch out!" Ren warned her.
Fortunately, her reflexes did not fail her. She dodged his attack and fired a grenade towards him with Magnhild.
"You killed Orville Odur! For that, you will pay!"
Pyrrha placed her left foot down and the chains around her arm flung away from her. She chuckled briefly before getting out her weapon.
Tyrian stopped as the grenade tore through the concrete road and gave her a smile, much to her confusion. "Well, if you're so tormented by his death, why don't you join him?"
A gasp was heard as his tail slashed through Nora's stomach. Her scream was deafening as red blood came from her stomach. Soon she was knocked down.
Both Ren and Pyrrha were terrified.
"NORA!"
"Nora!"
Jaune was in too much pain to fully comprehend what had just happened and Ruby was in shock. Her fingers felt numb and she tried to hold back tears. Ren ran over to Nora as a furious Pyrrha advanced.
The purple glow from his eyes disappeared as Pyrrha attacked him with Milo by striking him in the arm.
"What the? How did you...?
She didn't answer, instead striking him in his other arm.
He growled and was about to attack Pyrrha when Qrow burst through a building and inserted himself between them, holding his weapon behind his back. A metallic noise rang as Tyrian's arm blades hit against Qrow's weapon and clipped into the blade. He lets out a nervous giggle of surprise while Ruby and Qrow make eye contact.
Ruby faintly smiled. "Uncle Qrow."
"Stand back, I'll take it from here."
Pyrrha looked at her semblance-poisoned hands.
How can I just stand here and do nothing?
You fought against Tyrian and won. You should be fighting him!
But was that only because of your semblance, which is now nearly void.
Are you overly reliant on it?
As the fight between Qrow and Tyrian raged on offscreen, three Trojan Alliance members were shown- two humans and a man with dog ears.
"What was that sound?" one of them asked.
The dog-eared enforcer's animal ears went up. Sounds of bones snapping were heard, along with Qrow's agonized cries. "Something's happening. I can hear it. Quickly, follow me!"
At that moment, three Trojan Alliance members had found them.
"It's her! The metal-bending murderess!" the dog-eared faunus exclaimed.
"Quickly, sound the alarm! Warn the others!"
One of them got out a button and pressed a switch. Within seconds, an alarm started blaring and a bell from the nearby church was rung repeatedly. The dog-eared faunus ran, presumably to gather his allies.
"Crap, they've spotted us..." Ren spoke.
Nora looked at him terrified.
"No... this can't be. Ow..."
Pyrrha looked at her team leader in concern. "Uh, Jaune, any ideas?"
"They're going to be on us within a minute, if not less."
Ruby grimaced. "How many?"
"Hundreds probably. We need to move!" Jaune ordered. "Now!"
Conjuring strength, Nora shot off a grenade at the ground about fifty feet away, creating a massive smoke cloud. Within the cloud, Ruby took the hands of Jaune and Ren, holding onto Pyrrha and Nora respectively. Qrow was at the very end behind Pyrrha. With this, a multi-colored flash of red, grey, pink, white and green was seen within the city as the heroes fled.
A little later, the six of them were shown less than a mile away from Oniyuri.
Ruby was shown tired, slightly panting. "Oh man... Carrying along five people does a strain on Petal Burst."
Pyrrha, her hands still tainted with the purple glow of powerlessness, tried not to look at Nora. She held her left hand and arm over her stomach trying to stop the bleeding and poison leaking out before Ren wrapped bandages around her.
If only I had gotten out of those chains sooner...
Ruby addressed her honorary uncle. "How's your arm?"
He groaned. "It's broken, but I'll live."
"Damn it." Jaune cursed. "Now I wish we had remembered to buy more bandages in addition to a second map."
Nora bent her arms and took off the bomber jacket, leaving her shoulders exposed.
She offered the jacket to him. "Here, take this."
"Nora... you shouldn't be giving up your jacket. You'll be cold." Ren told her.
"Nonsense, his arm is broken," Nora reasoned.
"And you've just been poisoned."
With some help from Ruby, Nora's jacket had been wrapped around Qrow's arm to make a sling. His arm in place, he forced himself to move forward.
Jaune looked at his poisoned teammate in concern. "How much aura do you have left?"
She checked her Scroll. "53%." Suddenly the red bar flashed purple and decreased a little bit. "Make that 50..."
Ren, trying to keep his composure, looked at him. "How long until her aura... runs out?"
"That's the tricky thing with faunus venom. It can either be really slow and painful, or very fast. And of course there's aura and replenish rate to consider... There's no telling how much time we have, so take it easy and get moving."
Ruby winced in sorrow as she looked at Qrow. "Uncle Qrow? Why are you here?" She briefly smiled before it faded. "I mean, not that it's not great to see you, it is, but how did you get here so quickly? Did you know Tyrian was after me?"
He sighed. "I know you have questions, so I'll explain on the way. Now come, we have a lot to talk about."