Rwby: Of Guts and Blood

by bankerrtx01

After a defeated battle with the godhand instead of feasting on his corpse the apostle were too terrified of guts and send him to a new universe where he believes he is making a difference but in reality he isn't. Of course Guts is always a struggler… M for Berserk (RubyXGutsXCasca) Rewrite in progress!

16. V4: A new journey

Rwby: of Guts and Blood: Chapter 16: Volume 4: A new Journey:

Hello and welcome to the next chapter enjoy.

This is not the end, just the end of this arc.

Trigger warning Berserk this should not suprise you.

Key

Grimm-Apostle talk

Angry talk

{Text Chat/ phone call}

flashback

Chapter start:

In Salem's cathedral looking out the windows stood Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai reflected in a window, watching the north of the Grimm from inside the high building. Emerald has her hand to her mouth while Mercury seems slightly disgusted. A gloved hand appears between two purple crystal formations and snaps its fingers.

A wide shot reveals a large windowed room, at the center of which is a long purple, crystal table. Four people sit at the table with seven chairs. One of them is Amber Fall. Emerald and Mercury move away from the window.

There's a close-up of the man sitting across from Cinder, Arthur Watts. He is looking at his Scroll.

Next is the man to Amber's right, Tyrian Callows. He sits in a crouch casually on his chair, resting his arms on his knees.

Across from Tyrian is Hazel Rainart. His arms are crossed, and he looks asleep.

Amber sits quietly but is anxious, while Mercury and Emerald move to her side. Emerald nudges Mercury out of her way so that she can be directly next to Cinder.,

Watts sighed "Yes, yes, please keep your posse in check, we did break them out after all so they should find a way to be grateful somehow."

Mercury grunts and makes a move toward Watts, but Emerald holds him back.

Watts Humphred "You hear that? Silence."

Hazel gives Watts an unimpressed sideways glance. As the man continued.

"I've half a mind to thank the one that bested you."

Tyrian leaned forward "If I were you, I'd hunt them down." He snickered "Find them and, well, they took your body, didn't they?"

Amber only stares at Tyrian while he cackles at her. Amber tries to speak but only manages to make quiet exhaling noises. Emerald leans in to hear her.

Watts rolled his eyes "Pathetic. Why did you even—."

There is a sound of a heavy metal door being unlatched. The doors open and everyone stands just before Salem enters. She glides alongside the table with soft footsteps before reaching the head of it, jewels jangling from her hair. Salem stops, facing away from them and toward a candle and crystal display.

Salem looks over her shoulder and says simply "Watts."

Watts straightens, looking toward her. As she addressed him.

Salem turned to face him "Do you find such malignance necessary?"

She gestures for all to sit down.

Watts, still standing, responds "I apologize, ma'am. I'm not particularly fond of failure."

Watts and Salem sit simultaneously.

Salem speaks again "Then I see no reason for your cruelty towards young Cinder. She's become our Fall Maiden, one way or the other, destroyed Beacon from teaching, and most importantly, killed dear Ozpin. So I'm curious, to what failures are you referring to?"

Watts sputtered "Well, the girl with the Silver Eyes." He pointed out

Hazel nodded in agreement "Yes. We've dealt with their kind before. How is it that a novice was able to best one of us?"

Watts Seeing that others agreed with him continued "My thoughts exactly. Even without her new power, it should have been effortless."

Salem waved her hand, cutting them off "Cinder didn't face the Silver eyed warrior, she was caught." Salem said rounding her head towards Amber who looked down at the table Salem kept speaking

"But she used it to give us the advantage of the Maiden's power. Make no mistake, Cinder, you hold the key to our victory. But your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness. Which is why you will remain by my side as we continue your treatment."

Cinder/Amber is unhappy about this and lowers her head. Emerald looks at her in sympathy.

Salem ignores Cinder and turns to Watts. "Dr. Watts, you are to take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral."

Watts nods "Very good."

Salem turns "Tyrian, I want you to continue your hunt for the Spring Maiden."

Tyrian laughed and rubbed his hands eagerly "Gladly."

Salem looks to the last member "And Hazel, I'm sending you to check up on Vale , the leader of the White Fang there Adam Taurus has disappointed us…ensure he knows the punishment for disobeying us."

Hazel nodded "As you wish."

Cinder/Amber raises a finger. Emerald fails to notice this gesture for a moment.

Emerald recognizing it "Oh!"

Emerald leans in to hear her.

Cinder/Amber rasps into her ear. Emerald straightens.

Salem said, intrigued "Speak, child."

Emerald looked down "She wants to know...What about the girl?"

Watts scoffs "What about her? Seems to me that this is Cinder's problem, not ours."

Cinder/Amber slams her fist onto the table and glares at Watts, who grins at her.

Salem cuts off the argument "That's enough. Tyrian?"

Tyrian looks around "Yes, my lady?"

Salem "Spring can wait. Find the one that did this to Cinder…"

Tyrian giggles excitedly and claps.

"…And bring her to me." She finishes

Tyrian freezes, groans disappointedly, pouts for a second, then looks back up at Salem with an acquiescent shrug.

Salem announces to the whole table "Because of your efforts, Beacon has fallen. And Haven will be next."

Everyone rises.

Tyrian snickers at Cinder and points to his left eye.

Tyrian laughed wickedly "Eye for an eye."

Tyrian goes into an uncontrollable fit of manic laughter, while Cinderamber grits her teeth.

"Ah!" Cinderamber gasps and grabs a hold of the table to stabilize herself.

Everyone pauses and looks at Cinder

"Cinder?" Emerald asked as she tried to move towards her but Salem raised her hand to stop her.

Cinder doesn't respond anyways only just stays frozen twitching

"What is wrong with the girl now?" Watts asked uninterested.

"Arghh!" Cinder roared as her magic went haywire sending flames everywhere scorching the room; the only one not effected was Salem who made a shield in front of her. While the others were slammed into the walls and Watts ducked under the table

"G-get…out of my…Head!" Amber screamed as her powers explode again making the table go flying as Watts looked panicked for a second until Ambers powers cut off and she fell to the floor gasping.

The others looked at CinderAmber scaired

Salem walks up to Cinder/Amber confused

"What's this? You apparently don't have full control of your body yet?" Salem asked she grabbed Amber by the throat and lift her up.

"Don't worry Cinder I'll help you." She said

Amber opened her eyes and glared at Salem before she spat in Salem's face Salem for her part smiled

Until suddenly both women gasped

And looking down a spike appeared in both of the woman's guts. Stomach

"Ozpin…forgive me…" Amber groaned as her head rolled back

Amber fell limp and died as her soul flew off away from the castle.

"NOOOO!" Salem raged as she yanked the spear from her and threw it against the wall. Tossing Ambers body away like a rag doll which landed in an odd angle in a heap.

"Damn it!" She hissed as she tried to think of a way to savage this plan in this lifetime.

"What do we do now?" Tryian asked

Salem thought for a moment… "I don't know… countune on with the plan. Emerald, Mercury you will join Dr. Watts on his mission in mistral but under no circumstances are you to be seen. I'll be back." Salem said as she left the hall

As the others watched Salem leave they packed up their stuff and headed out of the castle, Salem walked the halls and eventually entered another room like the one she just left however this one was already occupied.

At the far end stood a man covered in black with a Hawk helmet.

On his left was something that could minority consider itself to be human. With an exposed brain and lips folded up and pinned wearing a large cloak

Across from that was a women much like Salem herself but she didn't wear any clothes and had massive wings covering her "sensitive bits".

The others could barely consider to be human beings, more of a foul floating blob of a slug with a pungy human face.

And then I Floating squid with a human face.

These were the godhand. Femto. Void, Slan, Ubik and Conrad, And they were here for one purpose. To punish Guts as much as possible.

"Something has changed." Salem said

"Impossible." Void The one with the exposed brain said

"Well Cinder just died and her soul went to a new fucking host!" Salem raged

"It can't be…" Conrad said

"It has too, we've seen what would happen if he wasn't here." Ubik said

"But we made sure he couldn't interfere." Void said

"Perhaps you did it wrong Void?" Slan scoffed

"You doubt my mastery of magic Slan!" Void snapped

"Enough!" The man at the end of the table said

"We have a job to do. This world is inconsequential to us. Say for what we already have, All that matters is that Guts does not find a way back to Midland before we can complete our conquest. And Salem here is doing a fine job indeed." The man said

"Thank you sir." Salem bowed

The rest of the godhand laughed at Salem being a suck up to Griffith.

"Ah girl you know nothing of us…embrace the darkness and we can give you unimaginable power…" Femto said as he slid over a beherit.

Salem looked over clearly tempted with the egg shaped item with human faces on it as the godhand laughed more.

Suddenly Oscar Pine, a boy with freckles and hazel eyes, wakes up in a panic as if from a bad dream and sighs in relief after looking around. He emerges from the loft of a barn and climbs down a ladder. The boy is wearing patched khaki pants, a white shirt, and orange suspenders and gloves. Tucked into his pocket is an orange-based multi-colored cloth. He opens the barn door to a peaceful country scene with a rising sun and birds tweeting. White mountains are a background to a dirt road, grass, a few trees and a green water pump.

He smiles and pumps water into a blue bucket. As his gaze wanders the landscape, he becomes distracted from the pump and utters a quiet sound of surprise upon realizing he has overfilled the bucket. His shoulders fall with a sigh.

The scene cuts to the boy shutting and turning a green compost tumbler that is marked with a yellow crown bearing the initials CK.

While hoeing rows in a garden, he suddenly straightens up and looks out into the distance.

To the sound of blowing wind, the scene cuts to a shot of blue sky above a green forest.

Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora were walking in the forest "Hods I can't understand why we are doing this right now?" Yang asked hands behind her head

"Aside from the fact Jaune needs new Armor?" Ren asked

"Please I mean he's got plenty of Aura." Yang said

"And aura can't do shit if you're only taking hits and not dishing them back, Yang." Pyrrha said in an angry growl.

Yang rolled her eyes "Maybe for you lame people." She said teasingly before looking around dropping seriously "where is Ruby Anyway's?"

"Up ahead!" Ren said calmly

Ruby Rose flying backwards from trees, firing Crescent Rose in the direction she came from.

A collection of floating boulders with a Grimm mask moves the trees aside, clearly chasing her.

Ruby falls, crashing against tree limbs along the way.

"Bad... landing... strategy!" She said as she hit each limb

Ruby lands on her feet on a big tree branch strong enough to hold her weight. She uses her Semblance to fly past the Grimm.

Yang rushed forward to help her sister

"Are you ok?!" Yang asked

Ruby growled "move it into the clearing!" Ruby said

Yang nodded and tried to fire her Gauntlets to get its attention.

Unfortunately it seemed fixated on Ruby

Jaune growled

"We need to draw its attention away from Ruby!" Ren said

Jaune nodded

"Let's get that thing off her. Pyrrha!" Jaune said

"Right!" She nodded as she threw her shield

"Nora gong!" Jaune snapped

Nora jumped up and hit Pyrrha's shield with her hammer the noise caused the Grimm to be stunned and turn towards them.

"Now it's on us Jaune!?" Ren said

"I understand that keep moving Ren try to find an opening." Jaune said

Ren nodded and jumped away

Nora tries to shoot the Grimm in the back. As Ren hops around on branches. The Grimm tries to hit Ren. Ren runs up its rock arm, flies into the air, and comes down upon the Grimm, striking at it with StormFlower. It's ineffective.

"Gotta get in closer!" Jaune said

"Like this?" Yang asked as she punched the stone which cracked it however she pulled her hand which was now looking inflated like a balloon throbbing and cradled her arm and screamed "ARGHHH"

The Grimm sent Yang flying with a kick as she lays against a tree nursing her hand.

"Yangs out of action!" Jaune called

Ren lands beside Jaune.

"My blades don't hurt him!" He announced

The Grimm turns, standing upright.

Nora, seeing how unhurt he was "Crap!"

Ruby cried out "How about this?!"

She loads a magazine with an image of a lightning bolt on its side into Crescent Rose and fires. Electric bolts encase one of the Grimm's arms. The red lines on the arm glow brighter, and the Grimm slams it into the ground. All are sent flying backwards, but Ren, Nora, and Ruby manage to land on their feet. Jaune tumbles along the ground painfully until he hits a boulder between his legs and falls forward.

Jaune stands up moaning mimicking "You'll be fine without a weapon. You're the strategist."

"Yea I know what I said I didn't expect the thing to be made out of steel!" Yang ranted from the sidelines as she tried to pulse her aura through her hand to help speed up the healing

Unfortunately she just hissed in pain the more she tried.

Nora growled getting angry.

"That's it!"

She runs forward, tossing Magnhild into the air and transforming it into hammer mode. She jumps into the air and hits it, breaking its arm apart. A large piece flies straight toward Nora, but Ruby gets between them and knocks it away. The Grimm uses its other arm to strike at the two girls.

Jaune straightens and stretches and soon has to dodge a barrage of rocks.

Jaune jumped away "Wha? Whoa! Wha? Ho!"

Jaune lands "Hey! Be careful!" Only for another to nearly hit him only to be ragdolled away to the left by his chest plate.

"Thanks Pyrrha!" Jaune said

"Just be careful Jaune." Pyrrha said

Jaune limped over to a tree to catch his breath next to Yang.

Jaune stands up and looks up at the Grimm as does Yang. "Ah…" he said Yang just gulped.

The Grimm's armless shoulder gains a glowing red circle with a symbol of an eye in the middle. The circle spins, and then a black, elongated arm with clawed fingers emerges from it. The arm rears back.

"Uh-oh." He said Yang had already started to run.

The Grimm shoves its new arm into the tree Jaune was leaning against and lifts it from the ground.

Jaune started running after Yang. "His arm is a tree! His arm is a tree!"

"Ruby a little help out here?!" Yang called

Ruby called "Big mistake!"

Ruby spins Crescent Rose and loads another magazine into it - this one with imagery of fire on its side. She fires, and the flaming projectile swings around to the tree arm. Jaune fist pumps. The tree arm swings around to him, on fire. Jaune loses his smile.

Jaune puts his hands into his hair and running faster "Big mistake!"

"SIS!" Yang screamed

The Grimm chases Jaune, swinging the flaming arm at him. It misses twice, but then Jaune falls. One of StormFlower spins through the air and makes a cut across the Grimm's mask. The Grimm falls.

Ren lands beside Jaune and catches his gun. Ruby and Nora come up behind their teammates. Pyrrha is shooting to keep it down

"Okay, how do we do this?" Jaune said

"His body is too thick to break through." Ren said

Jaune countered, "It doesn't care about its body."

"Plus it can keep grabbing new limbs!" Nora said

"But it keeps protecting its face." Jaune said

"We can't break it!" Ruby said

"Plus there's no metal on it so I can't affect it." Pyrrha said

Jaune sighed "Ugh, if we knocked all of its limbs off at once and went for the…"

Jaune's eyes light up with an idea and he turns to face his team. Behind him, the Grimm gets up.

Jaune spoke "Guys, I got it! We hit it harder!"

Ren looked confused "Is that it?"

"I have to agree with ren here that is stupid!" Yang said waving her injured hand as proof.

Jaune rolled his eyes "No, seriously. It's trying to keep us from its face. If we kill the limbs, we'll have a shot to kill the whole thing!"

Ruby nodded "Alright! Come on, team, let's do this."

Nora nodded "Yeah!"

"Right!"

Yang rolled her eyes "fine I'll try my best." Yang said clearly not eager for this plan.

"I'm here Jaune." Pyrrha said

Jaune spoke and pointed "Ren, left. Ruby, right."

Ren and Ruby depart as told.

Jaune "Nora, ready to try out the new upgrade?"

Nora nods and runs.

Jaune "Right. And Yang and I will—." He is cut off as the grimm stomps behind him as both blonds start running

"This is the last time I follow one of your strategies!" Yang yelled as they both ran together.

The two take off running, distracting it. As Pyrrha joined them.

"I hope you know what you're doing!?" Pyrrha said

"I don't! I'm trying not to die!" Yang yelled

"We're just keeping it occupied until Nora can smash it." Jaune said

Just as soon as he said that Nora slammed her hammer down destroying the Grimm. As Ruby snipes it easily

Jaune steps up front " another victory for team…umm shit we still have to work on that." He sighed. As they headed back to town.

Yang slouched "ok seriously who put him in charge?" She asked

"Jaune is better at combat strategies than I am plus there are more members of team JNPR than RWBY right now. I know it's not the best but we can deal with it sis." Ruby said

Yang sighed "yeah sure. I'm sorry I fucked it up though." Yang said still nursing her damaged hand.

"It's fine besides I'd never have gotten as far as I have if I had just yes men listening to me." Jaune said as he used his semblance to shrink down the inflated hand."

Yang sighed "I know I was mostly joking anyways I'm just more use to Ruby's leadership than yours it just will take some time getting use to." She said

The group make there way to the village that hired them as many citizens ran up to Ruby and smiled excitedly at her.

Ruby laughed at the kids and started to tell some stories

The others stood behind watching Ruby react with the kids.

Yang looked and noticed many of the citizens recording Ruby's appearance on their scrolls.

Everyone in the group smiled as Ruby's childish nature cheered up the young kids as the parents took there kids away other adults started to come up to her to thank her. Perhaps sign something.

It took an hour to reach the Mayors who actually met them in the streets

"Pyrrha was it ever like this when you were famous?" Yang asked

Pyrrha shook her head "my popularity spiked around the cities more often than not I was fringe in the more rural parts. Here no matter where we go someone has heard of Ruby. It's astounding." Pyrrha said

Ruby sighed "and tiring." She said

"You want to ride on my back?" Yang asked

Ruby shook her head "no it's fine…but I think one more interruption and I'll have you guys head to the blacksmith while I talk to the Mayor alone." Ruby said

"Ms Rose!" A voice said off to the side grabbing the group's attention as Ruby saw the mayor waving them down.

When they approached him Ruby shakes hands with the town Mayor. While the rest of the team stood behind her

"We truly can't thank you enough." He said

Ruby smiled, "Just doing our job, sir."

"That Geist had been plaguing our village for weeks. We were beginning to wonder if we'd have to relocate."

Ruby shrugged "Well, we are on our way to Mistral. You could always come along with us if you don't feel safe."

The team looks around Scenes of the idyllic life in the village are shown people buy fresh produce from a cart, stand and chat on open balconies overlooking the roads, tend to their horses and generally go about their daily lives peacefully. The village has plentiful trees and green spaces and cobbled roads.

Mayor laughs amused "Ha. I take it you're not from these parts. Anima is a large continent. I'm afraid our people would never survive the long trek to Mistral. It may be safer in the Kingdoms, but we prefer our way of life. I just wish we could pay you more."

Ren speaks for everyone "Our previous arrangement is more than sufficient."

The group bows respectfully. As they walk off Ruby stops and looks around.

"Ruby what is it?" Jaune asked

"Just wonder where Yang was?"

Yang however came out of a tavern holding a couple of ales "party to our victory Eh guys?!" She asked

The rest of the team shook there heads and walked away

"Eh suit yourself lazy lightweights." Yang said as she downed all the beer. Which was actually just water she made to look like beer.

Back in the Town they moved on without Yang. They couldn't wait to be late at such a critical time.

A shop door closes. At a counter, a burly man with horns sets down a set of armor.

"There you go, son. It's going to be heavier than what you're used to, but you'll thank me the next time you go up against a set of claws."

Jaune was appalled and happy "Wow. That-eh. I don't know what to say."

The Blacksmith waved his hand "Don't gotta say anything! Just put it on! I'll go get the rest."

The Faunus blacksmith turns and goes out back.

Nora turned to Jaune "So, what are you waiting for?"

Jaune stumbled "Oh, uh, right!"

Jaune takes off his old chestplate.

Jaune spoke softly "Guess I was going to grow out of it eventually."

Ren spoke sagely "A sign of progress.

Jaune nodded "Progress."

Jaune turns around, and Ruby gasps then covers her mouth and tries not to giggle.

Jaune was confused "What is it?"

Ruby pointed to his chest "What is that?"

A bunny emblem is on Jaune's chest.

Jaune was even more confused "What, my hoodie? I've always had this."

Ruby snorted "It's got a cute little bunny rabbit!"

Ruby laughs.

Jaune tried to defend himself "It's Pumpkin Pete! You know, from the cereal?"

Even Pyrrha couldn't hold her laugh in

"Jaune I know you said it was your favorite cereal but- that's a bit much." She said

Ruby was in near hysteria as she called "What did you do?! Send in a box top for a prize?"

Jaune turned away. "Yeah! Fifty!"

Ruby continues to laugh hysterically, before she falls onto the floor.

Pyrrha sighed "that's quiet a lot Jaune." She said

Ren looks down at Ruby and back at Jaune with a shrug "Well, I suppose we don't have to grow out of everything."

Ruby chortles from the floor, feet in the air. The blacksmith returns from out back.

"Can't have a Huntsman without his weapon.

A sword sheath is stuck into the countertop.

"Made all the modifications you asked for."

The blade expands into a shield.

Blacksmith looked at it "That was some fine metal you brought me. Accents the white nicely. Where'd you get it from?"

The camera pans to show the gold accents on the shield, the design on the bottom reminiscent of Pyrrha Nikos' circlet.

"A personal recommendation." Pyrrha said

The Blacksmith nodded "well let's get out back so you can try it on." He said

Ruby, Ren, Pyrrha and Nora wait outside the shop. Some more anxiously than others. Mostly Pyrrha as she can't stop pacing. "Pyrrha he's fine." Ruby said

"Oh I know…I just…" Pyrrha gripped her arm tightly as she looked away trying to hide a blush.

Ruby put her hand on her shoulder "Pyrrha I get it you love him. I love Guts too." She said

Pyrrha was appalled just shocked "what but I-?!" Pyrrha said trying be all proper

Ruby just cut in "oh so that wasn't you moaning last night so loudly you nearly woke the neighbors, a mile down the road ok, Nora you need a gag." Ruby said as Pyrrha blushed hard at the innuendo.

"Pot meet kettle." Yang said walking up to the group still sober.

"You with us Yang?" Ruby asked

Yang just winked

Nora, not offended by the comment at all, teases Pyrrha more. "More like a screaming banshee." She said

Jaune came out wearing the armor. He pulls out the sword and expands the shield.

The Blacksmith came out "He cleans up alright, don't you think?"

Ren nodded "He certainly does."

"Like a statue of a god." Pyrrha said dreamily.

Ruby and Nora chuckle as Pyrrha shakes herself from her dream and blushes.

Nora sighed "I still think a grenade launcher would've really brought the look together."

Ruby punched the air. Nothing's gonna stop Team RNJR now!"

Nora looked over "Team JNRR!"

Ren looked over to Nora "Still not a color."

Pyrrha looked over looking joking offended "what is it like you guys don't think I exist?" Pyrrha asked

"Join the club Pyr." Yang said as she tried to hand Pyrrha another bottle

This time She took it and threw it back only to spit take as she glared at a grinning Yang

"That's water!" She said

Yang smiled "hydration is important."

Jaune stepped forward "It doesn't matter what we're called. As long as we're together."

Pyrrha stepped forward "and that is why I love you." She said as she kissed him on the lips

Ruby and Nora "oohed" at the same time causing Pyrrha to flash them both the bird out of Jaunes line of sight.

Blacksmith smiled at the interaction "You kids sure you won't stick around? You've been real good to this town."

Ruby nodded "Sorry, but we've got another mission."

"Make it to Haven Academy, no matter what." Nora said

Ren sighed "We've heard the next village over has a working Airship."

Blacksmith leaned back "Mmm, no way to know for sure. Scroll signals were weak enough out here back when Beacon Tower was still up now it's down for maintenance. Haven't heard from Shion Village in a while."

Ruby waved "Well, there's only one way to find out."

With a wave, the Team turns and leaves. The blacksmith waves back and grunts.

While on the road Jaune went through the checklist.

"Food?"

Nora chirped happily "Check!"

"Water?"

Nora again answered "Check!"

"How about ammo?"

Nora again skipped "Locked and loaded! Thank you, Schnee Dust Company!"

"Got the map?"

Ruby is looking down sadly.

Nora stopped "um…Ren's got it."

Ren argued "No, I don't. You have it."

Nora paused "Wait, what?"

Jaune slumped "Guys, please tell me you're joking."

"Uh.. heh-heh-heh." Nora laughed awkwardly

"Guys! Guys? Guys…" Jaune asked

Nora answered "Nope."

Then finally "oh I'm sorry I have it!" Pyrrha said awkward holds up a crumpled map

"Oh thank god!" Jaune sighed, not caring that the map is crinkled.

Up In Atlas an airships in the sky, Weiss Schnee's reflection becomes visible watching airships fly by through a window. She is sitting in a cushioned chair with her hands folded in her lap. There is a knock on the door.

Weiss turned around "Yes?"

Her room is a large, open space on two levels. On the upper level are two arched bookcases built into the walls and a picture of a knight resembling the Arma Gigas hangs between them. A gilded mirror hangs above the mantle of a fireplace on the lower level. The door opens and Klein Sieben, her butler and caretaker, enters.

Klein coughs and speaks "Pardon the interruption, Miss Schnee, but your father wishes to speak to you."

Weiss sighed sadly "Thank you, Klein."

Weiss looks out the window once more before getting up and walking out. Her heels clank across the floor and the door slams shut.

Weiss walks around her empty "house" ; it's always been empty. As she walked around she met with her brother who seemed…off to her but he was kind so he ignored it.

It was late at night as the group relaxed and rested

However in the middle of the night Ruby woke up with a start

She sat up to see everyone asleep. Yang. Nora and Ren were laying together. The only bed empty was Jaune and Pyrrha's and there was moaning in the distance.

"Oh oh oh Jaune…"

Ruby rolled her eyes well at least they are keeping the Grimm away with them radiating pleasure.

Ruby rolled her eyes and went back to bed.

The next Morning when they headed out to the next village.

Ruby is in front, looking at a map. "So the next town is... uh-huh... uh-huh... We're lost."

Yang rolled her eyes "Honestly Ruby this is why you're never the navigator for our field trips!" Yang said before she tried to read the map. Rotating it a few times before giving up.

"What the fuck is this map?! Ok fuck it we are lost!" Yang ranted

Jaune however smiled and says "We're not lost. The next town is Shion. My family used to visit it all the time."

Ruby looked up "Oh yeah. Don't you have, like, four sisters?"

Jaune looked embarrassed and looked away "Uh, seven."

Ruby giggles.

"I would have loved to have a lot of siblings." Pyrrha said hugging Jaunes Arm

Nora smiled "You know, that actually explains a lot."

Jaune shook his head trying to understand "Wait, what do you mean?"

Ruby cut off an argument forming "-So, what did you guys do there?"

Jaune came forward interested "Oh, all sorts of stuff! Over here is a great hiking trail, and over here is where we went camping all the time. I got my own tent because I was special. Also, so my sisters would stop braiding my hair."

Ruby looked at Jaune "Didn't like the look?"

"Well neither did you." Yang teased as she played with her hair. Ruby slapped Yang's hand away as the older sister grinned.

Jaune sighed "Yeah, they just kept doing pigtails, but personally, I think I'm more of a "warrior's wolftail" kind of guy."

Ruby rolled her eyes, "That's just a ponytail."

Jaune looked forward proudly, "I stand by what I said."

Nora stops short, raising her hands to her lips as her eyes widen. Soon after, Ren stops, visibly tense.

Nora looks forward "Uh, guys?"

Ruby looked up "Huh?"

Jaune followed "What?"

Jaune and Ruby look up from the map. Their eyes widen and jaws drop. In front of them is a desolated village. The sky is gray and two columns of smoke rise in the air. A gazebo has a broken tower and lampposts are askew from the ground. At least one dead body can be seen on the side of the road approaching the town.

"Oh my god!" Yang gasped

"Damn it what happened!" Pyrrha asked

The map is dropped and all four rush forward. They briskly move into the town, looking around. Ren tosses his backpack on the ground and moves ahead while the other three gather in the middle of a road.

Ruby ran inside "look around There could be survivors!" Ruby barked

Ren noticed one and ran over "Over here!" He announced

The other's rush to where Ren is leading them. On the ground, sitting propped against a broken building wall is a young man in armor. He breathes heavily and holds his hand against a bleeding wound in his abdomen. Ren drops by his side and puts his hand on his shoulder.

Ruby gasped "A Huntsman!"

Jaune sat down and tried to heal him but his hand sputtered and faded he was too weak to be saved "What happened? Who killed all these people?" He asked

The Dying Huntsman coughed "Bandits. The whole tribe... Then, with all the panic…"

The Huntsman can't finish and coughs repeatedly.

Ren looked back "Grimm."

Ren stands and walks a few paces away, placing his hands atop his head. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora step away to confer.

"Alright, we can get him to the next village and try to find a doctor there!" Ruby saif

Jaune nodded and punched his fist "Yeah. Ren and I can take turns carrying him there."

Nora shook her head "I don't know if he'll make it."

Jaune looked to her "He will. He has to."

Ren turns back and walks over to the Huntsman.

Ruby walked ahead "If we get going now, our chances will be better. I can run ahead and look for help!"

"Ruby…" Yang started

Ren called back "Guys."

The other three turn and discover that the Huntsman has already died.

Nora paused "…Should we bury him?"

Ren walks right past them without a backward glance.

"We should go. It's not safe here."

Nora looked worried "Ren…"

Nora turns and follows him. Ruby puts her hand on Jaune's arm. He is looking stressed and sad.

"It'll be okay."

Jaune sighed "I'm just tired of losing everything."

Ren stops and looks at something on the ground, his eyes widening. A cloven hoofprint is impressed into the ground. Nora comes up to his side. She sees the same mark and her eyes also widen in recognition. The two of them silently make eye contact.

Yang however stayed in the village and looked around at the bodies

She recognized a red bandana. She grabbed it "Yang come on we're going!" Ruby said

Yang sighed

"You go on ahead Ruby." She said

"What? Yang, why?" She asked

"It's just…something about my sense of justice urges me to see this through. But we can't slow down to get to Haven. I'll catch up once I can. I'll assume you'll make it.." Yang said

Ruby went to argue but then saw the bandanna in her hand

It clicked in Ruby's head what happened.

Ruby gave Yang a hug

"Good luck." She said

Yang returned it before they parted

Yang stood looking at the burning town and looked around hearing a noise in the crashed airship

When she investigated she found the radio was still working…still functioning and that was a radio strong enough to reach vale. If she could Hotwire the radio to her scroll…

Yang set about doing that and with only a few jumps. She got it working as she went to call Yang.

It rang for a bit and then she got a response

"Y-Yang?" Tai asked

"Hey dad…" Yang said testing the waters

"YANG XIAO LONG DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW WORRIED I WAS?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Tai yelled

"I'm in Mistral with Ruby." Yang said

"What? Why are you there of all places?!" Tai asked

"She's safe she's with friends." Yang said

"Safe is relative YANG she should be resting! Guts is worried about her, you should come home right now!" Tai said

"Dad, you know we can't do that." Yang said

"I'm your father!" Tai said

"And I know you heard us talking to Guts!" Yang yelled

"…"

Yang took a deep breath "Listen we have a lot of things going on. Right now I am in an abandoned village that mom attacked…And I'm going to follow up on it…" Yang said

"Yang you shouldn't go about looking for your mother…" Tai said sadly

"I have no thoughts of trying to bring her home. In my mind she's crossed a line." Yang said

Tai sighed "Alright what do you need me to do?" He asked

"I need you to send me over bumblebee. I'm separating from Ruby and I want to be able to get back in time." Yang said

Tai nodded

Ruby called out from the backgrounds "Yang we're going to be safe!"

"Ruby, I'm on the phone with dad." Yang said

"Dad?" Ruby gasped as she rushed over to talk.

After a conversation about her being safe she talked to Guts about how he's been. And getting better. She gave the scroll back to Yang before they left

"Anyways I'll be going." Just send bumblebee to my scroll location." Yang said

Tai nodded before they said goodbye.

(Weiss)

Back in Atlas Weiss Is standing outside her father's door and listening to the discussion inside. She hesitates to put her hand on the doorknob.

Jacques ranted at his guest "I'm not talking about the good of my company; I'm talking about the good of Atlas, our entire Kingdom!"

Ironwood countered "That is a load of garbage and you know it."

Weiss opens the door and peers in.

Jacques turned to glare at him "I beg your pardon?!"

James Ironwood is sitting in a chair in front of a bookcase. He had grown stubble and his hair was slightly messier. He wore a white, double-breasted tailcoat with dark blue and black accents, most notable at the cuffs and shoulder pieces. The coat was belted at the waist. Underneath, Ironwood had a black collared shirt and a red tie. He also wore two white gloves, in contrast to wearing only one on his right hand. His pants were no longer tucked inside military boots but instead hung over the black boots.

"Jacques, will you please, just hear me out?" He asked

Jacques places his glass down on the table roughly.

Jacques stood up "You are a trusted friend and ally to this family, James, but what you're suggesting is absurd!"

Ironwood sighed trying not to pop a blood vessel "You are blowing it out of proportion."

Jacques snapped at him "The council will never agree to it!"

Ironwood stood up calmly exerting strength "You forget, I hold two seats on the council."

Jacques snarled lowly "Your Dust embargo has already cost me millions! I can promise you, I have not forgotten!"

Ironwood sighed "So this is about you."

Weiss has come into the room, and she watches to two men awkwardly while the door shuts behind her. She startles at the sound while James and Jacques turn and look at her.

Ironwood looked over bowing "Miss Schnee! My apologies. I should have been gone by now."

Weiss stuttered and she hated when her father was angry "It-it's okay."

Ironwood looked over to Jacques "We'll continue this at another time."

Jacques nodded "Indeed. Klein can show you out."

Ironwood scoffed "Don't worry, I know the way."

Weiss steps aside so that Ironwood can reach the door. He turns and looks at her father.

Ironwood looked back "Until next time, Jacques."

Jacques solemnly nods back at Ironwood, who turns to Weiss.

Ironwood speaks calmly "Please know, you'll always have a home at Atlas Academy, Miss Schnee. We'll be back in session before you know it."

Ironwood leaves. Weiss and Jacques reveal a portrait of a younger black-haired Jacques hanging on the wall behind his desk.

Jacques seeing as they were alone, dropped the nice act "Did you forget your manners while you were away?"

He turns and walks to his desk, which is a few steps up from the chairs and tables where he and Ironwood were just sitting. Weiss looks annoyed at the comment but calms down with a sigh.

"No, Father. I'm sorry."

Jacques sat down "Can you believe there are still people in the world that blame Atlas for what happened to Beacon? To Vale?"

Weiss stepped forward "Well, they weren't there."

Weiss begins walking across the room to stand before his desk.

Jacques started to rant "It's a wonder Ironwood wasn't stripped of his rank!"

Jacques, swinging the seat so that his back is to Weiss.

Jacques sighed "I suppose the council trusts him, for better or worse."

Weiss thinking "I trust him."

Jacques sighed and turned toward his daughter" Thanks to him, Atlas is forbidden from exporting Dust to other Kingdoms. "A precautionary measure", as he puts it, "until we're certain no one is going to declare war". How anyone could possibly find that to be sound logic is beyond me."

Weiss blinks at her father, clearly uncomfortable. There is one framed picture on the desk, and it's of Whitley.

Jacques smiled "Which is why the Schnee Dust Company will be holding a charity concert in the coming weeks."

Weiss looks up at him in surprise.

Jacques countuned "We need to show the people of Remnant that we are on their side. That we are all victims of the fall of Beacon."

Weiss smiled lightly "That's... wonderful news."

Jacques smiled as well "I know. And I think it would make a lot of people happy if you performed at the event."

Weiss's smile dropped "Excuse me?"

Jacques countuned "Many forget that you were there. My own daughter, a Schnee, on the grounds, defending another Kingdom! We need to remind them! And we need to show them that the Schnee family is just as strong as ever!"

"Are you asking me if I'd like to sing, or telling me?"

Jacques leans forward and makes a tent with the fingers of his hand as he meaningfully gazes at Weiss.

Jacques leaned forward "I think it would make a lot of people happy."

Weiss sighed "I'll start practicing."

Jacques smiled widened "That's... my girl."

Weiss shuts the door to her father's office and turns to find the butler waiting for her with a tray.

Klein presented the tray "Hot coffee, Miss Schnee? I always find he keeps his study dreadfully cold."

Weiss takes the mug off of the tray with a smile.

Weiss smiled "Thank you, Klein."

Klein leaned forward "You know what I think?"

Klein lifts the tray to cover his face before dropping it dramatically as he leans forward toward Weiss making a less-than-formal face, his brown eyes having turned red.

Klein drops the tray and speaks in an accent with a gruff voice "I think it's to balance out all his hot air."

Weiss' eyes widen in delight and she turns and looks over her shoulder at the closed office door. She turns back to Klein with a giggle.

Weiss tried to hide his laugh "Klein!"

The two giggle together before he fakes a sneeze, and his eyes turn blue.

Klein switched in a high-pitched accent "Uh, apologies, madam."

Klein pretends to sneeze again. Weiss giggles merrily, hiding her smile behind her hand. Klein wiggles his mustache and looks up. His eyes turn yellow.

Klein smiled "Ah, there's my happy little snowflake."

Weiss breathes a sigh that releases some weight off her shoulders, and she gives the butler a genuine grin.

Weiss smiled "Thank you, Klein."

(Ruby)

At night they were back to camping and again Ruby woke up this time she didn't hear moaning but grunting

Ruby walked in the forest and found Jaune and Pyrrha sparing lightly.

"Good good, hit me harder!" Pyrrha said as she egged Jaune on.

Jaune and Pyrrha fought until Jaune was exhausted and by that time Ruby was back in bed thinking about Guts.

On the high seas Seagulls call as a ship moves over peaceful blue waters. A pan of the boat from bow to stern reveals... Passengers strolling across both the upper and mid decks.

Blake Belladonna rests her hands on the rail and stares out at the ocean. She blinks and looks over her right shoulder, somewhat startled. Two kids laugh over a joke. Blake almost smiles and turns to look back at the ocean.

Footsteps approach her but she ingnores it too in depth with her thoughts

The Captain said, "Traveling alone?"

Blake jumps and grips the hilt of Gambol Shroud. She halts her action when she sees the captain of the boat.

The Captain jumped holding up his hands in a reassuring manner "Now, now, no threat here. Just here to chat."

Blake hesitates before relaxing her posture with a roll of her eyes.

Blake sighed "And why is that?"

The Captain lowers his arms and then twists to lean idly onto the rail.

"Well, not many people travel by boat on their own. It can be quite a lonely voyage. But I found those that do tend to have the more... interesting stories."

Blake turns away from the Captain.

Blake sighed "Maybe it's just... better for some people to be alone."

The two kids run behind Blake laughing and she gasps again, not expecting the noise behind her. She turns and blinks at them trying to reset her calm.

The Captain laughed "Maybe, but with your paranoia, I think a few friendly faces wouldn't hurt."

Blake glared at his shoes "Who says I'm paranoid?!"

The Captain laughed again "No one, dear, no one. I'll leave you be."

The Captain turns and walks away, then stops.

"But uh, fair warning: these trips can be awfully boring."

The Captain continues on his way and Blake stares after him. Once he's gone, she turns and looks at the ground for a few seconds before reaching up and undoing her bow.

Blake sighed.

She holds the ribbon out over the railing.

Blake sighed "Won't be needing this."

Blake lets go and watches the ribbon swirl in the air once before landing on the water. She turns and walks away.

As she passes inside, a hooded figure is shown to be watching her from a distance.

Beside the ribbon on the ocean, the large scales of a sea creature are seen moving just above the surface. After they pass, the ribbon is gone.

On patch Guts sitting on a green couch in the Rose-Xiao Long cabin on Patch. His left arm was a Stump and his right eye was closed as he had sewn it shut like before.

He looks at the stack of three books on his right and instead picks up the remote control to his left with his right hand. With a click, the projected scene comes on, revealing a news segment from the VBC channel.

Glynda Goodwitch is shown unsuccessfully piecing together a building. Across the bottom of the screen, it reads: BEACON INACCESSIBLE FOR TEACHING PLEASE STANDBY. As the reports talked

Reporter 01: "...with no end in sight. Try as they might, the local Huntsmen and Huntresses can't seem to get a hold of the situation at Beacon Academy."

Guts clicks the remote. As the next reporter speaks, the large lettering across the screen are slowly revealed backward, from the perspective of someone facing Guts. It reads: Classroom Repairs "Underway". The subheading reads: Atlas officials working on solution, but not optimistic.

Reporter 02: "...though the fail-safes have supported wireless communication within the kingdom, the loss of Beacon Tower continues to prevent contact with the Huntsman world. Talks with Atlas officials regarding repairs have so far—"

Guts clicks again, cutting off the reporter and bringing up yet another news segment. A horned anchorman speaks above the caption: Sending Citizens Home. The corner caption has the logo for VOX News.

Reporter 03: "...Vale council voted this week to continue to ban any air traffic that does not have a direct correlation with evacuation. The council has made it clear that they feel—"

Guts clicks again. His eye widens and he sits up.

Lisa Lavender spoke "Multiple rumors continue to circulate as to who was behind the attacks at the Vytal Festival Tournament."

The screen shows anchor Lisa Lavender and the VNN logo. The caption below her reads: WHITE FANG MEMBER, ADAM TAURUS, PRESENT DURING BEACON GRIMM ATTACK.

Lisa Lavender: "While no one knows for sure, officials have confirmed that high-ranking White Fang member, Adam Taurus..."

Adam's image appears on the screen at his name being spoken.

Lisa Lavender: "...was present for the attack. Any and all attempts to bring him into custody have been met with—"

Guts turns the news off. He sits there holding the remote, and a door clicks open.

Taiyang Xiao Long steps through "I'm home!"

Guts sets the remote down and leans his head backward on the couch, looking up at the newcomer that way.

"Hey, Tai" he said .

Taiyang is shown upside-down at first, as he would appear to Guts, but the image promptly rights itself. He is carrying three boxes with two bags hanging from his forearms.

Taiyang smiled "Guess what came in today!" He said

The door shuts behind Taiyang as he walks into the living room.

Guts smiled "really?"

TaiYang smiled "I can't wait for you to try this."

He walks into another room to unload, while on the couch Guts looks somewhat interested. Taiyang returns, carrying one long white box. He sets it on the coffee table in front of Guts, revealing the Kingdom of Atlas symbol on it. He looks at it and doesn't move.

TaiYang looked "Well?"

"It's actually here?" Guts asked

TaiYang smiled, "Faster than I expected, too even."

Guts lifted the lid off the box to reveal a robotic right arm. He looks it over, somewhat wide-eyed while Tai gushes. Guts blinks and looks at his stump wondering how he's going to put it on. It seemed small for him

Taiyang smiled "Brand new, state of the art Atlas tech. You know, I thought I was gonna have to pull some strings, call in a few favors, but you earned this one all on your own, quite a legend too."

Guts looked up "huh?"

Taiyang nodded "Before I could even talk to him, General Ironwood already had one of his top scientists working on this, for you. He wanted me to tell you that you fought admirably. You should be proud of yourself."

Guts sighed, looks up at Tai but says nothing.

Taiyang smiled "Well? You going to try it on?"

Guts looked up "I uh... I'm not sure it will fit…it doesn't seem that big. Are you sure it's the right size?

Taiyang deflates a bit "oh I um- I didn't think about that…" he said

Guts stood up "it's fine I'll check it out later I'm just tired right now I need my energy if I'm going to catch up with Ruby." He said

Tai nodded "alright take care I'll get supper ready." He said

Guts sat on his bed looking out the window. He just thought

The last time he was like this was after the eclipse.

After…Griffith…

Now he's waiting again. And this time It's Ruby who is getting farther and farther from him.

It is dusk, and the boat continues its journey on the smooth water. There is still peaceful bird cry, and Blake is once again on the middle deck looking out at the ocean. A Faunus couple walk behind her and she watches them, slightly less twitchy than before.

It's when she's about to leave that she senses she is being watched by someone on the upper deck. It's the hooded figure, and she immediately takes out Gambol Shroud.

Blake growled "Who's there?!"

The hooded figure turns and runs for it, blonde hair somewhat visible beneath the hood. Blake stares up at the deck, no longer watching the ocean. She does not notice the dorsal fins of a giant sea creature momentarily surface. However, she feels the boat rocking on the wake it created and lets out a grunt as she tries to keep her balance.

The creature's long-necked shadow looms over Blake as she turns around to face the water. Its shadow also falls on a member of the crew on duty in the crow's nest, who is looking up at it in horror.

The Crew Member screamed "RED ALERT!"

The alert immediately sounds. Two red lights next to a speaker pulse with the sound. The Captain and his First Mate come running out and look at the water from the upper deck, just above Blake. The Captain murmurs as the shadow falls over him.

Captain looked up horrified "By the gods…"

The long-necked creature is revealed to be a large Sea Feilong. It has a pattern of glowing red lines along the scales of its neck, and its eyes glow yellow. The Grimm swings its head back and forth, roaring and spreading its short forearms outward.

The Captain turned and called out to the ship "All hands to battle stations!"

The First Mate stuttered "Sir, we've never fought a Grimm this big!"

The Captain sighed "We've never seen something this big! But we'll give 'er a fight nonetheless!"

Blake springs into action, running off the boat and into the air. She creates one of her clones to give her added upward momentum, flinging Gambol Shroud forward in its kusarigama form. Attached to the ribbon on her wrist, it embeds itself into the Grimm's neck.

Blake swings above the Grimm and shoots it in the back of its neck. It roars. Blake lands on the crow's nest while the Captain steers from the bridge.

He keeps the ship stabilized in the Grimm's wake and steps outside to get another look at it. Blake still shoots it while it arcs back into the water. The side of the ship opens up and the cannons come out.

Blake continues her assault on the sea creature, once again swinging and shooting. The ship's cannons fire but are mostly ineffective. Blake falls back onto the ship's deck, lands on her back, bounces, and quickly gets herself back onto her feet. She discovers that her left shoulder is hurt when she moves to stand.

The Captain steering the ship again "Hold steady men, it's not done with us yet! GET THE HEAVY CANNON LOADED!" The First Mate changes from being nervous to battle-ready upon hearing this order.

The largest cannon on the ship rises up through a trapdoor on the deck, extends itself, and aims at the Grimm. The Grimm's dorsal fin splits apart and extra bone unfolds, revealing two wings. The Sea Feilong lets out a roar as it flies, its beating wings sending a gush of air at the ship. Blake cries out as she hangs on with her hurt left arm.

Captain pointed "Heavy cannon, OPEN FIRE!"

The heavy cannon shoots, but the Grimm easily evades it. It opens its mouth and an electric ball forms.

Blake readies to launch herself at it, but the hooded figure lands on her head and uses her as a launch pad.

Blake cried out "Hey!"

The figure grunts and the cloak falls back, revealing Sun Wukong. Midair, he activates his energy clones.

Blake gasped "Sun?!"

Sun and his clones land on the Grimm's head. The two clones pull on the topmost tendrils of the head while Sun grabs its upper lip.

Sun smiled "Not today, pal!"

When the Sea Feilong releases its electric blast, it goes harmlessly into the air, rather than at the ship.

Blake shook her head "What are you doing?!"

From atop the enraged Grimm's snout, Sun answers her while holding onto the two tendrils his now-disappeared clones had grabbed.

Sun tried to hang on while answering "Oh, uh, you know, just... hanging out!"

The Grimm manages to get a small electrical charge around Sun and he lets go, shouting as he falls.

Sun nearly slipped "Whoa-oa!"

Blake gasps and immediately springs into action again. She jumps onto and off the railing, using Gambol Shroud's kusarigama form on the crow's nest to swing herself around and catch Sun midair. They land on nearby rocks, with her holding him bridal style.

Sun sighed putting his hand to his heart "My hero."

Blake snapped at him "You're not supposed to be here!"

Sun rolled his eyes "Yeah!? Well, it looks like you can use all the help you can get!" He said looking to the Grimm

Blake glares at him and then rolls her eyes.

Blake groans "Ugh." And drops him "Just shut up and fight!"

She runs toward the ship in the water, where the Grimm is firing electric blasts at it. Sun is on the ground, striking a pose on his side with his hand propping up his head.

Sun sighed "Yes, ma'am!"

On the ship, the Captain is steering while two of his crew are looking at displays.

The First Mate snapped a report "Starboard defenses are down, sir!"

Captain asked for an update "we still got the heavy cannon?"

Another Crew Member answered "Aye, but it's moving too fast! We can't land a hit!"

Captain sighed "Argh. How about the engines?"

First Mate pressed a few buttons on the table bringing up the engine assessment "Fully functional, Captain!"

The Captain nodded "Well alright, then!"

On the deck, Blake is preparing to counter a hit from the Grimm's electric blast, but Sun jumps in between with a laugh of triumph. He uses Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang to deflect it and lands on the heavy cannon, resting his staff on his shoulder with a crooked grin.

The Captain got their attention "Huntsmen!"

Sun and Blake turn to the man who has come out onto the upper deck calling them.

"If you can clip its wings and draw it out towards the bow, we could take it!"

Blake turns away from the Captain to look up at Sun.

Sun shrugged "I mean, you're the one with the swords."

Blake rolled her eyes "Ugh."

Sun spins his weapon back into a holstered position and runs toward the Grimm.

Sun jumps down "Now or never!"

Sun activates three clones and jumps into the air. The first clone springs Blake upward to the second clone, which does the same. The third clone swings her up. Sun waits, laughing and opening up his arms, but then loses his smile in confusion.

Sun is confused in "Huh?"

Blake, instead of heading toward him, directs herself above him and lands on his shoulders. They sink a few feet while he grunts and Blake leaps upward off of him. High above the Sea Feilong, she begins her descent, avoiding the electric blasts it shoots at her. She runs down its right wing, slicing through the thin membrane.

Sun smirks as he waits for her on the rock she's readying to land on and catches her. The impact causes the rock surface to crack around them while he's left holding her bridal style. Blake smiles at him until he speaks.

Sun leans forward "This is the part where you say it."

Blake turned her head away "Ugh."

The Grimm moves around them, causing the precarious rocky area to collapse. Blake is on the move again, leaving Sun behind.

"Okay, maybe later!"

Sun jumps off the collapsing rock. The Sea Feilong flies after them, knocking rocks down as he goes. The Captain watches from the bridge through a spyglass before throwing a handle and increasing the boat's speed. It sails beside the destructive Grimm, keeping apace.

Sun continues to hop around, avoiding the Grimm's attacks until one more move puts him directly in front of its open mouth. Blake swings in on her ribbon and gets him out of reach. The Grimm prepares a blast to get them both in one shot when it is impaled by the bowsprit of the boat.

Captain snapped "Fire!"

The heavy cannon fires and hits the Grimm dead on. Its upper half is blasted to pieces, and it dies immediately. The Captain, the First Mate and Crew Member all cheer. The cheer is upheld by the passengers on the ship who also join in with applause. On their rock, Sun celebrates while Blake smiles and lowers her head in relief.

Sun laughed "Ha-ha!" lifting his hand for a high five "Up top!"

Blake turns and glares at him.

Sun wiggled his hand with a grin "Eh?"

With a cry, Blake swings her arm around to slap him in the face. He rears back in slow-motion and the screen goes black to the sound of her hand making contact with his flesh.

It is nighttime on the middle deck of the ship. Blake is at the railing again, only this time facing sideways.

Sun groaned "Seriously, it was no big deal!"

Sun is revealed to be talking to two of the Faunus passengers.

Sun shrugged "Just enjoy the rest of your trip and everything will be cool! We got this!"

The two Faunus, a male with horns and a female with rabbit ears wave goodbye and turn away. Sun struts over to Blake.

Sun leaned back on the boat "You'd think they'd never seen a fight before."

Blake glared at Sun "What are you doing here, Sun?"

Sun smiled " Diggin' the new outfit, by the way!" pointing to her ears "Never did like the bow."

Blake slapped his hand away "Sun!"

Sun sighed "Geez!"

Blake snapped "Have you been following me?!"

Sun looked a touch abashed "I saw you run off so did Yang. The night Beacon Tower fell. Once we landed in Vale, you made sure everyone was okay. And then you just took off, without saying anything. Yang was worried near hysteria actually so I decided to follow you telling Yang I'd watch over you just to get her to calm down they care for you, you know. Your friends. They were upset when you ran away."

Blake looked away "I had to. You wouldn't understand."

Sun smiled "No, I get it! The moment you left, I knew exactly what you were doing!"

Blake smiles at him, pleased at feeling understood.

Sun smirked "You're going on a one-woman rampage against the White Fang!"

Blake's happy expression falls.

Blake in a little bit in disbelief "What?"

"I'm joking obviously. But seriously." He said as Sun pointed out his reasoning "You always felt like the Fang was your fight. They show up, trash your school, hurt your friends. It makes perfect sense!"

Blake shook her head "I can't believe you."

Sun looked proudly "But there's no way I'm letting you do this alone! It's an honorable approach, for sure, but you're going to need someone to watch your back. And that's where I come in!" He put his arm around her. "Us Faunus got to stick together, after all."

Blake pushed Sun away "You're wrong, Sun. You're so, so wrong."

Blake turns her back on him and walks away.

Sun looked at her and asked "What are you...

Blake spoke cutting him off "I'm not going anywhere near the White Fang. Not yet."

Sun tilted his head "Seriously?"

Blake shook her head "I…need to sort some things out…a few things just don't make sense and I need guidance…"

Sun leaned in "Then why not do it with your team? Your friends?"

Blake spun around "You're one to talk! Assuming Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet aren't hiding below deck!"

Sun looked at the sky as he sat on the railing "You really think I could get Neptune on the ocean? They flew back to Mistral! I told them I'd catch up! It's not the first time I left them to take a boat! So, if you're not going after the White Fang, where are you going?"

Blake looked out to the ocean "Home, to Menagerie."

Sun smiled "Well, I'm coming with you. The Grimm are getting worse; you saw it yourself! And just because you're not going after the Fang doesn't mean they won't be coming for you! Besides, I'm... kind of already on the boat."

Blake shook her head "There's really no stopping you?"

Sun shook his head "Nope! This is going to be great! Never been in Menagerie before! It'll be a regular journey to the east! Yeah, I like the sound of that."

On patch

Guts stayed in bed most of the day however he did come down when he heard Port and oobleck talking and got caught up about stuff at Beacon.

Guts sat on the bed and huffed. "You know why the fuck not. Let's see it in action." Guts said as he took the arm and slid it over his stump.

"Wha-ow!" Guts gasped as he looked down and felt a needle puncture his stub

"What the-woah?!" Guts said as his eyes went wide as he felt his own hand touching his metal hand as if it was his own nerves.

"Holy shit! Ok now I see why this was expensive…" Guts said as he moved his arm around

"Still a bit small though…" he said as he made a hard swing towards the ground this cause the metal arm to jiggle only for a loud beep to occur on the arm "warningImplant not secure. Readjusting size to fit please do not move." The arm said as the arm then brought down two support arms claiming around his stump to a comfortable fit but also secure the arm announced "implant secure. Please test fitting."

Guts was amazed as he moved his arm around "dang it's as if I have my arm again nice." He said

On a path through the woods, Team RNJR moves forward with Ruby looking at a map.

Ruby cheered "Come on, guys! If we pick up the pace, we can hit the next town before sunset!"

Jaune rolled his eyes sighing "Assuming it's still there."

Pyrrha put a arm on his shoulder. "Jaune…" she said

Ruby looked hopeful "Of course it'll be there. This one's supposed to be pretty big! Hee-gan...bayn-a."

Ren walked forward "Higanbana. It's a well protected village with a popular inn."

Nora pointed up "Which means, no camping in the rain!"

Ruby nodded and looked to Jaune and Pyrrha "See? Everything's going to be fine!"

Jaune tried to look up "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."

Ren nodded "As did I."

Nora smiled "I guess our luck is finally turning around!"

The scene changes to Team RNJR being viewed from above, a rocky outcropping just on the edge of the view.

Nora cheered "To Higanbana!"

Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren joined in "To Higanbana!"

Ruby finished too "To Higanban... ban-a!"

A Beowolf stomps into view and growls at the four kids. Just as it is about to leap, it is stabbed through by Qrow. Three disintegrating bodies of other Beowolves are just behind him. A black raven caws from a tree branch on eye level with Qrow, catching his attention. He looks at it and it flies off, following RNJR.

Qrow scoffed as he hefted his sword. "Heh Luck."

It's raining on the village of Higanbana. Through the window of an inn, the four kids are shown silently discussing with the proprietor. A backward zooms brings the visual out into the street, and through yet another window being viewed from the inside of a tavern. Qrow sits at a table, watching.

A waitress sets a glass with liquor and ice in front of him.

Qrow looks up "Oh, I didn't o—"

The Waitress smiled "From the woman upstairs. Red eyes. Said you wouldn't mind bottom shelf."

Qrow turns and looks up. An overhead shot shows the spacious lower level of the tavern and its several round tables, while the edge of a balcony is just visible. Qrow turns back.

Qrow sighed "Thanks."

Waitress leaned forward winking showing him her cleavage "But I went ahead and gave you top. Lucky you." He said as she walked away.

With a pleased smirk, Qrow watches the waitress as she walks away. After she is gone, he looks through the two windows to see no one visible in the lobby of the inn.

Qrow sigh "Yeah."

He takes his glass and heads upstairs. Raven Branwen waits for him at one of the tables, her mask atop it.

Raven looked at him calmly "Hello, brother."

Qrow stares at her from the top of the stairs for a moment before moving to her.

Qrow shrugged "Raven."

He pulls the chair that's beside her and drags it to a position across from her instead. With his hand on the back of the chair, he simply looks at her expectantly. Raven rolls her eyes and moves her mask to the side.

Qrow finally sits "So, what do you want?"

Raven spoke up "A girl can't just catch up with her family?" She asked

Qrow looked expectantly "She can, but you're not. Now how 'bout we get on with it? Unless you plan on keeping these comin'

He sets the glass down.

Raven got right to business "Does she have it?"

Qrow doesn't answer right away, instead running his fingertip along the edge of his glass.

Qrow looked at her "Did you know it was going to happen?"

Raven leaned back "That's not—."

Qrow snapped at her like the jaws of hell "Rhetorical question, I know you know. It's just obnoxious that you'd bring up family and then carry on like your own daughter doesn't exist."

Raven "I saved her.

Qrow shook his head "no you didn't you almost did Once. But your still calling that one huh? Because that was your rule, right? Real "Mom of the Year" material, sis." Qrow hissed

Raven leans forward and grabs Qrow by the forearm, stilling his sarcastic, nonchalant motions. The view slowly spins above their heads as she speaks intently to him.

Raven hissed "I told you Beacon would fall and it did. I told you Ozpin would fail and he has. Now you tell me. Does. Salem. Have it?"

Qrow looked interested in her interest "I thought you weren't interested in all of that?" He asked

Raven leaned forward "I just want to know what we are up against.

"And which "we" are you referring to? Because the way I see it you abandoned us…but don't worry we replaced you…got someone better…and of course Beacon didn't fall." Qrow said

Raven glares and finally lets go of her brother and sits back down with a noise of disgust.

Qrow looked at her "You should come back, Raven. The only way we'd beat her is by working together. All of us."

Raven growled at him again "You're the one who left. The tribe raised us, and you turned your back on them."

Qrow glared at her "They were killers and thieves."

Raven but back a response "They were your family."

Qrow after a long pause said "…You have a very skewed perception of that word."

Raven stands up, upset.

Raven points to herself "I lead our people now. And as leader, I will do everything in my power to ensure our survival."

Qrow nods "I saw. The people of Shion saw, too."

Raven smiled "The weak die, the strong live. Those are the rules."

Qrow leaned forward "Well, you've certainly got someone strong on your side. I've seen the damage."

Raven turned away "We couldn't have known the Grimm would set in as quickly as they did."

Qrow whispered "I'm not talking about the Grimm."

Still not facing Qrow, Raven looks up, eyes widening slightly at his words.

Qrow countuned "And I'm not talking about you, either."

Raven turned back "If you don't know where the Relic is, then we have nothing left to talk about."

As she reaches for her mask, Qrow grabs onto the top of it.

Qrow growled "I don't know where the Spring Maiden is, either, but if you do, I need you to tell me."

Raven smiled vilely "And why would I do that?" pulling her mask out of Qrow's grasp

"Because without her, we're all going to die." He said

A moment of tense silence passes between them as a nearby lantern dies out.

Raven scoffed "And which "we" are you referring to?"

Qrow grimaces as Raven walks away. The sound of her sword getting unsheathed is heard and he looks up, unhappy. Raven walks into her red portal and disappears. There's the sound of breaking glass and a gasp. Qrow turns to see the waitress, trembling at the sight of Raven disappearing. She takes a cautious step backward as she looks sideways at Qrow.

Qrow gestured to his glass "Make this one a double." He said

(Eoc)

Here we go start of Arc 2 and the Haven Arc I'm going to try to keep the Arc's self contained this time I know there was some overlap before I'll make sure that doesn't happen this time with that said Keep reading. Bankerrtx01