AN: Hey, guys! Sorry for the delay, but I decided to change my approach when it came for the rest of Volume 6. Basically, I actually went ahead and planned out and wrote a full outline for how I want to rest of the Volume to play out. Basically, I realized that the approach I was taking before, namely writing chapter-by-chapter and episode-by-episode was resulting in a lot of copy-and-paste from canon, since I'm not as familiar with Volume 6 compared to Volume 1, which was almost entirely original. So, I'm trying to mitigate needing to rely on the official episode transcriptions by planning out the rest of the volume in advance. This is the first chapter written using that new approach. Hopefully, it came across well.

I also have an announcement to make. I've been working with someone on making a Final Fantasy 7 X RWBY Crossover story. It's still in the planning stages, but I think I'm getting kind of close to being able to actually start writing it, so look forward to that in the coming weeks. I'll just need to figure out a schedule to divide my time between this story and that one well.

I also would like to thank Lord Maximus for providing me with a character used in this chapter.

With all that said, onwards!

Chapter 122

"So, uh, where are we going again?" Sora asked, walking with Cinder and Ash with his hands head casually behind his head.

"We're going to see Lil Miss Malachite," Cinder said.

"Okay…" Sora said. "And that is…?"

Cinder sighed. "An information broker… among other things… She should be able to tell us where we can find Ruby."

"Who exactly is Ruby?" Ash asked.

"I told you, she's your…well, Aqua's daughter," Cinder said.

"I'm aware of that," Ash said. "But, seeing as how I don't remember her, I was asking to get some clarification about who she is as a person."

"Yeah, I'm kinda curious, too," Sora said. "You said she had a Keyblade, right?"

Cinder nodded. "Yes, since she was five years old."

"Wow," Sora said. "I've only had mine for, like, two years. I can't imagine how strong she must be if she's had one for so long."

"Yeah, she's very strong," Cinder said. "And she's kind, and has a great sense of humor, and she's really pretty, and she's just wonderful—"

Cinder realized she was starting to ramble, and Sora and Ash were giving her weird looks.

"I get the impression that finding Ruby is more for your own sake than mine," Ash said.

"…Maybe," Cinder said.

"Well, I suppose we should hope that Malachite was able to deliver, then," Ash said, walking ahead of the other two.

"…Is she always going to be like that?" Cinder asked.

"Like what?" Sora asked.

"Is she always going to lack emotions like that?" Cinder asked.

"Well, Nobodies have the ability to grow new hearts eventually," Sora said. "It's part of the reason why I think she deserves to be her own person. There's also…"

Cinder noticed he trailed off. "Also what?" she asked.

"…Nothing," Sora said.

"Oh, no you don't," Cinder said. "Tell me what you were about to say."

Sora sighed deeply. "It's not important."

Cinder was going to argue the point further, but she noticed a shadow watching them from a nearby alley. She stopped walking, and saw the figure retreat further into the alleyway.

"Cinder?" Sora asked. "Are you okay?"

She narrowed her eye at the alleyway. "…Yeah…You two go on ahead. I'll catch up."

"What's going on?" Ash asked.

"I just remembered something I need to take care of. Ash, do you remember where Malachite's is?" The woman nodded. "You can show Sora the way."

"…Okay," Ash said. "How long will you be?"

"I shouldn't be long," Cinder said. "I just need to deal with something."

With a nod, Sora and Ash turned to walk away, and Cinder turned into the alleyway.

"You know, for a bounty hunter, you really need to work on keeping a low profile," she said as a man stepped into the center on the alleyway. The man was tall, with dark skin and short dark hair, a thick overcoat, and a sickle where his right hand should have been.

"I was counting on you seeing me," the man said. "I was hoping you'd be stupid enough to come face me alone. This'll be easier without having to worry about pedestrians getting in the way."

"I assume this is about Haven?" Cinder asked.

"More like the bounty that Haven earned you," the man said. "So, you have two options. You can either come quietly, or I bring your head to the authorities."

"I think you know what my answer is going to be," Cinder said.

"Yeah," the man said. "Just figured I'd extend the courtesy." He took a combat stance. "I hope you know it's nothing personal."

"Neither is this," Cinder said, summoning her Keyblade.

Cinder solemnly stepped out of the alleyway, pulling her hood up over her face. She took a look around to make sure no one was watching, and turned to go back down towards Malachite's.

She stopped as she passed by a storefront, noticing that in her reflection, she could see a drop of blood on her cheek.

She wiped it away and kept moving.

Cinder, Ash, and Sora walked into the tavern, making a beeline for Lil' Miss Malachite, sitting at the same table as the last time they met.

"Well, there seem to be more of you than last time," Malachite said.

"This is Lil' Miss Malachite?" Sora whispered, leaning closely into Ash's ear.

"Yes," Ash said. "Though she seems to dislike people bringing it up."

"Do you have my information?" Cinder asked.

"Of course I do, darling," Malachite said. "Lil' Miss always delivers. Although, I can't promise you'll be pleased."

"Just get on with it," Cinder said.

"Word is they were seen boarding the Argus Limited a while back," Malachite said. "While that isn't exactly far from here, Argus is rarely a destination for folks. Chances are they'll be going straight to—"

"Atlas," Cinder said, interrupting her. "Thank you for the information." She turned to her travelling companions. "Let's go."

"You know, you turned out to be quite the interesting customer… Cinder."

Cinder stopped and turned around at hearing Malachite say her name.

"It's not often a single client brings me double the business."

"What does that mean?" Sora asked.

"Wait…" Cinder said, hearing a creaking sound above her. She looked up, and saw a short girl with pink, brown, and white hair carrying an umbrella stood above her, holding her umbrella slung over her shoulder. "Neo?" Cinder asked.

"Who?" Sora asked.

"Maybe put away the good glasses," Malachite said to one of her henchmen.

Neo jumped down from the balcony, swinging her umbrella at Cinder. Cinder quickly summoned her Keyblade to block the attack, only for Neo's body to shatter like glass and reappear from a different direction and knock her back.

"Cinder!" Sora exclaimed, stepping towards her.

"Stay back!" Cinder shouted. "I'll deal with this! I have a feeling I know what this is about."

Neo looked curiously at Cinder's limp left sleeve before smirking, clearly thinking that was going to make things easier. Cinder flipped her Keyblade into a reverse grip.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to talk about this," Cinder said. Instead of answering, Neo charged at her, and Cinder blocked several attacks before a kick hit her in the left side and knocked her back into Malachite's table. Cinder quickly pushed herself off the table in time for Neo to stab into it, barely missing her.

"Wait!" Cinder yelled. "Stop!" Neo kept up the attack, slashing at her several times while Cinder desperately tried to dodge. Neo went for a low kick, and Cinder used her magic to launch herself into the air, landing on the railing of the balcony.

"That's enough, ladies!" Malachite yelled, as all the Spiders pointed their weapons at them. "I love dinner and a show, but it's time to take it outside."

Cinder landed hard on the ground, having been thrown out the window of the tavern. She saw Neo glaring down at her before she shattered. Cinder quickly looked around, and saw Neo walking towards her, but her clothes were more torn than they were before, and on her head was…

…a black bowler hat.

"…I thought so…" Cinder said under her breath, before she dismissed her Keyblade. "I know you must hate me. I don't blame you for that. But I don't want to fight you."

Neo glared at her, and extended the blade from the end of her umbrella. She walked towards her, and raised her weapon.

"I mean it," Cinder said. "I won't fight you."

Neo ran towards her, raising her umbrella with the intent to run her through.

*CLANG*

Suddenly, Sora was between the two of them, his Keyblade in hand and blocking Neo's attack.

"Please, stop it!" Sora said.

Neo's eyes widened at seeing the boy, and then…

…She blushed?

Neo backed up from the two of them, her face bright red. She held her cheeks sheepishly, and stole nervous glances at Sora.

Cinder slapped her forehead.

Did she seriously just get saved by a teenage girl developing a crush?

"Sora, it's fine," Cinder said. "This is Neo."

The girl sheepishly waved at the boy, who just looked confused at the whole situation.

"Why did she attack you?" Sora asked.

"Because… she blames me for her father's death," Cinder said. Her words finally snapped Neo out of her embarrassment, and the girl glared at her. "… And she's not wrong."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"…I led an attack on Beacon Academy a year ago," Cinder said. "I recruited Neo and her father, Roman, to help me. Roman died in the attack."

"You did what?" Sora asked, looking at her uneasily.

"I was being controlled at the time," Cinder tried to quickly explain, before looking at Neo. "I know you're mad at me, but I wasn't in control of my actions at the time. I want to explain it to you. If you're still not satisfied, then you can do what you want. Do we have a deal?"

Neo kept glaring at her for a few seconds, before she eventually nodded.

"Thank you," Cinder said. Sora walked up to the girl and extended his hand.

"Your name is Neo?" he asked. She nodded, the blush returning to her face. "I'm Sora. Nice to meet you."

After a few seconds of staring at his hand, Neo eventually shook it with a smile on her face.

"…So, I take it everything is fine?" Ash asked, having finally come outside. Neo looked at her in confusion.

"Yes, everything's fine," Cinder said. "Neo, meet Ash." That seemed to confuse the girl even further. "…I'll explain that, too."

Qrow held his hand over his face to protect it from the unrelenting snowfall as the group trudged through the snow in the farm. Taking a look around, Qrow thought it was curious that the entire place looked like any other hamlet. No damage, nothing.

Except for the fact that it was completely deserted.

"I don't get it," Ruby said. "The empty towns I've passed through were all damaged or unfinished. But this place looks… fine."

"Maybe something happened that made everyone pack up and leave," Riku said. "I mean, the winters here seem pretty brutal."

The group arrived at the porch of the largest residence on the property, and Mini Ice Queen rubbed her palms together and breathed into them to try and warm her hands up.

"You might have a point," she said. Qrow tried to open the door, but found that it was locked.

"Hmmm. Stay on guard," Qrow said, before kicking in the door. The group poured in, weapons drawn. They carefully took a look around.

"Close the door already!" Maria shouted in irritation as she walked into the house. "It's cold enough in here as it is." Blake and Oscar closed the door and shoved a piece of furniture in front of it, since the lock was broken. Qrow turned around, and saw Aqua looking around what appeared to be a living room.

"This is a nice place," she said. "Reminds me of our home back on Patch." She turned around and smiled at him. "Don't you think?"

Qrow looked sadly at her, before taking another swig of his flask.

Why did she have to haunt him like this?

Ruby looked at her uncle in concern as he took a drink from his flask. It really looked like something was bothering him, but she wasn't sure what. He had been looking off into the distance with a pained expression on his face, followed by alcohol for a while.

She wished she knew what she could do to help.

"I saw a chimney from the outside," Blake said. "Maybe we could get a fire going?"

"Please," Weiss said. "I'll even loan you Mushu."

"Hey, I'm not a match!" Mushu shouted indignantly, appearing suddenly on Weiss's shoulder. "First Mulan uses me to light a cannon, and now this? What's a guardian dragon gotta do to get some respect around here?"

"You know what?" Weiss asked, still looking at Blake as she flicked the tiny dragon off her shoulder. "Forget what I said about loaning. You can keep him."

"Hey!" Mushu shouted.

"…I'll pass," Blake said. "I have my full enough with Genie."

"You called?" the blue man in question asked, appearing in a puff of smoke. "Hey, hey, you think you can call Jinn back out for me?"

Blake gave Ruby an uneasy look. "…Yeah, I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Aw," Genie said, slumping his shoulders in disappointment and disappearing.

"…I'll go look for some blankets," Weiss said in an unamused tone.

"Yang, go with her," Uncle Qrow said, and the two of them left to go looking. Ruby could hear Oscar open a door and step into another room.

"Looks like a study. Or, a library?" he asked to no one in particular. Ruby took a look around, and spotted a group of pictures hanging on the wall. In the center was a family, presumably the ones that owned the place.

"You okay?" Riku asked, walking up to her. "You look like you've got something on your mind."

"I don't know," Ruby said. "Something doesn't feel right about this."

"It might be nothing," Tifa said. "Let's just see if—"

Suddenly, they heard a high-pitched scream coming from upstairs. But Ruby recognized who had screamed.

"Weiss?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Let's go!" Riku shouted, and he, Ruby, Blake, Tifa, and Uncle Qrow rushed up the stairs. They burst into the bedroom, and saw Weiss sitting on the floor in shock, and Yang stood in the middle of the room, looking like she was going to be sick.

"What happened?" Blake asked, and Weiss just silently pointed at the bed. Ruby cautiously took a look, and she quickly realized why her sister looked so sickened.

Lying in the bed, under the covers as if they had simply gone to sleep, was a pair of decomposing corpses.

Ruby sat on the couch next to Yang, the sisters wrapping their arms around each other. Weiss sat on the floor, watching the fire that Mushu had been gracious enough to light anyway, despite his initial protests, and Riku and Tifa were sitting on the floor across from her. Surprisingly, it looked like Riku was having a difficult time processing what had happened. Oscar and Miss Calavera sat on a different couch. Weiss was clearly still shaken by what she had seen, so Blake grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around the former heiress's shoulders, before sitting down next to her.

The front door opened and closed, signaling that Uncle Qrow had returned from checking the rest of the estate. He walked into the living room, brushing snow off of himself.

"It's the same in every house," he said.

"What?" Yang asked.

"Bodies," Uncle Qrow clarified. "Every bed in every home. It's like the whole estate just went to sleep and never woke up."

"Then we're not staying here, right?" Weiss asked desperately, prompting Blake to wrap her arms around Weiss's shoulders.

"We don't have a choice," Uncle Qrow said as he walked over the fireplace to warm up. "Storm outside's only getting worse. We'd freeze to death before we made it anywhere." He turned around and noticed Riku turning green. "You doing okay, kid?"

"Is stuff like this normal in this world?" Riku asked.

"I've seen a lot of messed-up stuff in my day, but even this is new to me," Uncle Qrow said. "You'll get used to it."

"Oh, I really don't want to," Riku said. "I can't wait to go home."

"Well, if we can't leave, then we might as well get comfortable," Miss Calavera said, walking over to a bookshelf.

"Yeah, fat chance," Yang said.

"Um, maybe we should do something to take our minds off of it," Tifa suggested.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "If this place wasn't abandoned it might still have supplies we could use."

"Hey, yeah," Oscar said. "Maybe even a car."

"I'll do another sweep of the grounds," Uncle Qrow said. "No one goes anywhere alone."

"I'm going with you," Riku said quickly. "I need some fresh air. Besides, I think anyone that leaves the house should have a Keyblade Wielder with them in case Heartless show up."

"…Fine," Uncle Qrow said. "Come on, kid." The two of them left, and Ruby turned to her sister.

"Hey, why don't we go look for a vehicle?" Ruby asked. Yang gave an annoyed huff.

"Fine," Yang said. "Whatever gets me out of this house."

Ruby hopped off the couch, holding out her hand for Yang to take. Yang took it, and Ruby yanked her to her feet. The two of them walked over to the front door, and Ruby pushed the dresser out of the way. They stepped outside, and Ruby waved as Tifa closed the door behind them and pushed the dresser back into place.

Yang shoulder-tackled the door to a nearby shed, and she and her sister quickly shuffled inside to get away from the cold. The first thing they were greeted with was an old tractor.

"Yeah, I don't think that's going to work," Ruby said jokingly. Yang smiled for a second before they continued further into the shed.

"What do you think happened here?" Yang asked.

"Don't know," Ruby said. "Maybe some kind of plague?"

"Yeah, maybe," Yang said. She stopped and put a hand to her forehead.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah… I mean, no," Yang said. "But, I don't know. I'm just tired." Ruby gave Yang a concerned look, but said nothing. Yang kept walking, and spotted a flatbed under a window. "Hey, I found something," she called out. She looked up, and saw a flash of a familiar, haunting head of red hair, and a red sword. She gasped loudly, and stepped away from the window. Simba suddenly appeared at her side, and Ruby gripped her shoulder. When Yang looked up, Adam was gone.

"Are you okay?" Simba asked.

"What happened?" Ruby asked.

"I…" Yang said, still breathing heavily from the shock. "I'm sorry. I still get flashes from Beacon."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"…That Adam guy," Yang explained. "The one that took my arm. Ever since Beacon, I've been seeing him. In my nightmares, mostly, but sometimes something will remind me of him, and I'll just freeze."

"Yang…" Ruby said sadly.

Yang sighed deeply. "It got so bad that back in Patch, some guys tried to carry me off, and I couldn't fight back because one of them had the same hair color as him. Barret had to step in and help me." She chuckled humorlessly. "Pretty pathetic, huh?"

She was almost knocked over when Ruby ran up and hugged her. "Stop it. You aren't pathetic."

Yang felt Simba nuzzle against her leg. "For years, I relived that moment every time I closed my eyes. It'll get easier eventually."

"I hope so," Yang said, wrapping one arm around Ruby and using her other hand to pet Simba's head. "I just don't know what I'm gonna do if I ever see him again for real."

"If that ever happens, I promise, we'll take him together." Ruby said, hugging her tighter.

"…I just hope that'll be enough," Yang said, hugging Ruby tighter before letting go. "Come on. Let's head back. We can hook that flatbed up to Bumblebee in the morning. It should be enough to carry everyone."

"Yang?" Ruby asked.

"I just want to get some sleep," Yang said. "I'm tired."

Blake stepped down into the basement, using her flashlight to illuminate it. Weiss and Tifa walked in behind her.

"Mushu, if you'd please," Weiss said, gesturing to the candles hanging on the wall.

"Yeah, yeah," the little dragon said, spitting a small fire at the candles and illuminating the room.

"Thank you," Weiss said. Taking a look around, the light revealed that they were actually in a bar, with various alcoholic bottles on the shelves.

"Okay, I think we should make sure to not tell Qrow about this room," Tifa said.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"I'm starting to get concerned about him," Tifa said.

"I know what you mean," Blake said. "I didn't know him that long before Beacon fell, but it looks like Aqua's death really hit him hard. I can only imagine how he's taking… you know, all that other stuff about Salem."

"Speaking of…" Weiss said. "Are we really still bringing the lamp to Atlas?"

"What else would we do with it?" Tifa asked.

"I mean… you heard what Jinn said," Weiss said. "If there's no way to kill Salem, then what's the point in all of this?"

"I can see your point," Blake said.

"We've come all this way, and you want to quit now?" Tifa asked.

"Well, I…" Weiss said before sighing. "I'm sorry. I'm just really tired and I really, really hate this place."

"I know it looks hopeless now, but I know we can figure something out if we don't give up," Tifa said.

"I wish I shared your confidence," Weiss said. "It's just, first we lost Aqua, and then we learned Salem can't die. We lost the strongest person I've ever met, and there's no end in sight. I'm starting to lose sight of the point of all this."

"Look, we should just get the Relic to Atlas, and then we can figure out what to do from there. In the meantime, we still need to stop Salem from getting it. If you want to quit, it can wait until we get it safely to Atlas."

"…Whatever," Weiss said.

"Hey, check this out," Blake said, opening the door to another room, revealing a wine cellar. "…And more alcohol." They stepped into the room, noticing a large set of metal doors with a chain wrapped around the handles. "Wonder what's down there."

"Hey, I found some food," Tifa said, holding a can of beans.

"A can?" Weiss asked.

"It's better than nothing," Blake said.

"…Fine," Weiss said. "But I still seriously hate this place…"

"You and me, both."

AN: So, how did I do? I know I still used some dialogue directly from canon, but hopefully this was a little more interesting than before.

So, Neo has now met Sora and Ash, and it seems like our little ice cream girl has a bit of a crush.

And the guy that Cinder killed in the alley was Daniel, one of the goons Midas hired earlier. He was the one that fled. I just wanted to make sure he's gone.

I want to remind everyone that this story has a Tv Tropes page! I can't to see what you guys put on it!

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!