"Thanks for everything, Granny" Musashi said, as she approached the woods on the outskirts of the village, with Amber on her horse trotting beside her.

"Hmph. Granny? Kids these days just do not have much respect in them, do they?" the old woman grumbled as she saw the two women off

"Thank you for everything, ma'am" Amber said with a nod as she waved her own goodbyes as the old woman waved her thanks away

"Take care of yourselves, you hear? Do it well enough then, who knows, you might just live long enough to reach my age" the old woman said with a chuckle as she turned around to head back to her home.

"So, Musashi" Amber started as the two women trekked through the woods "What's your plan for now? If you're looking for a place with a big city, Vale's a good enough destination. Atlas is a nice place, too but I wouldn't really recommend it nor would I recommend Vacuo"

Musashi hummed to herself as she weighed her options but before she could answer the girl's questions, the snap of a twig and a low growl ahead of her broke her concentration. Looking up, the girl's eyes narrowed and her hands immediately went to her weapons at her sides as she glared at the pack of Grimm in front of her.

"Three Ursa, a Major and two Minor" Amber said as she got off of her horse, her staff at the ready as her eyes started to shine with a menacing glow.

"Not only that, I count five other Demonic Beasts" Musashi added, a katana in each hand "Those wolf type beasts"

Without warning, two Beowolves immediately pounced towards the two women, claws outstretched and ready to tear out the throats of their prey. Unfazed by the action, Musashi sidestepped the attack with practiced ease as she raised her arms high in the air before immediately decapitating one of the Beowolves with a single swift motion.

Not forgetting about the other one, Musashi spun around before immediately splitting the Beowolf in half with a devastating cleave to its chest, killing it instantly.

Amber, not to be undone by her new companion, took to the skies as she summoned a lightning bolt to immediately extinguish two Ursa Minor before tossing two fireballs that completely incinerated the Ursa Major.

Musashi whistled in amazement as she witnessed Amber's powers before she hastily blocked an incoming attack from an Alpha Beowolf. Cursing her inattentiveness in the middle of battle, the young woman immediately jumped back to avoid an incoming attack by another Beowolf.

"You guys sure are nasty little things, huh?" Musashi said to herself as she jumped back into the battle. Easily parrying an attack by the Aplha, the woman then directed her offense to the other Beowolf, as she sliced it in half right down the middle. Not slowing down her momentum, Musashi then found herself behind the Alpha Beowolf before swiftly relieving it of its head, killing it instantly "But I've faced worse. Much worse"

"Musashi, look out!" came Amber's voice in warning as a hail of frozen leaves mercilessly shredded a Beowolf that had lunged towards Musashi's unprotected back. With the immediate threat subdued, the young Maiden breathed a sigh of relief as she floated back down to the ground but not without a slight frown on her face, "You know, you really should be paying more attention to your surroundings, especially in a forest like this. What would have happened if I didn't reach in time?"

Musashi, meanwhile, could only show a toothy smile at the girl's admonishment, "Ah, I knew you were gonna take care of that Demonic Beast for me so I wasn't worried" the girl said as she patted Amber on her back.

Amber could only sigh at her companion's nonchalant attitude, "Are you always this reckless?"

"Only with my friends" Musashi replied with a small laugh before a small frown formed on her face.

"Musashi? What's wrong?" Amber asked as she got back on her horse.

"Nothing, it's just…" Musashi started as she massaged her arms

"Are your injuries acting up?" Amber asked

"No. That aura thing you talked about, really helped me patch them up nicely" the woman replied as she started swinging her arms around "My power seems to be… lacking, for lack of a better word…"

"Lacking? What do you mean?"

"Hmmm… How do I put this? It's like, ever since stepping foot into this world of Remnant, I've felt… not as strong as I was in the world I was in previously" Musashi explained as the two women resumed their journey through the woods "I've had my suspicions for the past few days but that battle just now confirmed it. I'm afraid I'm just not as strong as I was before I came here"

Amber stared at her new companion before speaking up, "Oh. Are you feeling alright?"

"I feel fine. Healthier than I've ever been, even" Musashi replied with a shake of her head "I guess if I were to put it in simple terms, I can't hit as hard as I could before. I still remember all the skills and techniques that I've mastered along the way but for some reason, my strength seems to have gone down quite a bit"

"Oh, well…" Amber said, letting her words trail off before continuing "I'm not sure what to say to that"

Musashi let out a small laugh at the woman's honest reply, "Ah, it's fine. I'm sure it'll come back to me, eventually. That's just how great I am, don't you know?"

"Well, if you can make jokes about it, then I'm sure it's nothing, after all" Amber added

[/]

"Emerald. Were you spotted?" the woman asked as her green-haired subordinate returned to their hideout, a scroll in hand.

"No, ma'am" the girl replied

"Excellent. Now, report" the woman commanded

"Ma'am" Emerald started as she handed the scroll to the woman "Our target, Amber, is headed this way on horseback. She's currently travelling with a grey-haired woman who uses two swords as weapons"

"A companion?" the woman said, a small frown on her face as she played the recording on the device in her hands "What are your thoughts on her combat abilities?"

"From what I saw, her strength could definitely rival some of the more experienced Hunters out there. Definitely skilled with the sword" Emerald replied as the woman studied the recording on the scroll.

"What of your Semblance? Can you use them on both of the women at the same time?" Cinder asked, eyes sharp

Emerald swallowed before answering, "I can but… it would take a lot of concentration, ma'am. I would suffer a headache that would leave me vulnerable for a few seconds"

The woman clicked her tongue at Emerald's answer as her frown grew deeper. The small action from the woman caused Emerald to flinch slightly, an act that went unnoticed by the woman.

"And the horse? Can you use your semblance on the animal?" the woman asked

"Yes, I can. Without any complication, ma'am" Emerald answered, an eager look in her eyes as their third companion, a gray-haired teenage boy, snorted at the quick change in Emerald's attitude.

"Good. Make the animal panic. Once the two women are distracted by that" the woman said before turning her attention to the gray-haired boy "Mercury, you and Emerald are to keep the two of them busy. Inflict as much damage as possible but do not take unnecessary risks. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am" came the reply from both teens.

"Excellent. Do not let your guard down, especially around the Fall Maiden. Study the recording Emerald took" the woman said as she passed the scroll back to the girl in question "I don't think I have to stress this next part but failure is not option. They'll be here in a few hours. Make sure you're ready before then"

[/]

"Ehhh? You're kidding. There's no udon in this world?" Musashi asked, a look of horror dawning on her face as she could only stare at Amber in shock.

"I don't… think so…" Amber replied before hurriedly adding, "Although, I could be wrong. This… udon might be a local delicacy and since I've never actually been to all of the kingdoms, you probably shouldn't take my word for it"

"Right, right. Of course. There's still hope, then" Musashi muttered to herself, breathing a sigh of relief before the duo finally reached the end of the forest "Phew. Never thought I'd miss the open sky this much"

"Ah, it wasn't so bad" Amber said, a small giggle escaping her lips

"Says the person riding on horseback" Musashi countered

"I offered to let you ride but you didn't want to" Amber argued

"Nah. Never was a fan of horses. Or forests" Musashi said as she stretched her arms. Turning her attention towards the road ahead, the woman then spotted the road split off into two directions "By the way, where are we going?"

"Hmm… Well, according to this map I got, if we go straight, it'll take us to a nearby settlement where we can stock up on supplies and maybe get a room in an inn" Amber answered

"Oh, maybe they'll even have some udon there" Musashi suggested, a small light of hope in her eyes

"Maybe" Amber added with a chuckle before pointing to the road going left "While that way would take us to the port city of Argus. If you want to go to Vale or even Atlas, Argus would be your best bet"

"Hmm… Well, a city would be nice change of pace from the places I've been to so far" Musashi replied as she thought back to the familiar world of Shimousa. Nodding her head, the girl then exclaimed, "It's decided. I'm going to Vale"

"That's great. I can go with you, if you want" Amber suggested. Before Musashi could reply, the horse Amber rode on suddenly reared back its front legs high into the air, a manic look in its eyes as it threatened to throw Amber off, "Whoa! Easy, girl, easy"

The young maiden pulled on the horse's reins in a futile attempt to calm the animal down. As the horse continued to buck and thrash around, Amber had no choice but to jump off of the animal lest she suffer any injury. Landing on her feet, the young maiden quickly composed herself as she and Musashi attempted to calm the animal down.

Unbeknownst to both of them, two figures swiftly approached the two women. Before any of them realized it, a chain suddenly appeared as it wrapped itself around Musashi's neck as a sickle embedded itself into the woman's shoulder. Screaming out in pain, the woman fell to the ground as the owner of the chain pulled Musashi away from the rampaging horse.

Before Musashi could even realize what was going, another figure appeared – a boy with gray hair this time – as he came flying down from seemingly out of nowhere before he delivered a devastating kick to her face. Fortunately for her, Musashi was able to activate her aura at the last second, mitigating some of the damage received.

Finally regaining her senses, Amber decided to leave the horse to its fate as she extended her staff before joining the fray in an attempt to save her companion from any more harm. Targeting the gray-haired boy, Amber delivered a flurry of attacks with her staff. Unexpectedly, the boy was able to react in time as he swiftly blocked and parried her attacks with his legs.

Musashi gasped in pain as the other attacker – a girl with green hair – quickly pulled the sickle out of the woman's shoulder before quickly joining in on the attack on Amber.

Noticing the approaching form of the girl, Amber quickly disengaged as the girl fired off a couple of quick shots from her revolver at her previous position. Glaring at the two teens in front of her, Amber was able to notice that Musashi was able to quickly get to her feet as she unsheathed her swords.

The two teens, however, appeared to have not noticed that Musashi had been able to get back on her feet as they charged towards Amber, the girl moving towards her left while the boy moved towards the right. Getting into a fighting stance, Amber was surprised as the boy suddenly disappeared from view. Confused at the sudden development, Amber decided to turn her attention to the girl, instead. Raising her staff to counter the girl's attacks, she was caught by surprise by the boy's attacks as he delivered a devastating flurry of kicks to the Amber's head. By the end of it, Amber realized that a goo chunk of her aura had been lost. To avoid the worst case scenario, the young maiden quickly retaliated by blasting her attackers back with a strong gust of wind.

Taking advantage of the opening, Musashi quickly seized her chance to attack one of their attackers, namely the young teenage girl. Swords in hand, Musashi was on the offensive a moment later, as her weapon slashed towards the young girl's midriff. To the young girl's credit and the samurai's slight surprise, she was able to instinctually block the attack with her own weapon as Musashi relentlessly pushed the girl back.

Seeing Musashi effectively taking on the young girl without much trouble, Amber then turned her attention towards the boy as she flew high into the air. The sky began to darken as thunder clouds began to gather overhead. The boy, fully understanding what was about to happen, wisely chose to dodge Amber's barrage of elemental attacks as best he could. Growing more frustrated as time went by, Amber then gathered a large number of leaves from the nearby forest before hardening them with ice. With her 'weapons' at the ready and her attention focused wholly on the boy below her, Amber was caught unprepared as a barrage of glass shards struck her from behind. Gasping in pain, the young maiden fell to the ground.

"Amber!" Musashi shouted as she saw the women's form falling to the ground. The woman cursed as she immediately remembered she was in the middle of her own battle but to her own confusion, her opponent had disappeared from sight. Musashi was slightly taken aback from the shocking development before she instinctually jumped back to avoid a devastating attack that was aimed at her head. Cursing her luck, Musashi made the decision to retreat from the battle. Turning to face Amber, Musashi was caught by surprise by the sudden appearance of a third enemy, this time it was a young woman with short black hair, wielding a pair of steel swords.

Much to the young samurai's surprise, the woman was able to keep up with Musashi in terms of swordplay. Gritting her teeth, the young samurai had just been able to get a handle on the woman's capabilities before a devastating kick to the side of her head sent her falling to the ground. Musashi gasped in pain as she tried to take stock of the situation. Before she could do so, however, she felt herself being lifted off the ground as she was tossed through the air before landing right beside Amber.

The young woman immediately righted herself back up as she glared at her attackers. Wiping the small drop of blood on her lips, Musashi steadied herself as her grip on her katanas tightened as the young woman with the short black hair readied her weapon, a bow with three arrows knocked. Readying herself to intercept the attack, Musashi was confused when the woman instead shot the arrows not at her but the ground around her. It was when circles of fire started to appear with a high shrieking noise that Musashi realized what her opponent's plan was. Immediately, the woman attempted to cover Amber with her own body but by then it was too late as the ground around the two women instantly erupted in an explosion that gravely injured both Musashi and Amber.

While Musashi could feel her own Aura being on the brink from that attack, the woman knew that Amber had no such luck if the fact that the 'shield' around her body had sparked and died out like a light was any indication. Her new companion was, for all intents and purposes, defenseless as their three opponents slowly stalked towards them, a victorious smirk plastered on the woman with the short black hair

[/]

Emerald would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't surprised at how the maiden's companion had managed to hold her own against them. Even after she was stabbed in the shoulder with Thief's Respite and was curb stomped by Mercury, the woman still had the strength to fight her. What surprised the young girl even more was that she was holding her own against Cinder, something Emerald never thought possible. If it wasn't for Mercury's timely intervention, Emerald wasn't sure where the fight would have gone. Thankfully, she seems to be out for the count as she and Mercury held the Fall Maiden in front of Cinder. Just in case the unexpected were to happen, Emerald took the initiative to use her Semblance on the Maiden to obscure their faces from her.

"No… please…" the Maiden begged as a parasite suddenly appeared in the palm of Cinder's hand, ready to forcefully absorb her power. A moment later, the parasite then latched itself onto the Maiden's face as Cinder took everything in with a look of satisfaction etched onto her face. The process was nearly finished before Cinder suddenly jumped back to avoid the attack from a new enemy who had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Emerald immediately took the initiative to use her Semblance to obscure their identities from their new enemy as Mercury and Emerald readied themselves for another battle.

Cinder, however, had other ideas as she immediately ordered a retreat. Not wanting to question the woman's decision, Emerald then made the three of them vanish from the sight of their new enemy before they left the scene altogether.

[/]

"Amber! Hey, Amber!" Qrow shouted as soon as he was sure that the three people who had been attacking the Fall Maiden were gone from the area. Growling in frustration, the veteran Huntsman checked for a pulse on the unconscious Maiden only to silently curse to himself at how weak it was. It was then that Qrow noticed another woman was on the ground nearby. Said woman was slowly dragging herself towards them as Qrow approached her cautiously.

"A-Amber… I-is she… a-alright…?" the woman managed to ask between pained breath as Qrow held her in his arms.

"She's unconscious but… she'll be fine" Qrow lied through gritted teeth as he stared back at the prone body of the Fall Maiden "What about you? Are you alright?"

The veteran Huntsman received no answer as the woman slipped into unconsciousness as her swords dropped harmlessly to the ground.

"Shit" Qrow cursed as checked for any signs of life from the woman only to breathe a sigh of relief when he found that she was much further from death's door than Amber was. Picking up his scroll, Qrow quickly dialed the number for the Headmaster of Beacon "Ozpin, it's me"

"…"

"Yeah, I know. I got your tip…" Qrow said as he surveyed his surroundings "I don't have any good news to share"

[Chapter END]

A/N: Wow. Almost two years without an update and suddenly we have the second chapter out. Hope you guys liked this chapter. Because I liked writing it. It was really fun.

Now, some explanation that I hope would be able to justify why Musashi is as weak as she currently is: I'm just making stuff up at the moment so I'm just gonna say that her trip from Shimousa to Remnant caused her power to go down significantly. In Gameplay terms, at the end of Shimousa, she was Level 90 with 10/10/10 skills. At the start of Remnant, she's Level 20 with 1/1/1 skills (even though I know that it's not possible to have a Servant at Level 20 with all three skills). To put it simply, I just needed her to not be overpowered relative to other characters in the story so I can actually write a competent story (or something close to being competent).

Or, if that's not a satisfying explanation, then here's an explanation done in the style of a pitch meeting:

A: "So, I had Musashi's strength go down when she arrived in the World of Remnant"

B: "Why?"

A: "Because we need to write a story"

B: "Ah, having a character's strength go down without an acceptable explanation so we could write a story is TIGHT"

A: "Yeah"

As always, faves, follows, and reviews are always appreciated

NoXIV Signing Off