Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and RWBY. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Oum (rest in peace you saint of a man).

A question one would ask why type this up? Simple – why not?

Chapter 33: Scowling Baby

The Remnanties could only stare in shock to the direction of Brunswick Farm. There were a lot less trees left in that direction and a pillar of smoke, embers, and ash split the sky apart. Maria was checking ten times if her artificial eyes stopped working. Qrow didn't even bother getting his whisky bottle. The only ones who didn't react in the slightest were Ichigo, Ren, and Senna.

"What-" Yang said.

"-the-" Blake said.

"-hell!?" Weiss finished.

Ren decided to release the Kido spell on the three, giving freedom of movement to WBY. Ichigo slowed down the cycle to a slow hum. A swish of air later, Ruby appeared before the back of the cart.

She was also floating on top of the air while walking at the same speed as the motorcycle.

Silence dawned on everyone as most of the pairs of eyes were just staring at Ruby, who again was floating in the air. The agitation was gone from Ruby's face and replaced with her cheery, innocent expression she casually put on. In a burst of speed, Ruby seated herself in the corner of the cart next to Qrow.

"That's it!" cried Weiss, "I am done trying to figure you out."

"Good, it would've made your head hurt." Ruby retorted with a chuckle, "So... are you all okay?"

WBY turned their heads down in shame. Ruby's smile turned into a look of regret. Seconds of silence reigned until it was Yang who spoke up.

"Ruby." Yang said, "I... I'm sorry for how I acted back there. We were just being selfish, and I shouldn't have fought you for that stupid lamp."

"Nope!"Ruby said in classical Ruby fashion, "None of you were at fault here, alright. I get it. Shit happens and we'll meet more bumps on the road that make us want to turn back instead of going forward."

Weiss sighed. "Of course you would say that."

Blake looked a bit more doubtful. "The way we all just broke down. We just gave up on everything we vowed. How do you do it? What makes you go forward?"

"Ichigo had a very good lesson in that from his zanpakuto." Ruby answered, getting an amused look from Ichigo. He knew where this was going.

Ruby spoke in a strong tone. "Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you stop."

Yang, Weiss, Ruby, Oscar, Qrow, and even Maria took a moment to let those heavy words sink into their being. They resonated with so much truth that something sparked in their soul. Ruby could practically see their moral lifted and their resolve reinforced. Her awesome team was back to its awesome self.

Yang spoke. "That was... really good, Ruby. Ichigo really did make something awesome out of you."

"I am awesome like that." Ichigo said.

Ruby snickered, causing the pseudo-shinigami to twitch his eyebrow for a second before turning back to the road. She stopped laughing in confusion when Ichigo's twitch turned into a smirk. Then, she only realized when she felt a slight tap hit from his extra appendage of his lizard tail. Her head stung for a moment and Ruby gave a cute pout to Ichigo but only made his grin wider. Ruby returned her own smile, so warm it could melt ice. The atmosphere was near in perfect serenity. Nothing could break-

"Well, this has been quite a 'blast'." Yang joked.

Everyone groaned at Yang's terrible pun. On the record book, that was one of the worst in timing that broke the mood and the level of how lame it was that made people want to die, some of them again.

"Oh come on, that was comedy gold." Yang whined.

"No, that was not." Ichigo cut in, "Yare yare, if I had a hit list of people I wanted dead, I could just send you their names and tell you they want to hear your jokes."

Now that got a chorus of laughter from everyone present. Only Yang was left too shocked that they were all laughing after Ichigo just spouted a few insults at her. She felt her self-esteem in her self-proclaimed title of master of comedy take a huge dent. The blonde turned back to a smug Ichigo and leveled a red-eyed glare.

"For that, you are not allowed to drive anymore on my ride." Yang said.

Ichigo shrugged it off before stopping the motorcycle to switch with Yang.

"Jealous much?" Ruby said with a shit-eating grin.

Yang only scoffed and frowned at the pseudo-shinigami's smug look. Once Ichigo took a sit on the side of cart next to Ruby and Ren, the motorcycle continued on its lost path.

"I shouldn't be surprised anymore by you, Ruby Rose." said Maria, "You come back from the dead, have powers beyond human imagination, and can blow up towns like there nothing. What's next, you have silver eyes?"

Ruby widened said eyes in surprise. "Yeah actually I do."

Maria's artificial eyes stared at Ruby and her mouth gaped like a fish out of water. The elderly woman decided to keep her mouth shut because it was proven that Ruby was endless in her surprises.

"How do you know about the silver eyes?" asked Qrow.

"Well," Maria said, putting on a sad smile, "I used to have silver eyes as well."

(After Maria's Backstory)

"My god." Qrow gasped, "You're the Grim Reaper. You were a legend. And you disappeared. We never used your, and you never showed your face. Most of us thought you were laying low. Eventually, we all thought you were dead. But the stories about you. I even based my weapon off of you. I wanted to be as good as the Grim Reaper."

"Then you are well on your way to becoming a disappointment in my footsteps." Maria sulked.

"How can you say that?" asked Blake.

"Child," said Maria, "a Huntress is supposed to protect the people. But after I lost my eyes and had my surgery, I only looked after myself because I was too afraid to fight. You shouldn't aspire to be like me."

"You're right." said Ruby, gaining shocked looks from most of the passengers, "We can't be like you. We have to be better than you."

Maria looked at Ruby for a few seconds before a genuine smile stretched her face. The eyes of Ruby betrayed a power greater than Maria could ever imagine in her prime.

"It's comforting to know that you are stronger than I am to protect this world." Maria said. "I'm just sorry I didn't leave it in better shape."

"Don't blame yourself about the past." Ruby consoled, "You did the best you could and a feat not many could do. And you can still do more. That is why I would like to ask you to teach me about my eyes. I've only advanced a little bit to project my light into an outside force, but you know so much more about my eyes than I still do."

"It would be my pleasure." Maria agreed.

Yang's scroll started to ring. Full well knowing the laws of the road, Yang tossed the scroll to Weiss. On the translucent screen was a picture of a blonde teenager in knight's gear with the name "Vomit Boy" on the bottom, which Senna snickered at However, Ruby and Ren widened their eyes at the photo.

Weiss gasped aloud. "I-It's Jaune!"

Yang put the brakes on the bike so Weiss could easily talk to Jaune. When Weiss answered, Jaune's voice was so loud that everybody on the cart could hear it.

"Weiss!" Jaune exclaimed, "Oh thank god. I've been checking your scroll ever since we arrived at the city."

"The city?" wondered Blake.

"I think he means that." Ichigo noted, outstretching his finger. "I feel a lot of people nearby."

The passengers followed Ichigo's pointed finger to a hill just on the horizon. Yang grinned as she put the pedal to the metal.

"Meet us at the gate." said Weiss to the scroll, "You are not going to believe who we found out there."

(Argus, Behind the Wall)

It wasn't much trouble getting through the gates. There were only guards stationed on the walls, but none of them checked for anything like identification for the crowed that was pouring in. Once inside, Yang rented a garage to store her motorcycle, and they waited for Jaune and Nora.

"CUTE BOY OZ!"

Nora's screech was a beacon for everyone to go to. Team SIRR hid in the crowd to give the duo of NJ a surprise. After Nora occupied herself hugging down the poor boy Oscar, Jaune entered the fray giving relieved hugs to the rest of the gang.

"We were so worried." said Jaune, then turning into a grimace, "Never leave me alone with Nora. Without Ren..."

Jaune cut himself off to put down his sorrow of Ren's loss. WBY, Oscar, and Qrow gave him a sad look for the trauma they were all put through from that. That sadness turned into a small smile as they heard the approaching shinigami.

"You won't have to worry about that anymore."

Jaune and Nora snapped their heads to the direction of the all-too familiar voice of Ruby. They didn't care about the pain of whiplash when they laid eyes on a very alive Ruby and Ren. Compared to two months ago, the deceased pair were now more built with Ruby having longer hair and Jaune could have sworn Ruby grew a few inches taller. Ren was mostly like himself, only that his sleeves were bare with only this linen wrapped tightly around his arms that seemed just a bit more bulkier but still lean.

Nora for once was at a loss for words, her eyes wide and staring at Ren. Her childhood friend was standing before her. She hid it, but that night when Ren was ashes, she was broken. Her energetic personality may as well died with him until now.

"Ruby..." Jaune muttered.

"Is that really you... Renny?" whimpered Nora.

Senna and Ichigo backed up feeling out of place in this sensitive moment. Feminine sobs made faces cringe as tears were building in Nora's eyes. The most affected was Ren himself, who's usual stone face etched in a guilty grimace at the sight. Before a tear could fall, Ren dashed faster than a shunpo to press Nora to him in a tight hug.

"You don't have to cry." Ren whispered, breaking with emotion that he rarely showed in such quantity, "I'm here for you, Nora. I'll always be there."

"REN!"

THUD!

Ren blinked a few times before Nora returned a hug stronger than his own and was knocked to the floor with Nora crying on top of him. The Kido master allowed Nora to let out all her emotions she had bottled up inside. Ruby and the other Remnanties smiled warmly at the reunion.

After a few minutes, Nora's sobs softened into sniffles as she calmed down. The front of Ren's shirt was wet with her tears, and her eyes were red and puffy. To those that knew her, that didn't seem to fit the image of Nora. The sniffles disappeared as Nora raised her head to gaze at Ren smiling fondly at her. Ren sighed before abruptly holding her gently by her hand and hoisting them both up on their feet. The sudden movement made Nora squeeze against his shirt only to find something like a solid plate.

Quirking an eyebrow, Nora looked at Ren and trailed her eyes just below his neck. She nearly gasped when there wasn't anything under his green shirt. What was supposedly solid covering his chest was his chest. Pure, built muscle to be precise. For the first time in her life, a dust of pink heated up on Nora's cheeks.

"Are you okay, Nora?" Ren asked.

Her only response was to look up at his face with an unreadable expression. Slowly, Nora stretched her hand out to Ren's face and poked him. Then again on his sternum... and again on his neck... then two times on his cheek making him wince.

"Nora, what are you doing?" Ren said in his usual plain tone.

"I'm trying to see if you're a robot and have a hidden button somewhere." Nora answered in a more slightly more energetic way, a.k.a. Nora tone. "It may be you, but it could also be someone got your spirits and stuffed them into robots. You may not even know that you are robots."

Everyone sweatdropped at Nora's statement of suspicion. Ren sighed but it didn't stop the smile that marked his face whenever he looked at Nora.

"I've missed you so much." Ren muttered, but Nora couldn't hear too busy poking him from all sides, "Nora, you can stop. I can safely say I am not a robot."

"Or are you...?" Nora drew out.

Zangetsu added his own two cents. "I will say it. That chick is officially the weirdest ever."

"She has some screws loose." added Cristina, "And that's coming from me."

Ruby and Ichigo nodded in agreement. The silver eye warrior turned her attention to Jaune. Curious, Ruby stretched her reiatsu senses to gauge his reserves. Her eyes almost fell out once she found his hidden potential.

When Pyrrha said that Jaune had a lot of Aura, Ruby only took it as impressive. However, it didn't do justice to the literal mountain of energy he had locked inside. She hadn't seen reserves this massive since Kenpachi.

"You're really alive." Jaune gasped, "And taller."

"Two months in another world will do that to you." said Ruby.

As Jaune recovered from his shock he could look at Ruby with q clear head. His eyes widened on sight of a pair of wolf ears.

"Uh, why do you have wolf ears?" Jaune asked.

h

Ruby laughes sheepishly. "It's a long story." The Huntress turned her silver eyes to Senna and Ichigo, gesturing them forward.

"Allow me to introduce Senna, a good friend in my travels." Ruby informed to Jaune, "And orange sunshine here is Ichigo."

"Yo!" Senna chirped.

"It's nice to meet a friend of Ruby's." Ichigo greeted.

Jaune quirked a confused eyebrow. "Orange sunshine?"

"Ruby and I," Ichigo said sheepishly, scratching his head, "started dating recently."

"And I'll make sure we have another very soon." Ruby said slightly sultry while trapping his right arm in a vice grip.

"Ruby," Ichigo said flatly, looking at her eyes that he swore were sparkling, "please let go of my arm."

"Okay." Ruby said innocently, only to disappear in a shower of rose petals.

Ichigo stiffened when he felt an even tighter hold on his new tail. He tilted his head back instinctively where his tail raised to see Ruby clinging to the same length of his tail as her height with all four limbs clamped on. She was beaming an innocent smile down at him and Ichigo couldn't choose between scowling or smiling.

Ichigo sighed. "You are not going to let go, are you?"

"Nope!" Ruby chirped. "Mush."

"As you command." Ichigo muttered.

The others watched with mild amusement as Ichigo walked casually while waving his tail in the air getting cheery exclaims from the wolf Faunas. He was surprised that his tail was so strong that he didn't feel such a change in weight. Meanwhile, Ruby was having a blast hanging from Ichigo's tail. Granted there was also another reason for her new antic.

Different dimensions didn't matter to the fact that Ichigo was top tier handsome man. Ever since they entered the city, Ruby could catch other woman of all ages sending dreamy looks to Ichigo. It brought a new feeling to Ruby, something she can only describe as some sharp yet subtle pang on her forehead and her Faunas instincts weren't helping.

By (some strange) logic, Ruby decided to get grapple her boyfriend and doing it in public so every eye could see the pair. So they could all look at her with agitation, sorrow, and jealousy while Ruby shrugged off the glares and retorted with a shit-eating grin highlighting her canines.

In short, Ruby was sending out a very loud message to every female in sight, 'He's mine, bitches, so stay away.'

Among the party, Yang was the only one to notice the signals Ruby was sending out. She couldn't decide between being proud of her baby sis taking a stand or shiver in slight fear of what Ruby would do if the pseudo-shinigami ever mistook Yang for looking at Ichigo like he was eye candy. Possessive Ruby was one scary soul.

The reunited JNP were briefing everyone about the city which Ichigo was paying attention to. It goes by the name of Argus, and is the largest noncapital city in Remnant, and flourishes from trade with Atlas. Ichigo took note that the overall architecture of the streets and buildings reminded him of France and England based on the photos he saw in one of his classes. Light layers of snow coated the roofs, but the air felt strangely warm. Compared to his world, it seemed much more calm as best he could describe.

"I should probably make a date for Ruby here." Ichigo thought outloud.

Unfortunately, Ruby's wolf ears picked up on Ichigo and she blushed her whole face in red. Deciding to switch the topic to distract herself, Ruby looked to Jaune.

"Where have you been staying, Jaune?" Ruby asked.

Jaune was reluctant to answer and only scratched his head.

"There you are."

Everyone looked forward to the new voice belonging to a woman in her 20s across the block while holding a brown-skinned baby. Ruby stared at the woman at her alarmingly resemblance to Jaune in her blue eyes and bright blond hair. She was whipping her head between the pair so fast Ichigo was worried she was going to give herself whiplash. Fortunately, Ruby stopped once realization hit her and her eyes sparkled upon the blonde across the street.

"Is that..." Yang trailed off.

"Hi, Saph."

(Saphron's House)

"I can't believe I'm meeting your older sister." Ruby exclaimed, nearly jumping on the spot of the couch with Ichigo being the only holding down her excitement, "I have so many questions."

Saphron's house was a sizable one, and the addition of those from Earth did not make such a dent since they traditionally sleep on the floor. They were in the family room with JNP sitting on one couch with Saphron. Another couch perpendicular was where Ruby, Oscar, and Maria sat with Ichigo, Qrow, and Blake standing behind them. At their feet were Weiss, Yang, and Senna playing with the baby. Currently, Jaune was in an episode of embarrassment trying to keep his dignity with his older sister being - well his older sister. Only Ichigo had the sense to quietly pity the blonde Huntsmen.

"I can give you the rundown later." said Nora.

"Will you guys knock it off!?" Jaune exclaimed.

"What?" Saphron said, "I love telling stories about my baby brother."

Saphron tried to pinch Jaune's cheeks, only for him to slap it away in a clumsy frenzy. "I am not a baby." Jaune pointed to the real baby. "That is a baby."

Said baby gave him a quizzical look before showing his intelligence by folding his arms in front of his chest and scowling. The sight made Ruby burst in laughter and lean against the arm of the couch.

"Look at that!" Ruby cried, glancing to Ichigo while her sides ached, "He's a mini Ichigo. Just look at the scowl on his face. Ha-ha-ha-ha."

Ichigo glanced at the frown (he will never admit that was a scowl) and his brow twitched feeling his pride take a dent by being compared to a baby. The baby was actually giving his so-called scowl to Ichigo.

"I do not scowl like that." Ichigo berated.

That only made Ruby laugh more as the baby narrowed his glare at the orange head. His agitation showed itself as his tail started banging on the floor at a rapid pace. None of them took notice, especially Senna, Yang, and Weiss who were cooing at the baby.

"So Saphron," said Blake, "you're the only Arc living here?"

"Yeah, moved the second I could." Saphron answered.

Ichigo looked to Blake's line of sight and his eyes widened on a photo of a lot of blonde kids on a couch with the mother standing behind them. It was obvious who Jaune was given the flat look and the sign he was holding that read 'Help'.

'Kami, I pity you.' Ichigo thought. How Jaune wasn't as crazy as Zangetsu he will never know.

The door of the house opened and in walked another woman in a teal coat and blue pants and red-tinted glasses. She was carrying a shopping bag of groceries and Ichigo noticed the same wedding ring on her finger that Saphron had.

'Huh, a lesbian couple.' thought Ichigo, 'I don't think there are any in Karakura Town. Except maybe Keigo... great now I've scarred myself for life.'

"Everyone," Saphron introduced, "meet my wife, Terra Cotta."

"Hello everyone." Terra greeted, and everyone voiced in greeting as well with some giving a simple bow of the head, "Honey, could I get some help please."

Saphron gestured to JNP to help Terra in the kitchen to prepare lunch. In a little while, the wedded couple returned to the family room.

"Are you really okay allowing us to stay?" Senna asked.

"Of course." Terra answered, "You all risk so much to keep people like us safe. It is the least we could do, especially for an elite Huntsmen. Though I am surprised that you have brought students along in your journey. Is that even... legal?"

When Qrow didn't answer, Ichigo and Ruby gave a nod to each other and smacked hard on top of his head and jolting him back to the conversation. That single blow took off quite a bit of his Aura too.

"Yes it is legal." Qrow said, "Think of it as an extended training mission. Trust me I was a professor from the same school."

"Oh yeah." Ruby interrupted with a smirk, "Who knew someone could still teach when they were half-drowned in booze."

Qrow glared at Ruby, who shrugged it off, then turned to Ichigo. "I hate you for giving her a sharp tongue."

"Shut up, there's food." Ruby called, her lips parting with a slight slimy drool and her tongue dancing over her canines. Her eyes were glued with feral hunger on the pile of sandwiches. Her wolf nose could smell the scent of meat from them.

Ichigo didn't know what was going on with him. He hasn't in a while, but that didn't explain this alien sense to devour the food that was coming off of him. Just the smell of the meat was driving him on edge, and his tail waved in slow motions as though he was on the hunt. Unconsciously, Ichigo was letting out a soft hiss.

Zangetsu and Cristina were breaking their ribs from laughter at seeing their hosts struggle to keep down their instincts.

"I know you can eat regular food." Terra informed. "But I couldn't help myself buying some Faunas food ingredients that I know you'll love. If I recall..."

Ichigo and Ruby stopped listening when they reached for two sandwiches each and wolfed them down. While the Huntress was humming a merry tune, Ichigo was keeping in his reaction to the flavor that was getting his senses on fire in a good way. This was better than Yuzu's cooking.

"Whatever the heck is in this, it's really good." Ichigo complimented.

"So what's your plan tomorrow?" Saphron asked Ruby.

Even though she just stuffed two whole sandwiches, now counting ten, in her mouth, Ruby managed to swallow it all down without a problem while her wolf ears were perked up in ecstasy from the taste alone.

"We're trying to make our way to Atlas." said Ruby, "We will probably start with the military base."

Jaune and Nora grimaced at the sentence.

"Ah, we kinda already tried that." Jaune said, "and it didn't go super well."

"C'mon," said Yang, "it couldn't be that bad."

(Military Base)

The party stood before the Atlesian Military Base, only for the gates to close shut just on sight of them. A few moments of silence until an oppressive presence caught most of the groups attention. They turned to the source only to find Ruby with a red aura bursting off of her and a glare that could put a hole through the planet. Very pissed off silver eyes gazed at Yang.

"Yang." Ruby snarled.

"Yeah?" Yang said nevously.

"Shut - up!" Ruby said making sure those two words cleaved through like rusty blades.

"I'm sorry." whimpered Yang. The blonde was deeply regretting ever being such a bad influence on her little sister.

Goddammit Yang, why did you have to jinx us?! Is it enough that you torture us with your puns?! When will you learn?

On a side note, how she Team SIRR approach the situation. In my personal opinion, they should just go on a rampage, but lets keep it tame. Maybe they may stick longer in Argus because of a shopkeeper.

Up next is Chapter 34: Unhappy Parties

Stay in touch. Please, please leave a review. I love you all.