RWBY: Desertion (Remastered)

by DatRtfantho

Gage Sim deserted the Kingdoms, isolating himself to the outskirts of Mountain Glenn for almost unknown reasons... at least until he was found by four girls calling themselves Team RWBY. And not that long after meeting them, he begins to form a bond with a certain Blonde Brawler while one of his other new friends learns a deadly secret that they'll go to lengths to hide... YangxOC.

2. Start Walking

Author's Note: Hey all, i'm sorry that it took so long to get a second chapter out. Aside from the obvious stuff happening in the world right now, I forgot to mention that I'm also working on this story's still ongoing sequel whilst making this, since it's nearing the end of a big storyline. I'm sure that this will be given more attention once that's over, I simply just need to figure out a good schedule when working with both of these projects. But besides that… things are gonna be winding down a little from that extravagant first impression, that's for sure.

Still though, to the newer and returning readers, thanks for following this! I was kinda surprised at the numbers since it took me like five chapters for someone to follow the original story. That's pretty reassuring, so thanks y'all, and don't forget to recommend/share this with others, either! Anyways, to compensate for lost time I made sure to extend this update so we'd be a chapter ahead of schedule, but it'll most likely just be a lot of walking and talking this time around, so hopefully I won't bore you guys two chapters into this throwback. Now, let's get the introductions out of the way...

Song: Radioactive by Imagine Dragons Ft. Kendrick Lamar

…

Chapter 2 - Start Walking

After what felt like a lifetime of creeping through the forest surrounding the city, Team RWBY was led by Gage until they soon came out of the woods and found themselves on top of a tree covered hill that curved down into… what seemed like a swamp, or mud-filled bog with some buildings being seen in the distance. They weren't close, but they'd be able to make it there by sunset if they hurried enough.

With his arm still wrapped around Yang to keep himself standing, he slouched a little and smiled as the four girls around him started to appear a little stunned by the fact he was able to stay true to his word. He really did know a way back to Mountain Glenn,

"See… *pant* ...just like i said!" Then without warning he got his hand free from Yang, placed his fingers in his mouth, and let out a loud whistle that traveled far and wide. It's echo even came back to them as Blake resisted the urge to cover her cat ears, and Yang glanced at him oddly.

They all assumed he did this out of some weird celebration and waved it off as just that. So when their attention came back to the marshlands that lied ahead of them, Weiss walked over a bit and leaned towards Gage as she stared at the mud below with some personal concern… mainly because of the color she wore valiantly, "...Is there a cleaner way to get through that?"

She was quick to look down at the white heels she wore, and Blake did the same with her shoes once her ears stopped ringing… but Gage still tried to reassure them both since they didn't know his own boots had a bunch of holes in them, and he ended up nodding back down towards the base of the hill, where it looked like the start of small bridge was located. "Not right now. But don't worry, there's a small boardwalk we can use." He explained, with little response.

The heiress sighed before Ruby just picked up Zwei and started to head down as Yang and Gage did the same, until she and Blake followed slowly without any further protests. It was a dumb thing to complain about anyways, and they didn't have a lot of time to come up with a different route. "If I fall in that cesspool, I'm taking you down with me, 'scruffy'!" Weiss whined, trying to come up with a better name than the one Gage gave to her.

She and Blake soon moved past him and Yang to go meet up with Ruby down at the bridge, with the five teens and their dog now moving down that hill and through a flower covered field that ironically resided next to the swamp. It was so dark and disgusting to them, that some of Team RWBY honestly thought that it was some old tar pit that had been forgotten over time.

But it was merely an obstacle that was preventing them from getting back home, and with no other choice, the group of five began to cross the bog with that small, flimsy bridge being the one thing protecting them from a night of sleeping in muddy clothing. It was barely wide enough to stand on and was bent in zigzagged lines to avoid various objects sticking out of the dark water, like various dead trees, a car, and even an old rusted traffic light.

Because of it's small size though, Yang had to let go of Gage and let him limp behind her do they both wouldn't fall in, while Blake started to cross without a care in the world, and Weiss basically needed Ruby to hold her hand to help her across, even though Zwei was already being held under their young leader's other arm. Soon enough they all became leveled, and thus began their slow saunter across the marshland.

However, when they got halfway almost in complete silence… Gage got the courage to try and present his first question to the girls, as they had done most of the talking up to this point in time. He didn't really know how to phrase it elegantly either, so he pretty much just shot it out of his mouth point blank at the team, "So… who are you guys?"

"We're Team RWBY."

...Ruby made her reply sound really nonchalant, like some type of casual scoff could've come before it. The rest of the team continued on like it was nothing too, and Gage even felt like he was supposed to know who they were or something. He then ended up squinting at the young rose before he stopped walking for a second and scratched the back of his head, feeling confused, "Alright, but… do you have like actual names, or is that it?"

It was starting to become clear that these girls were clearly out of it, especially after the last few busy weeks of picking up the pieces after the Vale Breach, and it took a minute before all of them turned to face their new friend like he'd just shot a bullet into the air. Well… everyone, except for Blake of course. She continued walking on as Yang chose to introduce herself first with an odd stutter,

"Oh-uh, I'm Yang! Y-Yang Xiao Long..."

Her face then strangely became slightly more red than her teammates in their shared embarrassment, until the brawler's partner causally raised her hand and started to tilt her body while she continued to try and balance her body on the plank. At the same time though, Gage noticed that some sunlight reflected off of her eyes unlike everyone else's, and he squinted at her strangely.

"Blake Belladonna-" However, right after she got her own name out, Gage nodded his head and looked past the hidden faunus so he could stare ahead and call out to Weiss before she had the chance to speak, as it would turn out that she didn't even need to introduce herself.

"And you're Weiss Schnee, right?" He asked her suddenly. This got an actual scoff to come from her as a response, and she didn't say anything further to him. The heiress forgot how much she hated being recognized, but Ruby noticed this and tried to segway Gage's attention onto herself instead. "Yup, and I'm Ruby Rose-A.K.A., their fearless leader!"

He liked her enthusiasm to say the least, and as they continued to shimmie behind one another inch by inch across the boardwalk, Gage mentally paused as he put together some of the connections the girls had between each other (the ones we mostly know of) like letters in their names, the somehow matching colors, and last but not least their actual team name, 'Team RWBY'.

That simple thing was what made him kind of chuckle to himself, "That's convenient-AGH!" Only for the world to fuck with him again, as he took a step on a weaker part of the plank and nearly stepped right through it… if Yang hadn't caught him last second, that is. She was quick to spin around and grab his wrist as he leaned back once he lost his balance, and now the two of them looked like they had stopped halfway through some weird dysfunctional type of tango.

And despite this, the blonde beauty still kept the conversation going. "...And you are?"

She even left him in that position for a few more seconds until she finally chose to yield and giggle for a second, as he was finally able to breathe and replied once he knew that she was just yanking his chain instead of it being some weird type of intimidation tactic that could be used to get the truth out of him in case he lied. Still though… as Yang laughed at how scared he looked at the time, he couldn't help but become relaxed by her warm smile and laid back demeanor.

"G… Gaigus Sim, but you can call me Gage. Whichever you think fits-" He answered carefully just in case, and started to walk again once she turned around and did the same while trying to give her best guess about what could easily explain his presence in the local area, "So, 'Gage'… Are you a huntsman?"

"*pant* ...Far from it-"

"Then what are you doing out here?"

He paused after that for what felt like a long time in his head, as he really tried to come up with some other excuse… but ended up not giving one at all. He didn't want to scare any of these girls off anyway, so after tilting his head and running a hand through his hair quickly, Gage continued to look down at the ground and sighed. "...It's a long story."

Thankfully Yang knew that was pretty much a code for 'don't ask', so she instead hummed for a moment until she thought of something less personal to ask him about. Good thing he was actually okay with being chatted up a bit, especially when it was coming from someone like her. "Well, then how long have you been here?" She asked as a substitute.

That was something he was okay with… the only problem was that he didn't really know the answer himself, and he even stopped walking along the boardwalk again as he tried to piece it all together. Eventually he caved once he couldn't think of a reference point, and instead asked Team RWBY something in return.

"That depends. Who's hosting the Vytal Festival this year?"

"In five months, Vale... It's the first year in its rotation." Ruby told him this right as she finished crossing the bog's elongated plank, and hopped down into a wet patch of moss and tall grass that stretched out into the normal wilderness that was just ahead of the group of five.

Not that much later, the rest of their group reached the end of the bog and followed the red rose into the marshlands with no other issues. Even Weiss let out a sigh of relief as her heels kind of sunk into the wet ground, but she simply thought it was better than having both of her shoes get drowned in mud and all other kinds of crap. Either way, the land got drier with each step they took and soon their trek returned to normal.

For the girls it seemed kinda weird how the swamp was like an obstacle in the middle of the forest, but at least the nearby destroyed buildings sticking above the trees let the girls know that they were getting closer. Gage already knew this though, so he continued to piece together his own timeline in his head until he just threw it out there for them in bulk. "Last time I checked, the first festival in Atlas's rotation just ended… So about that long."

To Team RWBY, that statement was almost equivalent to a record being scratched. He didn't think this would be the day he'd make four girls turn their heads in his direction simultaneously, but that seemed to do the trick. Predictably, they remained stunned (except for Ruby, who paused for a second to put Zwei back on the ground) as Gage stopped too and didn't even try to play it off like it was nothing.

"That's… almost two years!"

Blake blurted this out with a shocked expression that matched all of her teammates collectively, and the only thing their 'new friend' could do was puff one of his cheeks up, look away and nod silently while the rest of the girls pretty much stared at him like he was some type of escaped mental patient. However, that was when Weiss broke the silence after making a connection that got her riled up real good...

"Wait a second, if you were here all that time, then where were you during the breach three weeks ago?!" She basically screeched at him just then, but instead of instinctively covering his ears like you would after hearing a fork scrape against a plate, Gage put a hand up in case she decided to randomly rush him, and he tried to keep things… vague. "...I've been away from here since the winter after some people came here, and almost killed me! They would've if it wasn't for my semblance, but… wait, there was a breach?!"

His shock and confusion seemed to be genuine once he processed what had been said, but Yang was quick to calm him down and keep him from acting out of turn like she was known to do, at least with Ruby. The blonde just put both of her hands out, and tried her best to subtly explain the event in one breath. Like it was any other day,

"It was handled by us, the Atlesian Military, and a few other Beacon teams. Lasted a few hours at most-"

"Those people… were they with the White Fang?" Blake asked him, only for Gage to stop and slowly turn towards her. His concern for the kingdom was suddenly outmatched by the uneasiness that came from that question, and it brought his mood down completely. The guy took a second to answer, before his voice went all soft, "...Looked like it, but there was a human with them too. So I figured they were just bandits, and ran. Been gone ever since..."

The mention of... them, changed him, and at the same time it seemed like the rest of his body became tense. Yang got a glimpse at one of his hands as it slowly crumpled into a weak fist, while Ruby and Weiss looked at Blake dreadfully. Team RWBY knew what Gage was talking about, and it only reinforced their theory that the 'failed' attack on Vale had been planned a long time ago.

It was a good thing they stopped it before the Grimm invasion got out of hand, but ever since Beacon's victory, things have gotten oddly silent. It had been awhile since they've heard anything from the cult or whoever worked alongside Roman Torchwick, so it felt like any new info could help them in the long run… too bad the only thing Gage had to give was stuff from the past.

And predictably, Weiss didn't choose to ease up on the guy despite him being clearly unsettled after talking about his bad experience. "You could've reported it-"

She made him feel worse, and thankfully Ruby came to the rescue after she saw how he was beginning to basically shut down in front of them. Their small leader came over and zipped next to Weiss so quickly that the ice queen nearly tumbled onto the ground in front of their new friend, until she was caught by her cape wearing partner. "H-Hey!"

The girl in red grumbled to herself, and lifted Weiss up only for her to cross her arms afterwards. Then Ruby walked ahead of the heiress so she could try and look up at Gage with confidence gleaming from her silver eyes as she tried to bring him back up from whatever pit his mind pushed him down into. It looked a little funny too, considering the guy was almost nine inches taller than her,

"Well, you don't have to worry! We cleared most of the city out already, so unless some of the local wildlife gets cranky, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Especially with the four of us here-!"

She was doing a good enough job at first, but as Blake and Weiss both turned over and started to approach the tall grass… a small caw was heard, followed by a symphony of calls that would've come from your average creepy black bird. Then as the noises erupted into an anthem, a murder of crows and buzzards appeared, ascending from the shrubbery, tall grass and trees before they almost created what looked like cyclone around the five teens. The birds acted like they were bats in a sense, and their presence made Ruby gasp and almost roll up into a ball.

The rose was close to hugging herself until she looked up in awe and saw the black tornado flying above her, right as Blake, Yang, and Gage did the same. He smiled at it like it was common while each of the girls went on to watch this scene with amazement… well, everyone except for Weiss. She instead ducked and put her hands over her head so she wouldn't ironically get shit on.

"Speaking of the wildlife…" Gage smirked.

Halfway through the bird's cycle though, Yang slowly glanced over at her little sister and couldn't stop smiling for some reason. Maybe the others wouldn't know, but in that moment, she was happy that Ruby had the nerve to approach this guy and help him keep his cool. It was a far cry from how she was during their first days at Beacon Academy, that was for sure. Thankfully she was able to hide her plight as the birds flew away…

...And when they took off back towards Mountain Glenn's outskirts, Gage looked ahead and saw that a path had been cleared up ahead. It went straight into the next collection of trees, and from how he recognized the land, he knew that It was exactly where they needed to go. So he was quick to look back at the girls and their dog, and gesture for them to keep moving.

"...C'mon, the hard part is almost over."

…

Into the tall trees they went, and despite already getting a bunch of information out of the guy, Yang continued to question him innocently when in reality she was trying to see how grounded he really was. The rest of Team RWBY slowed their walking pace as well, so the brawler and the stranger were further ahead than the rest of them as everyone continued on towards the abandoned city… and seeing them together caused some very hasty ideas to form inside Ruby's head.

"So… where are you from, anyway?"

"All over, honestly." Gage muttered to Yang, still remaining toe to toe with the blonde girl as they talked, "Let's see… I lived in Mistral until I was thirteen, came here for a vacation one time, and I lived in Atlas for a while after that. Then I ended up here by myself, if you want to count this as 'living'." He replied at the end with visible air quotes being made with his fingers, and lowered his hands as he sighed and stared at the surrounding forest tiredly.

"...I was supposed to move here when I was training to go to Sanctum Academy, but thankfully Mountain Glenn collapsed before that could happen."

"So you were gonna be a huntsman!" Ruby said this gleefully after he mentioned Sanctum, only for their new friend to glance back at the young leader with a smug look on his face. However, after everything that was just said, Weiss became confused after she remembered that he had mentioned her own kingdom too,

"Wait, you lived in Atlas? …You don't mean Mantle, do you?" The heiress didn't want to be mean, but Gage just didn't seem like your average Atlesian teenager. Still though, he remained adamant in that fact… the only difference was that he didn't see the two locations as different places. "It's all the same to me… Me and my dad lived on the bottom and went to the top for work, yada yada. Atlas just sounds cooler." He said nonchalantly.

"Well, that explains how you knew about me..." Weiss concluded, mostly to herself.

"That, and your music..." Gage then made Weiss blush for a moment, more from embarrassment than anything else, until he chose to go on about what he remembered during his early days. "Still though, living there wasn't as bad as everyone says it is. Either that, or it was just hidden very well... I even had a faunus friend that wasn't messed with a lot. Never saw anything like that to be honest."

He ended with a softer tone after recounting that time in his life, and after he walked out in front of Team RWBY while doing so… he turned back over towards Blake and came up with an odd question to ask her. Although, he wasn't expecting to be cut off without warning before he could finish, "That reminds me… Hey Blake, why the bow-?"

Because as Gage stuck out from the rest of their group… a Beowulf suddenly came out of nowhere, and pounced on him from the treeline to the right while he was distracted. Three more wolves from the same pack came out with it after he was brought down, and Team RWBY flipped on a dime to try and fight back. The other beowolves chose to attack the girls while one of their targets were already being mauled, and Ruby was quick to give her team some callouts as she took Crescent Rose out and flipped it as it shifted into it's scythe form,

"ICE-FLOWER! BUMBLEBEE!" She dashed forwards after that with her semblance and slashed one of the grimm to knock it back, with her stopping as Weiss tagged in without a word. The heiress flew forward with Myrtenaster and struck the wolf, stopping in a crouched position as it was knocked back again. Then after she got on one knee, Ruby ran up Weiss's back and jumped over to the creature before she slashed it in half with her scythe. Meanwhile, Blake and Yang started off slow during this encounter as the third beowulf scampered over to try and block them from helping Gage, so they had to deal with that first to keep him from being swarmed.

Their new friend was quick to try and counter the surprise attack too, and as he landed on his back with the first wolf on top of him… he let go of his lever-action shotgun, which was named Mistletoe, and was able to push the creature's head back by grabbing it's neckline. At the same time it growled like some type of hellhound before it sunk one of its claws into his right shoulder and started to scrape down it's arm, until it swiped into the bandana that was wrapped around Gage's right bicep.

He saw some of the rag's fabric tear off clear as day, and that instantly got him to react by shouting in the creature's face at the top of his lungs, "DON"T FUCKING TOUCH THAT!" The wolf roared back as a reply and slashed at his chest with his other claw… but before it could do any more damage, he brought the creature's head closer and suddenly killed it without warning.

As the first beowulf's head was pulled close, and it's jaw opened to reveal rows of shiny teeth… Gage made a fist with his free hand and bent his wrist down as he went to punch the roof of the grimm's mouth. Then two blades randomly went through the Beowulf's skull and out the back of his head, silencing it abruptly! This occured right as Blake shot the third wolf twice, which allowed her partner to punch a hole in it's head with Ember Celica as a follow up.

It was reduced to a cloud of black dust immediately, and the two girls happened to kill it just in time to see Gage push the first and now dead beowulf off of himself. He somehow managed to survive the attack without any help, and it surprised them both. "...W-Wait, what the-?" Yang then looked at his right arm, and saw something she didn't notice before.

On top of his right wrist was a small metal rectangular box, and there were two blades now coming from the front of it, jutting out over the knuckles of his right hand. It even looked similar to the claws that belonged to Miltia Malachite, the red Malachite twin Yang fought against in Junior's Nightclub a while ago. The only difference was that his blades were shorter and more jagged-looking than hers.

She quickly assumed it was a weird more compact version of a bladed gauntlet and calmed down for a moment once she saw that he was safe… but, that didn't last long, as the fourth and final beowulf came trampling over towards Gage. The last creature was nearly on top of him before it was intercepted as Zwei somehow pushed the wolf to the floor by headbutting it's stomach, and after the corgi backed off, the wolf was shot twice by Blake, now injured but still alive.

It crawled away on its back despite the damage and was already trying to stand up again. Gage watched this whilst laying next to the thing, and he turned towards the team just as Yang kicked Mistletoe back to him. His shotgun slid across the grass until he grabbed onto it, stood up, and aimed it down range at the Beowulf as the brawler used her gauntlets to launch herself ahead of everyone else.

She blasted the grimm with this attack and sent it crashing into a distant tree, but right as Yang was about to move up and finish it off, Gage called out to her. "Don't. He's MINE!" Then he looked down at Mistletoe and somehow pulled it's wood-grain stock out further. It didn't even look like it could extend, but when this happened, both sides of his shotgun's barrel seemingly popped out and curved towards the weapon's muzzle, mimicking the limbs of a crossbow in a sense.

Yang stayed put while Ruby watched this weapon's transformation, and they both were surprised as they watched the guy cock Mistletoe's lever back and forth before a bolt was fired at the final Beowulf. The weapon's parts had barely finished shifting together by then, but he was still on target and ended up pinning the creature to the tree it crashed into, as the crossbow bolt went straight through its eye and out the back of it's head. A small yelp was all that came from the Grimm before it was reduced to another cloud of black ashes a second later, thus allowing everyone there to finally breathe again.

Everyone's first instinct was to stare at the stranger in their midst, since he was the one who got attacked initially, and Yang was the first person to check up on him since she was the closest. "Hey, are you alright?!" She asked as he lowered his... 'shot-bow'.

"*exhale* Yeah…" Gage instantly looked down at himself to see the damage, only to notice that he'd gotten a few scrapes at best. His clothes had been torn pretty good though, and in the end he just felt annoyed by the entire encounter. "...And I think that was the same pack that came to help out the Goliath from earlier. Must've been following you guys ever since then..." He also felt bad about being taken down so easily, but kept that to himself.

"...They tracked us that easily?" Weiss asked him this in return, only for Blake to answer instead. She did this while Gage chose to walk over to retrieve the crossbow bolt he just fired, "It makes sense, since there aren't exactly a lot of people around here anymore. Not to mention that the Grimm here are older, and definitely smarter than the ones in the Emerald Forest..." But in reality, the stray did this to keep the subject away from the bow on her head, as she indeed caught what Gage said seconds up until he was pounced on.

For now though, it seemed like she was safe. Because as Gage stopped in front of the tree the now disintegrated Beowulf had been pinned against, he nodded in agreement and pulled his bolt out of the tree trunk with one tug. Staying quiet the whole time as he pressed a button on the nock of the crossbow bolt, and watched as the projectile shrunk down to the size of a 9mm bullet.

"We're safe now though, so we should probably-"

However as he turned back to the four girls and was about to suggest that they kept moving, they all heard something move towards the same treeline that the pack of grimm came from. There was a faint breath along with the sound of a few twigs snapping, and within seconds everyone had their weapons pointed in that direction. Zwei's growls could be heard as well, and right when they were all expecting an Ursa to come waltzing out of the woods…

...That sense of danger deflated rather quickly, as Gage's horse suddenly poked it's head out from behind the trees. The four girls were confused by the sudden appearance, tilting their heads with Zwei doing the same as they thought that some weird looking, long-faced grimm with a mane was about to come at them. "Beanie!" Gage called to the brown mustang and lowered Mistletoe again the second he spotted her.

The horse let out an audible huff and began to lightly trot over to her rider before he rushed over, patting the side of her neck as she lowered her head and allowed him to brush the side of her face as well. Team RWBY still needed a moment to process what just happened, and soon Ruby merrily put both of her hands under her cheeks after she put Crescent Rose away.

"YOU HAVE A HORSE?!"

Her eyes had an innocent sparkle that shined as she forced herself to not run over to Green Bean, and at the same time Weiss leaned over towards Yang while they both continued to stare at the man and his 'steed'. "That's… the last thing i was expecting." The heiress whispered.

"...'Hatless Cowboy', like i said!~" Yang cooed in a little sing-song voice as she watched Gage from afar, and she quickly had to look away when he turned back towards the Team. The blonde made Blake chuckle a bit before he could say anything though, and the feline faunus kept smiling anyway. "You guys are the first people she's ever seen up close besides myself, so try and be a little careful…" He told them all in a gentle tone.

Green Bean shifted her head over so that she could have one of her eyes on the group of girls and their dog, and she again let out a second huff from her nostrils, sounding a little more stressed than last time. Ruby was still the closest to Beanie out of everyone aside from Gage, and when things got quiet again… he got an idea and beckoned for the rose to come closer.

He then looked over towards one of the pouches attached to his horse's saddle and began to rifle through it as Ruby basically tip-toed her way over to the mustang, while Yang crouched down next to Zwei and put a hand on the back of his neck so he couldn't race over and scare the horse out of nowhere.

Then their new friend took an oatcake out of Beanie's saddle pouch and gave Ruby some clear directions as he handed the treat to her, since saying no to her just felt like it would've been a cardinal sin. "Here, let her eat this out of your hand-but watch your fingers!" He drew attention to the rose by doing this, and with the piece of food now in her hand, Beanie became focused on her hands pretty quickly.

The mustang had turned her snout towards the girl in red entirely when she slowly presented the small cake, and Beanie went to eat it out of her hand like without a care in the world. She didn't have any problem with the girl's presence, and so Ruby used that as an opportunity to brush her hand against the horse's neck like Gage had done. Another breath escaped from the horse's nostrils, and the young leader giggled a bit afterwards.

Still though, Yang went over to her little sister just in case, as she also wanted to clarify something with Gage, "...Uh, what'd you just call her?" The blonde's question made him rub the back of his head sheepishly, now feeling self-conscious about his name choice. "Her name's Green Bean, but i call her Beanie. I know it sounds stupid..." But, then she subverted his expectations with a small laugh of her own,

"Hehe… it's kinda cute, actually." Yang replied.

Her words led him to stop his worrying, and he was able to catch the blonde staring at him out of the corner of his eye, trying to anticipate his reaction… until Weiss came over and tore that down due to more pressing matters. That, and she didn't want Yang and Ruby to get carried away with their friendliness. "-I'm not trying to RUIN this tiny petting zoo, but the sun's still getting lower by the minute, and i'd rather not sleep in the stomach of an Ursa tonight!"

"...Weiss." Blake interrupted the heiress, and despite thinking the same thing, she couldn't help but smirk back at her icy-haired friend as she pointed out her hypocrisy in her typical nonchalant yet sassy manner. "You talk to their dog like it's a baby half of the time-"

"B-BE QUIET! I know that your concerns are the same as mine!" Weiss still screeched at the feline faunus like a harpy however, and her face went red as Zwei also looked over at her with his beady little eyes. Soon he began to bark at her, thanks to how high pitched her voice became, and Gage promptly tried to bring things down to a more mellow state.

"Hey, hey, relax! We'll be back at Mountain Glenn within the hour… just trust me, I know what i'm doing."

"...Do you?" The heiress growled.

Thankfully because it's been… Well, almost two years since he's had to deal with someone this snarky, Gage was able to keep his cool and wordlessly asked Weiss to come with him for a second. He waved for her to come over as he turned his body towards the trees where the final beowulf had been killed, and they both went through the brush while the rest of Team RWBY looked on.

Turns out that the treeline wasn't as dense as it looked, and even though it appeared to contain another sea of trees, they both only took around twenty-five steps before they both walked out the other side a minute later, finding themselves at the edge of a cliff that overlooked a small ravine. There was another forest on the other side, with what looked like an old highway located next to it, and in the distance, you could even see Mountain Glenn with It's tallest buildings poking out at them.

However, Weiss was half expecting Gage to just throw her into the gorge up until the city came into view, and that was when he looked to the left of their location and pointed towards the highway… which went right over the chasm below them, acting like a giant double-laned bridge that connected both sides. This was highlighted by the wanderer, who pointed right at the concrete overpass.

"Look, that freeway is a straight-shot to the city, so we just have to get down to it and walk our way there. It's better than nothing, right?"

More walking wasn't a solution she had in mind, though being able to see Mountain Glenn now did reassure her a little bit. Either way it didn't stop her from giving the guy the cold shoulder, and he didn't even get so much as a 'sorry about that' from the heiress as she sighed, rolled her eyes and walked away.

"*sigh* ...Let's just cross over before something else tries to kill you."

Gage had already lowered his expectations so there wasn't any damage done to the modicum of his ego that remained, if you could even get something like that out of being a young hermit, and he was quick to follow after her back over to Team RWBY and Beanie.

Immediately she turned to the group of trees to their left after returning, with the bridge being in that direction, and she called for Blake to take point with her so she could calm down. The stray of course followed just to make sure that Weiss wouldn't walk straight into any more danger. As for Gage, he didn't linger on the ice queen's rudeness for long, because upon his return he found Ruby sitting on top of Beanie's saddle with a poker face ever present.

They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, and after he realized that the team leader was too short to climb up onto the horse by herself… he glanced over at Yang, who grinned back at him as she started to follow after Weiss and Blake. Beanie had miraculously chosen neither to freak out nor knock Ruby off while he was gone, and once he let those concerns fade away, Gage simply smiled at the girl in red before he grabbed onto his horse's reins and led them both towards the highway...

…

Later…

…

Just like the stranger pointed out, they were able to walk out of the forest, climb over the barrier that outlined the highway, and go across the bridge that went over the ravine below. After that it was a straight-shot towards Mountain Glenn, which could still be seen from afar, just like he had promised… only he didn't mention that they had to walk another mile or two to get there. They were a group of six now when normally Gage and Beanie could just ride to the city like it was a race-track, so of course he had to slow down so as to not leave the girls behind.

The grimm infested forest was replaced with a hot, and barren concrete freeway as they were walking down the large empty path to the right of the lane divider while the left was packed with cars that had been destroyed and covered in rust a long time ago. A constant reminder of what happened to the people that were trying to escape Glenn during its collapse, but none of the teens chose to let it affect them.

Eventually they went under a stilted overpass and the tallest buildings within the fallen metropolis looked to be getting closer with every minute that followed, but at the same time, the sun was beginning to set over the Kingdom of Vale. It was clear that they were going to beat it though, and the stress disappeared from the group as they soon reached an off-ramp that would let them off near the city's center… exactly where their new friend wanted them to go.

Ruby had gotten off of Green Bean so the guy with the injured leg could ride his own horse, and the four girls and their dog were on either side of him as they finally got onto a street. They were following him of course, but as their surroundings became more closed off, Team RWBY became pretty on edge… Well, everyone except for Yang.

She had started shuffling her feet a while back on the highway, but at this point it almost looked like she was swaying with each step. It was as if all of the energy from meeting Gage was starting to wear off, and that same grogginess the blonde felt before their goliath encounter came back and hit her like a truck. Thankfully Blake noticed Yang's silence, and realized how exhausted she looked...

"...Yang, are you feeling tired again?"

"Yeah… guess it just snuck up on me." Yang replied as she wiped one of her eyes. Ruby and Weiss both stopped to take a glance at their teammate right in time to notice the brawler's bloodshot eyes, and the heiress crossed her arms in another classic 'i told you so' pose. "See? I knew we should've brought some of those coffee MREs-"

"But they taste so disgusting!" Ruby whined and partially covered her mouth upon hearing this, meanwhile Gage stopped Beanine and turned around to face the girls as he noticed Yang's zombie-like demeanor and offered the only solution he could think of, "I can fit a passenger up here, but it's your choice." The blonde wanted to be off her feet more than anything, and after a brief hesitation, she threw all caution to the wind as she yawned and stretched her arms over her head.

"*yawn* ...That'd be mighty kind of you, pardner!" She mocked him in her own version of a 'southern belle' type of accent before Gage rolled his eyes, turned his body, and held his hand out to her. Then after she took a hold of him, he pulled her up onto his horse, only for her to make him feel cautious as she sat right behind him."Just don't get any funny ideas..."

Though, he ended up just chuckling when Yang wrapped her arms around his stomach tightly to stay balanced. Because for some reason it felt like she was trying to snap his back in half, and he called her out on it. "...I'd say the same thing, on account of how hard you're squeezing me." She had failed to notice her own strength as she was in fear of falling off the horse, and the brawler relaxed her grip immediately.

Her tiredness kept her from exclaiming or straight up punching him out of embarrassment, and instead Yang chose to hide her now rosy cheeks by hanging her head down low without another word. Hearing Weiss scoff again in the background helped her drop it a whole quicker, and soon they were back on track again. Gage kept his eyes on the road, Yang basically powered down, and Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Zwei followed alongside Green Bean as they headed further back into Mountain Glenn.

"So, what were you guys doing before the breach?" Gage asked once things got quiet.

It was an easy question, and Ruby answered truthfully… but when it was probably a bad idea to do so. "Oh! We were here actually, on a mission with one of our… professors..." No one else knew that much about their escapades against Roman Torchwick and the White fang, except for Sun and Neptune. Even then they probably didn't care too much, but the two girls they were interested in couldn't help but stare at their team leader like she had just killed someone.

Weiss and Blake's eyes were wide open at this point, and the cat faunus joined the heiress in her arm-crossing. This reaction made the young rose stutter with the rest of her sentence, and it took her a second to understand why her two teammates looked like they were about to run over and cover her mouth. "...U-UM-a-and then we got called back to Vale once it happened! Yeah, a bulkhead picked us up and everything! E-Ehehe..."

She got a weird one-eyed glance from Gage after the sudden shift in tone, but he quickly turned back to face the road as Beanie's hooves clacked against the blacktop, and he managed to still stay on topic. "Did you guys ever find out what caused it?" Thankfully Blake took over before Ruby could say anything else. The stray remained truthful too, without mentioning how involved they had really been with stopping the breach.

"Yeah… this criminal Roman Torchwick was responsible for it. He used the old train tunnels under here for it actually, and opened them up so the Grimm could invade through the other side of Vale's walls."

"...Did he even have a reason for it?" He asked in return while Ruby began to hang back a bit, just looking down at the street and staying silent as Weiss picked up where Blake left off. "No. Not one that's been made public at least." The stranger acknowledged her with a small nod, yet couldn't help but feel guilty about what their ice queen said an hour ago.

"Hmph. Now I see why you were pissed at me earlier…" Gage's voice became colder as he kept looking ahead, but at the same time, the team noticed how much his posture crumbled after he said that. It somehow caused Weiss to feel kind of bad for shaming him before, and she suddenly tried to brush it off like it was nothing. "...I-It doesn't matter now anyway, he got locked up after the dust settled..." Y'know, in that typical tsundere fashion.

"Huh... then maybe I can finally come back here, if he was in charge of the same group who attacked me."

"...Do you really want to?" Blake questioned him upfront, like it was still a crazy idea. Of course he wanted to say something along the lines of 'it's better than out there', or a similar statement, but he feared that the girls would ask why he wouldn't want to live inside the Kingdom of Vale. So he didn't reply, and shrugged his shoulders.

It may have felt awkward after that, but it didn't stop the group from following him for the next few blocks. They passed building after building that the team recognized, and like before it made them feel a little uneasy… because this wasn't the side of the city they recognized from their current mission, it was the section that they cleared out with Dr. Oobleck preceding the breach. No Grimm were encountered though and it made them feel better about their actions that day… the only thing that made them worry, was when Ruby felt the need to stop at a seemingly random intersection.

She was visibly nervous, and when she turned to the lane to the right… The rose saw the hole that she'd fallen through before Torchwick and The White Fang captured her. Ruby froze and stayed speechless, wondering if it was a good idea to warn Gage that the ground around them might be unstable, but Weiss came and grabbed her hand so their pace wouldn't be slowed. The scenery became newer from that point on as they saw some of the taller structures the city had to offer.

Everything around them was at least five stories high, and as an orange hue was setting across Mountain Glenn… Gage felt something squishy pressed against his back as Yang had unknowingly began to lean against him in her sleepy stupor. It took him a second to figure out, and he let out his own sigh as she stirred and opened her eyes slightly. "Are we almost there…?" She asked him in a hushed tone.

"It's around the corner. I'm just letting Beanie take a victory lap at this point." He leaned up to brush the side of Green Bean's head after that, and the horse released a cute little snort as she walked on. That happy demeanor didn't last with the mustang for long though, as a few moments later the horse suddenly came to a stop and began to breathe rapidly.

Right away Gage was concerned for her, and just when he was about to ask what was wrong, the horse looked down towards the ground and stepped back and forth with her hooves. Like the pavement became scorching hot out of nowhere… but when he tried to see what the problem was, he glanced down right as a large crack in the pavement formed.

Weiss, Ruby, and Blake all jumped back within seconds while the horse let out a high pitched neigh, letting everyone know that there was something wrong immediately while Gage eyed the blacktop and woke Yang up from her peaceful ride. Then, right when it felt like the street was about to give way… something came up from below instead.

The exact opposite occurred as another Beowulf burst out from below the street! A loud roar came from it too as it launched itself up through the pavement with its claws out and teeth on full display, but right when it was about to latch onto Beanie's flesh, her rider countered it swiftly.

He wasn't going to let this surprise attack happen so when Gage saw the creature pop out of the ground, he drew on the thing in an instant. Taking his kukri knife (named Javix) out of the sheath on his right hip with his left hand, he let it shift into its revolver mode as he brought it up, and he was able to fan a shot out when the Beowulf's head became leveled with his weapon's muzzle. Yang may have actually been right about the cowboy thing, as the dark creature fell to the ground without any other movements coming from it afterwards.

The bullet went clean through it's forehead and killed it instantly… but, that still didn't bring an end to their problem. It was a jumpscare for everyone in their group, and with all of their fright mixed in with the gunshot that came from Javix, it was like every Creature of Grimm in the area could taste some new blood in the water.

...A dinner bell was rung basically, and as everyone watched this dead wolf disintegrate into a cloud of black ashes, what sounded like a symphony of howls and other dark calls erupted across the city. Gage instantly turned towards Team RWBY after he took a breath and sheathed Javix, to say the one thing they were all thinking,

"SHIT-THEY'RE COMING! WE'VE GOT TO GO, NOW!" They didn't have to be told twice.

Yang continued to hold onto him as Beanie reared, going up on her back legs before she brought herself down and charged ahead down the street with the rest of the girls following close behind. They tore down that road and stopped as they reached another intersection, and Ruby and Blake looked to the left just to see that side of the road obscured by pieces of a previously destroyed building. Ruby was able to correct her teammates as she watched Gage turn his horse the other way, "T-To the right-THE RIGHT!" The rose shouted.

Black claws and outlines could be seen scrambling up from beneath the rubble just as they turned in the other direction, and the team struggled to keep up with Green Bean. Ruby had to tug her partner back from the blocked street and pick Zwei up at the same time they started this mad dash, and they could all still fall behind if they didn't use her semblance. She even took a second to look ahead and spot a standout between each of the highrise-type buildings that were ahead, only to impatiently groan and ask for a hint.

"Grrrgh! Gage, which one is it?!"

"It's on the right, a sand-colored hotel with glass doors!" It wasn't difficult for her to see after that, as it was at the last building standing at the end of that street, allowing her to become locked onto it pretty quickly. "Got it! BLAKE, WEISS, HOLD ONTO ME!" Her teammates could also predict her plan pretty easily, so once Weiss held onto the rose's hand and Blake latched onto her shoulder, Ruby used her speed and practically warped her friends to the hotel.

The white red and black blur stopped at the entrance of the hotel before the three of them could be seen opening the doors from afar, and so Beanie continued to charge down the street while Gage's eyes darted between every angle he thought the Grimm could come from. Yang was still confused by what was going on, and by the time they reached the hotel building, her senses were still lagging.

"Yang, hop off!" Her cowboy-like 'chauffeur' commanded the blonde to dismount at the same time he did, and Yang nearly collapsed after her feet hit the pavement while Gage got off too and began to lead his horse by her harness, lowering his steeds head so she could get through the entrance. Everyone got inside the building immediately, and he didn't relax yet even after the doors were closed.

The girls, their dog, and his horse got in the middle of the lobby as he turned around to see the handle of a folded-up security gate that was above the hotel's two front doors. He of course reached for it right away, and Blake came over to help him after noticing it too. He pulled it down halfway before she grabbed a different end, and together they brought it down to the ground until it slammed behind the entrance to the building, completely ridding the place of any source of light from outside.

With the doors now completely barricaded, the teens were able to finally take a breath of fresh air… and Gage was quick to look over at the feline faunus once things were quiet again. "*sigh*...Thanks." He got a nod from her as she was trying to catch her breath, and he went back to check on the rest of their group.

...But he started with Beanie.. He patted her head to keep her calm, and walked her over behind the hotel's front desk while Team RWBY grouped up again. "*pant* ...Did they see us?" Ruby asked out loud, just for him to answer first before anyone else could. "I think we'll be alright if we keep our spirits up, along with our guard."

"Agreed." Weiss replied, just as they started to look around. The place was definitely a blessing compared to wherever they would've camped that night, and Yang even felt pissed that they didn't find this place when they were with Oobleck. It was a step up to be sure… but she still wanted to test her luck after she noticed that there was hay and old trash all over the place, "So uh… this is it?"

She felt selfish for asking such a thing and almost became worried that it would have affected the guy's perception of her, until he actually surprised the team with what he said next. After he calmed his horse and got her gear and saddle off, Gage helped Beanie lay down on the pile of hay that was behind the front desk. Then he reached into one of the desk's drawers, and pulled out a room key...

"No, there's a room I kept stocked with supplies on the fourth floor. We have to take the stairs though, so catch your breath now if you need to."

Yang regretted asking now once he mentioned stairs, and she whined like a child while Ruby hugged Zwei and did the same. Weiss and Blake just sighed simultaneously though, and watched as Gage gestured for the girls to follow him. Aside from Green Bean, their young rose was the only one who needed to relax after that mad dash… but she still had a lot of energy to go around, and didn't waver.

She walked after him first with her teammates coming along a few seconds later, as their new friend led them behind the front desk, past an old dysfunctional elevator, and to a door that opened up into the dreaded stairwell… which had a floor that was stained with dried blood. He had forgotten about it completely, and with a horde of Grimm nearby, he knew that he had to get the team's attention away from it. So just as he was about to let the girls through, Gage called over to Beanie one last time before he took the first step up the staircase,

"I… I'll be back girl, just sit sight!"

Then he kept the door at an angle that'd block the stain partially, and allowed for them to cross the threshold as he quickly went up the stairs while Ruby, Weiss, and Blake went right ahead and followed without noticing anything strange.

"Final stretch…" Yang still sighed as she looked up at the various flights of stairs that were above them, and chose to remain in the back so she could take her time. Being the rear-guard was always comforting too since the only thing the blonde just had to watch their backs for the most part… but as she took her first steps, she suddenly had the urge to check the door behind her just in case Green Bean chose to come after them.

That was when she glanced down at the blood stain by accident... and she somehow didn't point it out to everyone else. Yang had thought about how much negativity could spawn from mentioning it, and with a hungry horde of Grimm outside, she chose to forget about it and instead got another stupid idea in her head as she turned back around to catch up with the rest of their group...

…

Gage finally felt relieved after they had gone up two flights of stairs, and at the same time Ruby miraculously found the courage to get close and prod at him. She poked his side with her index finger as she got alongside him, and kept looking down at the ground instead of making eye contact. "I uh… think it's pretty cool that you have so many weapons..."

"Thanks. They all aren't technically mine though-" He said this and put his hand on Mistletoe as it was on his back, but Ruby didn't really pay any mind to that detail. She kept looking at the shotgun while Zwei was tucked under her arm like a stuffed toy, and the young leader blurted out her next question once she turned to face him directly. "Do they have names?!"

"...You have a knack for this sort of thing, huh?" Gage asked her, more so just to confirm his suspicion. Ruby squeaked out a 'yes' from within the depths of her nervousness, and he entertained her clear interest with a smile.

"Alright, let's have a little 'show and tell' then... But you start."

"Oh, okay! Well… THIS is my sweetheart, Crescent Rose!~" The moment she was prompted, Ruby brought out Crescent Rose again with her free hand and went to town on telling him about it. Pretty soon she was talking his ear off, and he was actually interested in hearing about it.

He mostly just listened as the rose continued describing every inch of her 'sweetheart', and while he was distracted… Yang asked Weiss to hang back for a second while Blake was left alone. The heiress quickly became puzzled by this request, but adhered to it since it wasn't common for their brawler to be so discreet.

"Hey, so… i've been thinking about our 'scruffy' friend up there, and-"

"Let me guess... you think he's cute?" Weiss whispered, only to get a heated glare in return. It wasn't a flustered rant like she was expecting, so the blonde made it clear that she was trying to stay serious amidst being tired and it made the ice queen look away with instant regret being expressed.

It still didn't make Yang feel any better, and she only spoke once she was able to compose herself again. "Oh bite me, ice queen! *exhale* ...No, I think we should bring him back to Beacon with us." And despite the fact that Weiss felt bad for being rude, she didn't hesitate or hold back at all when it came to disagreeing with this strange idea. "What? Why?! We just met him! We don't even know if he's a danger to us either, and it'd be stupid for us to take that chance..."

"He got hurt fixing my stupid mistake! I at least owe him a visit to the nurse back at Beacon, and then some..." Yang fired back at her.

"I suppose it's… fair." Blake remarked as she stopped to turn back and watch them both silently argue with each other. Obviously they forgot about the edge her faunus ears gave her, and their faces made the stray smile and gesture for them to keep on moving. " ...And for the record, I'm sure the four of us could take him down easily."

"What if he's a criminal on the run? It'd explain why he's been here so long, and why he's so secretive too!' Weiss assumed that she already had the guy all figured out, and instead of pointing out that she had been wrong about people in the past, Yang oddly tried to keep things civil. "I'm sure he has his own reasons for both those things, and It's not like we don't have our own secrets to hide…"

On the other hand, Blake did the exact opposite and spoke her mind with no holds barred. "Also... the last guy you assumed was a criminal brought Neptune with him. Sooo maybe you shouldn't jump to conclusions that quickly." The stray's partner was surprised by this comeback, and Weiss had nothing to say.

There was probably some leftover resentment from the feline faunus after Sun was deemed a 'rapscallion' when the girls first met him, and the heiress couldn't blame her two friends calling her out on it. So she gave up on that front and presented a more plausible question to them both. It was a kind of a curve-ball too,

"Hmph… well, what if he wants to stay here?"

Her teammates began to stare at her like she was crazy, and made her feel like that question was beyond stupid without saying anything. It wasn't even answered as Weiss refused to drop it, and Blake eventually reasoned against it with her own experience being outside the kingdoms. "Having a potential injury is a death sentence out here, and if he's survived for this long, he'd know that by now. It just wouldn't be a smart move."

"Yeah, and i'm not okay with leaving here knowing that he could die. Huntresses are supposed to help people too, Weiss… you know that." Yang crossed her arms and shook her head before she gave her own input, but not without looking disappointed in her friend's hostility. There were obviously good points from both sides, but the blonde was just too stubborn in the end and Weiss was honestly too tired to care at this point.

She was still surprised that Yang could stand so firm while being more drained than the rest of their team, and made sure not to seem like she was flipping over on their side. Falling to the golden beauty's guilt trip or not, Weiss just decided to stay neutral in this debacle.

"*exhale* ...Fine, i won't stop you. But i refuse to be held responsible if this goes awry!"

She then stomped up the steps past Blake so she could get closer to Ruby, and the faunys looked back to see that her partner let a huge grin form across her lips. "Okay then, i'll ask him about it in a bit…"The golden girl was proud of herself for not backing down, but it wasn't that long until some nervousness could be felt on the inside, and her drowsiness got the better of her again. "*yawn!* ...After i get some beauty sleep..."

Everyone became spaced apart afterwards like nothing had happened, and soon they all stopped once they reached a door that was located on top of the fourth set of stairs. Ruby was still yapping while Gage opened it, and revealed the fourth floor to the team before he went through the doorway.

"...So basically, it's a sniper rifle and a scythe?" He asked the rose.

"Well when you say it like that it sounds boring…."

"N-No-That's way cooler than anything I could think of!"

However, soon all of Team RWBY went quiet when they followed through… and got weirded out by the sudden softness of the carpet that was now underneath their feet. It was like they'd been teleported back home to their dormitory building, but the correlation ceased after the girls turned to glance down the hall to their right. There was a long line of just room doors and lamps that were plunged in darkness, and that was when the team got some horror movie vibes from the place.

Luckily for them, Gage didn't force anyone to go down that corridor as the room he picked was right in front of the stairwell. He used the key to unlock the front door, and the team immediately threw themselves inside after he opened the place up for them.

He shook his hands to mock their fright as he entered, locked the door again after shutting it, and walked past a comfy looking couch that was on the left side of the room. The girls put Zwei down and had already started wandering around by then so they could get a feel for the place while also trying to forget that spooky hallway, and Gage did the same since he'd been away from here for the last six months.

Their room was of course decrepit and rotting, but appeared to be a suite of some kind as it had a bedroom, bathroom, and the open room that they were in currently. (which also had a small kitchen in it's right corner) It all looked like a decent place to stay for the night… even with the giant hole that was made in the left wall of the suite, as it provided the group with a nice elevated view of the city.

The team kept looking around for a little too long by now… so he made sure to get the first word in before they could voice any criticisms, and went with a small tour to break the silence, "There should be MRE's in the cupboard, and a few mattresses in the other room. You can have that couch too-" And as he turned towards the couch beside himself, Yang threw herself onto it like it was a trampoline. "MINE!" She claimed it, not caring that it was right next to the giant hole in the wall.

"It's a pull-out bed you know…" Gage murmured.

An audible groan came from her right away, as she felt too sluggish to get up and do anything further. Instead Yang committed to her laziness and didn't say another word as she closed her eyes, hugged the couch's cushions, and she powered down again. Tiny snores could be heard a few seconds later, and everyone else couldn't help but appear astonished by the blonde's speedy slumber.

No one could blame her in the end, and Gage was the first one to break away when things got quiet again. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake turned away as well, but just when it looked like they were going to start standing there, waiting for some sort of invitation to move around… he remembered what it was like to show some hospitality, and said that he'd be right back as he went into the other room to drag the beds out for them. But as expected, the three girls wordlessly chose to help him out with cleaning the place up anyway...