PART 1


"Well...it's about to happen."

"Indeed, sis. Our biggest battle ever. Scared."

"Absolutely. But Uncle Qrow told me to not be scared."

"...That's good. Don't want to get distracted. Instead...use your anger."

Ruby Rose and her sister, Yang Xiao Long, are sitting across from each other in a room.

"How angry do you think I am?" Ruby asked.

Yang begins to think. "I'd say...if your eyes turned red, it would be that much."

Ruby chuckles. "You're right. But I have to be careful with my anger too. Don't want that clouding me in a fight."

The sound of the door to the room opens. Ruby and Yang both turn to see the rest of their teammates entering. Weiss Schnee sits down on her bed, while Blake Belladonna rests herself on the wall next to the door.

"How are you guys holding?" Ruby said.

"...Trying our best." Blake answered. "We're expected to land outside of Mistral in a few minutes. We also gained some more allies in the process. They'll be arriving in other airships." She notices that Yang is showing some slight anger and sighs. "Really, Yang? You're still angry?"

"I am." Yang answered. "Not very much. Just a little. I know it's only been a few weeks since you came back...but I can't forgive you fully. Not yet."

Blake lowers her head and grabs her arm. "Then I'll do what I can to earn that forgiveness."

"And you will." Weiss said. "One day. For now, we have to focus on what's about to happen.

"I'll tell you what's going to happen." Ruby said as she stands up. "We're going to beat Salem. We're going to get the other 2 relics. And we're going to win. Because we're the good guys."

"Just because we're the good guys Ruby, doesn't mean we gotta prepare for the worst." Weiss said.

Yang groans in annoyance. "Way to ruin it, Ice Queen."

Weiss growls in anger.

"Hey you guys."

Team RWBY turns to see Qrow Branwen standing in the door way, drinking from his flask.

"Hey Uncle Qrow." Ruby said. "Are we just about there?"

Qrow puts his flask away. "Yep. And get this: We're not the first to land. Some surprising people will be there already."

"Who?" Yang said.

"Oh, you'll see." Qrow said, smiling.

Minutes later, the airship slowly lands in the forests outside of Mistral, with some trees falling down from the ship hitting them. After landing, the ship opens the bay doors. Team RWBY, Qrow, along with Jaune Arc, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie exit the ship.

"Well...we're back." Jaune said.

"Back, Indeed." Ren said. He turns to see Nora, who is acting unusually nervous. He then proceeds to hold her hand.

Nora turns to look at Ren, who is smiling at her. She slowly smiles back.

"So...where's the other group?" Ruby asked.

"About half a mile from here." Qrow said. "Thought it'd be a good idea to not have all the ships in one place. Just in case."

Nora groans in annoyance. "We have to walk now?"

"Nora." Jaune said. "We spent months walking from Vale to Mistral. And now you're complaining?"

"I ain't complaining." Yang said. "I could use the exercise."

"Onward, then." Weiss said.

The group proceeds to walk down the forest. As they walk, they hear the silence of the forest, the birds chirping in the trees.

"It's been a while since we've had this much silence since we made it to Mistral." Jaune said.

"You guys were used to this a lot, huh?" Blake asked.

"Yep." Nora said. "Other than the occasional Grimm, it was...peaceful. Being along in the woods...by ourselves...without fearing that we could get eaten while we were asleep."

"Okay." Jaune said nervously. "Nora. Please take it down a notch."

"Fine." Nora said, crossing her arms.

"It is nice to hear the sounds of the forest again." Ruby said, smiling. "Helped me focus a lot while we were heading to Mistral."

"Speaking of that...Ruby." Yang said. "You and I need to have a little discussion of the fact that you went off, without telling me or Dad."

Ruby's eyes go wide and turns to Yang. "I left a note!"

"Yeah!" Yang exclaims. "A note! That was it! You just took off without a word. Do you have any idea how angry Dad was?"

"I suspect a lot." Ruby said, nervously.

"He was pissed." Yang said. "And I had to hear it all."

"I wonder if he's still angry at me." Ruby said.

"Oh...I SO am!"

The whole group stops and immediately turns to see who was speaking. Ruby felt the blood drain from her face as she sees her dad, Taiyang, standing near them. His arms are crossed and is looking at Ruby.

"Hey, Tai." Qrow said.

"Qrow." Taiyang said.

Yang turns to see Ruby slowly backing away and puts her arm behind her sister, stopping her. "Don't. He's here. No running away."

Ruby looks at Yang, before she turns to see Taiyang approaching her, making her stare at the ground. Yang can feel Ruby shaking as Taiyang stops.

"...Ruby." Taiyang said. "Ruby. Look at me."

Ruby waits a few seconds, before lifting her head. Taiyang's expressions softens upon seeing the tears falling down down her face.

"Dad!" Ruby exclaims. "I'm...I'm sorry that I...I had to leave...I wanted to tell you why. I should've stayed. But I didn't want...I needed..."

He sighs and proceeds to wrap his arms around her daughter. Ruby is surprised by this.

"I'm just happy that you're okay." Taiyang said.

Ruby begins to sob softly before she hugs her dad back. The group all beginning to smile at the father-daughter reunion. Yang walks to a nearby tree and rests her back on it. As she crosses her arms and smile, she notices several leaves falling past her. Her smile fades and begins to look up. She begins to show some anger. "Dad?"

Taiyang breaks the hug and turns to look at Yang. Ruby wipes her tears away.

"What is she doing here?"

Qrow begins to realize what Yang says and proceeds to take out his sword.

"Wait!"

Qrow turns to look at Taiyang, who has his hand raised up.

"It's okay." The father said. "She's with me."

Yang turns to look at her dad. "What do you mean by that?"

Taiyang looks up at the tree, where he sees a bird. "It's okay. Come on out."

The bird stares at Taiyang for a few seconds before it falls to the ground. Everyone except for Yang, Qrow, Weiss and Taiyang are eyes-wide when they see the bird transform into human form. Standing in front of everyone, Raven Branwen has her arms crossed, and her face is now of slight fear. She turns to look at Yang, who is angrily looking at her.

"Yang." Raven said.

"...Mom." Yang said as she walks away to Taiyang. "Why is she with you?"

"...She came to the house...weeks ago. Said that we had so much to talk about."

Yang turns to Raven. "I expected you to head back to your tribe and run away. Just as you always had."

"...I was planning to." Raven said.

"And yet, you're here." Qrow said, crossing his own arms.

Raven looks at her brother. "I did go back to the tribe. And then I abandoned them. Just like you did."

Qrow raises his eyebrows. "Wow. That took some guts to leave the people that you called 'family'. But that still doesn't change the fact that you sided with Salem."

"I sided with myself, Vernal and the Tribe!" Raven exclaims. "I was using Fall in order to get to the Relic." She turns back to Yang. "But she stopped me from taking it. Because she was right. No matter where I go...Salem will find me."

"Not just kill you." Qrow said. "But siphon them Maiden powers of yours."

Raven is surprised to hear this and looks at Yang again. "You told him."

"Not immediately." Yang said, having told Qrow a week after the Battle of Haven. "But you're here for a reason." She turns to Taiyang.

"She's here to fight Salem." Taiyang said. "Took a few days to convince her."

"And here I am." Raven said. "And I'm not running, anymore."

"...We will discuss this more, once we reach the rest of the group." Qrow said.


GRASSLANDS

Minutes later, everyone walk out of the forest and into the grasslands, where they see a landed airship nearby. Qrow notices that no one is around.

"Where is everyone?" Ruby said.

Blake's cat ears twitch and she squints her eyes. She suddenly takes out Gambol Shroud and throws it at a tree, the tip striking the tree. A pair of arms appear raised from the tree.

"WHOA, THERE!"

Blake brings Gambol Shroud back to her. "Come out!"

"Alright! Alirght! Can't get some sleep without being attacked! Geez."

The group watches as the girl comes out from the behind her tree. Her beret in her hand as she yawns, Coco Adel stretches her arms and cracks her back. "Sup, guys."

"Coco." Ruby said. "Is that you?"

"Who else walks around with a beret these days, 1st year?" Coco asked as she walks to the group. She the proceeds to whistle loudly. The sounds of rustling happens behind her. "We all hid, just in case. You never know who's going to attack us."

Coco and everyone else turn to see those coming out of their hiding spots. Yang sees the girl with the rabbit ears coming out of a large bush. Velvet Scarlatina smiles upon seeing her friends. Behind her, Yatsuhashi Daichi and Fox Alistair walk behind her.

"Well, well, well." Yang said. "If if isn't Team CFVY."

"It certainty has been a while." Velvet said, before she is surprised upon looking at Yang's metal arm. "Whoa."

"Don't ask." Yang said. "So Velvet. Weiss told me about what you did back in Beacon. I'm impressed. Looking forward to seeing how you fight."

Velvet shyly smiles and looks away. But Coco can tell that she's blushing.

"Anyone else here?" Qrow asked.

"Not really." Coco answered. "We tried to get other teams from Beacon to help." She sighs. "We even tried Team CRDL."

"I told her not to." Velvet said. "They said no, anyways."

"So it's just my team, and the the exes." Coco said.

"Hey." Taiyang said. "Come on."

"Whatever." Coco said. "When are we going to fight?"

"Very soon." Qrow said. "We just need to wait for the other groups to arrive. We'll then debrief you on what's going on."

"So until then...what do you guys wanna do?" Ruby asked.

"...We could catch up." Weiss suggested.

"It has been almost a year." Velvet said. "I'd like to hear what you guys been doing since we last saw each other."

"Might as well." Qrow said. He then turns to Raven. "Feel free to get reacquainted. The adults need to speak for a few minutes." He then notions towards a direction.

Qrow, Raven and Taiyang walk away as RWBY, JNR and CFVY begin to converse with each other. The three of them keep walking until they are far away enough out of earshot. Qrow then angrily looks at Raven. "You better explain yourself, right now!"

"Could you clarify?" Raven asked, crossing her arms.

"I'm talking about the girl! The one who was the last Spring Maiden!" Qrow exclaims. "Yang told me about how you found her. And that you killed her."

"I gave her mercy." Raven said.

"She was only a kid!" Qrow said.

"She was weak!" Raven said.

"Enough! Both of you!" Taiyang said, silencing the siblings. " What has happened...happened. Okay? We can't just go back and change any of this. We have to stop meddling in the past. And focus on the future."

"I hate to admit this." Raven said. "But he's right. I do not plan on arguing for the rest of this mission. I just want to help stop Salem, once and for all."

"And what'll you do after that?" Qrow asked. "You said that you abandoned the Tribe, yourself."

"I'll worry about that, until then." Raven said.

Meanwhile, the three teams are conversing with each other. As they do, Weiss notices Ruby walking into the forest. She decides to go follow her friend. After a couple minutes of walking, they completely stop. Weiss is amazed by the waterfall that is in front of them.

"Whoa." She said.

"Yep." Ruby said. "We stopped by here a couple days before you and Yang showed up." She then sits down. "It's actually a good place to think."

Weiss notices that's Ruby's face is of sadness and proceeds to sit down next to her. "What's wrong?'

Ruby slowly turns to Weiss. "I didn't want to show the others how I really feel right now. We're about to fight Salem, Weiss. And when we first saw her...that was the moment that I was truly terrified of something."

"She was scary." Weiss said. "But in truth, I actually saw worse. Fighting her will be easier."

"That's not the point." Ruby said. "I'm...I'm scared, Weiss. I'm scared of the aftermath. Whether we win. Whether we lose. Or whether we'll lose some of our own in the fight."

Weiss is a bit shocked at hearing this.

"Qrow and Yang have been doing their help me. But no matter what, the fear doesn't go away, the closer we get."

"You shouldn't think about this."

"I don't have a choice." Ruby said. "They're always there. The memories that keep me afraid. And when Cinder almost killed you...I tried my best not to show the fear that I had inside me. I thought I had lost my best friend, that night. My partner"

Weiss places her hand over the area, where her scar lies underneath her outfit. "I'm still here, Ruby."

"Because of Jaune."

"Not just because of Jaune. But my will to keep going as well. Alone, your own will is powerful. But together...all of us...we could near unstoppable."

Ruby stares at the ground for a few seconds, before speaking. "Promise me."

Weiss is a bit confused. "Promise?"

Ruby lifts her head back up and looks at Weiss. "Promise me that you'll be by my side." She then smiles. "I have some team attacks that I came up with. And I'd like to use them."

Weiss smiles. "Just for that?"

Ruby tries to move away her head. But Weiss sees her blushing. She chuckles and nods. As she look away, Ruby goes eyes-wide and quickly turns. She sees Weiss' hands on top of her own.

"Hey."

Ruby looks back at Weiss.

"Hey." Weiss said. "I promise. Okay? A million times, I promise. You watch my back...and I watch yours."

Ruby slowly smiles and the two of them proceed to stare at the waterfall, with Weiss' hand still on top of Ruby's.

"Awww. That's cute."

Ruby and Weiss' eyes go wide. They immediately turn around to see Yang. She is smiling and her arms crossed. The two quickly stand up and look embarrassed.

Ruby chuckles nervously. "Uh...what brings you here, Yang?"

Yang is still smiling as she raises an eyebrow. "Don't think I will forget this moment, Rubes. " She was also holding her Scroll.

"You were recording us?" Weiss annoyingly ends.

"Just a couple pics." Yang said as she puts her Scroll away. "I'm here because the other teams will be here in a couple hours. And I was thinking...let's do something funny. To help with morale a bit."

"Ooooohhhhhhh." Ruby said. "What you got in mind?"


END OF PART 1

Hey guys. I made a decision as I wrote the ending of this. And I decided to make a 2 Parter. This is Part 1. And Part 2 will have the characters prepare for battle, the battle scene, and the ending that will shock you readers. And I will think about a sequel to this story, if I want to write one. I will work on Part 2 later on. Until then...see you guys.