Welcome back
Writer: Coeur al'Aran
Director: College Fool
Cover Art: Kegi Springfield
"Wake up."
The demand, quiet as it was, pierced through the clouds in Ren's head and woke him within moments. The first thing he noticed was that it was still dark, sun not yet risen. Then he realised Jaune was kneeling beside him. That was a bad enough way to wake up, even without the night-time chill. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong.
Jaune's hand covered it, pushing him back down. "Quiet," Jaune hissed. His eyes were barely visible in the dark, but there was no mercy despite the early hour. "We're not alone."
Ren awoke instantly. The adrenaline pushed away what fatigue there was as he nodded, alert. When Jaune let go of his jaw, he rolled aside and up into a crouched position. His eyes scanned the entranceway, but he couldn't see any Grimm. He cursed himself for a fool a second later. If Grimm were in the cave, Jaune wouldn't be waking him up; he'd be fighting. They all would be.
"What is it?" he dared whisper.
Jaune's eyes narrowed. "Grimm."
He felt like pointing out that was obvious and asking for more detail, but the wariness on his companion's face stopped him. Now wasn't the time for sarcasm, and if Jaune was this nervous, then it was serious. He probably didn't know what the Grimm were doing, just that they were close. Too close. It would have been foolish to go out there to find out more.
Ren looked back into the cave and noticed that many of their things were packed and ready to go. Jaune had stashed their cooking equipment the night before. Besides their blankets, only some wet clothing had been left out to dry.
They could move quickly if nothing else. Maybe that had been the point.
Ren kept his voice low but crept over to Jaune. "Do we stay here?" he asked. "Even if they don't pass, I could hold them at the cave mouth. It's defensible." Good terrain, even to his admittedly amateur eye.
Jaune shook his head regardless. "Not in the Grimmlands. Not with Mouk nearby." Ren knew the danger was close by the way Jaune spared him his normal acerbic attitude. "You might be able to hold the entrance, but Mouk would head over the second the Grimm see us."
"Keeping us trapped inside," Ren realised. "Then it'd be a battle of attrition."
Jaune's grim nod confirmed it. Either they stayed inside against whatever host Mouk brought, or they stepped outside to face him head on. Ren didn't want to think about how that might work. He'd never faced something like Mouk before, but the old strategies wouldn't work. They couldn't afford to fight any battles on the defensive in case he decided to come over. They could flee, fight, or sneak by, but either way they'd need to keep moving.
"This is why I hate caves. We can't afford to take the chance they'll pin us down," Jaune said, starting to shove the still-damp clothes into his sack. "It'd take a better hunter than me to get you past Mouk if they do. You ready to move?"
"Let me grab my clothes," Ren said, reaching over and shoving them and his blanket into his bag without a care. Nice neat folds could come later. Ren shouldered his pack and yawned, feeling every lost hour of sleep worm its way into his exhausted muscles. He slammed his Semblance down on those thoughts, and the emotions attached to them.
The sky outside was still dark when they left the cave, proving his instincts right. It looked to be a good two hours before dawn, but there was a lingering light from shattered moon as it hung above the tall peaks of the Lunar Cry mountains to the north-east. With the shattered fragments glowing white in the night sky, he could finally understand why the mountains had earned that name. It looked like the moon was weeping, a tear hovering above the hungry teeth of the mountain peaks.
He hoped that wasn't an omen.
Jaune tapped his arm before he could get too distracted and motioned with his head to the side. Ren nodded and followed, picking his way carefully over treacherous rocks. The going was slow and dangerous, more so because neither of them were a faunus. At the very least, though, no flames or electronic lights ruined his night vision, and after a awhile he was able to barely make out a path, little more than a game trail. How Jaune had noticed it in the dark was beyond him.
Crickets chirped, and branches rustled in the low breeze, but there was neither sight nor sound of Grimm. He wondered if his companion might have mistaken it, but didn't speak such thoughts. Even if it wasn't true, there would be no sleeping now. He was too alert.
Eventually they reached a hill steeper than the rest- and to Ren's surprise, Jaune began to climb it. The hill was like a wall to the valley, separating it from the no doubt many more on the other side, but there was more than that. Whereas the hills and ridges so far had been well-forested, this hill was steeper, and with much less plant growth growing off it. Ren struggled for hand holds, and instead watched his steps as they began to walk up a light-ish coloured… shale? Was it shale? It was the only light-coloured soil that came to mind as the loose topsoil and looser grass swayed in a breeze.
Up here, on the 'wall' that separated two of the countless valleys, Ren could tell they had climbed one of the ridgelines that separated the valley floors. Looking back where they had travelled from, he could almost see the far side of the valley. Somewhere there had been the cave they'd fled. Now they were almost a valley away from where the Grimm were no doubt still looking from them. The distance would bring safety, but that was cold comfort.
Ren tugged the pilot's coat closer around his body instead, trying to huddle into it to preserve what little warmth that wasn't whisked away in the cool night air. Though they were lucky the rains had lessened for the moment, though their effects could still be felt in the slick stones and slippery steps. More than once Ren thought he might tumble, and one time he did. His right ankle flared, but he refused to acknowledge that when Jaune looked back. No way would he be slowing them now, when speed was of the essence. They cut across the steep ridgeline, concealed as best they could against the face of it while avoiding any areas that might silhouette them against the sky.
A long howl echoed behind them, making the two pause not an hour into their trudging journey. Ren crouched low, Jaune doing the same, and the two listened in as the keening noise reached its peak and slowly died.
"Beowolf," Jaune said.
"It sounded like it was back where we came from. Do you think it found the cave?"
"Maybe. Maybe it found the embers." In the dark it was hard to make out Jaune's face, but his words were filled with frustration. "We didn't have time to cover our tracks. Even a mindless beast can notice things that don't belong, like fires in a cave." He looked back at Ren. "That's why we want to bury a fire pit whenever possible," he shared. "Remember that for next time."
"Will it track us?" Ren wanted to know.
"It shouldn't. It'd probably fail if it tried." Jaune pushed himself up and moved away, Ren following. As they stepped over rocks and avoided crumbling shelves of shale, the hunter continued to whisper. "Beowolves may look like wolves, but they don't hunt like them. I don't know if it's impatience or just being Grimm, but they can't track a scent worth beans. If we were still in sight they'd chase us to the ends of Remnant, but as long as we don't leave a trail an idiot could follow they'll normally just spread out, poking around every bush until they get bored," he said with a shrug. "Maybe they've gotten too used to their prey being afraid and running away. Don't need scent if someone's breaking brush in a panic," he said. He looked at Ren again. "That's something else my Uncle taught me," he said. "If you want to slip by a Grimm, just make a noise as a decoy. Or you can take advantage of their hearing. Their hearing usually is pretty good, so you can startle or daze them in a fight if you do it right," he shared.
"I'll remember that," Ren agreed. It seemed like a weak thing to trust their life to, but Jaune- or at least his Uncle- knew more than he did. It was hard to accept that, but Professor Port's lessons were almost always focused on finding, hunting, and killing Grimm as quickly as possible, before they could harm anyone else. Not understanding how they hunted in turn.
Fortunately, Jaune's hypothesis proved true, or perhaps the Grimm weren't able to track them over such rocky terrain. Whatever the case, they faced no pursuit from the Grimm behind as they carried on, and although they occasionally heard the sound of a Nevermore cawing in the distance, none took to the air. It almost felt like it was easier to move during the night, though that was a tricky prospect given how shortened their line of sight was. It was cold, too, and had it been raining Ren was sure they wouldn't have made it.
They paused as the sun finally rose over the eastern horizon and painting golden hues across the sky, and turning the clouds red. What might have otherwise been a beautiful sight was little more than a chance to catch his breath. Ren panted lightly and looked to Jaune, unsure why he'd chosen to stop. For his part the hunter stared towards the sun and sighed.
"We'll need to get back into the forest. We can't be out in the open once the sun is up or every Nevermore from here to the mountains will see us."
Ren waved a hand. "Lead the way."
"Okay. We'll slip into the forest here and find a river to follow upstream. It should lead us to a mountain pass or-"
A loud sound shook the landscape. Some loose rocks nearby shook and skittered down around them, kicking up a cloud of dust. Ren looked to Jaune, but before he could open his mouth another loud bang shook them.
The two turned as one to look over towards the north, the direction of their destination. A cloud billowed and wisped into the air, but in the light of the sunrise Ren could tell it wasn't smoke, but tree parts and debris. As it billowed outwards and towards them, the figure within became visible over the top of the trees.
Ren's breath misted before his face. "Mouk!"
"Shit!" Jaune cursed loudly and hopped off the rock he was stood on. "Down to the valley floor. Quick!" He hurried towards the trees and Ren took only a second to follow, the both of them stumbling now as haste took over, pushing them to take more risks with their footing as they rushed down the ridge to the relative safety of the trees. All the while the behemoth lumbered inexorably towards them.
It was Ren who slipped first, a loose patch of pebbles giving way rather than giving the support he expected. He gasped as he lost balance, and almost slid down amidst a tumble of pebbles before Jaune caught him. The hunter half-turned, gripped his arm and hauled him back onto his feet and to the first of the trees on the ridgeline for balance. There was no time for gratitude as nearby Grimm began to howl and snarl. Maybe they'd heard the rucks tumbling. Maybe they'd just been driven into a frenzy by the presence of the larger monster. Either way they were surrounded, but not yet found.
"Don't stop," Jaune hissed, the two of them reaching the trees and ducking under the canopy, losing sight of Mouk at last. "We're not safe yet. Not with him so close. We need-" He gasped. "Damn it!"
Up ahead in a clearing, two Ursa were already facing them.
There was no chance to halt their pace or hide. Ren surged forwards, his guns falling into his hands as he reversed them so he could use the blades.
Like at the bullhead, he aimed for the throat first. Ren leapt into the first Ursa's guard, stabbing one blade into the joint under its arm so that it couldn't crush him, and the other into its throat. He then wrenched the first one out and used the other as a pivot to swing himself up onto its back, before he tore that free and kicked off, pushing the Grimm down. It fell with a gasp and began to dissolve.
The second was already raised onto its rear feet. An arrow whizzed past Ren, but glanced off the face mask and up into the eye. The beast didn't have the grace to die at once. It took Ren's near-tackle, and the blade to its skull, to finish it off. Before it died, though, it screamed; a roar of anger and pain.
That was all it took.
A mountain rose and roared in the distance. Ren's head was spinning at the sound even before a thunderous crash crushed the forest too near them.
"He's seen us," Jaune gasped.
There was no need to ask who. Even with him trying his best to kill them as quickly as possible, it had only taken an instance for the alert to be raised. Mouk entered the forest, pushing trees aside as it roared in what Ren swore wasn't anger but pure, unadulterated, and hateful joy.
Ren cursed and rushed after Jaune, the two fleeing deeper into the forest-valley. The commotion had awoken it and roars, howls and growls sounded all around them. Several Grimm saw them in their haste and began to chase, but there was nothing to be done. Nor was there any complaint from Jaune when Ren fired Stormflower at the closest of Grimm, a few junior Beowolves snipping at their heels. Gunfire didn't matter much now. A much bigger fish- so to speak- was already tracking them.
He ran hard enough to feel it, and even Jaune was clearly sprinting at an unsustainable rate. They couldn't stop for fear of Mouk crushing them just by catching up to them, and in their rush they darted past Beowolves and Ursa left and right. Ren wasted more shots to hinder the closest pursuers, but it was only a waste because what was the point? For each he maimed or made unable to pursue, something worse was about to arrive.
Ren panted for breath as he ducked under the clawed arm of one Beowolf that managed to approach from above, the air above his head whistling by. He didn't stop to finish it off after an initial counter-attacked clipped a tendon, or even to see what class the Grimm had been. He just focused on keeping Jaune in sight and not tripping in the forest, aware that to do so would be to die.
A quick look behind revealed the Grimm on their tail. Beyond that there was no sign of Mouk other than a looming darkness blocking out the stars, but he could hear trees being torn down, and that noise was getting ever closer.
A Beowolf stepped out of the trees ahead. Ren increased his pace and caught its attention so it wouldn't go for Jaune. The beast leapt for him, but he ducked aside and let it sail by, blinding it for its troubles as it passed. It soon fell behind them, running into a bush as it tried to follow. Like the rest of the Grimm, it no doubt followed… but fell behind.
It was delayed for a moment, but just a moment. As his muscles screamed and his lungs ached, Ren wondered where they were even running too. Grimm could be tireless. What was the plan here? Was there one? Jaune didn't seem to have one except 'away,' or run towards the opposite wall.
Then Jaune skid to a sudden stop, stopping so fast that Ren almost ran into him.
"Damn."
Jaune's voice filled him with less confidence than the reason why.
Before them was a stream - though it should really be called a flood channel. The creek that had carved this valley out lay before them, but calling it a creek did it no justice. White water rushed before them, practically a rapid, as a tree from somewhere upstream rushed passed with a dangerous fury. Had a dam upstream broke? Or was this just the result of the monsoon sweeping through the valley?
It didn't matter. It was impassable, at least for Jaune. The hunter had not just come to a stop, but even dropped his pack. It wouldn't matter - even dropping the bag wouldn't let him jump across to the other side. Not even Ren favoured his odds, and that was without factoring in his aching heel. Forget trying to carry Jaune either. Too much water rushed through a channel that had been cut out across hundreds of years.
"Don't have a choice," Jaune said, voice only seeming calm as he was taking deep breaths. Ren wondered if the other boy was about to hyperventilate as he drew his bow. "Water's too strong to bridge across. This side will have to do," he said as he drew a red-tipped arrow.
To do what, die? The sound of Grimm snarls would be here any moment. The edge of a mountain would reach them sooner, if the ground tremors were any clue. The only consolation was that Mouk might have crushed some of the pursuit.
Jaune released his red arrow, and it sped into the still-dark forest. It did nothing except hit a tree, and start a little smoke. He drew another one, and did it again. The arrows - dust arrows!? - quickly began to form dark black smoke in front of them. Ren looked behind them, and saw the white-water wash by.
It was very fast and deep.
"What now?" Ren asked, trying not to pant.
"I have an idea," Jaune said, still calmer than he had any right to be when something screeched in the not-quite-distance. "You just need to get across the river and find a cave to hole up in. I'll come back for you."
"Are you insane?" Ren snapped, eyes wide with alarm. The trees in front of them were ablaze now, an otherwise welcome warmth that did little but light up the darkness. There, on the far side of it, white masks and red eyes looked across the fires. "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard! I can't leave you here."
"It won't even be in my top five. At least I didn't go to Beacon. That's number three." Jaune retorted, back to the river as he drew another arrow pulled back. Unlike the previous ones, this was tipped with white and yellow crystal. "Just go. Jump. I'll catch up later when I-"
Jaune never said what he would do, because he let go his arrow first, right as a terrible maw bit off the top of the canopy above them. Mouk's face burst through. The arrow met it almost instantly, and exploded in a flash of brilliant white light.
Light, and a terrible thunder clap, both blinded and deafened them as Jaune's arrow exploded. Ren's ears rang. Maybe that saved him from being deafened as Mouk roared rose up, face twisting up and away until the monster's mask was hidden in the rising plumes of smoke from the earlier arson. In the distance, other Grimm shrieked in pain too, and the red eyes dimmed for just a moment. Behind them, dark water rushed splashed behind Ren's feet.
"Go!" Jaune shouted, reaching for another arrow. "I'll make a diversion and-"
There was no time.
Ren grabbed Jaune and threw him in the river.
/-/
Tick. Tick. Tick.
No one in the little room in Edge said anything as Weiss finished speaking, ending her part of the story to date. No one- none of the girls at least- dared speak as they waited for the inevitable judgement. Blake looked down, where her hands rested on her lap. Yang reached for and found Ruby's hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Qrow, when he realized Weiss had nothing left to add, simply sighed.
The four girls waited for the elder Huntsman to do… anything, really. Berate them. Blame them. Tell him just how badly they messed up. Tell them they didn't deserve graduate Signal, let alone be in Beacon.
Instead, he brought one hand to his face and massaged his tired eyes. He'd only had a short nap since getting her. The subject wasn't exactly easy either. This was why he'd preferred to teach in Signal, rather than accept Oz's offers for a spot in Beacon. At least at Signal, the students wouldn't have the chance to mess up something as serious as this. Already he wanted a drink, and so did, unscrewing his flask and taking a swig. Bitter as always, but better to get over with, he supposed.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Still not a peep.
Oh. Yeah. They were waiting for him to say something.
"Right," he said, and that alone made all four girls wince. He frowned. "You failed. I don't think there's any doubt about that. There's nothing I could say that would tell you anything more than what you've already told yourselves, is there?"
Not one of them denied it.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
"That's it? Nothing to say?" Qrow asked, a slight growl in his voice. "Nothing to add? Your friend is missing. Your guide was on an operating table. Your other guide was left behind. That's what you told me. Nothing to add?" Qrow challenged.
"It's our fault," Ruby whispered, filling the silence, as all four girls looked down.
Qrow nodded.
"It kind of is," he agreed.
All four girls flinched, and still refused to meet his eyes. Ruby's hands bunching on her knees while Yang bit her lip and looked at the floor. Even the faunus and the Schnee remained silent, waiting their turn for recrimination.
"It kind of is," Qrow said again, "but it also kind of isn't."
Like a snapped rubber band, all four of them looked at him with different forms of shock and disbelief… in all its forms.
"How the hell not?" Yang demanded angrily. "We lost Ren!"
"We not only failed to get him but we as good as crippled the person we were meant to protect," Weiss agreed, white hot intensity apparent despite the guilt. "Her life is ruined because of us!"
"We could have done better. We should have done better," Blake added. "We weren't the Huntresses we needed to be."
"You weren't. And if you want to pick it apart, that's your fault," Qrow agreed. "But if you want to mope and believe it's your fault that four teenage girls couldn't fight off a huge army of Grimm in one of the most dangerous spots in all of Remnant, then I have just three words for you," he warned.
"Get over yourselves."
If his earlier words had caused a snap, then this was a slap, as they looked at him incredulously.
"If you're blaming yourselves for being weak - if you think the sort of Huntress you needed to be was a saint with better moves or a better semblance, or just chose one thing differently - stop. There's a reason the Kingdoms haven't conquered the Grimmlands in all recorded history. Not even a professional team of Huntsmen would have been able to hold off the Grimm indefinitely, let alone guarantee a civilian's safety in the middle of all that. If you think you could have succeeded if you were just a bit better than you are, then you have a way too high opinion of yourselves."
More than one of them coloured.
"That's not - that's not what we're saying!" Blake protested, cheeks flushing red. "That's not what we're trying to say! It's not just about the Grimm, but before, and everything along the way. We wouldn't have had to fight if we'd just-" she choked, emotion overcoming her.
Qrow just looked at her one a measuring, and maybe apathetic, eye.
"I'll admit, by the sound of it you made a hash of things and some questionable decisions. But you've got to get it into your head that it's easy to look back on those and say they were wrong when shit goes south. Hind sight's twenty-twenty like that. The tricky part is deciding if they're right or wrong at the time. You wouldn't be beating yourself up half as hard about this if everything had turned out alright."
It was obvious they didn't understand, so he turned to his niece.
"Ruby, you're the one who made the call not to rest through the night. Why?"
His niece tensed immediately, and shame flooded her cheeks with red.
"I… I was stupid…"
"I didn't ask what you think of yourself now," he cut off brusquely. "I asked why you made the decision you did. What were you thinking about? What went through your mind, Ruby? And only Ruby," he added sharply when Yang made to speak. "She's the team leader."
Yang, Blake and Weiss stiffened, but be it the general mood or his authority, they remained silent. Ruby squirmed under his gaze, and privately Qrow sympathized. There was nothing harder than thinking you'd disappointed someone you cared about.
Eventually, she managed.
"I was worried about Ren," Ruby said. "Kalie said CRDL and Jaune might be outside in the rain, but at least they were together. I started thinking about what if Ren was cold, and alone, or afraid, and…" She gripped her skirt tighter. "I could tell we weren't going to be able to sleep like that. No one would have been rested if everyone else wanted to go. I thought we could get away with it too, since Kalie said all of the Grimm should have been holing up in their own caves. That would have meant the outside was safer. And even if Kalie was a little scared, we had Blake and her night-vision, and even if Kalie was still scarred at least she wouldn't feel trapped in the cave and she could rely on us…" she trailed off, as if ashamed at her rationalizations.
"So you assumed you wouldn't run into anything in the rain, and decided not to set up camp and push on anyway. That about right?"
"Y-Yeah…"
"Was that a bad call?"
Ruby's head lowered. "Yeah," she admitted in quiet shame.
"Why?"
Ruby didn't understand. Neither did any of the others. "Because-"
"Because Kalie got hurt? Or because it was a bad decision?"
Their confusion was obvious, and Qrow sighed. Kids. He leaned forward, as if to impart great wisdom.
"Ruby, bad decisions aren't the decisions that don't work out. They're the decisions that should never been made in the first place and weren't justified at the time. Even good decisions can fail. Your decision…" he trailed, and shrugged. "It isn't what I would have done, but it wasn't a bad decision."
"But Kalie was hurt! We failed!" Ruby protested, refusing his absolution.
But that wasn't the point.
"I didn't say it worked," Qrow clarified. "I didn't say it couldn't have been better. But it wasn't bad. You didn't make it on the fly without any thought. At the time, with what you thought you knew, you weighed the risks and made a decision. That's what good leaders do, Ruby, even when they fail."
"I… don't understand."
"Yeah, I can tell." Qrow crossed one leg over the other and leaned an elbow on his knee. The confusion going through the team had them looking at him now, which was preferable to self-pitying misery.
"Look, let's be honest here- you weren't wrong in thinking your friend needed to be rescued as soon as possible. There was a good chance he was dead before you even entered the forest, and without someone to keep watch the night can be deadly for a single traveller. Yeah, you could have assumed that if he'd survived this long he would survive another night, but that's still just an assumption. Just another way of weighing concerns without knowing the facts. If you'd stayed in your cave, and he'd died in his because no one found him before a Grimm, would camping have helped? What if you all ran into trouble the next morning, but fought worse because all of you had stayed up all night worrying and people died? Would you have made the right decision then?"
Qrow shook his head. "Bad decisions come from bad reasons. Yours weren't. I might not have done the same thing as you, but it wasn't wrong call for you to recognise and act on your concerns."
"But Kalie was hurt," Weiss protested, speaking up. "She told us she was scared," she insisted. "She was our responsibility."
"So she was," Qrow agreed, despite not having met the girl yet. He'd been here only long enough to catch a quick nap, after all. "But tell me this - whose responsibility was it that she was out there in the first place?"
All four of them stilled. Good. Qrow twisted the knife further.
"Who made the choice?" Qrow demanded. "If she was afraid of Grimm, afraid enough to draw them to her, but couldn't defend herself if they did… whose fault is it that the Grimm attacked? Whose fault was it that she was loaded onto your team?"
"That's not fair!" Blake protested at once, sitting straight and almost leaping from her seat.
"Kalie was our responsibility," Weiss agreed. "Her lack of skill was a known quantity. We should have accounted for it."
"Yeah," Yang agreed, righteous ire raising as she jumped to her feet. "You can't blame her, Uncle Qrow. She's the victim!"
Her fire froze when Qrow looked at with alien eyes, a dead man's glare which didn't end when he took a deliberate swig of his canteen. In a flash, her ardour cooled. This… this wasn't Uncle Qrow, the fun-loving and cool uncle. This was someone else. Someone before he was their Huntsman Uncle.
"I've seen a lot of victims in my time, Yang," the now-Huntsman said, looking at the girls with the pitiless eyes of a bandit surveying a ravaged caravan. "Not all of them make the bad decisions that put them there themselves. I tend to save my pity for those who just happen to be in the wrong bar at the wrong time when someone else makes a bad call for them."
And just like that, Yang fell back to her seat.
Qrow looked back at them. It was Uncle Qrow again, but the niceness they'd taken for granted wasn't there. Or maybe it was, but they weren't used to this sort of love.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again: get over yourselves. If you think this mission failed because of you, and that if you were a little bit better or a little bit more mature then everything would have been good, then you haven't been paying attention. It's not all about you. It's not all your fault - it's not just your fault - and you've learned nothing if you think you're the only one to blame. That is exactly the sort of hole you need to get your heads out of if you want to move forward."
Qrow shook his head, and began to count on his fingers. "Your guide was afraid of Grimm but volunteered to lead you through a region explicitly called the Grimmlands. Your only other option, by the sounds of it, was a piece of work who hates Huntresses like you. Ozpin let you volunteer for this rescue, despite you being a bunch of kids without the experience to know how to do this right. Oz was willing to trade favours to have the SDC help get this expedition off the ground, but wasn't willing to pull strings or pay the costs to get anyone more competent to come along. And, fifth and finally…" Qrow concluded, on his last finger of the hand, "there was your friend who volunteered for frontier survey in the first place, and who put himself as far away from Beacon as possible while still technically being within Vale. On his own, mind you. If he'd gotten himself lost somewhere more convenient, or just never volunteered in the first place, none of this mess would have happened and no one would have gotten hurt."
"So, tell me," Qrow asked, leaning forward and looking at all of them. "Whose fault is it really that the mission failed?"
The girls awkwardly stayed silent, and Qrow dismissively shook his head.
"You kids are, like, maybe twenty percent of what was wrong with this mission. At most. Frankly, it's amazing this mission got off the ground in the first place."
"But if we'd just listened, or did things differently…" Blake began.
"Then maybe things would have gone better, or maybe things would be worse," Qrow said without much empathy. "Maybe your other guide would be the one crippled. Maybe your girl would be dead because the other team weren't able to keep her safe. Maybe you'd all be dead," he said. "Different doesn't mean better."
"And this…?" Ruby asked.
"You made some mistakes," Qrow admitted. "Serious mistakes," he added, looking at Yang and Ruby in particular. "But what's important now isn't that you feel guilty. It's that you feel guilty enough to actually learn from the mistakes, and part of that is to understand what the actual mistakes were. Not just your own, but the mistakes of others too. You won't learn from them otherwise"
"I just wish we'd listened more to her," Blake whispered, regretful. "We treated her like her opinion didn't matter."
"Like she was just a civilian," Yang said.
"You still are," Qrow pointed out, though a bit more gently than before. "Don't you get it? You refused to listen to her because you saw yourselves as the only ones whose opinions mattered. Now, you're refusing to believe any of them can be responsible because you're seeing yourselves as the only ones who could or should have done something different. Right or wrong, you're still not giving them any credit."
Ruby's fingers curled. "That's not," she began, but didn't know how to complete the though. "We didn't- we aren't trying to-"
Qrow softened and gave her a sympathetic smile.
"I know." He understood. "And it's not your fault. Not really. You've just never known anything else. You entered Signal at eleven and don't leave Beacon until you're twenty-one. That's ten years, almost half your life being told you're all that stands between humanity and the Grimm. Every time you're sent out of town or beyond the walls, it's to see normal civilians completely relying on you to save them. Normal folk being utterly useless."
Qrow sighed, and looked off to the side, and out the window… where despite the ongoing rain, life continued. People in ponchos moved sandbags, slogged through streets, and did the things to make sure there would still be a town tomorrow and the day after the storms.
"You never see them when they manage just fine on their own. No one took you on field trips to see safe towns on the frontier standing just fine without you, solving their own problems or fighting off the Grimm on their own. No one begs for a Huntsman to come when everything's fine. You just see them at their worst or most desperate, and that's all you see. That's all you've seen. That'll affect how you see them, especially at your age."
Sadly, there wasn't much they could do about it. Most Huntsmen started training early for a reason. There were a life-time of skills to learn each generation, and never enough Huntresses to cover every need. There just wasn't the time to waste in having students stand around when there wasn't any Grimm to fight.
"You failed," Qrow concluded, "but that doesn't mean your job ends here. If you don't want to taste defeat in the future, learn from it now. Think about what you did wrong… and what you did right. And then do the same for others. Don't just think that because things failed, everything you did was wrong. If you went back and did everything opposite, you never would have come out here or even tried to save your friend. That's the only choice you could have made that would have ensured he died. Everything else involves chance."
The girls looked at themselves, uneasy and uncertain. This wasn't… this wasn't the scolding that maybe they'd been expecting. But that didn't make things clearing going forward either.
"I leave you to it," Qrow said, rising to his feet with a groan. "I've got some sleep to catch on, and then other things handle. But while I do…" he looked at them.
"Realizing you did something wrong is just the first step. If you really feel responsible, try to make things right," he advised. "Learning from your mistakes and the experiences of is the best you can do going forward." He turned to leave. "Don't give up on that, and you won't have given up on your friends."
"What about Ren and Jaune?" Ruby called out, before he could leave. "Will… will there be another attempt to find them?"
Qrow paused, but didn't turn back.
"When the monsoons end, we'll… we'll see," he said. It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either.
It was perhaps kinder to let them keep a little hope for now.
/-/
Ren gasped for breath as his head and shoulders burst above the roaring current. Raging white froth struck him in the face half-a-second later and he was dragged back under again, his lungs filled with river water and his body burning for oxygen. The current caught his legs and pulled him down, but rather than fight it he allowed it to, until he reached the bottom and was able to kick back up. This time when his head broke the surface he was prepared, and he took in a greedy gulp before he was forced under again.
He and Nora had swum together in streams and rivers before, but those were nothing compared to a monsoon-fed flood channel. Even a Huntsman like himself would be overwhelmed by this current. Water that might have been calm and clear any other time had turned into a miasma of silt, pebbles, and anything else that could be pulled away downstream.
Including people and even Grimm.
His back slammed into a rock that seemed to come out of nowhere, and he bounded off and was thrown into another before he could catch himself. If it wasn't for his aura he'd have been knocked out entirely. As it was, aura alerted him again when something splashed down into the water behind him, growling as if angry at the inconvenience.
His mouth was too busy gulping air and water to groan.
Ren dove and turned underwater, readying his weapons, but even through the wash it was obvious the Beowolf wasn't in a position to attack. It had either fallen or been pushed into the stream carrying them away, and was struggling to reach the surface. The creature was so heavy that its own bone plates were dragging it down, though that didn't stop one claw from reaching out and starting to grasp Ren's leg and pull him down.
With a surge of his semblance to regain control, Ren channelled aura into a strike at the creatures. It wasn't aa good hit, but it was enough. The creature opened its mouth in response, and the flooding water did the rest.
That wasn't the own Grimm struggling. Others seemed just as suited for the white waters. What was far, far upstream now, Ren saw a glimpse of soggy beasts struggling to climb out of the current. Others were clearly drowning. Already they were far away and getting farther, smoke Jaune's earlier fire blanketing the ground and cutting off sight.
That would do nothing against Mouk, whose head now reached across the river and was turning to and fro, clearly scanning the flood stream.
Whether Mouk would be able to see him or not, the Huntsman didn't know. At the very least, the monster's blind eye was turned towards them at that moment. Ren dived under when it turned back their way, trusting his academy training, and stopped resisting the current entirely. The current was pulling him further away. The further away they got, the better. His chest burned and he forced down the instinct to push up for air. If Mouk saw him then oxygen wouldn't matter.
Just a little longer, he thought, eyes clenched shut. The current was going at a run - more than a run - for anything on the river-bank. In just a little time they could make real distance. Just a few bends in the stream would break line of sight with Mouk's hunting party. Ren's back hit a rock, but he let aura absorb the blow and bounced around it, continuing to be swept away. His hands were gripped into fists. He had to stay under for as long as he could, and hope he could catch up to the companion slightly downstream of him.
A breath came, and then a hold. And then a desperate release and then another as he went back under. Soon he did feel the curves in a creek. Soon they were back under a solid canopy, and no Grimm could be seen no matter how tall. Soon they were some distance away, and he could hear no screams or growls of the Grimm. Soon he could hear nothing but the sound of rapid running waters, and nothing else.
Still, he went back under. And then the current slammed him into a lot of logs and rocks, and tried to list him over a ledge. Unprepared, and with nothing to brace against, Ren was lifted up and over by the flow of the water, and thrown over the dam.
It was a waterfall.
Technically. Not the sort with views or vistas, but though the view was impressive as Ren was thrown ass over end. It was a mere few feet to the new water line, but that was enough for Ren to rotate and see the obstacle. Trees, boulders, and who know how much mud had been packed over the years into a natural dam, breaking the current's path. It flowed over, and around, but here the ledge had thrown him to a slightly less violent run-off, where water flowed but not as swiftly or deep. As he tumbled into the side-stream and towards a shallow bank, Ren saw a hint of green ahead of him.
Good.
They were safe. It seemed impossible, but they'd escaped. If Mouk was still following them, he'd surely be hearing it as he caught his breath. Ren looked for Jaune, ready to celebrate, or at least share a laugh in relief.
That froze in his throat when he saw the body on the opposite bank, face and slumped over a half-submerged tree stump.
It only took Ren less than a second to realise the problem. Panic shot through him as he recognised the green outfit, and the hood that had fallen off the blonde hair. Jaune wasn't moving.
"No!"
Ren nearly leapt to the other side, though his own soaked clothes and waist-high water made it more of a slog. When his bag- somehow still attached to him- caught on a branch, Ren broke that branch without a care. It didn't matter… Jaune mattered.
If Jaune died, he died. It was as simple as that. He had no idea where they were. He had no idea what to do. No training scenario had ever prepared him for that. He needed Jaune.
Don't you dare die, he thought with a snarl, finally reaching Jaune and beginning to drag him up the other bank. Every two steps forward were met with a slide back down towards the creek, and it only got worse the faster he scrambled for purchase. The soaked clothes, easily adding tens of pounds, weren't helping. You're not allowed to drown after giving me so much grief for being useless. Don't do this to me, you hypocrite!
Jaune might have disagreed had he been conscious, or even alive. There was no telling if he was or not. With a gasp of effort, Ren threw Jaune atop the embankment, high enough that he wouldn't fall off. With another gasp, Ren dragged himself up as well, before crawling towards the other boy. Jaune was just as he'd thrown him. He hadn't moved. He wasn't moving. What was he supposed to do? He'd never seen this before, never with Nora, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do. What was he supposed to do?!
Calm, he thought, desperately scratching for reason. I have to be calm. Nothing will be better for panicking.
Ren remembered to activate his semblance.
Like a lotus blossom blossoming on a clear and peaceful pond, tranquillity brought harmony. Chaos, fear, and distraction fell away, along with everything else. All that was left was peace, and purpose, and thought.
Think, he told himself next. You may not have seen this before, but you may have learned about it. What did they teach you to do if someone was injured?
Help. Care. Provide aid, first aid if necessary. Keep the person alive, and deal with the most serious affliction first. Start with the first question first- is this person alive?
Ren looked at Jaune, who was still silent. He was so still. His chest wasn't moving. But a careful touch to the neck, and the artery that brought life-blood to the brain…
Thin. Weak. But present. He's alive.
Good. What next? What was the most life-threatening?
ABC. Open Airway. Stop Bleeding. Control Shock…
He rolled Jaune onto his back, taking pressure off his chest. Still no movement of his chest. Lower your ear to the mouth. Can you hear anything?
No. But maybe that was because his own breathing was still too hard. He brought his cheek to where Jaune's mouth was, but he didn't feel any air movement either.
An obstruction in the airway. Water. What do you do next?
If there was blockage in the mouth, remove it. If it was inside… CPR.
Step one- push. He moved his hands and his body weight above Jaune's chest. Gauging his strength- making sure he wouldn't do too hard and crack the boy's ribs- he pushed. And pushed again. And again, and again, and again, at a rate of more than once per second.
Step two - breath. Not just his own, though he did that too. He moved back to Jaune's head, tilting his chin up as he checked again. If there was nothing yet, he'd have to blow fresh air in. If Jaune wasn't breathing on his own… any juvenile embarrassment could wait for later. What mattered now was if anything changed.
Step three - A tiny bit of water hit Ren's cheek as Jaune coughed.
When the first cough came, the water fell back down because of gravity. But that first cough was soon followed by a second, and third, as more followed. Jaune seemed to restart, coughing up water, and slowly but painfully coming back to life as water was ejected from his system. His head tipping to the side helped. Ren rolling him over just so, so he wouldn't choke on his own ejection, helped more.
Soon Jaune's limbs were starting to move again, his eyes were open, and Jaune was hacking up water and more in full measure. It was ugly and unsightly, and all Ren could do was listen in case any Grimm were close enough to come after the helpless hunter. That, and hold Jaune up so that he could hurl, and breath, easier. Given the turn of events, and his semblance, Ren didn't mind whatever got on his waterlogged robes, even as Jaune was curled on his knees. Tears were running down the young man's face as he struggled, and was barely able to, breath.
"Go…" Jaune groaned, between lessening heaves. "We have to… have to go…"
"We're not going anywhere till you're ready," Ren said. "Don't worry. I have you," he tried to reassure, putting a hand on Jaune's shoulder and sharing his semblance. Capable or not, the hunter had just had a near death experience.
But that wasn't it. It wasn't fear driving him to speak, not quite.
"Cave…" Jaune groaned, before curling in on himself more in obvious pain.
"I don't know where one is," Ren admitted, starting to look around. The 'waterfall' was over a short ledge, but otherwise they were still in the middle of the valley. Who knows…
Jaune barely managed to raise an arm and extend a finger in a seemingly random direction.
"Now," Jaune moaned, even as his head was against the dirt and he was in no condition to move. "Before Mouk…"
Mouk wasn't here. There was no crashing forest approaching them. Jaune clearly couldn't walk on his own.
"Please… trust me…"
Despite his semblance, Ren frowned. Guilt, it seemed, wasn't entirely emotional.
"Alright," he said, kneeling down and looping one of Jaune's arms over his shoulder. And then another. Before the still stomach-sore hunter knew what was happening, he was lifted and against Ren's back looking over his shoulder.
"Which direction?" Ren asked, trying to avoid putting pressure against Jaune's chest even as he held the larger boy on his back.
Jaune arm weakly raised and pointed.
/-/
"That," Jaune said later, when he was finally able to talk, "was definitely in my top five of stupidest things ever done."
"You're welcome," Ren said, unperturbed. "And for probably saving your life."
They were in a cave, though it hardly warranted the name. Barely a crevice in the side of the hill. How Jaune had found it, Ren didn't know, maybe just assuming there would be one somewhere, but here they were. Badly soaked, barely alive, and bitterly at odds.
Or would be if Ren's semblance would let him feel such trifles. Extending it to Jaune was probably worth it as well, despite how it was taxing him. Still weak from his near drowning, the hunter hadn't worked up the energy to be furious. Now they just sat against opposite walls, looking at each other, and Ren wasn't sure what was coming next as Jaune stared at him. Stared, and tried to glare, and probably too out of it to realize why he wasn't. Jaune was leaning to his side, one arm against his chest even as his held onto the soggy red bandana still on his arm.
"Maybe I wouldn't have needed it if somebody hadn't thrown me into a raging river and over a waterfall."
Despite the words, there was a clear lack of vigour behind it. Ren sighed, and leaned against his side.
"Did you have something better than jumping in mind?" he asked, frank.
"I had a plan," Jaune claimed, but sullenly. He was also looking away.
Ren sighed.
"It looked like you were about to use yourself as a distraction. I don't care how unafraid you are, a flashbang or two wasn't going to be enough to let get away unnoticed. There were too many, too close, for that to work. Or am I wrong?"
"…"
If Jaune didn't correct him, then he probably wasn't. Probably.
"If it helps, I thought you could swim. Sorry."
Now Jaune coloured. "I didn't exactly grow up around water, you know. Besides, that was flood water. What did you expect? I'm not some freak of nature who can swim upstream in a flood."
He ignored the jibe. "I know. I'm sorry," Ren repeated again. "I was so worried about getting away as fast as possible, I didn't think about that. I should have held on to you." Then he could have shielded him from the debris in the river. Then he could have ensured he was still breathing.
Jaune coloured in a different way. "I don't need to be rescued like that by the likes of you, you idiot Huntsman," he snapped.
Ren closed his eyes and leaned back. "You have my apologies for saving your life, then," he said. "And don't call me that," he added.
"You thought the best way to save my life was to throw me into a raging river and over a waterfall without telling me. That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard," Jaune countered.
"It was barely six feet, and that was hardly a river."
"It's water, it falls, it's a waterfall. And it was close enough. It was your idea, and you're a Huntsman. The dumbest Huntsman I've ever heard of."
Ren sighed, but didn't fight. He had a feeling that, semblance or no, Jaune wouldn't be giving up that insult any time soon.
Ren's refusal to fight led to a silence, as both regained strength. Ren felt exhausted, but at the moment… he was probably the better one off. He may have been isolated for longer, but he at least hadn't half-drowned. On the other side, Jaune had curled his arms around his legs, holding himself for warmth - and comfort? - even as he stroked the red bandana wrapped around his arm as a bandage.
Eventually, Jaune sighed.
"Never mind," the hunter said, giving up on the issue with obvious frustration. "We're alive, so it all worked out in the end. Uncle always said that any encounter with the Grimm you could walk away from was a good one." He rubbed his side, and winced. "Don't think he had this in mind, though."
Ren said nothing. He hadn't expected Jaune to give up his ire so easily. He half-expected another shoe to drop… even though it was a small miracle he still had his own. They hadn't been swept away by the current, at least.
"We're boned, though," Jaune added, despite his calm. "Completely and utterly boned."
"How so?" Ren asked. "You just said-"
"How's your bag?" Jaune asked. "Heck, how's my bag?"
Ren froze, despite his calm. His bag… it was still on him, but soaked beyond all reason. There'd be no dry clothes tonight, or any other night in the near future. Who knows how everything else in there had fared, but at least he had a bag. Jaune's, though…
Jaune had dropped it all the way back where they started. All the way back with Mouk, before they jumped in.
Before he'd thrown Jaune in.
"Oh," Ren said, not having thought about the bag.
"Oh indeed," Jaune said, but didn't snap. "My maps, our supplies… we kind of need them. But that's not the worst of it," he claimed.
"It's not?" Ren asked, sense of dread growing.
"It's not," Jaune said. "I can get us out of the Grimmlands without a map, but getting back to civilization will be harder. Like, a lot harder. And I can make do without supplies for a while, even if it won't be fun. But what I can't do - at least not in the Grimmlands - is hunt."
He looked Ren dead in the eye, and Ren had a sudden chill of understanding.
"Where's my bow, Ren?"
Ren's eyes widened as he looked at the Jaune again. Not in terms of health, but… there was his quiver, secured to his side, but it was empty. Whatever arrows he had- whatever tricks he'd had up his sleeve- were gone. No doubt washed away in the river. An empty quiver was meaningless without the weapon to go with it, and Jaune's was nowhere to be seen.
Not since Ren had startled him by grabbing him and throwing him in the river.
If Ren hadn't been under the effect of his own semblance, he would have cussed.
"I have to go back for it," Jaune said, starting to rise to his feet. "I could hunt for whatever we needed if I had it, but I'll be as good as a one-armed Beowolf if I don't. The maps and supplies are good too, but I have to have my bow if we're to be good on food."
"You can't!" Ren protested, standing up in turn. "That was- Mouk and the rest of the Grimm are still there! They'll be swarming! You were sure we'd be detected on the Southern Pass!"
"Yeah. Probably," Jaune agreed, before looking at him again. "That's why I have to go alone."
Ren felt another chill, even as his semblance tried to neutralize the emotion.
"That's suicide."
"Not for me it isn't," Jaune said.
"Do you even know if it's still up there?" Ren asked. "Maybe you dropped it in the water. Maybe it…" Maybe it washed down the river- the main flood creek- and they'd never find it again.
Maybe his well-intentioned throw - which had saved them - had more of a cost than he'd thought. Jaune, though…
Jaune didn't seem nervous at all. "Mouk won't be there."
"How can you be so sure?" Ren asked.
"Because he won't stick around once it's clear we're gone," Jaune asserted. "Mouk doesn't like smoke anymore, and smart or not he's still a Grimm. Even if he realizes we slipped into the stream, he'll be looking downstream - not for anything coming back up," Ren explained. "Grimm always expect you to run away, not stay or follow. The last place he'd expect us is back where he chased us to from."
"You say us, but you mean you, don't you?" Ren asked. "You will be fine. You can sneak through them." Ren watched his companion warily.
Jaune nodded. "It'd probably be best if you stayed here," he said. "Grimm may come downstream if they're clever, but you should be fine if you stay in the cave. Your bag didn't have anything essential. I'll come back with mine when I've searched the river side."
"I can't let you go out there alone and unarmed."
Jaune stilled. It was as bad as he'd feared. Ren let out a long sigh and prepared for the argument he knew would be coming. It was always the same thing.
The hunter scoffed. "So much for trust."
"This isn't about trust; it's about being reasonable," Ren protested. "I accept you can hold your own in a fight, but you can't even protect yourself anymore. You're expecting me to let you travel back to the exact point where we were almost killed. That's just stupid. Even if you had your bow, you wouldn't have enough arrow to kill all the Grimm."
"I don't intend to fight at all," Jaune returned. "Unless you've forgotten, I'm a hunter. The only thing I hunt are animals. This is no different. I've gone through the Grimmlands before without into trouble."
"Trouble that already found us."
"Trouble that already found you. I'm just caught up in it. When are you going to trust that I can handle myself without you? You're the liability out here, not me."
Ren froze. Part of him wanted to be angry, offended. Another part…
He'd done decently so far, or so he'd like to think. He'd done most of the fighting at the Bullhead. He was willing to help, and he was willing to listen. Or at least, he'd been willing to listen once he realized he was out of his depth. When Jaune had shown him Mouk, and that Southern Pass was off limits, he'd been willing to change his mind.
But he'd had to see it to believe it. Just like he'd had to see Jaune's other skills to take him seriously. He hadn't exactly been able to handle everything himself either.
Jaune held Ren's gaze.
"We don't have the time for me to prove myself to you. I have to go recover my gear. I won't be able to do it with you, and you wouldn't be able to save me if I get caught. That's a risk you'll have to take, just like I have to trust that you won't bring down a thousand Grimm on yourself the moment I step out of sight. Trust me," Jaune emphasized. "I can do this. It won't even be one of the five most dangerous things I've done before."
Silence fell upon them. Ren wasn't sure what to think, but continued to stare at the hunter. The words were sincere, but how much of that composure was because of Ren's semblance? How much would nearly drowning affect him? Weaken him?
How much dared he trust what he'd never seen? This wasn't a question of marksmanship or general woodcraft. This was something on a whole other level.
Something he'd only heard in the tallest of tales.
Ren took a breath.
"I heard… someone once told me you survived the uncharted Grimmlands, the ones no one has ever come back from. That you came back, dragging yourself with a broken leg, after going there all alone."
He looked Jaune dead in the eye.
"Is that true?"
Jaune's eyes widened, just a tad, before he looked to the side. Not in evasion, but to give off a little 'tch' before looking back. "I wasn't alone. Not really," Jaune admitted with a shrug. "I had a partner back then. I may have crawled half the way back, but she dragged me the other half."
Ren sighed, disappointed but not surprised.
"She was no Huntress, though, if that's what you were thinking," Jaune added, making Ren pause again. "She's the only one I'd ever trust my back to out there, but she didn't have any special powers or fancy weapons. She wasn't the only reason I survived that hell-scape either. I've done it on my own since… since she left."
It sounded fantastical, ridiculous. No normal person could make such a journey. Hell, not even the most famous Huntsman in history had marched out of the Grimmlands like that. It was suicide. He had no reason to believe the tall tale.
But then… that was what trust meant, wasn't it? Not just what you'd seen, but what others had learned. And to not dismiss their faith so easily.
"I still can't let you go alone and unarmed," Ren said, before pushing past Jaune's sharpening glare to push something in his hands instead. "Take this. It's dangerous to go alone."
One of Ren's weapons lay in Jaune's palm.
"That's very important to me, so I'll want it back," Ren warned, even as he guided Jaune's hand on how to trigger its transformation function. "But until then, you can use it as a knife if you need, or a gun if you must. It doesn't have much ammo left, but if I hear shots I'll come running," he promised.
Jaune looked at him, and Ren suspected he was trying not to smile.
"I don't think I'll need it," Jaune said, almost cocky instead. "Sure you don't want it, so you can fight off all the Grimm coming downstream?" he asked.
"I wasn't intending to fight them at all," Ren said, a hint of a smile passing his lips despite the miserable conditions. "But I suppose you'll just have to trust me on that."
There was no doubt- there was definitely a twitch at Jaune's lips.
"Alright," Jaune said, pocketing Stormflower. "I will. And if you actually manage to stay out of trouble until the time I get back, I may even have to change my mind about you being an idiot Huntsman."
"Get out of here already," Ren said, before adding a more sincere "Good luck."
Jaune nodded, adjusted his red armband, and took a deep breath.
"I'll be back once I have my sack and look around," Jaune said. "Don't worry about me- I'll find you," he promised. Then he was gone, and it was surprising just how quickly Ren lost sight of him outside the cave and into the newest drizzle of the monsoon.
Ren waited at least five minutes before he stirred himself again, and stepped out as well.
He'd said he wouldn't fight the Grimm. He hadn't said anything about not doing anything to help in the meantime. Jaune was going to look for his bow upstream, where they'd jumped. That meant someone else would need to search downstream, where it might have washed aground.
"Trust me," he whispered.
He would not be a liability.
CF's Notes:
Yay new year. And yay first chapter that didn't really get a week-out process.
Due to how things rolled with the new year, this chapter was kind of… rushed? Hurried at least. Busy is as busy does, and Coeur got this to me right as I got dragged into RL stuff. Oh well. There were a lot of things that changed, from conversations to trying to make action sequences work in my head to cliff-hangers. Hurriedness meant a less coordination than I liked, though I think this will work well as we return focus to the hunter survival/escape plot. Can't have RWBY angsting over everything.
(But we can have some tough love with Qrow. Hopefully that's as fun for you as it was for me.)
Next Chapter: 20th January
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur