RWBY: The Verdant Light of Remnant

by bardockskywalker1991

The Ashen Demon has fallen after failing to save Garreg Mach from the Imperial Army, but she gets another chance to save a world that's about to have a global conflict of its own. Will Byleth be able to protect this world this time? Or will it meet the same fate as Fódlan? This is a RWBY FE crossover originated by TPoynt. i'm writing this for them.

23. Chapter 23: The First Step

RWBY: The Verdant Light of Remnant

Chapter 23: The First Step

Author's Notes: 4 Months... Almost FOUR MONTHS since i last updated this godforsaken story!... There's no excuse for me, there's no apology i can offer for you guys for waiting THIS fucking long. Even if you can't forgive me, i'm still sorry for making you guys wait so long.

Not long after the LAST update, things didn't go well for me... & It stayed like that for a WHILE! First of all, around September, my computer crashed! Yeah, it got its drive overloaded & i couldn't use it for a while, all the while fearing that ALL of my stuff was gone for good... That didn't ended up being the case, thankfully, but it was still stressful. THEN comes the videos i do for Mark, including the Halloween special for last October, that drained both myself & my friends quite a bit. ADHD constantly kicking me in the dick whenever i tried to write this chapter, writing this chapter as a WHOLE was a pain in the ass due to how much i struggle with more action-based chapters... But then 2 weeks ago, personal tragedy struck...

Last november, November 30th to be specific, i lost my first cat. His name was Nico, he was a little over a year old & had many stress issues for a while, so much to the point where he couldn't take a piss without feeling pain... Just when things started to get better after a surgery, he suddenly got a heart attack late at night... He wasn't strong enough to make it out alive this time... This passing devastated both myself & my family, especially my Mother, who was in tears when i heard the news from her... So although NONE OF THIS excuses me for making you guys wait for THIS long for an update, i hope you can at least understand... My life for these past 4 months, to put it lightly, SUCKED! I'd say that things would improve from here on out, but i'd be lying...

Alright, enough with me bitching, let's do what you guys are really here for!

The following is a non-profit Alternate Universe fanfiction.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, Warner Bros. & the late Monty Oum. While Fire Emblem: Three Houses is owned by Nintendo, Intelligent Systems & Koei Tecmo. Please support the original release.

Also, major spoilers for both RWBY & Fire Emblem: Three Houses, specifically the Verdant Wind Route. If you haven't caught up with either of them, it's recommended that you catch up with both of them before reading this story.

Oh yeah & before i begin, i'd like to give a small trigger warning (suicide) for this chapter. It's nothing graphic & it happens pretty early on, but i wanted to let you guys know about it beforehand.

& On that note, enjoy this chapter.

---

The heroes are taken aback by the sudden counterattack from the bandits, revealing their powerful prototype weapon: A Dust Ballista. Short on time, our heroes had to make a plan to end this mission as soon as possible, while also having to deal with the Grimm that these Dust Cannonballs attracted. Thankfully, Blake was able to think of an effective, but very risky idea: Have Hunter shoot the next cannonball mid-air with an Explosive Dust Arrow & use that as a diversion for some of them to get inside of the manor & take out the members inside.

Initially against the idea at first out of fear of getting their friends in the crossover, they managed to figure out a way to possibly protect them from the diversion using Pyrrha's Semblance: Polarity. With it, she can create a large metal shield with the scattered weapons from the nearly hundred or so knocked out bandits to protect their friends. Once everything was set in place, they execute their plan once the next Dust Cannonball was fired… & It worked exactly like they planned!

Seeing an opportunity, Byleth tells Ruby to go in there & fight in the manor, saying that they'll handle the remaining Grimm on their own. Trusting her Professor with such a task, she obliges as she bursts through the manor, eventually going to the basement where Wave is. Despite having the bandit leader backed into a corner, Ruby's the one who's at a disadvantage here due to her low Aura. The best she can do in her current state is hold Wave off until back-up arrived. Will Ruby be able to handle such a task? Will the Garnet Papillons succeed in such a task? Find out all & more happening now.

We begin our tale back at the settlement the townsfolk have taken place, where we see Ashley outside of the camp's boarders to look towards the distance. It's been a couple of hours since her big brother left with those Huntsmen-in-Training & she hopes that everything's okay. During her little quiet moment, someone comes to check on her.

Sapphire: It's starting to get a little windy out here, you might catch a cold if you keep zoning out like this.

Ashley looks to her left to see Sapphire approaching her, surprising the young plains girl.

Ashley: Say, weren't you with those Huntsmen earlier?

Sapphire: Yeah, but I'm just their ride. I was getting a little bored, so I decided to go for a little walk around the plains to pass the time.

Ashley: Oh!... I understand… *Continues looking onwards* Are your friends with you?

Sapphire: Nope, just me. I asked them to look after our ship while I was gone. *Goes next to Ashley* You've been like that for a while, ya doing okay?

Ashley sighs as she looks down with a somber look on her face.

Ashley: Yeah, I'm just worried… Brother & the others have been out for a while… I've heard a few loud explosives from far away, I hope none of them got seriously hurt.

Sapphire: Looks like the kids are in quite the pickle, huh?

Ashley then looks a bit confused at Sapphire for a moment.

Ashley: You're a Huntress too, shouldn't you be helping them?

Sapphire: *Smirks* If I did that, it'd defeat the purpose of these missions.

Ashley gets a bit more confused by that statement, to which Sapphire explained.

Sapphire: These kids need to learn to work with what they got; they can't rely on us to do their job for them. That's the way of Beacon Academy, you learn things by doing them! Not by listening to some random dude spouting nonsense or have someone else to the job. The job of my crew is making sure those kids get to their destinations, nothing more. If we were to fight in these missions, they wouldn't learn a damn thing.

Ashley: You sound like you're speaking from experience.

Sapphire: I've been around the skies for almost a whole decade now, I know my way around the world & its many rules. *Looks at Ashley* Which is why I ask you to have some faith in your Brother, have faith in those kids. *Shoots a Wink* They may be kids, but those kids know how to kick some ass!

Ashley thinks for a moment before a small smile grew through her lips.

Ashley: Ya'know what?... You're right! *Looks at Sapphire* Thank you, miss-… Uh…

Ashley then remembers that she & the townsfolk were never introduced to Sapphire & her gang, thus not knowing their names. Sapphire just laughs it off as she goes to Ashley with a bright smile on her face.

Sapphire: Hahahahahahahah! Guess we never properly introduced ourselves, have we? *Extends her hand* I'm Sapphire; Sapphire Mayil! What's your name?

Ashley smiles before shaking Sapphire's hand.

Ashley: Ashley Chloris, nice to meet you.

The 2 young ladies smile at each other before looking back to the plains, thinking about the events transpiring back at the town.

Cut back to Ruby holding off Wave in the basement, dodging all of her arrows & buying herself as much time as she can. She's low on Aura, while Wave is practically at peak condition. She's doing surprisingly well on her own, but how long can she keep this up?

Ruby: *Deflects another arrow* Yare Yare, do you have infinite ammo or something!?

Wave: Something like that… *Takes aim* This'd end quicker if you just stayed put!

Wave fires another set of High-pressure Water Arrows at Ruby, who moves out of the way in time. That's when Wave separates her bow into twin swords once again to charge at Ruby while her guard is down. She narrowly ducks a slash before getting a roundhouse kick to her right. Despite her trying to block the attack, she's still pushed away with some force & crashes into the wall. Thinking she has the upper hand; she starts to slowly walk towards Ruby while talking shit.

Wave: I admit, it's very admirable of you to face me all by yourself to protect your friends. Unfortunately, you lack the power to make your words worth a damn. Let me tell you some advice kid… It doesn't matter how much you talk about this justice crap, ya ain't saving anybody if you're that weak on your own!

A battle-damaged Ruby slowly begins to get back up to her feet as a burning anger starts to grow inside of her. Hearing those words come out from Wave's mouth makes her think back of that fateful night, the night where her lack of power got the better of her. She spits out some blood before glaring at Wave.

Ruby: Shut up! Don't act like you know me!

Wave simply chuckles at Ruby's childish response.

Wave: Oh, but I do… I've heard many things about you, Daughter of Summer Rose.

Ruby: W- What?!... You know my Mom?!

Wave: *Crosses her arms* No, I never met the Legendary Huntress in person… But I once worked for someone who did. She told me many things about you & more. *Gets an idea* How about this? If you manage to defeat me, I'll give you an explanation. Deal?

Ruby stands her guard, extremely suspicious of Wave's words.

Ruby: Wait, why are you suddenly betting with me? Is this some kind of trick?!

Wave gets her game face back on as she takes her stance with her swords.

Wave: I don't do tricks, kid!

At high speed, Wave charges at Ruby, who could do nothing but dodge & parry each sword attack coming her way. Even then, a few manage to lend here & then. She keeps her distance as much as possible, all the while hoping the others are okay.

Speak of the devil, Jaune, Nora & Ren are fending off against the grunts inside of the manor, specifically the top floor. They're tasked to go to the rooftop & stop the next ballista shot before it fires another Dust Cannonball. Thankfully, the enemies here are few in numbers, so Team JNR are able to overpower them with relative ease.

Jaune: Tch, looks like we're almost done here. Are you guys alright?!

Before they an answer, they take out their respective goons cold; with Nora in particular slamming hers with a hammer so hard he's sent flying out of the house.

Nora: All clear here, Jaune!

Ren: *Looks up* All that's left is to reach the top & get to the ballista… However… *Looks at the now destroyed stairs to the rooftop* They broke the stairs before we came here, these bandits are smarter than we gave them credit for.

Nora: So how do we get up there? We can't exactly jump out of the window & just fly up there… *Scratches her head* Can we?

Ren: No, Nora. We can't do that.

Jaune begins thinking of an idea before he looks at some of the weapons from the knocked-out goons, that's when he gets an idea as he picks up a random axe.

Jaune: Well, if we can't fly up there… Why not just climb up there instead?

The Renora duo look at Jaune with a confused look before processing what he meant. They (& by "they", I mean Ren) think a bit about it before a small smile grow on their faces before grabbing some weapons from the knocked-out thugs.

Up at the rooftop, the rogue is waiting for the ballista to cool off as he watched the damage that last shot did. To think that those brats somehow managed to counter the ballista by firing a Dust Arrow at it, that was quite the move. He looks down below, watching the many knocked-out brigands & rogues scattered on the town. To think that a dozen of teens were able to defeat them so easily, is this the true power of Huntsmen? Suddenly, he gets a call from his boss: Wave. He picks up his scroll & answers her.

Wave (Scroll): Hey, got distracted earlier with some brats. But I'm in the clear, how was the last shot? Did you manage to take out those brats?

Hesitantly, the rogue answers Wave.

Rogue: Well… You see, Boss… They kind of countered the last shot-

Wave (Scroll): What?! How did they do that?!

Rogue: You see, one of them fired a Fire Dust Arrow at the cannonball. Because the Dust cannonball was an Ice Dust Cannonball, that caused it to explode on impact when the Arrow pierced it… It kinda created a shower of Ice Spears in the process…

Wave (Scroll): Is that so?... Alright, move to Plan B: Get the bombs ready to set off, we're going to burn this entire town to the ground with these brats on it!

Rogue: Understood, over & out!

The call ends as the Rogue goes to a corner of the rooftop, opening up a small case… A briefcase that's actually some kind of detonator. As he begins setting up the timer to detonate the bombs, he hears something hit the walls… & It's slowly getting closer.

Rogue: What in the-?!

The Rogue leaves his post for a moment to take a look outside, only to suddenly see an axe nearly hit his foot. He steps away as he sees Jaune slowly climb his way up to the rooftop, with Ren & Nora soon joining him.

Rogue: What in the- How the hell did you brats get here?! I thought our men would overwhelm you!

Nora: Well, you thought wrong! You guys are pushovers compared to us!

Ren gives Nora a rather deadpanned & unamused look.

Ren: Nora, almost everyone here is a pushover compared to you…

Jaune rolls his eyes before pointing his sword at the lone Rogue.

Jaune: Look, we only came here for the ballista. If you shut it down, we'll let you go. You have our word.

There's a sudden pause before Nora cutely goes to Jaune & asks him something.

Nora: Wait, are we?

Jaune: *Looks at Nora* Yes, Nora… We will!... That's how heroes do their job!

Nora: Wait a minute, didn't you tell Pyrrha about how we must take out all of the bandits since they're all evil scumbags who kill & pillage for a living?

Jaune: Well, yeah- but this is different! I'm not gonna kill someone if they don't look like they can retaliate.

Nora: Are you just saying that to make you feel better about yourself?

Jaune: Nora, this isn't the time for jokes!

As Jaune & Nora continue arguing at literally the worst time possible, Ren notices that the Rogue is typing on the detonator. He doesn't waste time & goes through Jaune & Nora, dashing towards the Rogue & pinning him to the ground, with one of his StormFlowers being held up to the Rogue's throat.

Ren: I don't think so! You're not getting away so easily!

The Rogue growls in frustration as Jaune goes to Ren to see what's going on.

Jaune: What was he trying to do?

Ren: I don't know, but he looked like he was typing something while you guys were bickering. *Looks at the detonator* Take a look at it over there!

Jaune nods before picking up the detonator & taking a good look at it, getting horrified as he reads what it is & what it does. The Rogue chuckles before speaking up.

Rogue: You're reading that right, kid. we have some Fire Dust Bombs planted around the town. It's a backup plan should we get cornered, just a few clicks here & boom!

Jaune: *Shoots a glare at the Rogue* What do you mean "Boom"!? Is it supposed to blow up the entire town in one go like a nuke?!

The Rogue hesitates to talk for a brief moment before Ren pressed down StormFlower on his neck a bit more, which makes him talk in a rather… Weak-sounding voice...

Rogue: {No, we didn't have the resources to do that level of damage. Instead, the bombs are set to detonate in a couple of minutes, one by one… The fire from said bombs then begin to spread, it's a literal wild fire…} *Chuckles* {10 Minutes… That's all the time you have left before the town is set ablaze with you brats on it-} *Cough*

Jaune: Say what?!

Team JNR freezes in fear for a moment to process what they just heard from the now suddenly coughing Rogue. The town they're fighting for, the town they promised their people they're going to get it back will be burned to the ground in a matter of minutes. But that would also mean that the many knocked out bandits would die too, since they wouldn't have the energy to get up & escape in time. Jaune goes to the Rogue to look at him in the eye as an angry expression grows on his face.

Jaune: So you're saying that we got less than 10 minutes to make you turn those bombs off before they burn this town to the ground, right?!

The Rogue begins to chuckle before blood suddenly started coming from his mouth, taking the young Huntsmen-in-Training by surprise as the Rogue continues to speak.

Rogue: {Sorry kids… but the penalty for fail-} *Cough* {Failure is death… I'll make sure to tell the devil to make s-} *Cough* {Some room for you… damn kids…}

Jaune: Wait, what's that supposed to mean?! Hey! Speak up!

Jaune grabs the Rogue by the shirt & pulls him up, but it's no use… In just a few seconds, the Rogue dies… Jaune freezes for a moment to process what just happened, witnessing someone die in front of their eyes just like that; he can't even say a word right now. Ren noticed something on the ground, a small bottle of sorts. He picks it up & sees a skull sticker on the bottle, it doesn't take long for Ren to learn what happened.

Ren: He poisoned himself… He must've taken it before he set up the bombs earlier. *Throws the bottle in frustration* How could I've been so stupid to not see him do it?!

Jaune stays still for a brief moment before Ren shakes him a bit to wake him up back to reality.

Ren: Jaune, get a grip! We have a job to do!

Jaune blinks awkwardly before shaking his head, although the sudden shock of the Rogue's death definitely took a toll on him. Despite that, he nods as he picks up the detonator to see if there's a way to deactivate the bombs… He shakes his head once he realized that he can't.

Jaune: Damnit, it's too complicated for me to understand! I can't read any of these weird codes or whatever they are, let alone figure out these controls!

Nora: Can't we just smash the thing into pieces? I'm sure we can deactivate the bombs if we destroy their source.

Ren: It's not that simple, Nora. We can't just smash a detonator for a bomb like we can with most machines & buildings. If we were to do that with a detonator, we might set off those bombs immediately… Or worse, depending on what the bombs are capable of.

Nora crosses her arms looking a little pouty, hating how complicated technology can be at times. Jaune grits his teeth as he takes his scroll & starts dialing down a number.

Jaune: Ren; Nora; find a way to shut down the Ballista. I'll warn Prof. Eisner & the others about the bombs & make a new plan with her!

The 2 teenagers nod as they go to the ballista while Jaune goes to make his call, hoping that Byleth can pick it up in time.

The young professor & some of the students are finishing dispatching The Grimm that are surrounding the town, with Pyrrha sending a few away flying with a powerful sword slash & Yang literally fisting a large Ursa through the stomach. Byleth feels something from her cloak vibrate, she reaches her hand out & see that Jaune's calling her for some reason. She takes out a Grimm that tried attacking her from behind without so much as a glance before taking the rather sudden call.

Byleth: Jaune, what's going on? I thought you & your teammates are supposed to take care of the Ballista!

Jaune (Scroll): Professor! I'm glad you're alright. Ren & Nora are currently deactivating it, or at least trying to!... But that's not the issue here! We got a huge problem here!

Byleth: "Another problem"? What's that?

Jaune takes a deep breath before delivering the bad news to Byleth.

Jaune (Scroll): The bandit on the Ballista poisoned himself, he set off some bombs to explode before he died. In less than 10 minutes, the town will be burned to the ground.

Byleth: Say what?!

Byleth's eyes widen in horror at hearing the news. She knew bandits aren't good people, but she's never encountered a group of bandits who'd use the "scorched earth" strategy; that's something a corrupt royal leader would do! She looks at the girls finishing off the last few Grimm before answering Jaune while keeping her cool.

Byleth: Is there a way for you to turn off the bombs?

Jaune (Scroll): No, there isn't… Not anymore, anyways. With the Rogue dead, we can't deactivate the bombs with this detonator. I can't understand a thing about it!

Byleth rubs her chin for a moment before giving Jaune an order.

Byleth: Jaune, go inside the manor & tell everyone to get out of there; bandits included! I'll deal with the bombs myself, just focus on getting everyone else out of there, got it?!

Jaune (Scroll): Alright! good luck on your end, Prof. Eisner!

Once the call ended, Byleth turned to Weiss, Yang & Pyrrha as they finished off the last few Grimm that were in the area.

Yang: *Wipes off some sweat* Phew!... I think those were the last ones.

Weiss: I thought it was never going to end, there were so many of them!

Pyrrha: Well, it's over now. I think we can go back to the others & help them, right Prof. Eisn- *Stops when she sees Byleth's expression* Uh… Professor? Is everything okay?

Byleth shakes her head as he goes over to the girls.

Byleth: I just received a call from Jaune, looks like we just got yet another problem!

The girls all look at each other awkwardly before questioning their professor.

Yang: How can there be another problem? We just took care of the Grimm, most of the bandits are knocked out & the others are likely done with Wave & the Ballista. What else could these guys had in their sleeves to take us o-

Byleth: The town is going to burn down in less than 10 minutes!

The girls suddenly freeze in shock & terror at hearing the news.

Weiss: Pardon me, I believe I misheard you. Did you just say the town will burn down?

Byleth: *Slowly nods* Those damn bandits activated some Fire Dust Bombs that are scattered around the town, they're set to explode in a matter of minutes.

Weiss, Yang & Pyrrha: WHAT?!

The girls' expressions speak for themselves. They didn't expect the bandits to have yet another way to take down the heroes, let alone one that's this radical & dangerous. Pyrrha looks away rather somberly, Weiss is somewhat frozen in terror & Yang punches her hand in frustration.

Yang: Damnit all! It's one thing after another today!

Pyrrha: We've been fighting so hard to get Hunter's home back, why is this happening?

Weiss: What do we do?! The others are inside of the manor, we have to get them out of here before the town gets set ablaze! Even if we all manage to escape, the bandits will be stuck here in the town; we can't just leave them behind like this!

The girls are talk amongst themselves for a moment about the situation at hand before Byleth speaks up, trying to calm down the girls to the best of her abilities.

Byleth: If you girls have time to mope, you have time to work! We won't be able to take the knocked-out bandits out of the town in time, there's nowhere to go & there could be more Grimm in these woods. Instead, we're going around the town & grab all of the bombs individually… *Looks at Pyrrha* & I know the best one to figure out where the bombs are & get rid of them all at once.

Pyrrha is confused as to why Byleth's looking at her funny before a small smile appears on the Former Warlord's face.

Pyrrha: So, you already figured it out?

Byleth: *Nods* When I saw you make that shield, I knew you must've had some kind of Magnetic Semblance. All bombs have at least a little bit of metal, so I figured you can both find the bombs & throw them high into the sky… Am I right?

Pyrrha blushes while she modestly rubs the back of her head.

Pyrrha: Heheheh… I'm sorry for keeping my Semblance hidden, I don't like showing off Polarity to other people.

Pyrrha's "I'm sorry" counter: 15

Yang: Wait, "Polarity?" But I didn't see you use any polls to make that shield earlier.

Weiss: No, you bloody fool! Polarity means that she has magnetic powers!

Yang has a temporary brain freeze before explaining how… Needlessly confusing this Semblance name is & why naming it Polarity is rather random.

Yang: Why not just call it Magnetism then?! That's way more obvious & more straight to the point than calling it Polarity, who in the right minds would think of the word "Polarity" when they see someone with magnetic abilities?!That's like, oh- I don't know, someone who can turn their body into shards of glass & name it "Overactive Imagination" instead of giving it a more fitting name like "Broken Mirror" or "Dark Reflection" or other things that are related to glass & mirrors, yet they decide to name it Overactive Imagination anyways; how much sense does that make?!

- Somewhere in The Kingdom of Vale, Neo suddenly sneezed "out of nowhere." -

Weiss just facepalms at Yang's sudden rant while Pyrrha gets even more embarrassed about her Semblance being known to her friends than she did prior. Byleth rolls her eyes with a rather dry smile before focusing back on the matter at hand.

Byleth: Putting stupidly confusing & convoluted names for superpowers aside… We got work to do & we need to hurry! Pyrrha, can you locate where the bombs are?

Pyrrha: Oh- yes, I can!... One moment, please.

Pyrrha closes her eyes & places her hand on her chest, with her body slowly being enveloped by her Orange Aura. It takes a few seconds, but Pyrrha eventually speaks up.

Pyrrha: One… Four… Nine… Thirteen! *Opens her eyes* I can sense the presence of 13 bombs total, the largest one is in that building over there.

The group turns to see the building Pyrrha's pointing at, spotting the large manor where the other students are. Byleth nods as she turns back to the girls.

Byleth: We'll have to put our faith in Ruby & the others to deal with that, let's get rid of the bombs scattered around the city first. Let's split up so we can cover more ground!

Yang: Wait, can't Pyrrha just use her-… Polarity to take the bombs away from here?

Pyrrha: *Shakes her head* I'm afraid not, I cannot bend metal if I don't physically touch it first. I created that shield by touching the many scattered weapons from the bandits, my Semblance doesn't work like say… Telekinesis.

Yang groans a bit while scratching her head.

Yang: Well, that's oddly inconvenient.

Byleth: We'll just have to work with what we got; now come on! We got a job to do!

Weiss, Yang & Pyrrha: *Nod* Right!

The girls head back to the town & split up, trying to find where the bombs are & getting them out of the town before they all detonate, all the while Byleth keeps her focus on the manor, hoping that Ruby is okay.

Speaking of the manor, Blake & Hunter are looking down at the grunts on the ground. They can't get back up to their feet just yet, but they're still conscious… & That's on purpose. Blake has her sword pointing at one bandit in particular as she interrogates him.

Blake: Now then… Tell us who hired you? There's no way a bandit tribe would stay in a remote town for a whole month without a good reason! Tell me, who hired you?

Bandit: *Smirks* Even if we were to tell, what's it to ya?! You wouldn't stand a chance!

Blake: *Raises a brow* Oh? You think that scares me?... Perhaps you didn't understand the situation here. *Kneels down* Your entire tribe is knocked out, your leader is all alone, she's not going to last long. Even if she beats the kid, she has no chance against our professor… So unless you filthy lowlifes want me to make things worse for you & your friends, I suggest you cut your losses & start talking!

Bandit: Oh, come on… Like a try-hard emo girl with a silly bamboo hat can scar - KHARH!

The bandit doesn't get to speak as Blake grabs him by the neck & slams him against the wall with tons of force, which surprised both the knocked-out grunts that were still conscious, as well as Hunter. Blake glared at the bandit with an intense glare as her soft, yet sharp hazel eyes turn into an intense, burning gold, just like it was back when she dealt with the bullies who were harassing Cellie a few weeks ago. She then starts speaking in a quiet, yet very cold & powerful voice; one that sends a very clear message to the people around her.

Blake: I don't have time for your stupid macho bullshit! Tell me who your boss is & what they're truly after; now!

Hunter: Woah, Blake! Calm down! You don't have to be that rough him!

Blake ignores Hunter's words as she uses more force to hold the bandit's neck. Now taking the situation seriously, the bandit yields & decides to talk. But before he could speak any words, Jaune comes down from the upper floor to warn the others about the fire bombs that are set to detonate in a couple of minutes.

Jaune: What are you guys still doing here?! You all have to get out, bad guys included!

Hunter: What?... Why, what's the matter?

Jaune: The guy in the ballista set off a few Fire Dust Bombs to detonate in less than 10 minutes, it's going to burn the entire town to the ground like a wildfire!

Blake's & Hunter's expressions grow grim as they hear the news from Jaune, not expecting the bandits to have a last-minute tactic such as this. The bandit Blake's holding down scoffs at the young boy's words at first, thinking it's just a bluff.

Bandit: Hah! Nice try, ya Hero-wannabe! The boss ain't the kind of woman who'd do something like this, she'd put us all in the crossfire if she tried!

Blake becomes unamused by the bandit's words & just gives him another cold glare before giving him a warning.

Blake: Is that a risk you wish to take?!... Especially when you've taken so many already?!

The bandit actually takes those words to heart, as does the other brigands that are slowly getting back up to the ground. In anger, Blake throws the bandit to the ground before looking at Jaune.

Blake: Do you know how many of those bombs are around here?

Jaune: *Nods* Prof. Byleth just called about her plan to take out the bombs herself, she said that there's 13 in total… The largest one being in this very manor.

Blake then begins thinking about where this final bomb could be. It can't be in the rooftop because Team JNR just went there, they would've said something if the bomb was actually there… She does think of one idea, but she turns to Hunter to confirm her theory.

Blake: Hunter, if you were to bomb this manor to the ground yourself, where would you plant the bomb?

Hunter is confused at the question, but then begins thinking… He widens his eyes as he thinks of a likely answer.

Hunter: The gas tanks we use for the kitchen furniture are deep within the basement, that'd be the best place to put a Fire Dust Bomb, it'd cause an explosion big enough to bring the entire manor down in an instant.

Blake: That's where we're going, then! Hunter, you go find that bomb & get rid of it, I'll make sure the kid doesn't die… She's likely still fighting Wave.

Jaune then gets taken aback as he walks between the 2 after he heard that last bit.

Jaune: Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute! Ruby's here?! In this manor?!... Why?!

Blake: Don't know, don't care, we got a job to do. You make sure everyone in here doesn't get blown up, got it?!

Jaune is once again taken aback by Blake's words, feeling like Blake is acting way to calm in a situation like this… Then again, he doesn't have much choice in the matter.

Jaune: Damnit all… Fine, just don't get yourselves killed here!

Blake & Hunter nod as they begin heading back to the stairs to the basement floor, hoping to both take Wave, save Ruby & get that damn bomb away from the gas tanks.

Speaking of Ruby & Wave, the latter is dominating the former in their little death match. At this point, Ruby's Aura is already broken, so she can't use Petal Burst to dodge Wave's attacks anymore. She's on her knees, catching her breath as Wave looks down on the young Huntress.

Wave: I'm surprised, it's not often I see someone like you last this long against me… It's too bad you're on the wrong side, you would've been a powerful ally…

Ruby simply spits some blood on the ground before talking back to Wave.

Ruby: Baka~! I'd never ally myself with a Bandit, let alone one such as you! You've taken the home of townsfolk who struggle to survive… They worked their butt offs to get where they are now & here you come with your pillaging crew of bandits to undo all of their hard work for no good reason! What exactly do you people gain from doing any of this?! Don't you realize that our true enemy are The Creatures of Grimm, not ourselves?!

Wave rolls her eyes at Ruby's statement before laughing her ass off, finding her "heroic words" rather humorous.

Ruby: What's so funny?!

Wave: Heh, sorry, sorry… I just find it funny that you say such things despite having no idea what you're actually talking about…

Ruby: What?!

Wave chuckles as she sits on one of the boxes that are (conveniently) right next to her as she begins explaining the situation to Ruby.

Wave: At the end of the day, this whole Huntsman & Huntress bullshit is just that: Bullshit! In the grand scheme of this, there's no such thing as a true hero, real people aren't like that… The real world isn't like that! You can talk all you want, but nothing's gonna change the fact that this world is a fucking shithole of a planet with just as equally bad people who only care about themselves & the ones on the op can do whatever the fuck they want & get away with it. So why do you bother?!... Why do you fight so hard for these ungrateful pigs instead of taking what's rightfully yours?!... Even if you do win, the world will betray you when they see you as an enemy. That's how history works, kid.

Wave expects Ruby to deny the truth & say some naïve bullcrap that she's heard a million times already… Only to be surprised by what she actually says.

Ruby: Do you ever shut up?!...

Wave is suddenly taken a back as Ruby gets back to her feet, with her scythe in hand.

Ruby: Yeah, the world sucks right now… & There are many people out there who needs a serious butt-kicking for causing us so much trouble… & That's exactly why I fight!...

Wave raises a brow in confusion as Ruby continues speaking.

Ruby: You're right about that last part, the world is going to hate me for what I'll do… I plan to reform this broken system & make it into a system where everyone can fulfill their wishes of a happy life, one where nobody has to be held back by the cruel "laws" of this world… A world that is truly united; Humans, Faunus, Rich, Poor, everyone would have the same chance to live life to the fullest… *Sighs* Unfortunately, such a drastic change would throw the world into chaos, the people aren't strong enough to live for themselves… So why do I bother, you ask?... It's simple, really… *Smirks* I made a promise to someone… & I won't die until I make that promise a reality!

Wave seems unamused at first, but a small smile grows on her face as she starts chuckling a little bit… But not a mocking chuckle this time around.

Wave: Hahahahah… Goddamnit, now I'm really regretting this… You're actually more adult than the actual adults in this world, I wish more people had that determination & willingness to fight the good fight that you have...

Wave then draws her bow & takes aim at Ruby, ready to take her out.

Wave: It's a shame that I have to capture you & deliver you to that masked bitch…

As Wave prepares to shoot Ruby, the young Huntress notices that Wave's shadow looks a little weird looking… But when she spots rather familiar hazel eyes, she smirks.

Ruby: No thanks, I can find "The Fall Empress" on my own time.

Wave raises a brow for a moment as Ruby quickly moves out of the way & just as that happens, Blake comes from Wave's shadow & lands a good blow from her back. The bandit leader staggers as she screams in pain, she really felt that surprise attack. When Wave tried to look behind, Blake was no longer there. She has already jumped right next to Ruby & look down on her.

Blake: You held out long enough for me to arrive, not bad.

Ruby smiles in slight pain as she slowly gets back up to her feet, hands on knees.

Ruby: Say, how did you do that? The shadow part, I mean?... I saw your eyes in that jerk's shade.

Blake widens her eyes in shock, not expecting Ruby to pay attention to Wave's shadow the way she did. She's worried about it at first, but she shakes her head before looking back at Wave.

Blake: What you saw was just you hallucinating, that's all. Got hit too hard in the head or something?

Ruby puffs her cheeks in annoyance after getting her question unanswered, no doubt Blake is just doing that to tease her… Or at least, that's what Ruby thinks. Blake simply places a hand behind Ruby's back & gives her some of her Aura.

Blake: There, that should be enough for you to heal your wounds & run around.

Ruby then looks at her hands as she properly stands up, noticing the sudden surge in power that she got. It's nothing much, but there's definitely a difference.

Blake: We don't have much time left, let's take this bitch down & get out of here.

Ruby doesn't understand what Blake meant by that first bit, but she nods confidently as she draws her scythe once more. Wave angrily glares at them as she splits her bow into 2 swords once again.

Wave: Oh, you brats just LOVE to get a cheap shot at me, don't ya?!

Ruby: *Shrugs* Hey, it's not our fault you always leave yourself open.

Wave growls in frustration as she charges at the 2 girls, to which they easily move out of the way. In the beginning, Wave's moves were powerful, yet elegant; fitting for a young warrior like herself, but now? Her elegance was replaced with a desire to kill. Her movements aren't as refined as they once were, now they sound like a wild predator hunting down their prey. The 2 members of Team RWBY decide to use that to their advantage as they keep avoiding her hits.

Blake: I'll keep her up close & personal, you try to shoot her down!

Ruby: Got it!

Ruby jumps away before Blake takes a defensive position to block the incoming Wave. She's pushed back, but still standing strong. A small smirk grows on Blake's face as she begins to taunt Wave.

Blake: What's the matter? You were fighting so much better before, did my little sneak attack got you that angry?... If so, you sure can't handle defeat very well…

Wave growls in anger before pushing Blake away & continue to clash blades with her. All the while, Blake is smirking at this whole situation & having fun triggering the bandit leader… Oh god, her teammates really are rubbing off on her, aren't they?

While Wave is trying to overpower Blake, the bandit has to jump back to avoid a sniper round from Ruby. Wave snarls at Ruby who just smirks at the bandit leader before she's tackled by the young ronin. Blake crosses her arms confidently as she looks at Wave.

Blake: You're gonna have to try & do better, you're not gonna win like this…

Wave: *Smirks* Yeah, you're right… So let me show you what I can really do!

Wave gets up as her Aura begins to burst out a little bit. She looks at the heroes as she creates trails of water surrounding her wrists.

Wave: Alright, kids… Ya wanna play? Let's play!

Wave pulls her arms back before throwing them back forward again, firing spirals of high-pressure water towards Ruby & Blake. They move out of the way to dodge the attack, with Wave preparing to shoot Blake with one of her water arrows. But right as the arrow was about to hit Blake, it explodes when it came contact with a sudden bullet.

The 2 young women look towards Ruby, the one who fired that high-caliber bullet to save Blake from getting shredded by Wave's water arrow. When she landed on her feet, Blake instantly dashed towards Wave & the 2 begin clashing their blades again. But this time, it's a lot more even thanks to Wave's Semblance giving her swords a sharper edge.

While the 3 of them fight to the death, Hunter is looking through the basement to where he guesses the bomb is. He keeps running from room to room, but he can't find it yet.

Hunter: I know it's down here somewhere! where the hell is it?!

Hunter keeps looking around the place until he noticed one of the doors being open instead of close. He goes inside the room & finds what he's looking for, the gas tanks for the manor… & The bomb, which is the size of a large box. Not the size you expect from a bomb, but whatever. Hunter goes to the bomb to take a closer look at it, the bandits did a damn good job placing the bomb & make sure it stays there, it's literally screwed into the floor & connected to the gas tanks themselves.

Hunter: Well, I found the bomb… But it doesn't look like I can take it out without causing a huge accident… Damnit!

Hunter kneels down to take a closer look at the bomb to see if there's something he can do, he then notices that one of the "doors" of the bomb looks a little dent. With no better ideas, he takes a hold of that part of the bomb & rips it out, seeing a bunch of modules like buttons & wires. That's when Hunter gets an idea as he tries contacting one of the students with his Scroll, hoping to see if anyone will answer. Thankfully for him, he gets an answer in a matter of seconds.

Byleth (Scroll): Hello? Who's the-… Hunter?!

Hunter: Professor! Thank the heavens I reached you!... Listen, I've found the bomb here in my manor, but it's stuck in place!

Byleth widens her eyes in shock as she hears the news, not expecting the bomb from the manor to be found as fast as it was. She shakes her head to focus on the situation.

Byleth (Scroll): Well, do you found another way to deal with the bomb?

Hunter: I think so. *Looks at the bomb* I found some buttons & wires in the bomb… Here's the problem, I have no idea which ones I should press or cut out!

We change perspectives to see Byleth rubbing her chin in thought as Weiss notices her talk on the scroll with someone. Wondering what's going on, Weiss goes to check on her.

Weiss: Who is it, Professor? Is His Majesty calling us for a report?

Byleth: Huh? Oh, no. It's actually-

Hunter (Scroll): Wait, that voice… Aren't you that Atlesian girl with white hair?

Weiss raises a brow in curiosity, but also a hint of sass.

Weiss: Uh… Yes?... I have a name, ya'know… & It's Weiss!... But why do you-

Hunter (Scroll): I found the bomb in my manor! But it's stuck in place, it doesn't even budge! But it looks like I can maybe deactivate it if I presses some buttons & cut some wires, but I have no idea how to do this!

Weiss widens her eyes at the news, hearing that they're gonna have to defuse the bomb like this was a spy movie or something. Byleth & Weiss share a silent glance at once another before nodding at each other, knowing what they have to do. Byleth leaves her Scroll to Weiss so that she can help Hunter as Byleth herself leaves to help the others, just as we cut back to Hunter's perspective.

Weiss (Scroll): Alright, let me see the bomb.

Hunter nods as he changes the voice call into a video call, followed by pointing his scroll at the bomb he found. Weiss is able to take a good look at the bomb & notices a very familiar emblem that's on the top right corner of the bomb.

Weiss (Scroll): Of course... One moment, Hunter! I'm looking for this bomb's manual!

Hunter: Uh… Okay?... Wait, since when did bombs have manuals?

Weiss (Scroll): There wouldn't be a way to defuse them if we didn't have some kind of instruction, would we?

Hunter: Point taken.

After a few seconds, Weiss finds the manual of the bomb. This is an Atlesian Military Bomb. A very special kind of bomb where you directly place it to the ground or wall like you would do with a normal furniture, thus making it very difficult to remove it from place. It also a bomb where you have to activate it manually either through a computer or through the bomb itself, thus making it a timer-based bomb. As for how it can be defused, all bombs have a couple of modules for anyone with enough knowledge of bombs or with a manual can defuse them… With a catch… (Anyone who ever played Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about.)

Weiss (Scroll): Alright, I found it. First of all, do you see what looks like a small unlit lighter in the top right corner of each module?

Hunter looks through the modules & spots unlit lighters in all of them. Speaking of which, there's a total of five modules, with a "sixth" module actually being the counting down timer of the bomb that's placed in the upper middle of the bomb. It looks like there's only a little over 5 minutes left, with the timer going down as the teens are talking.

Hunter: Yeah, there are unlit lighters alright. There's 5 of these "modules", by the way. The one on the top left has different colored wires, the top right one huge colored button, the bottom left one has a big number with 4 small numbered buttons below the big number, the bottom middle one is a pentagon with 4 colors & the one on the bottom right is a small screen with a phrase & 6 different labeled buttons below said phrase… *Sweats nervously* Ya got all of that?

Weiss (Scroll): Loud & clear! We need to clear all of these modules to defuse the bomb. The lighter will light green when we do them correctly.

Hunter: & If we don't?

Weiss (Scroll): The lighter will go red for a second & make the timer go faster. If we make 3 mistakes total, the bomb will detonate automatically.

Hunter frowns while nervously rubbing his head before acting a bit sarcastic.

Hunter: Cool, I feel a lot more confident about this whole situation now.

Weiss (Scroll): If you have time to whine, you have time to listen to my instructions for you to defuse that bloody bomb!

Hunter puts the Scroll away as he heard Weiss suddenly scold him, not wanting to have his eardrums blown off at the moment. He rolls his eyes before Weiss continued speaking.

Weiss (Scroll): Look, let's just do them so we can be done with this. We'll do it in the other you told me what modules are, alright?

Hunter: Colored wires first, then? I can work with that… Let's see… 5! I see 5 wires here!

Weiss nods before looking through the page about colored wires in the bomb manual.

Weiss (Scroll): Okay… Any black wires?

Hunter: Nope! It's 1 red wire, 2 white wires, 1 blue wire & 1 yellow wire… In that order!

Weiss nods before looking through the manual… Since there's exactly 1 yellow wire instead of 2 & there's no black wire at all, the first wire is a no go. Weiss speaks up when she discovers which wire Hunter should take out.

Weiss (Scroll): Alright, Hunter… Cut the second wire.

Hunter nods before he takes out a hunting dagger from his hip & cuts the second wire, with the lighter lighting green. Hunter has a small moment of pride before moving to the module on the top right.

Hunter: Alright! Up next, it's the big button! A big red button labeled "PRESS".

Weiss (Scroll): Red button labeled PRESS, huh?... Alright, let's take a look! *Looks at the Manual* If the button is blue, pass! If the button says "Detonate", pass! Ah-hah! Hunter, look around the bomb & see if there's any batteries on it.

Hunter: Uh… Okay?

Hunter looks around bomb to find any batteries. Sure enough, he does. A large battery on the right & 2 smaller batteries on the right. On the latter's case, there's also a small label written "FRK" on it, said label being lit.

Hunter: 3 Batteries! There's 3 batteries total! There's also a lit label that says FRK!

Weiss (Scroll): A lit label written FRK, huh? In that case… *Reads the manual* Just press it! Press the button & immediately release it.

Hunter nods before opening the dome of the button & immediately pressing it… Only for a loud "EH~" sound play as the module lit red, with the timer suddenly going a bit faster.

Hunter: WHAT?! Why did it say I messed up?! I pressed the button like you said!

Weiss gets horrifyingly confused as she looked at the manual again.

Weiss (Scroll): Impossible! We followed the manual perfectly! Didn't you say that there were 3 batteries in that bloody bomb?!

Hunter: Yeah, but 2 of them were small batteries!

Weiss immediately realizes what exactly went wrong the moment she heard that bit, she facepalms in frustration before speaking up.

Weiss (Scroll): I can't believe this… They could 2 small batteries as one big battery!

Hunter: WHAT?! WHY?!

Weiss (Scroll): I don't know, I wasn't the one who build the bloody thing! Look, let's try this again, but we have to hurry! The timer will now go a bit faster because of that strike!

Hunter pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration as he looks back at the bomb, with Weiss helping him defuse it ASAP without any more potential missteps.

As the Imperial Princess & the young marksman deal with their own issues, we cut back to the climactic battle with Ruby & Blake against a more aggressive Wave. The bandit leader is relentless in her attacks, swinging her high-pressure water swords like if she was a rushdown character from a fighting game. All Blake can do is either block the incoming attacks or dodge them, with Wave herself occasionally jumping back to avoid the incoming sniper rounds from Ruby.

Wave: I'll admit, I haven't had this much fun in a very long time… You girls know your way around a battle… But if you think that these tactics will be enough to take me down, then I got bad news for you brats.

Wave combines her swords into a bow once again, she takes aim as her bow begins to erupt some water… Almost like Wave's doing a charged shot.

Wave: You're playing the wrong game!

Wave lets go of her bowstring, making the firing arrow suddenly multiply into many water arrows that began homing on Ruby & Blake. The 2 of them move around the basement to avoid the incoming attack, but Wave just keeps firing more & more, not giving either of them a moment to breathe.

Blake: *Grunts* For fuck's sake, how much Aura does this bitch has?!

Unfortunately for Blake, her path is cut off by a couple of water arrows suddenly bursting right in front of her as they make contact with some empty boxes right next to her. She's pushed back as a cloud of smoke surrounds her. While she's busy trying to look around, Wave suddenly jumps at Blake with her water-enhanced swords again. Blake barely manages to dodge the attack, to the point where she actually gets a pretty bad cut in her left shoulder. She steps back & holds her injured soldier while she's looking around.

Blake: Rgh!... Damn this high-pressure water!

Wave: Hahahahahahahah! Sorry about that, guess my water is too sharp for your little Aura… It's a good thing you dodged when you did, I would've slit your throat if you didn't move away when you did… But I guess making that arm of yours useless works too.

Blake hears some arrows flying in her direction. She jumps out of the cloud of smoke to avoid getting a rain of arrows hit her, all the while tightly holding her left shoulder… But as the smoke cleared, Wave was nowhere to be seen… Blake gets extremely confused as Ruby takes notice of Blake's condition & goes to check on her.

Ruby: Oh gods, Blake! Your arm-

Blake: Stay back!

Ruby stops in her tracks after Blake suddenly snapped at her.

Blake: No matter what happens, keep your distance from me at all times!... Staying together is exactly what that bitch wants us to do…

Ruby: Are you kidding?! You expect me to let you fight by yourself with an arm like that?!

Blake: Kid, this is not the time for any friendship bullshit! That woman is hiding around here somewhere & is just waiting for us to let our guard down!

Ruby groans in frustration at Blake telling her what to do & treating her like a kid when all she wants to do is help, but she shakes it off to focus on what's important right now. She starts looking around for Wave, wondering where she could be. As things finally began getting quiet, Blake begins to focus her hearing a bit more… Eventually, she draws a throwing dagger before looking right above them.

Blake: There you are!

Blake throws the dagger at the celling, specifically at the door's direction. Her dagger is parried by Wave who scowls in slight anger… "Damn, I almost had it!", she thought to herself. She then dive-bombs them both to cut them down, but they both move out of the way in time.

Wave: Guess I underestimated you both… But I promise you, this will be the last time you'll get one over me! *Points her swords at the girls* No more sneak attacks or tricks, then. I'll cut you both down from up close!

As Wave makes her declaration, Ruby suddenly puts Crescent Rose away as she extends her left hand to Blake, confusing the young ronin.

Ruby: Come on, give me one of your swords.

Blake: W-… what?!... Kid, what the hell are you-

Ruby: Trust me, Blake. *Looks back at Blake* Just follow my lead, okay?

Blake looks down hesitantly before weakly extending her left arm, giving Ruby one of her swords. Ruby swings it a bit to feel its weight before turning back at Wave.

[Music: "No Mercy" from Guilty Gear X: Heavy Rock Tracks]

Ruby: Let's go!

Ruby charges towards Wave with Gambol Shroud in hand, with Blake doing the same. The young reaper jumps over Wave to land behind her & strike from behind, while Blake strikes from the front. With both of her blades, Wave blocks both attacks with ease before the 3 of them in engage in an elegant, yet extremely intense sword battle. Ruby is doing surprisingly well with a sword, which surprises Blake as she didn't know the young leader had any swordsmanship skills. Everytime Wave tries to strike Ruby, she either parries the attack or jumps out of the way with her incredible acrobatic skills.

After being pushed back, Blake throws another throwing dagger at the incoming Wave who simply parries the incoming blade like it's nothing before swinging one of her swords at Blake, who blocks the downwards slashing attack. Wave smirks before she swings with her right hand to hit Blake on the left… But much to her shock, Ruby suddenly appears to block the attack with Blake's other sword. This takes Wave by surprise as Ruby pushes her away before firing bullets at Wave, who easily deflects them like it's no big deal… That's when Blake spots an opportunity.

She begins to take aim as well, but not at Wave… At some shelves above Wave's head, she shoots at them to make them all fall along with the small boxes in said shelves. Wave manages to hear the falling boxes come down & she moves to her right to not get hit, that's when Blake dashes towards Wave & suddenly appears right next to her.

Blake: You're mine!

Blake swings her sword at the distracted Wave, who didn't have enough time to react before she gets a pretty bad hit on one of her arms, disarming one of her swords. Ruby takes that opportunity to dash through Wave & cuts her at one of her sides, making her Aura flicker as she yelps in pain.

Wave: Argh!

Without any moment of delay, the 2 young Huntresses began slashing through Wave while moving around at crazy speeds. Wave feels her Aura rapidly getting chipped away as Ruby & Blake are cutting her to shreds. She's pushed away as Ruby takes her stance, ready to strike the final blow.

Ruby: Give up, Wave! You can't win!

Wave growls as trails of water began flowing around her hands.

Wave: Don't claim victory just yet, you damn brat!

With that, Wave swings her arms at the girls & uses her high-pressure water as whips this time. They move maneuver around the basement as they try to avoid Wave's relentless attacks, with Ruby moving closer & closer as she swiftly & elegantly avoids the merciless water whips. Once Ruby started to get just close enough, Wave smirks as she pulls one of her hands back & gets ready to cut Ruby down with a high-pressure water blade… But just as she swings her arm down… Ruby suddenly disappears.

Wave: What?!

In that moment, the battle was decided. Blake was secretly following Ruby all of this time & with her guard down, Blake jumps above the water whip & gets ready to cut Wave down, just as Ruby reappears behind Wave & quickly turns around, slashing through her alongside Blake. The intense combo attack makes Wave stagger as her Aura finally breaks. She falls to her knees before quickly losing consciousness.

[Music End]

The 2 girls smile at each other before holding their hands in victory before striking their respective victory poses.

[Jingle: Round Clear from Sonic Adventure]

Ruby: Yosha! That's how it's done!

Blake: You were a fool for standing in our way!

[Phase 1: Ashen Rose – Boss: Wave Denim: Defeated]

[MVP: Blake]

The 2 Huntresses-in-training look back at the unconscious bandit after they had their brief moment of celebration.

Blake: The damn bitch was a pretty strong fighter, hard to believe we managed to take her out all by ourselves…

Ruby: *Smiles* Well, we both gave our all & managed to work together. That's why we kicked her butt. Thanks for trusting me back there, Blake.

Blake looks at Ruby before having a small smile on her face. Before Blake could say anything, however, she hisses in pain as her bleeding shoulder aches a little more. She falls to her knees as Ruby goes to check on her friend.

Ruby: Blake! She really got you back there… How did this happen?

Blake: Her damn water was sharp enough to go through my aura… If I didn't move when I did, I would've lost my head… Damnit, this hurts like a bitch!

As Blake was holding onto her shoulder, Ruby opens her belt pouch to take a small roll of medical tape. Before Blake could say anything, Ruby already started wrapping the tape around Blake's shoulder.

Blake: H- hey!

Ruby: Just hold still for me, okay?

With no other option, Blake stays there silently as Ruby makes a bandage for her shoulder. It's not gonna heal the wound, but it should at least stop the bleeding from getting even worse. She makes a nice knot before extending her right hand to Blake.

Ruby: There, all done. Good thing I always come prepared.

Blake simply huffs before taking Ruby's hand, then getting pulled back up to her feet.

Blake: As much as I'd love to celebrate our victory, I need to see how Hunter's doing. Hopefully, he already defused the bomb by now.

Ruby raises a brow before crossing her arms, giving Blake a curious look.

Ruby: "Bomb"? What bomb?

Blake: Oh yeah, you were never told this. You see, we recently found out that these assholes had a failsafe & by that, I mean Fire Dust Bombs. They're supposed to set off in a few minutes from now, so everyone was trying to get rid of them beforehand while we kept the woman busy. *Scratches her head* I think we have a bit over a minute left.

Ruby: Oh, okay.

A brief moment of silence passes before both girls freak out at the realization of what Blake just said, Ruby in particular freaks out at the news about the place blowing up.

Ruby: WAIT- WHAT?!

As the 2 had that sudden realization, we cut back to Hunter who's disarming the bomb with Weiss' help, they have less than 2 minutes left to defuse this bomb. They're doing the second to last module & they have 2 out of 3 strikes. The second to last module appears to be Simon says.

Hunter: Alright, now it's Simon says! Let's see- Yellow! Yellow sparked, there's 2 strikes! With no vowels on the serial code!

Weiss nods as she reads the manual, looking through what Hunter should press with the conditions they have. She smiles before speaking up.

Weiss: Red!

Hunter nods before pressing Red, then it sparked Yellow twice. Weiss doesn't need to tell him which color he needs to press next since he already knows, so he presses Red twice in a row. Then Yellow sparks twice, followed by a Green.

Hunter: Okay, Green! 2 Yellows, then a Green!

Hunter wipes off some sweat as Weiss gives the answer.

Weiss: Red twice, then Blue.

Hunter nods as he presses the buttons in that exact order. Hunter waits for the Simon says to spark to see the next color.

Hunter: Okay, Red! The next color is Red!

Weiss: Red, huh? Let's see… *Reads the Manual again* Yellow! So it's Red twice in a row, then Green, then Yellow!

Hunter nods before pressing the buttons in that exact sequence, getting the lighter go green, meaning that they're done with this monitor. They both clench their fists in victory before they move to the final Monitor, a wording game.

Hunter: Okay, now I have 6 labeled buttons & a little screen on the top saying "BLANK".

Weiss scratches her head at that bit, but reads the manual anyways to see what she needs to do. She finds the page that they need to use.

Weiss: Okay, Hunter! Depending on the word that's displaying, I have to tell you which button to press, but not just that, the button needs to have the right label as well.

Hunter: WHAT?! How are we supposed to figure that out?! *Looks at the timer* Oh god, we're less than a minute in now!

Weiss freaks out before looking through the manual again. The first word is BLANK, so the correct button is the middle right one.

Weiss: Alright… Hunter, what does the middle right button say?

Hunter: Ready! It says the word "Ready"!

Weiss: Alright, I'll say a set of words in a certain order. If there's a button with one of those labels, press the one that's the first on the order I'll say, alright?!

Hunter nods before Weiss read through the words from the label Ready.

Weiss: Let's see… "Yes"?... "Okay"?... "What"?...

Hunter widens his eyes when he spots the word "What", he presses it & the first light on the right of the monitor goes green before the buttons & screen change words.

Hunter: Okay, it worked! I found the word "What", okay! Next word: "SAYS"

Weiss: "Says"? Let's see… *Looks at the manual* Bottom right! What does it say?

Hunter: It reads… "First"! That's what it says, what are my options?!

Weiss: You have… "Left"?… "Okay"?… "What"?… "Middle"-

Hunter: It's middle!

Hunter presses the button labeled "Middle" as the second green light sparks, changing the buttons & screens one last time.

Hunter: Okay, last one! We have less than 30 seconds! READ!

Weiss: Read? *Looks at the manual* It's the middle right one again!

Hunter: It says "Hold"!

Weiss: "Hold"? *Looks at the Manual* Where's the bloody Hold list?!

Hunter: HURRY UP, WEISS!

Before they can freak out again, Weiss founds the list & starts saying the words.

Weiss: Okay, I found it! "You Are"… The letter "U"…

Hunter sweats nervously while looking through the labels, that's when he finds the button that's labeled U.

Hunter: Wait, there's the U button!

Hunter presses the button & for the final time, the lighter goes green. In just 5 seconds to spare, the bomb is defused. The 2 of them stay quiet for a moment to make sure the bomb it's really defused… Then the bomb turns itself off.

Hunter & Weiss: ALRIGHT!

Hunter sits down to catch his breath, finally being able to relax as the bomb in the basement floor is finally defused. Weiss herself also feels exhausted from this event, to the point of even wiping off some sweat.

Hunter: I cannot believe we were able to pull this off!... Damn, that was stressful!

Weiss: Heh, you tell me… But hey, at least it's over now… I'll regroup with the others & help them out, I'm sure they were able to remove the bombs thanks to Pyrrha.

Hunter: Alright… Thanks again…

With that, they end their call in an instant, just in time for Ruby & Blake to find Hunter laying on the ground catching his breath.

Ruby: Hey Blake, I found him!

Hunter raises a brow before turning to the door, seeing Ruby look at him with a smile on his face & Blake coming right behind her. The latter goes to check on the young marksman to see if he's okay.

Blake: Is it safe to assume that you dealt with the bomb over here?

Hunter smiles before shooting a thumbs up. Ruby offers a hand to him & helps him get back up to his feet… That's when he realized something now that he sees both girls here safe & sound.

Hunter: Wait-… If you 2 are here, then does that mean-?...

Ruby: *Nods* Wave's out for the count. We have her tight up outside of this room.

Hunter stays in shock for a brief second before looking down with a smile on his face.

Hunter: Guess I was wrong about you kids after all… Thank you.

Blake looks away from the compliment, but a small smile grows on her lips. Ruby meanwhile scratches the back of her head while blushing sheepishly.

Ruby: Oh, come on. You give us too much credit, we were just doing our job.

Hunter: That's not true, words alone cannot express my gratitude. You guys just took out a big bandit tribe all by yourselves, including their leader! I'm sure Father & the others will be overjoyed to see their new heroes. *Blushes* Knowing Mother & Ashley, they'll likely try to make a huge feast for you guys as their way to say thank you.

As Ruby looks away to hide her flustered face, Blake suddenly places a hand on Hunter's shoulder, which takes him by surprise.

Blake: You sell yourself short, Hunter… Who was it again who shot down that second cannonball & gave us the opportunity to charge into the mansion? & Who was the one who just defused that big-ass bomb over there?... Oh yeah, you! *Smiles* You were just as important in this fight as everyone else was… Take pride in that.

The other 2 young fighters look at Blake with a surprised look on her face, they didn't expect her to say something that motivating & reassuring to someone… Especially from Ruby's point of view, where she's more used to seeing Blake as a rather edgy girl. Hunter smiles before nodding at Blake's encouraging words.

Hunter: Yeah, you're right! Thanks, Blake.

Ruby: *Smirks* Ho~? Since when were you one to say such nice things to people?

Ruby playfully elbows Blake in the belly before she pinches the young leader's cheek.

Ruby: Ow-!

Blake: Don't push it, you damn brat.

Ruby: Oh, come on~! I was just messing with you~!

Blake: Well, it sure as hell wasn't funny!

Hunter just watches the 2 of them bicker like old-time friends (despite knowing each other for only a little over a month by this point) in complete silence before he suddenly started laughing, which catches the girls by surprise.

Hunter: Heheheh… Hahahahahahahah! Oh- I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself- Hahahah!

While Blake doesn't understand a thing about why Hunter's suddenly laughing, a big smile grows on Ruby's face, happy to see Hunter not be too moody or serious for once.

Ruby: Hey, you actually look pretty good with that smile!

Hunter: Heh… Is that so?... I can't remember the last time I felt this… Relaxed, I guess it's the right word to put it.

As the 3 of them kept chatting before they eventually took their leave, we cut to Weiss regrouping with the others to give Byleth her report.

Byleth: I didn't hear a loud kaboom in the manor… Is it safe to assume that you & Hunter were successful in your part of the mission?

Weiss: Yes… It was quite the stressful experience, if I'm being frank… *Wipes off some sweat* What about you guys? Were you able to deal with the remaining bombs?

Byleth smiles before she motions her hand to Pyrrha, who has all of the other bombs (which are considerately much smaller than the one Weiss & Hunter had to defuse) all mashed together through her Polarity, making Weiss' jaw drop.

Pyrrha: *Chuckles* Will this do?

Weiss stays in comedic silence for a moment before shaking her head & speaking up.

Weiss: Y- YES! It will more than do!... I must say, Pyrrha. Even I didn't expect you to deal with all of the bombs by yourself, let alone this easily. *Sweats comically* To be honest, I'm a little envious.

Pyrrha: *Raises an innocent brow* Is that so? Why is that, Weiss?

Weiss: *Shakes* I'll tell you more about it later.

Pyrrha keeps acting a little innocent before she just shrugs & turns to Byleth.

Pyrrha: So, where exactly do I throw these bombs?

Byleth smiles before she points upwards. Pyrrha looks up to the sky before understanding what Byleth is trying to tell. With a smile on her face, Pyrrha throws the bombs high into the sky. A few seconds after they were launched, their timer counts down to 0 & a huge explosion bursts in the sky, not unlike a bunch of fireworks going off at the same time.

The students outside all look at the "fireworks" with proud smiles on their faces, although Jaune & Nora are celebrating loudly inside of the manor, with Ren just looking at his teammates with a small smile on his face. As for Blake, Ruby & Hunter, they all come outside carrying the unconscious Wave. They look up to see where they heard the loud explosion & see the bombs going off, acting like fireworks. Hunter looks back to the ground & sees all of the knocked-out bandits, still in disbelief that they were able to take out so many people with so few numbers. Ruby however just looks up at the sky, appreciating the nice looking "fireworks".

Ruby: Huh… Those bombs don't look half-bad when they're up there.

Blake: Yeah… They look kinda nice…

As the girls are appreciating the view above, Hunter looks at Ruby for a while before he speaks up & asks her something.

Hunter: Hey, Ruby… Why do you want to become a Huntress so badly?

Ruby turns to Hunter with a confused look on her face before he continued speaking.

Hunter: Protecting the world from cruel people & bloodthirsty monsters shouldn't be burdened onto children, such events will only cut their lives short. It makes them jaded, colder, distant… & The Huntsmen are selfish for always pushing these burdens onto children instead of doing it themselves… Yet you still chose to walk down this path, all the while having that big smile on your face… Why?

Ruby looks serious at Hunter before looking down as she thinks of an answer.

Ruby: It's because of the way this world works that I want to become a Huntress…

Hunter is understandably confused by the rather vague answer, to which Ruby explains.

Ruby: If the world stays the way it is now, nothing will change… & The people refuse to sought out any form of change, they rather sit back & think the world & its people are beyond saving… Those in power are too selfish & ignorant to help the people they've sworn to protect, so why bother? That's why they never try to do anything about it…

Ruby looks at one of her hands before blowing it into a fist.

Ruby: But not me! I don't care how long it takes me; I won't stop fighting until I can see a world where nobody has to live in fear & under control of those with high power… A world where nobody has to be burned or sacrificed ever again! As a Huntress, I will save this broken world! I swear it…

Hunter looks at Ruby with awe. Such determination, such drive… Despite being 15, Ruby isn't naïve or ignorant… & Hunter realizes that. A small smile grows on his face, feeling confident that Ruby will be successful in her mission.

Hunter: Is that so?... I'm looking forward to see it come to fruition.

Ruby shoots a confident smile at Hunter, silently thanking him for saying that. As the 3 of them are standing there, Byleth & the others spot them & are running back towards them… Mainly Yang.

Yang: RUBY~!

Ruby only had enough time to look forward to see Yang charging at her & then bear-hug her tightly, much to her dismay given her injuries.

Ruby: Argh- Yang! What did I tell you about hugging me so tig- OHOHOW~!

Yang: I can't help it; I was so worried about you! *Puts Ruby down* But if you're here, that means that you & the others inside won, right?

Ruby nods before pointing at the tied-up & unconscious Wave that Hunter's carrying.

Ruby: She was pretty strong, but Blake & I were able to take her out. *Stretches her arms* Man, I don't remember the last time I fought for my life like that… It felt good!

Blake: *Raises a confused brow* "It felt good"? That implies that you like getting to very life-threatening situations like this & I don't know if I should be worried or not.

Ruby simply shrugs at Blake's comment, not feeling the need to confirm her guess.

Yang: Either way, I'm really proud of you, little sis! You managed to take out the bandits' boss, that's not something an Academy Freshman can just do.

Ruby: *Blushes* Come on, Yang. Stop embarrassing me like this, it was nothing. I only did it because I had help from Hunter & Blake... Especially the latter, she's super strong.

Hunter: *Looks at Blake* The kid's right… I'd even argue you weren't going all out back there! How did you get so strong?

Blake: I traveled a lot.

The 3 of them sweat nervously at the rather vague answer, wondering what exactly did Blake encounter in all of her travels for her to get this strong. That's when Yang notices her partner's left shoulder, seeing the faint red blood from the bandages.

Yang: Oh god, Blake! *Goes to Blake* What happened to your arm?!

Blake: *Motions to Wave* This bitch's Semblance was powerful enough to go past my Aura, she landed a few good cuts on us because of that. *Holds her shoulder* But it's nothing serious, I'm alri- argh!

Yang looks at Blake with worry, she doesn't like how she just tried to shrug off such a serious wound like that. She then looks at her younger sister to see if she has any similar injuries. Ruby does have a few cuts, but none of them were all that serious, which was good. While Ruby was on her own little world & seeing Yang helping out Blake, Byleth suddenly chimes in & makes her presence known alongside Weiss.

Byleth: Well, good to see you guys made it out.

Ruby widens her eyes for a moment before turning to her teacher & team partner.

Ruby: Oh- Prof. Eisner, it's you. *Looks at Weiss* & You, Weiss. Ya doing okay?... You look a little… Exhausted…

Weiss: I'll talk to you about it on the way back… *Smiles* It's good to see you safe & sound, Ruby.

Ruby smirks mischievously before wrapping an arm around Weiss' shoulders.

Ruby: Aw~, were you worried about me? How unlike you, Your Highness.

Weiss' cheeks heat up immensely before comically pushing Ruby away.

Weiss: Of course not, you fool! That's not what I meant at all!

Byleth smiles at the sight of Team RWBY being so caring for one another, even though they've been together for only a little over a month at this point. Before Ruby could tease Weiss a little more, Byleth calls the young leader out.

Byleth: Ruby; a moment?

Ruby turns to Byleth curiously before nodding, she followed The Ashen Demon until they were far away enough from the others. That's when Byleth asks Ruby about their mission.

Byleth: So, were you able to get it? The supposed "Jewel of Benevolence"?

A big smirk grows on Ruby's lips before she reaches for her pouch & shows Byleth the crystal ball that Wave had in her possession.

Ruby: Right here! It was down at the basement like we suspected. *Looks at the Crystal Ball* Not gonna lie, it looks a lot smaller than I thought. *Rubs her chin* But then comes an important question… Is this the real one we're after, or is this just a nice-looking jewel that looks just like it?

Hunter: What do you mean by "Is this the real one we're after"?

Ruby: AAAH~!

Ruby gets jumpscared before she turns to face a curious Hunter.

Ruby: Oi, Hunter! Don't scare me like that!

Hunter: *Crosses his arms* Why are you 2 so interested in our town's treasure? Is this some request from The King of Vale or do you people want something more specific with it?

Ruby tries to think of an excuse, not really sure if telling Hunter about the "Sacred Treasures" part is a good idea. But before she can think of something, Byleth places a reassuring hand on her shoulder before speaking up.

Byleth: It's a request from His Majesty. There's an ancient jewel that some people back home are trying to hunt down, a sphere-like jewel that has been lost in Vale for many years. The King wishes to see if this very jewel that they're after or not.

Hunter is rather skeptical about Byleth's words, not sure if she can immediately trust her. He raises a brow before speaking up again.

Hunter: Okay?... & These "people" you said… Why would they be after this jewel?... & Suppose that is the jewel you're speaking of, what do they have to gain from it?

Byleth closes her eyes before shrugging.

Byleth: No idea… It could be a chance for them to make a huge buck, or maybe there's something more that we don't know yet. His Majesty wishes to confirm his doubts for himself, to see if this jewel is actually real or not. *Crosses her arms* Of course, we're not ones who'd just TAKE something that precious from someone like that. We were hoping to ask for permission from your Mother, the town's chief.

Hunter looks down in thought, wondering if she just let their town treasure be taken like this, even temporarily. He already doesn't like the way the Rulers of the nations do things, mainly training child soldiers… But whether it be a weird feeling inside of him saying that there's a LOT more to this story that Byleth lets on, or maybe his newfound respect & appreciation to this small group after what they did today… He takes a risk.

Hunter: Not long after The Great War of Remnant ended, my Great-grandfather was traveling with the ancestors of our people. Searching for land in a war-torn world… It was a difficult time for them all, what kept them going is a crystal ball that he always carried… One day, the crystal ball shined to this very land… This large field that was once as open as the plains… They haven't seen such beautiful land in years because of the war, so they decided to build a town here as a way to remember the good things that still remained in Remnant 80 years ago. *Looks up* To them, the crystal ball essentially gifted them a new place to call home, a second chance at life… "A gift from the Gods"…

Neither of the young women say anything, they stay quiet & listen to Hunter's tale, wanting to hear every word with care.

Hunter: Personally, I've never been one to believe in such things. I never saw that thing as more than a nice-looking jewel that my family had for a few generations. *Rubs his chin* Knowing my Mother, however… I'm sure she'd understand & grant your request.

The professor & her start student both smile at each other before smiling at Hunter.

Byleth: Thank you.

With that, Byleth offers Hunter her hand, to which he happily shakes it. After a very intense battle – especially around the end – our heroes managed to succeed in their first mission… First thing to do on their list is the clean-up duty.

[Phase 1: Ashen Rose – Chapter 1: The First Step: Cleared]

[MVP: Blake]

– 3 Days Later –

The once bandit-raided town is now slowly, but surely rebuilding itself. With Ozpin's fundings & the Garnet Papillons' aid, the town recovers safely & in peace. By this point, all of the knocked-out thieves were sent to Vale's personal Prison Island, including Wave.

Aside from Ruby & Byleth, all of the students were aiding the people recuperate. For instance; Yang, Nora & Pyrrha are the ones carrying all of the materials needed to rebuild the buildings, like wood, stones, ETC. Yang & Pyrrha in particular are coming towards some carpenters while pulling a cart full of wood logs that they've gotten so far.

Yang: Alright, here's a couple of more wood.

Pyrrha: We brought a lot of them this time, I hope it'll do for now.

Carpenter: Oh, thank you. Just in time too, we were starting to run low here.

Yang & Pyrrha smile at each other before Nora came with some large rocks.

Nora: Where do you want me to put these again?

As the carpenter is giving Nora some directions, Ren is giving a bowl of stew for a child.

Child: Thank you, mister.

Ren: Eat carefully, alright? It's pretty hot.

The child nods as they leave to eat their food. Ren smiles as he prepares a bowl for the next person in line, all the while teasing Blake.

Ren: Didn't know you had a knack for making stews.

Blake: If you have time to make foolish jokes, you have time to give out my food. Now let me concentrate & cook in peace.

Ren rolls his eyes with a smile as he hands over the next bowl of stew to the next person in line, all the while Weiss is using her Glyphs to hold onto some wood in the air while some carpenters are trying to build some support pillars for said wood with Jaune's help.

Carpenter: Ya sure this won't tire you out, young lady? Must be tough holding up all of that wood with those little magic circles of yours.

Weiss: No, I'm quite alright. Such "heavy weight" is child's play to me… I assure you, I won't overexert myself over this. *Glares at the carpenter* & For the last bloody time, can you please stop calling my Glyphs "Magic Circles"?

The Carpenters look in awe at Weiss' words before Jaune reassures them.

Jaune: Don't worry guys, she'll be fine. Now come on, let's finish these support pillars so we can start rebuilding the walls for this house.

The Carpenters just shrug as they continue on with their duties, hoping to get this house fixed up soon. Hunter looks at how his people & the students are rebuilding the town with a small smile on his face, with Ashley chiming in to see how he's doing.

Ashley: Well, look at you looking happier than usual. What happened to that stoic & moody demeanor of yours?

Hunter rolls his eyes at his little sister's teasing before speaking up.

Hunter: Since when was I forbidden to express happiness?

Ashley laughs while playfully pinching her brother's cheek.

Ashley: Hahahah! I'm joking, you dork! It's nice to finally see you happy for once, this past month was a rough one for us all. *Looks at the town* I can't believe they decided to stay; they didn't have to help us rebuild.

Hunter: You're right, they didn't… *Smiles* But that's what makes those kids special.

Ashley: *Smirks* Oh? Am I sensing you developing a soft spot of some kind?

Hunter: Don't push it, brat.

The 2 look at each other funny for a brief moment before suddenly laughing, feeling a nice fuzzy feeling inside of them as they have this nice moment between brother & sister. While having their little moment together, they suddenly hear some of the townsfolk talking around the gates. They turn around & see Byleth arriving, with Fawn going over to greet her in person.

Fawn: Miss Eisner, you're back. How was the investigation with His Majesty?

Byleth shakes her head before giving her back the town's crystal ball.

Byleth: It wasn't what he was looking for, this is just a pretty jewel.

Fawn smiles wryly before taking the crystal ball from Byleth's hands.

Fawn: I see… I'm sorry for getting you all excited over nothing… I'm sure it wasn't a good use of your time.

Byleth smiles softly while placing a reassuring hand on Fawn's arm.

Byleth: Don't be… If anything, he's relieved. He's grateful that your town doesn't have to deal with yet another problem… I can assure you, there's nothing for you to apologize.

Fawn looks at Byleth with a surprised look on her face before smiling happily.

Fawn: Is that so?... I'm grateful. *Looks around* Pardon me, but… Didn't you have a small girl with you as well? The one with the red hood.

Byleth: Oh- Ruby? Yeah, she wanted some time for herself. She said she'd catch up pretty soon, so don't worry.

Fawn: That's good, I was hoping to have a huge feast ready for you all once you returned.

Byleth is slightly taken aback by the request, but unlike her star student, she keeps her cool demeanor when responding to such an offer.

Byleth: I don't think that'll be necessary, thank you.

Ashley: Don't say that.

Byleth raises a brow as she sees Ashley & Hunter coming towards both their Mother & The Ashen Demon, the 2 young adults standing next to the former.

Ashley: You've helped us a lot already by getting rid of the bandits, but you're going the extra mile of helping us rebuild the town. We wish to repay your kindness in some form.

Byleth looks away as she thinks about their request… The students would likely get a bit tired after they were done here, so it wouldn't hurt to have some downtime before heading back home… Besides, Jeralt was one who'd stay for celebrations in these kinds of situations. Now she knows what he meant whenever he said "it'd be rude to refuse such a kind offer" whenever they saved a village or 2.

Byleth: I guess I have no choice… Once we're all done here, we'll happily take part in this feast of yours. *Smiles* I'm sure my students would love a nice victory meal as well.

Ashley: Wonderful! You won't regret it, Ms. Eisner.

Fawn: *Bows* Thank you once again for all the help. I don't think we would've lasted any longer if His Majesty didn't bless us with such a wonderful cast of young Huntsmen & Huntresses, as well as an incredible Professor to guide them.

Byleth looks down a little flustered while scratching the back of her head, not being used to take such compliments in person. She didn't give them much mind in the past, but now? Where she's more "human"… She can't help but feel the butterflies inside of her whenever someone compliments her like that. The town chief takes her leave alongside her daughter at that point, leaving Hunter & Byleth alone for a moment. The Ashen Demon notices the rather serious look he's giving, wondering what's on his mind.

Hunter: Can I-… Ask you something?

Byleth: Uh… Sure? Ask away.

Hunter: It's clear that your students are incredibly skilled & powerful, that much I've seen with my own 2 eyes… & Yet-… Why do you let them fight in these battles? Why do you let them risk their lives like this? Surely you could've taken out these bandits with one or 2 Huntsmen by your side, could you not?

Byleth widens her eyes a bit, surprised by Hunter's claims of Byleth "holding back". She crosses her arms as she goes back to her usual stoic demeanor.

Byleth: Yeah, you're right… If I really wanted to, I could've taken a ship for myself & deal with these bandits singlehandedly. None of them would've been a match for me, not even that Wave woman you & the girls fought against.

Hunter steps back in a bit of fear as he processes Byleth's words, he can feel a huge shiver down his spine at the thought of Byleth's true power. He knew she was holding back, yet she claimed she could've done this entire mission all by herself?!... Whatever Byleth at full power looks like, Hunter hopes he never gets the receiving end of it. Hunter shakes his head to wake up back to reality & continue speaking.

Hunter: I-… I see… If that's the case, then-… Then why didn't you? Things could've gone really badly once the Ballista showed up, not to mention the bombs. You claim that you could've dealt with all of that single handedly, yet you let children do most of the work, putting their lives on the line in the process… Why did you do that?! Why did you take such a needless risk like this?!

Byleth holds a tight grip of her sword before looking at her students, happily helping the townsfolk rebuilding their town.

Byleth: Tell me… What do you see over there?

Hunter raises a brow, confused by the sudden question. Nevertheless, he turns to see the students as Byleth requested.

Hunter: Well, all I see is your students helping my people… Quite willingly, might I add.

Byleth: Exactly. Those kids are the kind who'd help anyone if given the option, they're not going to abandon someone in their time of need. Even if I told them not to come with me here, they'd find a way to come & fight for you guys anyways… Which brings me to my next point.

As Byleth says that, she draws her blade: The Sword of the Creator. Hunter takes a good look at the very weird-looking sword as Byleth continues speaking.

Byleth: If I were to do everything all by myself, my students would grow to be too reliant on me… I'm not going to stay with them forever, there will come a time where they have to start pulling their own weight… Because if they don't, they're going to die… That's my role as their Professor, to prepare my students for the cruel world outside of the Kingdom's Boarders… Even if I wished they didn't have to fight either…

That last comment caught Hunter by surprise, not expecting Byleth to somewhat share the same feelings he had towards the idea of training child soldiers.

Byleth: You're not the only one who hates the idea of sending children to fight in these kinds of battles, that's something the 4 Nations should do it themselves… Unfortunately, things can never be that simple…

Hunter looks down somberly as he finally begins to relate to The Ashen Demon on a personal level, seeing how much she struggles with this idea as well… From the tone of her voice, it sounds like this isn't the first time this happened to her & she talks like someone who's been fighting since childhood herself.

Hunter: Yeah, you're right… *Looks back at Byleth* I'm sorry if I opened any old wounds, I'm sure this must be very difficult for you.

Byleth shakes her head before she sheathes back her sword.

Byleth: Don't be; you haven't done anything wrong. *Smiles* Thank you for listening.

Hunter gets a little surprised by the sudden thank you, but he manages to recompose himself as a small smile grows from his lips. Byleth sticks out her hand towards Hunter, to which the young marksman takes it without hesitation. After the handshake, they wave each other off as Byleth leaves the town momentarily while Hunter goes to help the others as well.

Not far from the village, Ruby's sitting on a tree bench while looking at a small paper. This is the same paper that Wave had earlier, the one with the weird demonic emblem drawn on it. Ruby's look isn't one we've ever seen before; this isn't just normal anger… This look feels intense, cold & most notably, vengeful. Many things flow through Ruby's head as she looks at this emblem, all the while her heart begins to feel like it's burning.

Ruby: Just a little longer, everyone… You'll be able to rest soon enough…

The loud screams of the fallen, the anger & fear they felt before they died, the silhouettes of those who took them away… Ruby remembers that day like if it was yesterday, just as she can hear the voices of the dead telling her what must be done… "It won't be long now", she thought to herself… With this emblem, Ruby's true mission can finally begin.

Despite the hiccups here & there, The Garnet Papillons were successful in their mission. Wave was taken out & the townsfolk can finally know peace again… While it's rather unfortunate that Byleth & Ruby didn't get what they were looking for, it relieves them both to know that The Jewel of Benevolence – regardless if it's truly real or not – won't cause any more trouble for these people, they've already suffered enough as it is.

But what did Byleth & Ruby learn from Wave from their interrogation? What will The Fall Empress do now that her hired bandits have fallen? More importantly, what is Ruby going to do now? What exactly happened to her to make her feel like this? Will Byleth be able to save her star pupil from herself, or will Ruby let her darkness consume her? Find out all & more next time on RWBY: The Verdant Light of Remnant.

RWBY: The Verdant Light of Remnant - Chapter 23: The First Step - End.

---

Author's Notes: Oh boy, that chapter was a NIGHTMARE to write, even disregarding all of the life stuff i've mentioned in the beginning. Thankfully, the next 2 or so chapters will go back to the slice of life, character focused chapters i'm not only much BETTER at writing it, but also PREFER to write it. I'll try to squeeze at least ONE more chapter before 2022 ends, but i won't make anymore promises that i can't keep, i've already done that many times with you people.

In LIGHTER news, i've been playing Fire Emblem Warriors: 3 Hopes during my down time as well. It's A LOT of fun & VERY well written (for the most part) & it DEFINITELY helped me take my focus away from life for these last few months... As for whether or not i'll IMPLEMENT any of the story beats from 3 Hopes in my story?... I am actually thinking of something in particular, but that's not until much later.

Anyways, that's all the time i have for today. As much as i wanna answer ALL of the questions you guys have about this chapter, they're gonna have to wait, i'm REALLY fucking tired & i wanna rest for a bit. This has been Remnant Bardock & until our next meeting, have a WONDERFUL DAY, my friends!