"We are NOT killing him!" Pyrrha shouted as she looked over the people gathered in the living room of the house they were staying in.

"Pyrrha, are you serious?!" Yang shouted back as she stood up to face the redhead, "He wanted to kill all of us! You heard him yourself!"

"But he didn't!" Pyrrha shot back.

"He would have! I saw the look in his eyes when he attacked me." Yang said, her voice lowering just a tiny bit even as her eyes flickered between red and lilac, "There was no doubt. No hesitation. There was just… rage and… hatred…"

Silence overcame Pyrrha as the blonde recalled her sudden clash with Jaune.

"Even so, I can't just let this happen…" Pyrrha said, shaking her head as she stared Yang in the eye, "I won't!"

"Pyrhha, listen to yourself. You're being stupid about this." Yang said before turning her attention to the other occupants in the room, "Would you guys back me up here?"

"Pyrrha, I agree with you." Weiss said as Yang rounded on the heiress's response.

"I can't believe this. You, too?!" Yang shouted.

"Calm down, I wasn't finished." Weiss said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "I agree with Pyrrha that we shouldn't kill him but what we can and should do is just leave him here to fend for himself."

"Are you serious?! So, your plan is to just… let him do what he wants?" Yang asked as she gripped her head in frustration, "What happens if he decides to hunt us down and kill us one by one?!"

"I can't believe I have to be the one who has to ask this but," Weiss said, letting out a heavy sigh before continuing, "You speak of killing him but are you actually willing to do the deed? Are you willing to live the rest of your life with actual blood on your hands?"

Yang, surprised by the heiress's sudden question, could only look away as a troubled frown formed on her face.

"Are any of us capable of doing such a thing?" Weiss asked as she looked at the others around her. A few seconds of silence was her answer before a voice spoke up.

"I am. Just give me two seconds and he'll be dead. I won't even blink." Qrow said as he sat down on the nearby couch.

"I won't let you." Pyrrha said, a dangerous look on her eyes as her hands fell to her weapons. Qrow merely shrugged in response to the redhead's threat before taking a swig from his hip flask.

"Neither will I." Nora said as she shared a nod with Pyrrha before standing beside her teammate.

"You, too, Nora?" Yang asked as he looked between the two members of Team JNPR, "You know he doesn't see you as a friend anymore, right? He doesn't see us as friends anymore."

"That's true but that doesn't mean I stopped considering him my friend." Nora countered.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Yang said, the blonde's frustration starting to boil over.

"Look, whatever happened or is going to happen, Jaune was… is my friend." Nora said as the girl reminisced to her time in Beacon, "More than that, he was my team leader. He was my fearless team leader. All that time we spent together may not have meant anything to him but it did to me. So that's why… If you're planning to leave him behind, then I'm staying here, too."

"What?! Nora, you can't be serious!" Weiss shouted out, "We have Salem and her forces to deal with. Even if we didn't, you can't possibly expect us to just leave you with him alone, do you?!"

"No worries on that front because she won't be alone." Pyrrha spoke up as she placed a comforting hand on Nora's shoulder, "If Jaune and Nora is left behind, I'm staying, too."

"Gods, do you know how stupid the two of you are being right now?!" Weiss asked as she slammed the table in front of her.

"Look, these past few months, we travelled through Mistral having absolutely no idea where Jaune was." Nora countered, unflinching at Weiss's anger, "All that time spent on the road, with no idea if my friend was even alive was… heavy. And now… Now, I find him alive and well? You bet your ass I'm happy and willing to do what it takes to help him through whatever it is that's bugging him."

"That's all well and good, Nora, but you're forgetting one crucial detail: He's working for Salem!" Weiss argued once more and was about to continue before Pyrrha cut her off.

"That's actually not true." Pyrrha said, "At least, I don't think it is."

"...What do you mean?" Ruby asked, the girl staying silent throughout the whole exchange until now.

"During our fight, he says that he won't betray Cinder specifically." Pyrrha replied as she looked over the whole room.

"Okay? What's your point?" Yang asked, head tilted to the side in confusion.

"What if Jaune was never loyal to Salem but was instead loyal to Cinder?"

"Even if he was loyal to her, what does that change?" Weiss asked, "Need I remind everyone here that Cinder was the one responsible for burning down our school? Just because he was loyal to a lesser evil doesn't-"

"My point, Weiss," Pyrrha said, interrupting the heiress as she sucked in a deep breath, "What if we can convince Jaune to join us in our fight against Salem?"

Silence reigned in the living room for a few moments as everyone tried to process the redhead's words before everyone began shouting over one another.

"You cannot be serious, Pyrrha!" Yang shouted, anger in her eyes as they shifted into a dangerous red color.

"That is the most absurd idea I have ever heard!" Weiss added, her head shaking in disapproval at Pyrrha's suggestion.

"Why not?! Literally what is the worst thing that could happen?" Nora asked as she tried her best to defend her teammate's suggestion.

"Hahahahaha!" Qrow, meanwhile, could only laugh at Pyrrha's idea, spitting out the drink in his mouth in the process. The shouting continued for a few more seconds before Pyrrha banged her sword on her shield, grabbing everyone's attention.

"I know what I'm suggesting is insane-"

"Understatement of the year right there." Yang said.

"-but it's definitely one path that I suggest we consider." Pyrrha said, the girl hesitating for a moment before continuing, "That's why, I suggest we put it to a vote. Either we invite him on our mission to stop Salem or we leave him behind."

"And if we leave him behind, you and Nora are going to stay with him, right?" Yang asked as Pyrrha responded with a silent nod.

"I'll be staying, too, if that's the result." Ren said, the boy choosing to stay silent before this.

"Wonderful. That's just… wonderful…" Yang grumbled as she let out a defeated sigh, "Whatever happens, it's not a win-win for anyone, is it?"

"No, it's not but that is something I've come to learn and accept throughout my travels through Mistral these past few months." Pyrrha replied, "We can't win all our battles. Sometimes, the best we can hope for… is a draw."

Yang snorted at the redhead's wisdom before the blonde sat back down.

"That's fine and all but you're forgetting one thing: What if he doesn't want to help us kill Salem? Did you think of that?" Yang asked.

"Yang has a point. This discussion would be meaningless if he doesn't want to do anything about her." Weiss added, the two girls of Team RWBY sharing a nod of agreement.

"I'll talk to him." Pyrrha said after a few moments of contemplation, "It might not mean anything to him anymore but we were partners. Maybe I'll be able to convince him."

"Fine, whatever. Lets take a vote. Those who wants to leave Jaune behind and let him do whatever it is he wants to do with his life, raise your hand." Yang said and not a moment later, the hands of Yang, Weiss, and Blake went up. Sighing that her sister didn't follow her lead, Yang continued, "Okay, next: Those who wants him to join up with us on our mission to stop Salem, raise your hands."

A moment later, the hands of Team NPR and Ruby went up.

"Rubes, why? If he joins us, we'd have to constantly watch our backs. You understand that, right?" Yang asked, disappointment in her eyes as she looked at her sister. Even her uncle was shocked at the girl's decision.

"I know but… he was my first friend in Beacon and I know what you're going to say. That he lied to all of us and we can't trust whatever he said or did back in Beacon." Ruby said as she looked at Yang with a resolute look in her eyes, "And I think if the roles were reversed, he would do the same for me."

"Ughhh! You're all idiots, you know that? Goddamn idiots!" Yang said as she stood up before making her way towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked.

"I'm gonna go for a walk. Maybe clear my head and some of this idiot energy around me. Nobody follow me. I want some alone time." the blonde said before slamming the door shut behind her.

"I agree with Yang. I think a walk would do wonders to clear my own mind." Weiss said as she, too, left the room.

"Blake? You've been quiet this whole time. You don't have anything to say?" Pyrrha asked.

"I… wasn't really close to Jaune back in Beacon and honestly, this is an awful idea, Pyrrha. And that's coming from me." Blake said before turning her attention to Ruby, "But I trust Ruby and if she chooses to place her trust in Jaune, then that's what I'll do, too."

"Thank you, Blake." Ruby said, a small smile on her face before the Faunus also went out to clear her head.

"Wait, don't me and Oz here get a vote?" Qrow asked.

"No." said both Pyrrha and Nora as Qrow shook his head at their response.

"Kids these days. No respect." the veteran huntsman said as he took a drink from his flask.

[~]

Pyrrha was nervous as she stood in front of the door leading to the room Jaune was currently in.

"I think I should… go in alone. We don't want to… make him nervous, after all." Pyrrha said, addressing Ren, Nora, and Ruby.

"I don't think that's a particularly safe suggestion." Ren said.

"It'll be fine. If anything happens, I'll have my weapons with me." Pyrrha said before the other three relented to the redhead's decision. Taking a deep breath, the Mistralian Champion pushed the door open before quickly stepping inside to find her ex-partner laid down on his bed, eyes closed and asleep.

Giving a reassuring nod to her friends, Pyrrha then closed the door behind her before taking a seat on the edge of the other bed in the room.

"Hello, Jaune." Pyrrha said. When she received no response, the redhead continued, "You can stop pretending now. I've known you long enough to know when you're pretending to sleep, Jaune."

"Hmph. Hard to sleep with all that noise you and the rest of the idiots out there are making." Jaune said after a few seconds of silence passed. The blonde then turned his back to her as he laid on his side, "What do you want, Pyrrha?"

"Well, we had a discussion downstairs-"

"That's what you call that?" Jaune asked with a snort.

"-and after a vote, we've decided to ask you to join us in defeating Salem." Pyrrha said, choosing to ignore the blonde's snide remark. Almost immediately, Jaune barked out a laugh.

"You can't possibly be serious?!" Jaune said, turning to face his ex-partner, "After everything, you guys still want me to join your stupid little tea party? Please tell me you're joking."

"No, Jaune, I'm not. We really think it would help us all if you joined us in stopping Salem from reaching her goals." Pyrrha said.

"Gods, do you know how dumb you sound right now?" Jaune asked, his back still turned to her.

"I disagree. I think we're going to need all the help we can get and right now, our best option is to ask for yours."

"Why?"

"Because you've been there. You've seen Salem. You'd know what it would take to kill her. You-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Pyrrha." Jaune said, interrupting the girl, "Salem can't be killed. Make your stupid decisions or whatever but take my word on that. That… monster is immortal. Nothing on this Godsforsaken planet can permanently put her down."

"And how do you know that?" Pyrrha asked, a challenging tone in her voice, "I doubt you've tried everything under the sun. Surely there must be some way to-"

"There really isn't. Again, you're going to have to take my word for it." the blonde said.

"Even so, we have to try. We owe it to everyone who's lost people they care about to the Grimm over the years to at least try, no matter the odds."

"We really don't." Jaune said.

"Then what are you going to do, Jaune? Just lie here and wallow in self-pity until the end of time?" Pyrrha asked, the frustration in her voice starting to rise.

"That doesn't sound like the worst idea, actually." Jaune said, a chuckle escaping his lips, "Thanks for the suggestion."

"You're pathetic." Pyrrha spat out as her anger and frustration over recent events finally boiled over.

"Ouch. Harsh but not untrue."

"To think I ever had any sort of feelings for you."

"Hey, you can't blame that on me. That's your own bad taste you're talking about, not mine."

"I suppose that's one thing we have in common." Pyrrha said, "Seeing as how your loyalty to Cinder is responsible for your current situation."

"What?" Jaune said, the blonde finally turning to face his ex-partner with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"I'm assuming it was her plan to bring down Haven just as she had Beacon?" Pyrrha asked. When she received no response, the redhead continued, "If she hadn't chosen to perform such a spectacle, she would have succeeded."

"Choose your next words carefully, Pyrrha." Jaune warned.

"All she had to do was have Lionheart and Raven sneak you into Haven discreetly, descend into the vault and leave with the Relic." Pyrrha said, "Choosing to use the White Fang and fight us at the same time? I don't normally call people stupid but Cinder certainly is idiotic."

"Shut up." Jaune said as he sat up.

"Not to mention going down into the vault alone with no backup." Pyrrha continued, "Did she really expect the woman who would betray her own flesh and blood to not stab her in the back?"

"I said shut up, Pyrrha." Jaune said again as he gripped his hands tight.

"The fact that you would even follow someone as foolish as Cinder just proves-"

"I said SHUT UP!" Jaune shouted as he and Pyrrha both stood up at the same time, the two former partners standing mere inches from each other, "Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don't know anything about her! You don't know her like I do so you don't get to say anything!"

"From her actions in Haven, I know that she's egotistical and has a massive superiority complex." Pyrrha said.

"You're wrong! None of you know who she really is! None of you know what she's been through, what she's had to go through just to get where she is right now! Jaune shouted as the door to the room slammed open, "You, of all people, do not get to talk like that about her! Especially with how mundane and maddeningly boring your life was before Beacon!"

"Jaune, you-"

"I wasn't finished! You think you had it bad? Well, try running away from a group of people who physically abused you for the smallest mistakes! Or having to go through days without food! How about having to fend for yourself on the cold and dark streets of a city that could not care less about what happens to you!" Jaune continued even as Ren and Nora held him back, "News flash, Pyrrha Nikos, your problems are paltry when compared to the rest of us in this room."

"You're right. It is." Pyrrha said as Jaune sat back down on his bed as the blonde started to calm down, even if just a little, "When looking at the bigger picture, the problems I faced were nowhere near as important as the rest of you. You were also right in that I was wrong to speak about her in the way that I did especially since I don't know her very well."

When the silence seemed to drag on forever, Pyrrha, Ruby, Ren, and Nora made to leave the room before Jaune spoke up, stopping the four of them in their tracks.

"I meant what I said, you know? Killing Salem is impossible. Stronger people than you have tried." Jaune said as he looked up at his former friends, "That big guy, Hazel? The bastard smashed her head in - and I mean literally smashed her head - and Salem came back to life as if it was the most natural thing in the world."

"...What?" Nora asked, a look of disbelief on her face.

"So, believe me when I tell you that it is literally impossible to kill Salem." Jaune said.

"I don't believe that." Ruby said, "I believe that with the help of all four Relics, we can use them to kill Salem and finally rid the world of the Grimm."

"I gotta say, I miss that giddy optimism of yours, Rubes. It never gets old." the blonde said, a chuckle escaping his lips, "But, high hopes and positive reinforcement isn't going to help us permanently put down the big, bad Evil Queen."

"Even so, it's better than doing nothing. Who knows, we might just be able to figure out a way to kill her at the end of all this." Ruby said, as she extended a hand to the blonde "So, Jaune… Will you help us on this mission?"

Jaune stared at the girl's outstretched hand for a few seconds before he turned his gaze towards his ex-partner.

"Fight me."

"What?" Pyrrha asked, confused at the blonde's sudden request.

"Back in Beacon, I took it easy in order to lay low. It's cliche but if you win, I'll join you." Jaune said.

"And if you win?"

"If I win, you guys piss off and let me wallow in my grief."

[~]

Cold. That was what the young girl was feeling right now. It seems like that's all she's been feeling lately, from the cold streets of a city unknown to her to the cold steel floor of the ship she stowed away in. Now, she was lying down on a small pool of her own spit and blood as she heard her new Mistress approaching her.

"Is that all you have to offer me, child?" Salem asked as she loomed over her, "I must say, you are quite possibly the biggest disappointment in recent memory. Perhaps I should just feed you to the Grimm. They do seem to be rather restless these days."

At the mention of such a suggestion, the young girl reached deep into her for strength - whether motivated by fear or a drive to impress Salem, the girl did not care - as she forced herself to stand up.

"Hmm… Adequate but it will take more than that to even make me remember your name, girl. But I am not without mercy. You may rest until tomorrow, child." Salem said. The girl made to leave the room before Salem gripped her hand tight, "When you return tomorrow, do not show me such a disappointing sight ever again. Understand?"

Fear gripped the young girl's heart as she stared deep into her Mistress's jet black eyes. Filled to the brim the fear within her, it was all the young girl could do to respond with a simple nod.

"Good. Now, go." Salem said as the girl stumbled her way through the castle before finally reaching her room after what felt like an eternity of wandering. Before long, the girl would drift off to sleep but it wasn't without tears nor was it a pleasant one.

[~]

Cinder gasped for air as she finally breached the surface of the underground lake she fell into. Through sheer determination alone, the woman was able to drag herself ashore before blasting her way out of the cave she was in. It wasn't long before she collapsed on the side of the road, her legs having failed her after a gruelling battle with the Spring Maiden and almost drowning.

"Gods, a-are you okay?" a voice said, drawing Cinder's attention. Looking up, it was to see a woman dressed in civilian robes carrying a basket filled with fruits. A gasp escaped her mouth as she saw Cinder's Grimm arm. With a devious smile, Cinder gripped the woman's hand tight as her left up lit up in flames.

[Chapter END]

A/N: And that's a wrap up for Chapter 6. If you're still with me this far, I sincerely thank you for continuing on this journey with me.

This chapter was definitely a very fun one for me to write. I hope you guys and gals enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. For me, the first part where they all argued about what to do with Jaune was my favorite part to write and was something I really wanted to write when I started this series. The second thing I really wanted to do was the confrontation scene between Jaune & Pyrrha this chapter. That was fun.

Next chapter, we see how the team of "leave Jaune behind" react to his presence. I already have a few interesting scenes in mind. So, stay tuned.

As always, fave, follows, and reviews are always appreciated.

Praise be to Cinder Fall