Here we are at Chapter 91. Let's continue with the group's trek through Anima to get to Argus. I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 91. Enjoy.


Chapter 91: Watch the Woods

The group make their way through the settlement, each pair of eyes looking around for any signs of life, but find nothing except what appear to be deserted buildings and homes, an only the snow continuing to fall around them.

"Where is everybody?" Blake wonders as she looks around.

"I don't know. You think they all left because of this storm?" Yang asks.

"Maybe, but even so, this just feels... weird," Velvet notes. She then grabs Ruby's hand and pulls her close. "Stay close to me, okay," she mutters.

Ruby doesn't argue and nods as they continue walking. Eventually they come up on one two-story home at the end of the snowy path. Qrow walks up and knocks on the door a couple times. As they wait and listen for a response, they notice how the storm is getting worse.

"Where is everybody?" Ruby asks her uncle.

"I don't know. The place doesn't exactly look abandoned, and there are no signs of a Grimm or bandit attack either," Qrow replies.

"Maybe they left the area... before things took a turn with this weather?" Weiss asks, holding her arms together as she gets cold.

Yang pulls her into her arms, keeping Weiss wrapped up in her warmth. Her aura has always provided a warm feeling around her, and it helps Weiss lose the chill that was consuming her.

"It's alright. I got ya, princess," Yang mutters soothingly.

"Thanks Yang," Weiss smiles into her shoulder as she sighs in relief for the warmth.

Qrow knocks a little harder on the front door, but still doesn't get any response. Now, he gets concerned.

"Stay on your toes. This could get ugly," Qrow says, taking out his sword.

This prompts the others to draw their weapons. Qrow kicks the front door open and they all rush inside, ready for a fight. However, the fight never comes and all they find is an apparent empty house. They keep their weapons out, but ease their stances a bit.

"Hello," Velvet calls out, but gets no reply.

"Is... anyone here?" Yang calls out next, but gets the same result.

"Will you close the door already?!" Maria yells as she walks around them. "It's cold enough in here already without letting the blizzard outside getting in," she complains.

After seeing that there is no immediate danger, they close the door and push a large dresser in front of it to keep it from blowing open.

"You think there's anyone here?" Velvet asks.

"I'm not sure. Let's take a look around, but keep your guards up," Qrow says and walks off.

The group split into groups of two and look around the house. Yang and Weiss find a living room with a book case and a fireplace, while Blake and Oscar find a kitchen in the back. Maria stays in the living room, sitting in a chair. Qrow, Ruby, and Velvet head upstairs to check the other rooms. Qrow opens one door to reveal an empty bathroom. Velvet and Ruby come upon another door and open it up... only to reveal an empty bedroom. Velvet and Ruby walk inside to look around, but find nothing out of the ordinary.

"Where is everybody?" Ruby asks.

"I don't know. There are no bodies, no signs of a struggle, no attacks from Grimm outside. It's like the people here just... vanished. If they left because of the storm like Weiss suggested, then there would be some kind of sign at least, but there's just... nothing," Velvet says.

Everyone regroups in the living room, with the fireplace up and running now to keep them all warm. Yang and Weiss sit on the couch together, Maria sits in the same chair, Oscar sits in a love seat, and Ruby and Blake sit in front of the fireplace, watching the flames burn. Meanwhile, Qrow and Velvet search the other houses outside. Velvet is in one house, checking room after room, but finds no signs of life, not even any bodies. Slumping her shoulders a bit, Velvet leaves the house and meets up with Qrow outside after he leaves another.

"Anything?" Velvet asks.

"Nothing? If this place was abandoned, it was done recently, before we showed up," Qrow says.

Velvet looks around, "You got as much of a bad feeling about this place as I do?" Velvet asks.

"Yeah, I don't like it either. Come on, this storm's not letting up. Let's head back to the others and warm up a bit," Qrow says, and Velvet nods.

They return to the house, and quickly get inside and close up the door with the dresser, finding everyone still in the living room.

"Well?" Yang asks.

Qrow wipes some snow off his shoulders, while Velvet tries to get some out of her hair.

"It's the same in every house. Nobody around, no bodies around. It's just... empty. Everything is completely empty of life," Velvet informs them.

"You didn't find anything?" Weiss asks.

Velvet just shakes her head while Qrow walks up to the fireplace, warming up his hands from the cold.

"Are we... staying here for a while? I don't like the feeling this place gives off," Blake laments.

"We don't have much of a choice. The storm outside is only gonna get worse before it gets better. We'd freeze to death before we got anywhere, let alone get all the way to Argus. There's no one using the place for right now, so we might as well use it. It would be a waste either way," Qrow replies.

"Well, that's just great," Yang notes, not happy about that.

"No use complaining about it. We might as well get comfortable while we're here," Maria says and hops off her chair to look at the bookshelves for something to read.

"Come on guys, let's try and focus on what we can do for right now. This place doesn't appear to be abandoned... exactly... which means there might still be supplies that we could use. Food, medicine, anything that we can take with us that could help on our journey," Ruby tries to keep the group's spirits up.

Qrow stands back up, "I'll take another look around the area. See what I can see... No one goes anywhere alone okay," he says and walks outside.

"There was a big shed behind the house. I'll see what I can find there," Velvet says.

"I'll go with you. I need to get out of this house for a bit," Blake adds and leaves with her.

Yang and Weiss look between themselves and Ruby, "Maybe we can find something in this place to eat," Yang suggests.

Ruby smiles, "Sounds good to me," she agrees.

The trio leave to look around the house, leaving just Oscar and Maria in the living room.

"Tell you what: you keep that fire fed, and I'll find us a story to read before bed," Maria says, looking through a book, while Oscar just sighs.

Outside, Velvet and Blake brave throw the growing blizzard and reach the shed, opening and closing the doors as quickly as they can to get out of the snow.

"Alright, let's see what we can find," Velvet says.

"Weren't you cold out there?" Blake asks.

"You forget that I'm a demon. One of the perks of being a demon is that I'm not as effected by the weather as normal people are. So, no, I'm not cold. Come on," Velvet says.

The pair look around the shed, finding a bunch of old tools, boxes, containers, and other things that they don't really need. Another thing they notice is just like with the house and rest of the settlement, everything appears to be in place. Nothing appears to be out of the ordinary, except for the same fact that there is no one around. Eventually, Velvet reaches the back and finds a flatbed in good condition.

"Hey, I found something," Velvet calls out and a moment later, Blake joins her. "Think we could hook this up to Yang's bike. I'm sure we could all fit, and that way, we could save some time with trying to get to Argus instead of trying to walk it the whole way. Then it's on to Atlas," Velvet notes.

"About that... Are we still going to Atlas?" Blake asks.

"What are you talking about?" Velvet replies.

"I mean, you remember what Jinn said, don't you? Salem can't be killed. Ozpin has been fighting her for centuries, but he hasn't defeated her. If he can't do that, then what chance do we have? Why are we fighting when it looks like everything we've been through has been for nothing?" Blake asks.

Velvet starts glaring at her and slowly stalks towards Blake, making the Faunus girl slowly back-peddle until her back meet the wall. Blake gets scared as Velvet gets right in her face, looking her dead in the eye.

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that. Because if it sounds like you're saying that we should quit, then you better drop that bull-crap right here and now. Remember when I told you guys about my previous life. I lost EVERYTHING in a single night. My home, my friends, my family. And then I was turned into a monster. But even after all that, I still kept fighting once I escaped from that damn prison cell. Then I went up against a man that might as well have been a god, and I won, even when there was little chance of success. But I didn't do it alone. I had my friends there to back me up. And now I'm here, fighting against another god. I don't care if she can't be killed. What I DO care about is Ruby. I know she won't give up. She'll fight to her dying breath, and I'll be right there beside her. Tell me, Blake, you gonna leave us to fend for ourselves?" Velvet asks.

"What? No! I made a promise that I'd never leave my friends behind again. I'm not going anywhere!" Blake defends herself.

Velvet backs off a bit, "I believe you, but you'd better prove it to me that you're gonna keep that promise. We lost Penny and Pyrrha at the Fall of Beacon. Salem doesn't care who you are or where you come from. She'll kill anyone for any reason. I refuse to let someone like that win. Nothing is impossible Blake. I mean, look at me; I died and came back to life on another world. At this point, I think anything is possible now," Velvet says, and calms down a bit. "Ruby and I are going to continue to fight, but we'd be happy if you would still fight with us," she asks.

Blake thinks upon her words and shakes her head, taking Velvet's hand in her own.

"I'm not leaving. I'm staying, and I'll fight with you guys. I'm sorry about what I said earlier... I guess I'm still trying to get over my own cowardice," Blake laments.

Velvet places a hand on her shoulder, "You're not a coward, Blake. You're my friend, but I need you here, helping Ruby. She is reason I gained a new chance at life, and I want to protect her. But, I can't do that alone... Will you help me?" Velvet asks.

Blake mirrors Velvet's actions with a hand on her shoulder, "I will. That promise, I make personally to you," she says.

"Good. Now, let's get this flatbed outside and tell the others. Once this storm has died down, we'll look for a way to hook it onto Bumblebee," Velvet says. Blake looks outside, and starts looking melancholy. "What's wrong?" Velvet asks.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, it's just..." Blake trails off.

"You're thinking about Adam Taurus, aren't you?" Velvet quickly figures it out.

Blake sighs, "Yes. I'm worried about him coming after us, after me. Adam is strong, but his true strength comes from his control over others, making them feel smaller than him. That's what he did to me, and to so many others. He's obsessed with getting revenge against me after I left him, among other things. I'm worried about what he'll do if he shows up, or if he tries to hurt the others... like what he did to Yang," Blake admits.

"Hey, if he shows up, you won't have to face him alone. That's all the difference you need to beat him. He's alone, and you're not. I know that Yang will say the same thing. Also, you should give Yang more credit... She's stronger than you think, despite the challenges she's had to face. Support her, yes, but don't try to make her feel small too, okay?" Velvet asks.

Blake nods, "Okay," she replies.

The pair walk away, not noticing a shadowy figure walking in between the trees outside.

Meanwhile, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss search the house for some food. They end up going downstairs into the basement of the house to see if there is any food stored there. Ruby uses the flashlight of her scroll to illuminate their way through the basement. However, once Weiss sees through the light of Ruby's scroll that are unlit candles on the walls of the basement, she takes out her rapier and uses a little fire Dust to light them all up, thus giving them more than enough light to see in the basement.

"Save the battery energy on your scroll. I think this would work much better," Weiss says.

"Okay, well then, let's look for some-oh, great," Ruby notes dryly when they see a bar with some wine bottles on shelves behind the bar. "Maybe we make sure Uncle Qrow doesn't learn about this room," Ruby suggests.

"Agreed," Yang says.

"Is it that bad?" Weiss asks.

"I'm just not sure how my uncle is taking all of this right now," Ruby says.

"Oh, I guess I see your point," Weiss replies.

"Come on, we aren't going to get to Atlas on an empty stomach?" Ruby says and looks around.

"Right, um... are we really still going to Atlas?" Weiss asks.

Ruby turns back to them, "Huh? What are you talking about?" she asks.

"Ruby, it's just... you remember what Jinn said, right? That Salem can't be killed. If we can't kill her, then what's the point in trying?" Yang asks, having the same thoughts as Weiss.

"Guys, we can't just give up. We have to keep fighting. I know it's bad right now, but if we stop... then everything we've been through will be for nothing. I can't do that. Not to Penny or Pyrrha. Not to you guys. And especially not to Velvet. I mean, if I were to just give up... then I wouldn't be the Ruby she adores. I wouldn't be able to look her in the eye ever again if that happened. I'm not giving up, but... I can't do this alone either. I'd really appreciate it if you guys would keep going with me, please," Ruby pleads with them.

Yang and Weiss look at each other and then back to Ruby, "I'm sorry, sis. I didn't know what I was thinking. I'm just tired, and this place just gives me the creeps," Yang says.

"Yeah, I second that. I just really want to get out of this place," Weiss adds.

Ruby smiles at them, "I know you guys didn't mean that stuff. Come on, let's find some food. I'm sure we all could use something to eat," she says.

They find another door in the basement and open it up, finding some boxes and crates, and more wine bottles. The sisters slump their shoulders at seeing this.

"Great, more alcohol. Well, aside from Velvet's powers, at least we won't have to worry about looking for things to start a fire," Yang says.

"Come on, let's check out the boxes," Ruby says and starts opening up the boxes in the other room.

Meanwhile, Weiss and Yang notice a cellar door nearby, locked and chained up to keep it from being opened.

"A wine cellar? Really? Don't these people have enough alcohol?" Weiss notes.

"Oh, well. At least it's locked," Yang says. They then hear Ruby gasp and look to her, "Ruby, what is it?" Yang asks.

Ruby pulls up a canned food product, "Food!" she cheers.

Weis dryly stares at her, "Canned food, you mean?" she notes.

"Aw, no sweat, just put some salt on it and I'm sure it will taste just fine," Yang says.

Weiss sighs, "Fine, whatever. But I still hate this place," Weiss notes.

The three girls gather up some cans of food in their arms and head back upstairs. They meet up with the others in the living room, and Yang and Velvet agree to take the food to the kitchen to cook them up some dinner. Lucky, all the kitchen utensils and equipment is still there and in working order. But, once again this leaves the group puzzled. Everything here seems fine, so why, when, and where did the people here suddenly leave? A little later, Qrow gets back inside the house and quickly heads to the fireplace to warm up.

"Anything, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asks.

"Nothing. I even checked around for any graves, and didn't find anything like that either. Something is just... not right with this place," Qrow notes.

In the kitchen, Yang and Velvet are preparing dinner, "Are you sure we should be using other people's stuff like this without asking?" Yang asks, stirring some beans in a pot on the stove.

"You see anyone trying to stop us?" Velvet asks, sprinkling a little salt into some soup. Yang shakes her head. "Then, yes, we can use it. It's not the first time for me, and it probably won't be the last, either," Velvet says.

"You still want to keep going with this fight against Salem? Like Ruby?" Yang asks.

Velvet stops her cooking for a second before she resumes, "I'll tell you the same thing I told Blake: I will never give up because I know Ruby will never give up. If I just ran away and gave up the fight and left her to do it by herself, then I'd never be able to live with myself. That's my answer," she tells her.

Yang just stares at her out of the corner of her eye, "I see. I just... don't know what to think right now," Yang says.

"Well, you'd better figure it out soon before-," Velvet says as she kneels down in front of one of the cabinets, only to see what looks like another door inside the back of the cabinet. "Hang on, I think I found something," Velvet says getting serious and activates her arm blade.

"What is it?" Yang asks, tensing up now.

Velvet quietly moves a few pans out of the way, and then reaches for the door slowly. Then, she flings it open, only to find a little girl sitting inside a small hiding space. The girl has shoulder-length dirty blonde hair, and is wearing a white, frilly blouse, a white beret with a black ribbon, and a pink shirt and black shoes. The girl has pink eyes, and they are full of fear and terror. Yang and Velvet look between each other and then stare back at the girl. However, neither of them bother to look outside the kitchen window and see a shadowy figure slowly appear in the forest through the blizzard. And then another. And then another... And then another.


And that's the chapter. A little twist in this chapter from the original episode. The gang get settled in the house at the farm, only to find a little girl hiding away as the only occupant in the settlement. Meanwhile, something is slowly approaching the settlement, and it may not be friendly. Who is this little girl and does she know what happened to everyone else at the settlement? What lies beyond the forest around the farm? Until then, please Read and Review.