Kuroyuri.

A cracked signed bearing the name Kuroyuri rests against ruins. Lucina, Ruby and Jaune walks down the road, Ruby and Jaune were still carrying the sick Qrow on the stretcher, as Lucina was taking point, her sword drawn as she scanned the area for any signs of the grimm. They pause and look unhappily around the dilapidated village of Kuroyuri.

"Oh, man" Jaune said.

"This is horrible..." Lucina added in a sad tone

"Come on" Ruby said and they continue forward "Any of these places look like a pharmacy?".

"It's... honestly hard to tell" Jaune said, and he was right. All the damage made it very difficult to know what the buildings used to be.

Among the ruins is an abandoned bicycle. Lucina looks at it with sad eyes, wondering who it might've belonged too. She looks around and sees many areas that she had a feeling used to be beautiful before the grimm destroyed it all. It was just so heartbreaking that the grimm always had to destroy everything in their path, and never allow anything beautiful to remain.

"Ren really didn't want to come here, did he?" Ruby asked.

"Uh... didn't seem so" Jaune answered.

Ruby looks at him "Do you know... why?".

Jaune sighs "I think I have a pretty good idea...".

Lucina stopped, it all made sense now. How Ren had been acting, how he knew so much about the other villages, and what he said about his parents "Kuroyuri... Ren... He used to live here... This was his home".

"Yeah... I that's what I was thinking too... Noway he would be so against coming here unless there was a very personal reason for it... He didn't want to see how ruined his old home is" Jaune agreed.

They put Qrow down by a tree before they spread out to search for anything that could help him. Lucina looked around until she saw another destroyed building... but there was something different about it. She walks up to it and looked around until she noticed something. It was a damaged piece of fabric, but it had a Emblem on it. She picks it up and looks at it, the emblem highly resembled a lotus flower, which the color scheme of Ren's clothing also seemed to take inspiration from. Lucina then realized... This was Ren's old house... Lucina looked up... and saw the damaged remains of a skeleton... and it wasn't hard to figure out who it used to be.

Lucina quickly ran out of the ruined house breathing hard before looking towards the mountain with tears in her eyes "I'm sorry, Ren... I'm so sorry...".

She decided to regroup with Ruby and Jaune, both of which are looking as dejected as she does.

"Nothing" Jaune said.

"I didn't find anything either" Lucina added.

Ruby sighed before speaking "We should get back to Qrow".

Qrow leans against the dead sakura tree, groaning. Though not conscious, he holds a hand over his wound. Ruby crouched near his legs as Lucina and Jaune stands over them both. A creature makes a loud noise from off in the distance, causing Lucina, Ruby and Jaune to turn. Lucina and Jaune's hands immediately goes to their swords and they look around for the source of the noise.

"It's far off" Ruby said.

"I know, but Ren and Nora are still out there" Jaune said.

"I'm sure they are fine, Jaune... Few grimm can climb mountains that well" Lucina tried to assure, but she knew the mountains were just as dangerous as the ground... if not more.

Ruby looks at Qrow before standing and approaching Lucina and Jaune "I'm sorry".

"Huh?" Jaune and Lucina turns around to face her, though she is not looking up.

"What are you apologizing for Ruby? You didn't do anything wrong" Lucina said.

"This is all my fault. I should have never dragged you guys into this" Ruby said.

"You didn't drag us in. We wanted to come" Jaune corrected.

Ruby looked ready to cry "But you didn't know about Tyrian, about-".

Jaune cuts her off "Ruby. We lost... We lost lost her, too. And Penny, and your team, and in a way... your sister. But you're still here, despite everything you've lost, everything you could still lose, you chose to come out here" Ruby turns to face Jaune, and becomes emotional as he continues "Because you felt like you could make a difference" She lifts her head and looks at him "You didn't drag us along. You gave us the courage to follow you".

"He's right Ruby" Lucina spoke, making Ruby look at her "No one forced us to come with you, no one could ever force us to do something like this if we didn't want to do it. Nothing that happened was because of you. Tyrian came after us by orders of this, Salem. And the loss of Pyrrha... I was there, I fought alongside her... but I was to weak... I was no help to her at all... And I couldn't do anything as Cinder... Took her away from us... I failed to help her... and I because of how weak I was, Severa lost someone she loved very much. I couldn't save Pyrrha, and I couldn't do anything as my team fell apart... and I've been terrified of Cinder ever since... I followed you because... I can't bare the thought of losing another person I care deeply about".

Ruby looked at her for a moment before tears ran down her face as she hugged her hard. Lucina was caught of guard but hugged her back, she really needed this. Jaune let them have their moment before he put a hand on Lucina's shoulder, making her look at him.

"Lucina, no one ever blamed you for what happened to Pyrrha... Not me, not Ren and not Nora... And I'm sure Severa doesn't blame you either. You did everything you could while the rest of use couldn't do anything at all. And you don't need to worry about Cinder to much. If she dares to show herself again, we will be there at your side and we'll make her pay, together. You are not alone, Lucina. We are all here for you" Jaune said.

Lucina had tears in her eyes. Sure she always knew no one blamed her for what happened, but hearing someone say it still touched her heart. Sensing what was happening, Ruby smiled and let go of Lucina who proceeded to hug Jaune, and he quickly hugged her back without a second of hesitation.

"Thank you Jaune... I needed to hear that" Lucina said.

Jaune smiled as he pets her back "You are our friend Lucina. Nothing will change that".

While they had their moment, Ren remembered what happened to his village.


Flash back.

A Young Ren is sleeping until the sound of Grimm awakens him.

His mother, An rushes in "Lie, get up. We have to go".

Ren was tired and uncertain "Mother?".

An grabbed his arm and pulled him up "Now, right now, okay? Let's go!".

In the kitchen beyond Ren's bedroom, the outer door bursts inward as Ren's heavily-breathing father Li enters.

"Li!" An said in concern.

"An, what are you doing?! We need to hurry!" Li urged.

"We can go to the safehouse!" An said

"No. I saw the beast. We need a Huntsman. And you two need to leave" Li said.

An looked shocked "What?".

The creature sounds, loud and ominous, causing all three to look up at the ceiling and walls in alarm.

"Mother?" Ren said in fear.

An gets down to her knees to make eye contact with Ren "It's OK, darling. Everything's OK".

The roof breaks above her head and evrything went black. Crashing and a faint scream can be heard. They are soon followed by the muffled screams of many and loud footsteps accompanied by Li's heavy breathing.

Ren comes to gradually, held by his running father. Bits of flaming sparks speckle the air "Father? What... Where's Mother?" Li is bleeding profusely from above his left eye. A woman nearby screams "What's going on?! Where is Mother?" Villagers run in a panic, and black specks of ash float with the sparks. A rumble caused the ground to shake and Li falls, dropping Ren and landing on his back "Father!".

Everyone runs past them as Li pushes himself up slightly "Lie, you have to run".

Ren moves to his father "No. Don't. Please. Get up!".

He looks up when he hears the Grimm roaring noise again. Behind them, people run while slowing flowed by the silhouetted image in a cloud of smoke. It is a large horrifying looking Grimm, a horse-shaped creature with a human torso growing out if its back.

"Listen to me, son. You have to be brave now. Do you understand?" Li asked in urgency.

Ren shakes his head "No, please. Please, I can't!".

Li withdraws a knife from its sheath on his hip "Yes, you can!" He puts the knife in Ren's hand and pushes him away before falling back with a groan. Ren looks at the knife "Take action, son" Getting to his feet, Li looks down at his son "Your mother and I love you".

Ren grips the knife tighter and fighting tears "Father...".

The Large Grimm stomps on the ground behind them. Li turns and readies his bow "Go!" He notches an arrow and pulls it back. He shouts at his son one more time as he releases the arrow "Run!"

Ren runs and Li lets loose arrow after arrow at the towering Grimm while screaming in defiance.

Under an arch and jumping sideways down to a landing beside some steps, Ren crouches, panicking. The cries of Nevermores overhead cause him to look up. He hears sobbing from across the way and discovers a young Nora crouching beneath a building. A Nevermore flaps loudly and lands on the roof of a building near to the girl. It lets out a loud, dangerous cry.

The horrifying grimm stomps through the center of town releasing its own roar. Ren realizes that his father is now dead and cries. Behind him, the waterlily for the aqueduct floats untarnished. There's another Nevermore cry as Ren continues to sob. He stills and Aura shimmers over him, graying out his appearance. Ren lets out a calm breath as color returns. The next shot is of him running toward Nora, and he moves under the building to where she is.

Ren puts his hand on her shoulder "Hey!" Nora gasps but calms when she sees that she's not been found by anything intending her harm "We have to be brave".

The Nevermore cries above them, leaning down its head closer to the ground. Nora whimpers and then throws her arms around Ren. His eyes and arms go wide before he accepts in. Putting his arms around her the shimmer happens again and both of them lose the color vivacity in their appearance. The Nevermore, now shown to be dangerously close to where the two children crouch, turns its head and lets out a confused cry. Smoke rises from its body as it turns and cries again before launching into the air. Color returns to the two children and the sounds of heavy steps are nearby. Ren watches the horrific grimm come closer.

Nora turns and together they watch and wait as it pauses next to where they hide before moving on "I'm scared...".

"Me, too" Ren said before he sees a wooden hammer on the ground. Ren moves to retrieve it but Nora clutches his arm, afraid "It's OK" With another whimper, Nora lets him go and watches with big eyes as he moves away. Ren grabs the wooden hammer and returns to her "We'll keep each other safe" He offers her the hammer. She looks down at it, clearly emotional before she takes it from him "What's your name?".

"Nora" The little girl said.

"My name's Lie Ren" Ren said as he smiles at her, blinking.

They managed to run from the village, but several Beowolves were chasing them. It almost looked like their already difficult escape was going to fail as the grimm closed in, ready to rip them apart. But before they could reach them, one was suddenly cut in half. Ren and Nora looked and saw a teenage girl slicing through the grimm swiftly with calm and focused eyes. The children watched in amazement as the girl easily killed all the grimm.

Once the grimm were dead, the girl walked up to them "You two ok?".

"Who... Are you?" Ren asked.

The girl goes down on one knee "My name is Byleth. My father and his group and nearby, we can protect you from the grimm and any bandits that could be nearby. We're on our way to Vale, if you want you can come with us".

The two children looked at each other before looking back at Byleth, and had a feeling she was telling the truth, and she had already saved them.

"Ok... We will come with you" Ren said.

Byleth nods and stands up "Stay close, and be on guard. Just in case".

And with that, the two kids followed the older girl. A new life were waiting for them in Vale.

End Of Flash Back.


Wind blows with the whistling note of high altitude as present-day Ren walks a stony ledge. Before him is more of the mountain, with a cave just ahead.

Ren speaks to Nora, as she comes up behind him "We never get the easy path, do we?".

Nora puts her hands behind her head "Easy's no fun anyway" She drops her hands and turns to him "You OK?".

Ren nods "Mmm. And you?".

"I've got you here, don't I?" Nora asked, Ren looks at her as if he does not know what to make of her response. Nora gestures with her hand as she moves forward "Come on. There's more than one way up a mountain" Ren watches her for a beat before smiling. Thunder rumbles and Ren loses the smile, turning to look up at the sky "Hey! There's wind blowing out of this cave!" Ren catches up to Nora and leaves blow outward toward them "Think it might lead to the peak?".

"I suppose there's only one way to find ou—ah!" Ren is cut off as a large piece of fabric abruptly blows out from the cave and covers his face. Nora giggles, covering her mouth with her hands, as Ren frees himself "Yes, yes. Very funny".

He looks down at the marked fabric in his hands and goes still. Nora lowers her hands and steps closer "Hey, what's wrong?".

"This is the symbol for Shion Village" Ren answered.

"Shion? But that's... that's the village where we found the Huntsman. It's weeks away from here!" Nora pointed out. Ren drops the fabric and runs into the cave "Ren! Wait!".

Ren stops once he is far enough into the cave to have a good look at what's there. Nora catches up to him and becomes alarmed at what she sees.

"Oh my gosh..." She said in horror.

In the spacious area, weapons speckle every place you can look. Swords, axes and staffs are all either propped up or on the ground. Ren moves in and picks up an arrow. He studies it while Nora approaches just behind him. As she looks he also sees what's on the ground... a hoofprint. It is pointed toward another opening on the opposite end of the cave.

Several trees are outside this opening, just below. One at a time, moving away from the cave where Ren can be soon looking out, the trees shake.

Ren shakes his head "No...".

Before the two of them are the shaking trees and the abandoned village of Kuroyuri. Nora takes Ren's hand and he returns the grip as The horrifying grimm from their past roars.

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Sorry there wasn't much to this chapter. I had to cut the first half of Ren and Nora's back story because I couldn't think of anything to add to it. I was only able to squeeze in the second half to get the chapter up to over 2k words, since I didn't want this chapter to be to short.

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Regardless, I hope you liked what I did manage to write. Tell me what you think.