Alone in the Woods.

Severa stares at the moon through a window. Snow is drizzling outside. She checks on the others, Blake, Weiss, and Yang are sitting on the rug and staring at the fire from the fireplace. Maria reads a book while sitting on the sofa and Oscar is pacing back and forth. Ruby was sitting with Lucina, doing her best to comfort her. Seeing Lucina in such a broken state was very painful, Severa wanted to help her leader but Ruby had it covered. She could only hope that Lucina would recover from this. After checking on the others, Severa walks toward Qrow. Her father is sitting nearby the window, looking outside with his feet propped on the drawer.

"Storm's cleared up for now. We should be able to leave by morning" He said.

"Sounds good" Severa said, she was more than ready to leave this place.

"No... I don't have a good feeling about this place, especially with me around..." Qrow said.

Severa looks down at a wine bottle on the floor with Qrow's hand hovering near it, then looks at him "You okay?".

Qrow scoffs "Sure. Tell everyone to get some sleep. I'll wake you guys up just before sunrise".

Severa did not like his answer but decided to do what she was told and headed inside the living room "Ok guys, it's time to hit the sack. We're heading out early tomorrow".

"Thank goodness" Blake said as everyone gets up to get ready to sleep.

Maria hops off the couch "Hmph, the last thing you'll catch me doing is letting some kid tell me what to do. Go to bed!".

She sits on an armchair, turns on the lamp next to it and continues reading from the book. Severa smiled, she was a little jealous of how Maria could be so calm and even upbeat despite all this. She was tough for an old lady. Severa shrugs and smiles before going to sleep herself.

Ruby looks at Lucina "Want to sleep together?".

"Sure..." Lucina said quietly.

Ruby looked sad but helped Lucina go to sleep. The fire continues to burn in the fireplace.


By next morning, the fire is out. Sunlight seeps through the curtained window while Team RWBY and Oscar sleep on the floor. Maria rests on the armchair, still holding the book she was reading. Qrow sleeps on the chair by the window, still barely grasping the wine bottle in his hand. A couple other wine bottles are also on the floor. The bottle slips from his hand and clatters on the floor, causing Ruby to wake with a start. She looks around before rubbing her eyes and looked down to see Lucina, who she had been sleeping on. It looked like cute cuddling, but truth was that Ruby slept on Lucina to keep her from running away again.

Severa woke up as well and with a yawn she walks over to the window and opens the curtains.

Weiss mutters in her sleep "Close the window!".

Severa looked over at Ruby "Wake the others, I will get my lazy dad".

Ruby nods as Severa walks over to the entrance hall where her father was still sleeping.

"Hey, dad. Time to wake up" Severa said as she shook him a little.

"Leave me alone..." Qrow groans, still groggy and just lightly shoves Severa away.

Severa clenched her fist "Wake the hell up!".

Qrow wakes up startled "What?" He looks around, seeing Severa glaring a him "Oh, right. Sunrise".

Severa sighed "Dad, I meant it when I said that I wanted to make this work. I really do want us to have a real father and daughter relationship. But that's never going to happen if you keep shutting me out like this. You were gone for most of my life and even now that you're here, it feels like I'm still waiting for you. Please, just talk to me".

"Let's just get outta here..." Qrow said as gets up from the chair.

Severa stood in front of him, refusing to let him leave "Don't walk away from me dad".

Qrow sighed "You have your mother's stubbornness or maybe you have mine. Geez, is this how it feels like to put up with me?".

"No, you are far worse" Severa said.

"Well you certainly have your mother's sass... Look, we can talk about this after we get out of here, no excuses, no walking away. I promise" Qrow said.

"I'm holding you to that" Severa said.

Later on, the group moves outside. Weiss is seen using Myrtenaster to weld a metal ball to a makeshift trailer hitch attached to Bumblebee.

"There" She said.

Oscar and Blake can be seen sitting on the porch steps.

"Can we just go back to bed?" Oscar asked.

Severa looks at him "You want to stay in this graveyard?".

"If we're all so tired, maybe we should make breakfast?" Blake suggested.

Oscar looks at her "You wanna make it?".

"Not really" Blake answered.

Ruby and Qrow push the flatbed trailer behind Bumblebee. Once it's in position, Ruby walks up to Yang.

"You guys got the bike ready?" She asked and Yang just gestures to it.

"Well, it's done now. So let's hook this thing up and-" Qrow rests his foot on the side of the trailer, and the tire on the opposite side goes flat. He groans in frustration before checking on the tire.

"You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?" Maria asked.

Frustrated, Qrow just walks over to a nearby fence post and sits on the ground.

Yang also sits on the ground by the well "I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us getting to Atlas".

Ruby sighs "It's just a flat tire, I'm sure there's a spare".

"It's not just that, it's everything. Storms, crashes, monsters..." Yang sighs "I'm so tired...".

"Me too. It feels like we're always having to fight to get by" Blake said.

"Yeah. But that's what we signed up for" Ruby reminded.

"We signed up to try and save the world, not just... delay the inevitable" Oscar said.

"What is the point in any of this... did anything we do even matter?" Lucina asked, no hint of her normally hopeful voice.

Ruby looks at her, it hurt so much to see her like this. Lucina always had a strong will, and she always kept on fighting, no matter how hopeless things looked. But ever since she learned that Salem was her grandmother, he spirit was completely gone.

"Last night, I... I couldn't stop thinking - why are we even going to Atlas?" Weiss asked.

Everyone shares troubled looks.

"Weiss, we have to" Ruby said.

"Why?" Yang asked while standing back up.

"She's right. This was Ozpin's mission, not ours. After everything we learned, why are we still following his plan?" Severa asked, who was also starting to look tired.

"But the relic" Ruby reminded.

"Ozpin hid the Relics behind giant doors under enormous schools, but... how long would it take Salem to find a Lamp in the middle of nowhere?" Yang asked.

Ruby looks at her "What? The Grimm might-".

"They'd find it eventually, sure, but bury it or just throw it down the well, it would take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now" Yang said.

Ruby detaches the Relic of Knowledge from her belt, glancing at it before looking up at her teammates, who appear to all have dazed looks as if they were in a trance.

Ruby stares at the Relic one more time before walking over to the well "I am... really... tired...".

She starts to have the same dazed look on her face as she holds the Relic out above the pitch-black darkness of the well. However, instead of dropping it immediately, Ruby hesitates for a bit before composing herself. She starts to pull the Relic back, but then notices a pair of glowing red eyes at the bottom of the well, startling her and snapping her out of her trance-like state and returning her pupils to their normal size. In her fright, she accidentally drops the Relic into the well.

Ruby helplessly watches it fall into the darkness below "No! No! No! I didn't mean to!".

Her teammates continue to stare at her with dazed looks.

"Ruby, it's okay" Weiss said.

"No! No, there's something down there! I saw it, it was looking at me!" Ruby looks back inside the well, only to notice the glowing pair of red eyes are gone.

Yang putts a hand on her sister's shoulder "Hey, it's okay. You just said you're tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go".

Ruby swats Yang's hand off "What's wrong with you?! We can't just leave, we have to go down there! We have to get the Lamp back! Oh, what was I thinking?!".

"All we have to do is fix this trailer. Hey, farm boy, check the shed for a spare" Qrow said.

"I'm not leaving without the Lamp!" Ruby finally snapped, it was clear she was done with everyone giving up and she made it very clear that they weren't going anywhere until they got the relic back.

Blake sighs "I'll go down with you...".

"We'll go down together" Weiss added.

"I will go too..." Lucina said.

"Fine! Get the stupid Lamp. Oscar, fix the stupid tire" Qrow heads to the house, passing by Maria on the porch.

"Where are you going?" The old lady asked.

"Where do you think?" Qrow asked as he shakes his flask and walks back into the house.

Maria just looks down "Stupid...".

She takes a seat on the porch steps and continues to read another volume of Bartleby's diaries.

Severa watched her father leave before she sighed "I'm going with the rest of you".


Team RWBY along with Lucina and Severa hop down into the well together, into a vast underground waterway system. Ruby and Yang take out their Scrolls and turn on their flashlights.

"Maybe the current carried it away" Yang said.

They proceed forward cautiously. Weiss notices more tunnel openings along the path.


Back above ground, Oscar works on fixing the tire while Maria continues to read. She turns a page, and the words "I did it! I found my solution" are visible.


Back underground, the girls continue sloshing through the waterway.

"Oh, come on, where is it?" Ruby asked.

"Turn off your lights and just look for the glow?" Blake suggested.

"Okay..." Ruby and Yang turn off their flashlights, and Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose and proceeds forward with caution.


Back above, Maria continues to read, with the words "The huntsman pointed them out to me the other day." visible on the page. Maria narrows her eyes, reading more intently.


Underground, The girls continue their search.

"There" Blake said as she points at something ahead.

Ruby looks to the direction Blake is pointing toward and notices the blue glow of the Relic of Knowledge coming from a tunnel along the path. Ruby runs forward by herself.


Above ground, Maria turns a page, revealing an illustration of a humanoid-looking Grimm with its name on the adjacent page: "The Apathy". Maria gasps.


Underground, Ruby arrives at the tunnel, and finds the Relic of Knowledge on the ground. She runs over and picks it up.

"Guys, I-" Ruby then looks up behind the Relic, adopting a horrified expression on her face.

Multiple humanoid-looking Grimm of different sizes are bunched together. They turn their heads toward Ruby, reaching their arms out to her. Ruby lets out a terrified scream, her teammates and friends snap out of their trance-like states, their pupils returning to normal.

Yang gasps "Ruby?!".

Ruby backs away and runs out of the tunnel. Lucina, Severa, Yang, Weiss and Blake see her run out and approach her.

"What is it?" Yang asked.

The rest of them notice the skeletal Grimm slowly trudging out of the tunnel. Ruby takes out Crescent Rose and fires multiple rounds at them. One of the Grimm lets out an ear-piercing scream, causing Them all to struggle to stand.

"What is this...?" Yang asked.

"My weapon... feels heavy..." Blake said

"Run!" From behind, They notice Maria appear "Now!".

Maria turns around and runs. The rest watch the Grimm start to move toward them.

"Go, go!" Ruby shouted, however she noticed Lucina wasn't moving "Lucina!".

Lucina looked at her hand and she could've sworn she saw her grimm becoming more pale... like Salem, she then looks at the grimm with a horrified expression "No... No! I am not like her! I WILL NEVER BE LIKE HER!".

"Lucina! Snap out of it!" Severa shouts.

"I'M NOT LIKE HER!" Lucina screamed as she held up her sword.

Severa and Ruby had no choice but to grab Lucina and run, catching up with Maria. They see daylight coming from the well, but more of the Grimm appear and block their path. Another ear-piercing scream is heard, affecting the five women.

Ruby notices another tunnel entrance next to her "This way!".

They run into the tunnel. They continue to run through the complex underground passages while avoiding more of the Grimm's kind along the way. They then make their way to an underground room. However, they notice a much larger group of the Grimm at one end of the room. They make a run toward the other way, but one of the Grimm lets out another scream, causing them to collapse on all fours.

"I can't... do this... I can't..." Yang said.

Maria gets back up, using her cane to support herself before collapsing again. On her fall, she feels a set of stairs in front of her "An exit. An exit!".

Ruby looks up and notices the stairs leading up to the cellar door "Come on!"

She then hears a weapon drop behind her and notices Blake collapse to the ground, while the Grimm continue to inch toward her. Severa rushed to protect her, but the grimm was quickly draining her strength, making her crumble and crawled over Blake.

"Blake... You need... to... get... up!" Severa said.

"It's fine..." Blake starts get her dazed look from before.

More Grimm emerge from the entrance. A scream from them made Severa collapsed on top of Blake, having no will to keep going. Lucina soon found herself cornered and her panik was rising by the second.

"No! NO! NOOOO! GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY!" She screams, being to terrified to even move.

Ruby looks on in horror and in her desperation, crawls and attempts to reach out towards Lucina, who continues to remain motionless. The Grimm reach their hands towards ther frightened girl.

"NO!" Lucina scrams.

"LUCINAAAAA!" Upon yelling out her girlfriend's name, Ruby's eyes start to glow brightly, causing the Grimm to back away in pain.

Severa and Blake gasps and snaps out of their trance, their eyes back to normal. Ruby helps Lucina up while Weiss, Yang and Maria also get back up.

"I've got her!" Ruby said, as Severa pulls Blake up.

"What just happened?" Maria asked.

Weiss runs up the stairs and tries to get the doors open, but they do not budge "They're locked!".

"Out of my way!" Yang runs up the stairs. The Grimm recover from their incapacitation, and another scream is let out.

Everyone collapse once again.

Yang reaches for the cellar door "No... No...!".

As the Grimm inch closer, Maria crawls toward Ruby, only able to see the world in shades of cyan.

"Ruby... what color are your eyes?" She asked.

"They're... silver..." Ruby answered.

Maria lets out a gasp of excitement "You have a family? Friends?".

"What?" Ruby looks up to see the Grimm getting closer, but Maria lays her head down and covers her ears.

"Don't think about them. Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!" Maria instructed.

Taking Maria's advice, Ruby closes her eyes and concentrates. While Maria speaks, Weiss tries to budge the doors open, and Yang reaches out in desperation before falling under a trance, her eyes even more blank than before. Lucina swings her blade widely towards the grimm, while Severa holds Blake close.

"Life... is beautiful. It is precious. And it must... be protected" Maria said.

After focusing, Ruby opens her eyes, the silver gleaming. She sits up and her eyes glow brightly once more, driving the Grimm back and disintegrating them all. Maria and Ruby stare in awe while the rest recover. Yang crawls up the stairs and punches the doors open with her prosthetic arm while firing from its gun. They run out and find themselves in the basement that Ruby and Weiss discovered the day before.

"We're back in the house?" Blake asked

They then look at the bar and see Qrow leaning on the counter, passed out.

Ruby runs over and shakes her uncle "Uncle Qrow, get up!".

Qrow was slurring his words "Hey! Get off me! What are you doing here?".

"We're leaving, you idiot! Come on!" Maria runs out of the room, with Blake and Yang following her.

Weiss looks back towards the basement entrance "Not yet...".

Outside, Oscar has replaced the tire for the trailer and is filling it up with air. The noise from the air machine muffles the sound of people crying out his name.

"Oscar! Oscar!" Yang shouts

"Oscar!" Maria shouts.

Oscar looks behind him to see Yang, Blake and Maria run out of the house.

"Oscar! We have to go, now!" Yang said and Oscar looks at them bewildered.

Back inside, Weiss grabs a few of the alcoholic bottles from the shelves and throws them towards the basement, shattering them.

Qrow was still slurring his words "Hey... Hey! What are you doing?!".

As more of the Grimm slowly start to come out from the basement, Weiss uses Myrtenaster and a glyph to send fire toward the cellar doors. Using the spilled alcohol, she sets the Grimm on fire.

"Now we can leave!" Weiss helps Severa grab Qrow's arms as they drag him out of the room while Ruby grabs Lucina and pulls her along.

Qrow struggles "Stop it! Stop! What's wrong with you?! What's...".

"Just move it you drunk idiot!" Severa yelled.

As Qrow looks up, he sees the Grimm on fire still walking towards them. Qrow looks on in shock as he is dragged out of the house by his daughter and her friend.

Outside, everyone sits in the flatbed trailer while Yang starts up her motorcycle. She wastes no time driving away from the now burning house.


Yang continues driving Bumblebee down the snowy road with everyone sitting in the trailer being pulled behind her.

"The Apathy. They're not strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on. Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm... always" Maria explained.

Lucina looked down... The Apathy drains someone's will... Then... was it because of them she lost her will to end her own life yesterday? Would she be dead now if not for them? The mere thought of it frightened her.

Oscar reads from the book "Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable, but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired".

"The next page proves that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home. My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked" Maria said as she takes the book from Oscar "No one was angry or sad or scared. No one was anything. And then... no one was left".

Maria takes one more look at the final page of the diary, the last words written down being "I'm tired". She then closes the book and tosses it out into the snow, while the group continues to drive down the road.

"I'm... sorry for what I said... about giving up" Weiss said.

Upon hearing this, Yang stops driving "Me too. We can't quit until the lamp is safe".

"It's not your fault. It was those... things" Blake said.

"But we were all ready to give up... Those things just pushed us closer to it" Severa said in shame.

"I should have known. The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind just isn't what it used to be" Maria said.

"Miss Calavera? How do you know so much about the Grimm? And in the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me... to make my eyes do that. How?" Ruby asked.

Maria smiles "Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had Silver Eyes".

.

Tell me what you think.