The Grimm Reaper.

Many years ago, a young Maria Calavera, under her huntress alias, "The Grimm Reaper", is ambushed by a group of assassins after single-handedly defeating a Nevermore using her silver eyes. The leader of the assassins, a crocodile Faunus named Tock, explains that she has been ordered to kill her because of her eyes. Maria manages to kill them all, but not before Tock slashes her eyes out, blinding her, and while Tock did give her a chance to live since her master only wanted Maria dead because of her silver eyes, and now that she no longer have them, she wasn't a true threat. But Maria refused Tock's offer, earning a final praise from the assassin who called her a a fighter to the end, right before Maria managed to kill her with a sneak attack.

"But I wasn't... I went into hiding soon after" The now elderly Maria finishes her story to everyone, who all have wide-eyed expressions.

Qrow was astounded "I can't believe it. You... You're the Grimm Reaper, you were a legend! And then you disappeared...".

"How exactly does a legend just disappear?" Oscar asked.

"You never used your name, never showed your face. Lots of us thought you were just layin' low. Eventually, we just came to accept that you were probably dead. But the stories about you, I based my weapon off of yours. I wanted to be as good as the Grimm Reaper" Qrow said.

"Well, I'm nothing but a disappointment, so you're well on your way" Maria said.

"How can you say that?" Blake asked.

"Child, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end. But after I lost my eyes, I only ever looked after myself. Even after my surgery, I was too afraid to fight. Afraid someone would find me again, finish what the others started. You shouldn't aspire to be like me, especially when some of you are clearly stronger already" Maria said and upon hearing this, Yang looks down sadly "It's... comforting, seeing that your generation seems up to the task of inheriting this world. I'm just sorry I didn't do more to leave it in better shape".

"After everything we've learned, I doubt anyone here can blame you of anything. I guess no matter how strong you are, there will always be a limit to what you can do" Severa said as she touched her eye patch.

"Well, maybe you can do something now. Teach me to use my powers the way you did. Oh and one of our friends has silver eyes too, maybe you can help her too" Ruby said and as Maria looks back at her, a Scroll's ringtone can be heard. Ruby pulls her Scroll out and gasps in excitement "It's Jaune!".

Yang stops her bike, looking back in surprise. Everyone says "Huh?" as they wonder how Jaune contacted them.

"How?" Weiss asked.

Ruby quickly answered her Scroll "Uh, hello?".

Jaune's voice was heard from the Scroll "Ruby! Oh, thank you! I've been checking my Scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!".

"The city? Wait..." Ruby looks to her Scroll, her contact name for Jaune being Vomit Boy.

She looks at the little signal symbol under Jaune's portrait, watching it get better as she points her Scroll toward the road ahead. The group sees a hill where the snow ends. Yang proceeds forward to drive them up the hill. At the top of the hill, the group sees a walled city in the distance along the ocean.

Yang smiles "Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived in Argus".

"We made it..." Lucina said, finally speaking after another long silence.


At the entrance to the city of Argus, Yang inputs a code, "4-5-8", to lock Bumblebee and the trailer in a garage. The group take the time to admire their surroundings. Through the crowd, a certain bubbly ginger-haired girl in pink zooms in.

"Cute! Boy! OZ!" She screams as she points her finger to the group. Oscar looks over in confusion, only to get tackle hugged by Nora "Oh, come here!".

Bernadetta, Jaune and Ren also arrive... but one was missing.

"PARTNER!" Lucina looked up just in time to be tackled to the ground by an excited Lyre.

"Ow..." Was all she could say as Lyre snuggled her.

"Are you all okay?" Ren asked as he hugs Yang.

"We were so worried!" Jaune said while hugging Blake.

"It's been kind of a crazy trip" Yang said.

"That's an understatement" Weiss agreed.

Nora noticed Maria "Wait, who's the old lady?".

"A stowaway who stuck with us" Severa answered in a half joking tone, earning an annoyed look from Maria.

Once Lyre was done hugging Lucina she quickly moved on to her next target "Weiss!".

Weiss barely had time to even look at her before she also ended up on the ground in a strong hug, she sighed but smiled as she rubbed Lyre's back "I missed you too, Lyre".

Lyre looks at her "Enough for a kiss?".

"No... or should I say, not while we have an audience" Weiss said as she glared at their friends who seemed eager for a reunion kiss. Lyre only giggled.

"Yang..." Bernadetta spoke shyly as she walked up to her much bigger girlfriend.

The blonde brawler smiled before lifting Bernadetta in to a kiss, not caring one bit if the others were watching. Bernadetta blushed but enjoyed the kiss all the same. And while the others were distracted by them, Weiss gave Lyre a quick kiss on the cheek, making the faunus girl blush and smile.

"I'm so glad you're all safe" Blake said.

"Seriously..." Weiss agreed.

"Ah! You're gonna love this place!" Nora said.

As everyone else engages in their own conversations, Ruby and Jaune walk up to each other and give each other a big hug. After parting from the hug, Jaune looks down and frowns.

"Hey. I promised, didn't I?" Ruby asked.

Jaune smiled while tears well up in his eyes "Yeah, you did. It's good to see you guys" The two share a smile together before Jaune looked at Lucina "Is she ok? She looks really roughed up".

Ruby looked at her girlfriend with sad eyes "I will tell you later. The journey was... very rough on her".

This made Jaune worried, but he understood it wasn't wise to press the matter for now. Later on, the group is seen traveling through the city on a trolley.

"It's a lot bigger than I thought it'd be" Yang said.

"It's actually one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant" Ren explained.

Ruby gasps "No way! But wait, wouldn't it be harder to settle something this big away from the main Kingdom?".

"Well, it was, until Mantle showed up. Early settlement attempts by Mistral didn't go well. But colonists from Mantle were able to help them brave the cold climate and return for goods that Solitas couldn't provide" Jaune answered.

"The two nations worked together to create a hybrid city. While it falls under Mistral domain, Atlas keeps a military presence here to help keep the people safe and keep trade between the two nations steady" Ren finished explaining.

"Well, until recently..." Nora said as the trolley makes a stop and everyone hops off.

"We should probably start looking for a ship" Blake said.

Oscar looks at Jaune "So, where have you guys been staying?".

"Uh..." Jaune began as he chuckles nervously.

"There you are!" As the trolley leaves, a blonde woman, Saphron Cotta-Arc, with her baby son, Adrian, in her arm is seen on the other side of the street waving to Jaune.

"Is that...?" Yang trailed of.

"Hey, Saph" Jaune said as he smiles and waves back.

Ruby then zooms in, all starry-eyed. She looks back and forth between Jaune and Saphron, and gasps upon realizing who the woman is.

The group later reconvenes in a living room at a home.

"I can't believe I'm meeting your sister! I have so many questions" Ruby said.

"Oh, I can give you the rundown later!" Nora said.

"Will you guys knock it off?" Jaune said annoyed.

"What? I love telling stories about my baby brother" Saphron said as she squeezes Jaune's cheek.

Jaune groans while also flailing his arms at his elder sister "I am not a baby! That is a baby".

He points at Adrian, who huffs back at him. Yang and Weiss get all wide-eyed as they fuss over Adrian. Both of them make baby talk at him.

"Aww, you're so cute! Yes you are! Oh, look at your little face!" Yang said.

"Aww, coochie-coochie! Aw, baby! Oh my!" Weiss said.

"Hey, you never talk that sweetly to me" Lyre said with a pout, earning a few laughs from her friends.

Adrian however noticed something and grabbed it.

Lyre's eyes grew wide "KYAAAA! Tail! Tail! Tail!".

Adrian had grabbed her tail, which appeared to be sensitive. Something Weiss made a mental note of. Lucina helped her friend out by gently pulling Adrian away who looked at her before he began playing with her long blue hair, which Lucina didn't mind for now.

"So Saphron, you're the only Arc living here?" Blake asked

A picture on the bookshelf of the Arc siblings all together can be seen, with the young Jaune at the center with pigtails and a deadpan expression while holding a sign that says "HELP" on it while his sisters do various crazy things around him.

Saphron nods "Yep! Moved the second I could. Jaune and I are the only two living away from home. I guess he just wanted to be like his big sis".

"I, uh..." Jaune groans.

Saphron leans close to him and spoke in a teasing tone "Aw, you didn't deny it!".

The two siblings play fight with each other by pulling each other's cheeks. Then, a door is heard opening. A dark-haired woman with glasses is seen walking in with bags of groceries.

"Everyone, this is my wife, Terra Cotta" Saphron introduced.

Everyone greets Terra.

"Hello!" Ruby said happily.

"Hey there!" Nora said.

"Nice to meet you" Blake said.

Terra chuckles "Why, hello there! Wow, quite a party, you weren't kidding. Hun, can I get some help please?".

Saphron quickly runs over to help Terra in the kitchen.

"Wife huh..." Severa whispered as she glanced at Blake.

Blake glanced back, causing Severa to look away with a big blush. Blake understood why and blushed as well, all be it with a smile. Later on, Jaune, Ren and Nora are preparing sandwiches for everyone.

"And you're sure it's alright if we stay with you?" Weiss asked.

"Of course, we're happy to house Huntsmen and Huntresses" Saphron assured.

"You all risk so much to keep people like us safe. It's the least we can do" Terra said before turning to Qrow "Especially for such an elite Huntsman like yourself. Although, I will say I was surprised to learn you had students helping you. Is that even... legal?".

Qrow, not paying attention, gets his arm bumped by his niece "Uh, of course. Think of it as an extended training mission. Trust me, I was a professor. Even went to the same academy as them. Let me tell ya, these kids are way better than we were at their age" Jaune, Ren and Nora walk back into the room with plates full of sandwiches. Ruby gasps happily upon seeing them "Well, not better than me specifically, but a lot of students-".

"Shut up, there's food!" Ruby said as she forced a sandwich in to Qrow's hands.

Everyone heartily eats the sandwiches, for many of them this was their first proper meal in a long time. Saphron and Terra share a look with each other, before the latter's Scroll is heard buzzing.

Terra sighs "Excuse me, I'll be right back" She answers her Scroll and walks out of the room "Hello?".

"Is everything okay?" Blake asked.

"Oh, yeah, it will be. Terra's a technician for the town's relay tower. Unfortunately, the military's radar system is also housed there" Saphron said before making baby talk at Adrian "Guess what's been on the fritz lately and who's getting falsely blamed".

Terra peeks back into the room "Me".

"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?" Saphron asked.

"Well..." Ruby said before gulping down her food "We're trying to make our way to Atlas. We'll probably start with the military base".

Bernadetta, Lyre, Nora and Ren share concerned looks.

Jaune speaks nervously "So, we kind of already tried that, and... it didn't go... super great".

"Come on, it couldn't be that bad..." Yang said.

"Actually... it's worse and there is a reason why I didn't go there" Bernadetta said.


The next day, Team RWBY walks up to the Atlesian Military base on the island off the coast of Argus, only for the gates to abruptly close on them before they could even enter.

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