Ruby Rose

Finally feeling rested and healed, Ruby and the rest of her team were ready to start moving again. It had only been a day, but a full day's worth of time lost can make all the difference. After gathering their belongings, Team RWBY was finally ready to continue the hunt. On their way out, they were stopped by the girl who had visited them with her grandmother. Waving her arms, the girl called out to them.

"Hey, wait!" Once she caught up to Team RWBY, the girl had to catch her breath. "You're going to be looking for Umbra, right?" Reaching into her pocket the girl pulled out a necklace. On it was what appeared to be a Grimm tooth. Since nothing remained of the Grimm when they were killed, it was obviously a replica. "When you find him, can you give this to him for me? I was going to give it to him when he visited, but…" Smiling, Ruby took the necklace from the girl.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets it." Looking over the necklace, Ruby could see that it was of homemade quality. "I'm sure he'll like it." Returning her smile, the girl thanked Ruby.

"Tell him to come back as well! My grandparents still want to thank him themselves!" With her gift delivered the girl ran off, waving along the way. Turning her attention back down at the necklace, Ruby looked it over some more. Noticing that her sister seemed to be caught in a trance, Yang put a hand on her shoulder and gave Ruby a gentle shake.

"Yo, Ruby, you good?" Blinking a few times, Ruby looked up at Yang. "If you need a little bit longer, Blake and I can go on ahead and keep an eye on Umbra." Shaking her head, Ruby carefully pocketed the necklace.

"No, I'm fine. Really." Smiling, Ruby took the lead. "We've wasted enough time here already, so we should get moving. Come on guys!" Realizing that she was beginning to worry her team, Ruby perked back up. It wasn't like there was anything they had to be worried about in the first place. Ruby was simply… thinking about… things. That wasn't cause for concern, was it? Obviously not buying her sisters act, Yang merely shrugged her shoulders and went along with it. Ruby didn't seem to be in any physical pain, so that was enough for her. Smiling, Yang punched her fists together.

"If you're sure that you're okay, then yeah, let's get a move on." Weiss could only roll her eyes at the two's antics. Though she wouldn't dare say it out loud, Weiss thought that maybe Umbra was right about them not being able to apprehend him. However, that didn't mean she was willing to give up now.

"You two are the last one's that should be telling people to hurry. But yes, I agree that we should get a move on." Ruby and Yang looked at Blake expectantly. Lowering her book, Blake looked back and forth between the two sisters.

"Uhhh. Yeah. Let's get a move on." And with that, every member of Team RWBY was ready to move out. While she was disappointed that Blake didn't have a cool speech of her own, Ruby was glad to finally be on the move again.

With everyone on the same page, the members of Team RWBY set off after Umbra. Along the way they came across the odd village every now and then. They'd stop and see if anyone had seen Umbra. Either no one had seen him, or they were told that he only blew through to the north. Other than that, the days passed rather peacefully.

Then, one day, in order to break up the silence between villages, Weiss decided to speak up about a theory she had been thinking up.

"So. Did anyone else notice something during our fight with Umbra?" When no one answered her, Weiss continued. "It relates to his Semblance if that's of any help." Ruby wasn't quite sure what Weiss was getting at, but she still decided to jump in.

"Well… If we're talking about his Semblance, it's a lot like mine. Instead of rose petals though, he leaves some kind of shadow… trail… thing." Sighing, Weiss held herself back. Insulting her leader would only derail the conversation.

"Not quite. Well, maybe, but that's besides the point! What I'm trying to say is, Umbra was only able to use his Semblance under certain circumstances. At the time, I thought it was weird why he wanted to avoid fighting where others could see. I just couldn't figure out why…" Finally realizing what Weiss was getting at, it was Blake's turn to jump in.

"He can only use his Semblance in the shadows. That's why he led us into the forest." Weiss was happy that someone else finally understood.

"Exactly! I mean, if he could have just run, why didn't he? The whole leading us away from where the kids could see us was all a lie to lead us somewhere more advantages for him!" Pumping a fist into the air, Yang laughed.

"Umbra just keeps on losing ground doesn't he? The next time we meet, all the cards'll be in our favor! We know how his Semblance works and he thinks Ruby is dead, Umbra'll be eating dirt before he knows it!" Knowing that they now had the upper hand, the morale of Team RWBY was at an all time high. They knew what they had to do, all that was left was to find Umbra and execute the plan.

When they arrived at the next village, the members of Team RWBY stopped and stared at all the destruction. Everywhere they looked, someone was cleaning up after what they assumed was a Grimm attack. They weren't exactly everyday things for those living outside the walls, but they were common enough for them to just be another part of life.

Walking around the place, they noticed that the village was water front. This meant their target was either cut off a direction, or they had already missed him. Looking for someone that wasn't too busy at the moment, Ruby scanned the area. Once she found someone, she pulled out her scroll to show them Umbra's picture.

"Excuse me, sir? Have you seen this person?" Taking a look at the picture, the man rubbed his chin in thought.

"Him? Yeah, I've seen him. Didn't have much contact though. As you can see, we had a breach and it was all hands on deck. From what I heard he took a pretty nasty fall. If you wanna know anything about him, I'd ask Mary. She runs the local clinic, right over there." The man pointed towards a house that was still intact. "If anyone knows where he's at, it would be her." After thanking the man for his time, Team RWBY made their way over to Mary's. Knocking on her door, they were greeted by a kind looking woman.

"Hello there, do you four need something?" Even with all the death and destruction, the women seemed to be rather cheerful. Ruby supposed it was to keep the spirits of everyone else high. It would help at least a few people rebound faster.

"Yes, we need your help with something." Holding up her scroll, Ruby showed the women the picture of Umbra. "Have you seen this man? It's important that we find him." The smile that Mary wore slipped. Averting her gaze, Mary looked down at the ground.

"You're the one's he was talking about, aren't you?" When Mary raised her head again, she was wearing a sad smile. "You want to take him back to Vale, correct?" Ruby was confused as to why Umbra would tell someone like Mary that he was being Hunted.

"Yeah. We do… Is he… still around?" Mary shook her head no. "If he's not around, then can you tell us where he went?" For awhile, they stood in silence. Just as Weiss was going to say something, Mary started speaking again.

"If I tell you where he's gone, you have to promise me something. Okay?" Nodding her head, Ruby felt her heart begin to beat faster. "When you catch him, please, promise me that you won't let anything bad happen to him. That and… make sure he gets help. He's scared and confused. He's… on a dark path. If he continues the way he is, then… I'm afraid of what waits for him at the end." With this, a few of Ruby's questions had been answered. Many still remained, but at least now she wasn't feeling as conflicted anymore. When the time came to fight, she would be able to do so with confidence.

"I promise, nothing bad will happen to him. And… we'll save him. That's what Hunters do, we save those in need." Weiss on the other hand, wasn't as convinced. Before she could say anything however, Blake once again quieted her down. There was a moment of silence as Mary stared into Ruby's eyes. Growing nervous under the woman's gaze, Ruby felt as if she was being judged. However, as she didn't want to look like a liar, Ruby kept her calm. Then, as if to signal that Ruby had passed her test, Mary's gloomy mood lifted and she returned to her cheerful self.

"Very well, I believe you. Now, he said he was heading to Atlas. Once he was able to get up and move around, he boarded the boat he could that was bound for Solitas. I'm not sure whether he's made it to land yet or not, as it was just this morning." Looking back at her team, Ruby watched Weiss take her scroll out and walk away. Leave it to Weiss to be on top of things. Ruby thought.

"Thank you ma'am. Again, I promise you that he'll get help." Now that they knew where Umbra was heading, Team RWBY would be able to cut them off. They would be able to set up an ambush and catch Umbra by surprise. This would most likely be their last chance to apprehend Umbra before he made it to Atlas. If he were to be caught by the authorities in either Atlas, or even Mantle, Team RWBY would have failed their mission. Not only that, but now Ruby had a personal stake in Umbra's capture. She had a promise to keep.

Umbra Hart

Finally arriving at the final village in Sanus, Umbra was exhausted. Only taking short breaks on his way, Umbra knew that stopping for long would get him captured. Or worse. Walking into the village, Umbra thought he was going to vomit from exhaustion. He had truly pushed himself to his limits. As he was walking through the village, a small smile crept onto his face. Almost there, he thought. I'm almost there. It didn't last long however. All throughout the village, alarm bells rang. Just like that, Umbra was back to his usual scowl. The village was under attack. Whether it was bandits or Grimm, Umbra had yet to see. One thing was for certain, he was going to put a stop to the nighttime invasion. His anger was boiling at being denied passage to Solitas. Gaining a second wind from his anger, Umbra prepared for battle.

Reaching over his shoulder, Umbra unsheathed his sword Ignition. Running towards where all the yelling was coming from, he made his way to the breach. On his way he ran past people that were trying to escape the chaos. Once he arrived, it was just as bad as he was expecting it to be. Having made a large hole in the wall, a Beringel led the charge. Behind it, all sorts of Grimm poured in. Were they attracted to me? Umbra thought. Since Grimm were attracted to negative emotions, it was the only thing he could think of. As he was, Umbra was most likely a shining beacon for them.

Charging into battle, Umbra ran towards a group of Beowolves. Using his Semblance to get behind them, Umbra sliced his way through the small pack. Swinging to his right, Umbra stopped a Boarbatusk in it's tracks. Trying to avoid getting gored by it's tusks, Umbra kicked the Grimm upside the head. While it's soft underbelly was vulnerable, he slashed at it's neck.

"Get down!" Looking up, Umbra saw a cloaked figure running his way. Taking her words as a warning, Umbra moved out of the way with his Semblance. "That works too!" Throwing one of her two weapons, she hit a Beowolf between the eyes. It had snuck up behind Umbra while he was dealing with the Boarbatusk. Seeing as how there were more important things to be worrying about right now, Umbra didn't stop to talk.

Out of the corner of his eye Umbra saw a family that was trapped by an Alpha Beowolf. Moving in quickly, he didn't waste anytime dispatching the Grimm. Quickly giving their thanks, the family moved towards safety. Quickly searching for his next target, Umbra saw that a group of guards were struggling against some Ursa. Using his Semblance Umbra took out all three Ursa with just three slashes.

After finishing off the Ursa, Umbra had to stop and breathe. His second wind was dying out, and he could feel his exhaustion coming back. Deciding to run with the guards, Umbra followed them to their next target. Along the way, he watched as the cloaked figure from early was fighting the Beringel. From the looks of things, she didn't come alone. Two more people wearing cloaks were helping her fight the Beringel.

Suddenly, as if to punish him for losing focus for just a second, a large Grimm burst through a nearby building. Holding an arm up to protect himself from the explosion of debris, Umbra watched as a claw picked up the only guard that had survived. Once the dust settled, Umbra saw that it was a Death Stalker. Snapping it's claw shut, it killed the guard. In his current condition, there was no way Umbra would be able to fight a Death Stalker on his own.

Slowly backing up, Umbra held Ignition at the ready. Realizing that his only option was to fight, Umbra held Ignition tight and took a deep breath. It wasn't that Umbra was scared of death, far from it. When his time came, Umbra would welcome death with open arms. What had him worried was the thought of leaving things undone. The last thing he wanted was to let Eliza go unpunished for what she and the other members of Team SHDE had done. That, in Umbra's mind, was worse than any death he could imagine.

"I won't die here…" Having steeled himself, Umbra rushed forward. "I can't die here!" Shooting it's stinger towards Umbra, the Death Stalker tried to impale him. Dodging the stinger with his Semblance, Umbra appeared behind the Death Stalker. If he couldn't kill it, he'd simply buy time. Once those three in cloaks were done with the Beringel, they would come to help him. At least, that's what Umbra was hoping for.

Choosing to toy with the Death Stalker, Umbra forwent attacking the Grimm head on. Using his Semblance to dodge it's attacks, Umbra felt himself get more and more exhausted. Each second that ticked by felt like an eternity. Whenever he used his Semblance Umbra's whole body felt as if it was on fire. Not only that, it felt like he was being crushed by an invisible force. Umbra had truly found his limit.

Not able to keep up with the Death Stalker anymore, Umbra was blind sided by one of it's pincers. Crashing to the ground, Umbra felt Ignition launch from his hands and watched as it clattered away. Looking up in time to see the Death Stalker plunge it's stinger down, Umbra yelled and reached up to grab it without thinking. Holding onto the stinger with what remained of his strength, Umbra watched as it got closer and closer to him. Finally, the Death Stalker overpowered Umbra and was able to sting him. A searing pain ripped through Umbra's entire body, the worst being at the site of the sting. All he was able to do was scream. His vision began to blur and everything sounded as if it was far away. Just as Umbra had given up all hope of survival, someone that he couldn't severed the stinger from the Death Stalker. They pulled the part that was still in Umbra's shoulder out and gave him an injection.

Damian

"Got 'em D! Finish it!" Watching as his friend cleaved the Death Stalker in two, Alfred sheathed his Saber. All of the biggest threats had been subdued, so what was left of the Grimm could be cleaned up by the local guards. Walking up to the group, Lexi pulled her hood down.

"Arghh! I can't take his screaming anymore! Can someone please shut him up already!?" Covering her bear ears, Lexi thought she was going to go deaf! Pulling his hood down, Alfred shrugged.

"Sorry sis, don't got anything. If you have any bright ideas, I'm all ears." Huffing, Lexi looked down at the man screaming and squirming on the ground.

"Give 'em a quick kick to the head. That'll shut 'em up." Walking over to the twins, Damian had a less than pleased look on his face.

"Enough you two. We're not quite out of the woods yet. We need to get him somewhere safe. That Antivenom will only do so much." Nodding their heads, the Sacher twins quit their bickering. As Alfred picked up the injured man, he finally quit his screaming. Heaving the man over his shoulder, Alfred was glad his ears could finally get a break.

"Hey! Over here!" Waving her arms, a girl with pink hair was trying to catch the groups attention. "Yeah! Come on, this way!" As it was their best option right now, the group rushed towards the girl. Together, they all made their way towards a house. Once inside, an older women brought the girl into a hug.

"Oh Cherry! My sweet girl, please don't scare me like that!" The woman was practically in tears. Cherry pulled out of the woman's grasp. As there was company around, she was probably embarrassed.

"Most of the fighting died down mom… Besides, the man they have with them, it's him!" Stepping out from a nearby room, another woman came to investigate what was going on.

"What's all this commotion ab- Oh my…" Stumbling over her words, she saw the body on Alfred's shoulder. "Alright, follow me." Alfred and Lexi followed after her. Damian tried to do the same, but was stopped by Cherry.

"Is he alright? What happened?" Not seeing any point in lying to the girl, Damian was upfront about the mans condition.

"He was stung by a Death Stalker. We were able to administer an Antivenom, but whether he lives or not depends on how much venom was injected into his body." Lowering her gaze, it was obvious that that wasn't the answer she was hoping for. This sparked Damian's curiosity. "Why do you care? Do you know him?" With the way she was acting, Damian could have sworn they knew each other. Shooting down his theory, the girl shook her head no.

"Not personally, no. It's just… awhile back, he saved me and my family. I thought that maybe someday I could return the favor somehow." Not wanting to leave her with such depressing news, Damian thought he'd try to cheer her up.

"Well, maybe today is that day. After all, we have you to thank for leading us here." Hearing this, Cherry smiled. It would seem that his words worked.

"Thank you, uh…" Walking off in the direction the others went, Damian waved.

"Damian. The others are Alfred and Lexi." Seeing as how he had answered the girls question, Damian was off to find his friends. It took him awhile, but eventually he was able to find Lexi leaning up against a wall.

"You took your sweet time. Did that girl want an autograph or something?" Damian was one of the last people someone would want an autograph from. If he were to guess, he would put himself somewhere just underneath an Ex-Huntsman named Hector. Just… not as known.

"She was worried about his condition, so I told her the truth." Sighing, Lexi crossed her arms.

"Ever the optimist eh? Ya know, people don't always have to know the truth." Before anymore could be said, the woman from earlier and Alfred walked out of the room next to Lexi.

"With Alfred's help here, I was able to get your friend into a stable condition. To be safe, he's going to need constant supervision over the night just in case anything happens. I'm sure Cherry would be more than happy to help." Smiling, the woman looked between the three members of their group. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I have a favor to ask the three of you. Would you be able to help bring those that were injured during the attack to my clinic?" Nodding his head, Damian didn't see any problem with her request.

"Of course. We're happy to help any way we can." Having a new goal, the three of them went on their way.

"Oh, how rude of me. Before you go, my name is Mary. I can't believe I nearly forgot to introduce myself. While he was helping me, Alfred already told me all your names." Leading them to the door, Mary saw them on their way out. "When you're done, I'll make sure to have a resting place ready for you three! Be safe now!"

Throughout most of the night the three of them gathered those with more serious injuries and brought them to Mary's clinic. It was connected to her house, so it gave her easy access to both buildings. When they were finally done, they took turns between watching over their injured 'friend' and resting.

Sitting in a chair reading a book, Damian watched as daylight began to creep into the room. It was morning, and the man still wasn't awake. He was in worse shape than Damian had thought. Standing up, he left the book on a nearby nightstand and left to find Mary or Cherry. On his way out, he just so happened to bump into Cherry.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She was waiting outside of the room, obviously waiting for her turn. "Is he uh… awake?" Learning his lesson from last time, Damian chose to be a bit more careful with his words.

"No, he's not." Before he could finish, Cherry turned away from him. "But don't worry. He's still breathing. He's probably just fighting off whatever venom remains in his body. It might take sometime, but I'm sure he'll wake up." After taking a breath, Cherry turned back towards Damian.

"You're right… He just needs some time." Before Damian left, Cherry had one last question she wanted to ask Damian. "Earlier, you asked me if I knew him. Why I cared. Do you… know him? Do you at least know his name?" Damian wasn't sure how to respond to Cherry's question. He didn't want to give too much away. At the same time, he figured he could at least tell the girl his name.

"I do know him. This isn't the first time our path's have crossed." At this point Damian was convinced that it was fate that brought the two together yet again. "If you can't wait for him to wake up, his name is Umbra." Walking towards the living room to rejoin his friends, Damian paused. "One piece of advice, Cherry. Make sure you choose your hero's well."