So, last chapter someone pointed out that there were a bizarre amount of similarities between Ozpin and Crue. And, holy shit, they are right and I didn't even notice lol.

Brought to Remnant by a godly being: Check
Forced into a role he didn't want to be in: Check
Keeping knowledge and secrets to himself for fear of repercussions: Check.

Uhhhh. All according to keikaku?

"Ok. Things are dead." Crue called, sheathing his claws as the last of the Beowulfs faded into nothingness. Vermillion shakily got out of the car, her head whipping every which way.

"T-Thank you. You'd think writing about things like this would make it easier but, it never does." She looked around at the various decaying bodies of Grimm. Crue rolled his shoulders, before checking his sleeve for any tears.

When he saw no cuts or rips in the fabric, he nodded in satisfaction. Because he had lost all feeling, he needed some way to tell if he had been hit there. The reason he tore the other side off was for the aesthetic.

"I can keep watch." Crue told Vermillion. It was getting late, and they were a few days into their travel, roughly three quarters of the way between Seamsly and Dromremy. Crue had no idea what the place would hold, all he knew was that Vermillion had told him it was a port town. He was just glad for the break from increasingly personal questions.

"Geography always was my worst subject. Doesn't help that this isn't even the geography I'm meant to know." Crue got to work starting a small fire a fair distance away from the car. He still found it weird that something as regular as a car worked all the way out here, or would be used at all.

"Normally I take a bullhead flight to and from, when I can stomach it." Vermillion had said. "But they're all being used to help ferry evacuees from Vale."

Crue figured it was a good enough reason, not that he would complain. It had taken him days just to get Bumblebee to Seamsly, and that was when he barely knew where he was going. He didn't properly consider what he was going to do once returning it, his only thought was making up for the fact everyone thought he was dead the only way he knew how.

Showing them he's alive and giving them a thoughtful gift. Something to prove that he was useful. Then, hopefully they would forgive him. The first stop on his journey was complete. He mentally crossed Yang off the list of people he cared about who he needed to apologise to.

Not with the word sorry, though. Never sorry. His eye hardened as the fire suddenly roared to life. Never sorry. The flickering light cast shadows over his face as his mind recalled past mistakes. Mistakes that still haunted him to this day.

'Sorry' was a mistake to Crue. One he refused to ever make again. "Someone's broody." Vermillion quipped, sitting across from Crue with the fire between them. The Faunus looked up with an annoyed scowl, causing the blonde to smile apologetically.

"We're making good time." She spoke up. "You took care of that pack of Beowulf's pretty easily. Do all Huntsmen find it that easy?" She asked.

"I could point you to a fifteen-year-old that killed about eighty without breaking a sweat." Crue smirked when Vermillion's eyes widened.

"They're that easy to kill?" She looked to where the Grimm had long dissolved.

"No." Crue said warningly. "She was just that good." Ruby was an amazing Huntress, and even if the reason Ozpin put her in Beacon was because of her eyes, Crue had seen first and second-hand how she faired against Grimm of all sorts.

A pain suddenly made itself known in his covered eye at the thought of Ruby and her Silver eyes. He ignored as best he could. He was brought to this world to be her enemy. To be the 'Big Bad Wolf' to her 'Little Red Riding Hood'. At least that's what the Author had told him, before Crue had stopped him from playing with people's lives.

Permanently.

That bastard thought he could tell Crue what to do? Who to fight? Who to hate? Who to love… His rage faded, as it always did as he thought of Neo. He was never meant to be with her, according to the Author.

Which made their relationship all the better, in his opinion. Crue literally went against what 'Destiny' had in store for him when he fell for Neo. And he didn't regret a single moment. Well, maybe the Breach. "Ooh. No more broody wolf, now a smitten one."

Vermillion had been watching Crue's expressions closely, as she scribbled down in a small notebook, and when she spoke up, she brought the Faunus out of his memories. Crue frowned at the idea of being the centre of another damn story, but kept his mouth shut as he set his satchel down and rummaged through for his food.

He brought out a few pieces and felt Vermillion's blue eyes looking at him hungrily. In the most literal sense, of course. "How did you not pack enough food? You were the one who knew you were travelling."

"I also 'knew' I had a full-fledged Huntsman waiting for me. Or at least I did, before he apparently got called away on some mission last minute. Talk about unlucky…" Vermillion crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Besides, you somehow make instant soup look delicious." She stared at the boiling water as Crue poured it into two readymade containers.

"That'd be the fact it's fuckin' baltic out here that makes it look good." Crue said, handing one of the instant cups to Vermillion. "Here ya are, Millicent."

Her blonde eyebrows immediately knitted into a scowl that nearly rivalled his own. "It's Millie. If you call me Millicent, you're not getting a lien." She continued to stare daggers at Crue, who's Aura and general immunity to such things let the daggers bounce off.

"That would've worked so much better if you had the word 'cent' here." Crue smirked but nodded in agreement. "Mille." He said. "Not Millicent Bystander then."

The frown was gone, replaced by a confused tilt of her head. "Was that a joke?"

Crue let out a sigh as his shoulders fell. "Yeah. One that won't land here, unfortunately." He shook his head, before drinking from his chunky soup. It warmed his body and soul, as he let out a satisfied breath.

The two sat there in silence for a moment, the flickering of the fire casting dancing shadows across them as they ate. Sounds of birds and crickets surrounded them, providing some natural ambience for their meal.

"Did you fight at the Fall?"

Vermillion's voice cut through the silence, as Crue's grip on his cup suddenly tightened. He looked up to see deep blue eyes staring at him without malice. Genuine curiosity, and maybe a bit of concern mixed together in the blue.

"Yeah." Crue said shortly with a curt nod, staring into the fire. Seeing the people he cared about fighting for their lives, in the place that was meant to be their safe haven, when he could have prevented it all.

"It was Hell."

And for the second time in his life, he watched his sister die in front of him. Those same green eyes watched him from the fire. Judging him. Blaming him. Crue flinched as he looked away from the flames.

The fire reminded him painfully of Cinder. But surprisingly, given all that happened, his rage towards her was like the campfire before them. A small flaming thing that definitely burned, but not as much as the inferno of Wrath he held for Emerald.

She killed Penny. She was the reason for his rage. For his ghosts of his failures. As far as he was concerned, Cinder could take a backseat. Cinder failed to kill Pyrrha. Failed to kill him. Why should he give her more rage than the one who succeeded.

A dark voice within him said that she should be destroyed. Ripped apart limb from limb for daring to kill one of his own pack. The Faunus suddenly blinked. "Pack? Are you kidding me?" He frowned, pushing down on the thoughts of the Monster within him.

"Fuck off." He told it. "Penny was my friend. Not yours." A feeling bubbled within him. One of rage that was not his own. Crue's own rage fought back. In that moment, he vaguely remembered a parable of sorts he heard during his time in his own world.

Of two wolves within, of light and darkness, hope and despair. Crue thought it was bullshit. There was only one wolf within him. And he was trying to get out.

Crue rolled his neck, a few cracks sounding out with the action. He looked up from the fire, into Vermillion's not so vermillion eyes. "You lost a lot, huh?" She asked softly, having been watching Crue's facial journey as he stared into the flames.

Crue steel blue eye softened ever so slightly. "Yeah." He nodded, holding back the tears that nearly spilled from his eye. "A lot of us did. That's why I'm trying to get to Mistral. To pick up the pieces."

"Well, we're nearly there. Or at least nearly at Dromremy. It's a pretty quick journey over the water to Mistral from there." Vermillion said, finishing her soup. She stood up with a stretch, making her way over to the car.

"You sure you're alright taking watch?" She asked quietly.

Crue gave a small smirk as he raised one hand, his claws slowly coming out as he flexed his hand. "I'm the one with the weapon. Don't worry about it." He remained in front of the warm fire, his blue eye staring into the cinders.

He ignored the twitch of his eye at the word. "Alright." Vermillion accepted, getting into the passenger side and leaning the seat all the way back. "Goodnight." She called, before closing the door.

Crue was left alone in the clearing, the crackling of the flames his only companion. Aside from transparent figure sitting across from him. He refused to properly meet her eyes. Her dull, lifeless green eyes.

"I'll make everything right." He told her. Crue dared to look up, only to find the hallucination gone. He was by himself once more. With a deep sigh, he finished his soup before tossing the plastic cup into the fire.

It burned with an unpleasant stench that had Crue crinkling his nose in disgust. Ignoring the flames, Crue turned his attention skyward. The shattered moon hung high in the night sky, as stars glittered like diamonds.

"I hope everyone else is doing ok…"

…

"Ow."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fi- Are you recording this?!"

"Yes. For, research purposes."

The video continued, as Ruby Rose watched with sad silver eyes. Crue was training to better himself, as he always had. The video was sent to her from Weiss while she and Yang were away at Patch, and they both had a wonderful time laughing at it.

Now, instead of bringing her joy, it just reminded her of how much she had lost. Crue was gone. Weiss was stolen. Blake had ran. She took a breath, exiting out of the video and beginning to flick through the pictures on her Scroll.

It was a self-destructive action, as every picture showed her and the people she cared about, having fun and not worrying about anything. Her and Yang hanging from the top bunks. Weiss playing with Zwei, before the next picture suddenly showed a blurry Heiress trying to snatch the Scroll out of Ruby's hands.

An image of Blake sat serenely on their windowsill as she read from her book, while Ruby used the perspective to make it look like she was squeezing her head. She swiped again and saw a pair of steely blue eyes smiling up at her.

Ruby had jumped on Crue's back in order to grab a selfie of the both of them. He initially resisted on account of his 'resting murder face', but Ruby's pleading gaze melted him like ice cream in the sun. And now, the picture of the two was all that remained.

A soft sob broke the quiet, as Ruby rubbed at her eyes, placing her Scroll facedown on the bed of the Inn she was staying at. She missed her teammates. Her friends. Her family. She rested her elbows on her knees as she brought her hands up to palm her dampening eyes.

Her cream blouse shook as she wiped away any tears that threatened to spill. She felt older. Was older. Her birthday had passed not soon after the Fall of Beacon. At sixteen years old, Ruby felt like she was not exactly looking forward to whatever the rest of her years had in store for her.

There was a creak as the door to her room opened, and she looked up to see a pair of aqua blue eyes staring at her. "Hey Nora." Ruby said, sniffling slightly as she blinked away whatever tears might be left.

"Hi Ruby." The ginger said surprisingly softly, clearly seeing the girl was upset. "Jaune and Ren are downstairs figuring out where to start looking for that Gheist once we hit the next town over." She sat down next to Ruby, the bed denting and nearly causing the younger girl to fall onto her.

"So, it's just us girls." Nora smiled, kicking her legs out and placing her hands behind her. "Ooh. Maybe we should paint each other's nails and talk about cute boys!" Ruby let out a soft giggle as her mood lifted considerably.

"Or girls." She suggested, as Nora nodded in agreement.

"Or girls. We're awesome like that." She held up a fist to Ruby, who bumped it with a smile. After the contact ceased, Nora's smile became a bit more serious. "I'm glad you told us about this, Ruby. I don't think it would've been fun to find out you went running off to Haven on your own."

Ruby's silver eyes darted downward to stare at the floor. "I wanted to. I wanted to just, run off and find the people who did this." Her head hung low. "But I'm not strong enough. And I wasn't- wasn't fast enough."

The tears came back in full force, as Nora wrapped an arm around Ruby and drew her close, allowing the young girl to cry freely against her bomber jacket. She rubbed her hand up and down Ruby's back as the girl continued to speak.

"M-My Semblance is meant to let me run fast. To always get to where I need to on time. But, but when I got to the top…" She let her hand rest against her chest, where hanging from a black and red corset was a pair of mirrored sunglasses with a cracked hole on one side.

"Cinder killed him. She had him on his knees, and she just, just killed him!" Her silver eyes hardened amidst the tears. "He, he said that he was there because he was protecting us. Us. We're meant to be the protectors!"

"We are." Nora reassured the girl. "We all are. Crue was included in that. And, he did protect us." Her own eyes watered slightly. "He died protecting Pyrrha. And, we can never repay him for that." She hugged Ruby a little tighter.

"That's why we're here." She stated. "So his sacrifice won't be in vain. And we can beat the ones who killed him. Who nearly killed Pyrrha." Her voice softened, bringing up the memories of the Fall always dampened even her mood.

"But enough about that." She quickly shook her head, trying to bring things to a lighter subject. "Talking about cute girls?" She asked slyly nudging Ruby who began to blush profusely.

"I, uh, that just slipped out." She seemed to shrink in on herself. Nora shrugged as she fell back on the bed and let her arms spread out.

"I don't blame you. There were a lot of cute girls at Beacon. But my heart will always belong to Re-re-ruh-uh it's not important." She suddenly trailed off, her own face flushing red as she stared at the ceiling.

Ruby couldn't help but snicker, the Valkyrie's own feelings clear as day. She decided to lay down next to Nora, staring up at the ceiling as well. "I just think girls are better than boys. No offence." She told her.

Nora hummed thoughtfully, as though debating whether or not she should take offence to the statement. "Nah. I'm included in 'girls' so no worries. And who knows, maybe there will be some cute girls at Haven, too. Oh! There was that girl we fought in the tournament! She's from Haven, and she used a sniper rifle."

"Nora please don't try and set me up when we're on a mission." Ruby let out an embarrassed groan, bringing her hands to press against her eyes, which were thankfully devoid of tears.

"Hey! I am an excellent matchmaker! They don't call me Nora 'Valentine' Valkyrie for nothing!"

"People call you that?"

"No. I just said they don't." Nora smiled widely, as Ruby suddenly devolved into giggles at the joke.

"What's a Valentine anyway?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know." Nora shrugged. "I think I heard someone mention it as a kind of special day in February. Maybe we'll figure it out this month." The two continued to talk, Nora doing her best to distract Ruby, and herself, from their thoughts straying into depressing memories.

Down below amongst the various patrons, Ren and Jaune sat before a map of the surrounding area, with a few choice locations circled. "Ok, this was the last place it was seen. We start from there, and move deeper into the forest, while sending Ruby further ahead to scout."

Ren nodded in approval of Jaune's plan, before looking up as three pints of alcohol were placed in front of them. He was about to say they didn't order anything, before Jaune thanked the bartender for it.

He took one glass and shifted the other towards Ren. The ninja raised an eyebrow to Jaune. "I don't think we should be drinking the night before a dangerous mission." He told his leader.

"It's just the one." Jaune said, still in the same amour he had worn at Beacon. Ren himself had changed his outfit to better suit the travel, but still he looked at the drinks in confusion.

"There's only two of us." He said, looking to the odd number of drinks as he brought one of them closer and remembered the last time he had gone out drinking.

"Yeah. I know." Jaune nodded, as his shoulders seemed to sag. "It's not for us." Ren's pink eyes suddenly widened in realisation.

"I see." He nodded.

"I know he was better friends with RWBY, but he was our friend too. And, he sacrificed himself to save Pyrrha." He held the pint glass aloft and raised a blonde eyebrow to Ren. His teammate copied his actions, and they clinked the three glasses together. "To Crue." They said as one.

In silence they both took large gulps of the liquid, before their eyes widened as they swallowed roughly. "Wh-What was that?" Ren asked, feeling his throat burning.

"I thought it was cider. The same stuff Crue got us in the pub." It clearly wasn't, as the colour seemed to be a bit darker with odd bubbles where there probably shouldn't be. They looked at the drink, and then at each other.

"Should we finish it?" Jaune asked unsurely.

"It's, what Crue would want?" Ren replied, equally as unsure. The two males stared at the alcohol like it might grow fangs and bite them if they didn't continue to drink.

"We're going to regret this, aren't we?" Jaune asked rhetorically.

"Yes."

"We're still going to do it?"

"Yes…"

They both sighed. "Crue was a terrible influence on us." Jaune let out a small laugh, before taking another gulp of the brew before them. "Yep. Really bad influence." He let out another cough, as he and Ren continued to force the drink down.

It was vile. It went down rough. They would definitely regret it in the morning. But, for now, they would toast to their fallen friend in the way they thought he would appreciate most.

When they were throwing up later with Nora having to hold Ren's remarkably long hair back and Jaune was being comforted by Ruby over Pyrrha, they decided that any more tributes to Crue would be done via fighting and defeating the ones who took him from the world.

Because frankly, that seemed like less of a bad idea than drinking again.

…

"I hope no one's drowning their sorrows because of me." Crue thought idly, drinking from his own flask before putting it back in his shirt pocket, the fire having long died as he remained outside of the car. He had taken to a perch in a tree, overlooking the clearing. His one eye still held the night vision Faunus were so well known for, and it left him able to keep a watch on everything.

Like the Beowulf currently slinking out of the underbrush towards the car. Its movements were slow as it sniffed the air, trying to find any prey. Beowulf's always stalked their prey, savouring the fear that it would generate before the kill. Crue understood that all too well now.

Unfortunately for the Beowulf, the prey within the metal contraption was fast asleep, and barring any terrifying nightmares, would not be experiencing fear any time soon. Especially not if Crue had anything to say about it.

Crue leaned from his hidden spot amongst the leaves and gave a short whistle. The Beowulf's ears immediately flickered and two bright red eyes locked onto where the noise had come from. The last thing it saw was a set of emerald claws rocketing towards it.

Crue impaled the Beowulf through its skull plate, and slipped his other clawed gauntlet under and into the Grimm's throat. It tried to howl for reinforcements, but Crue kept its mouth shut as he ripped its head from the neck.

The body slumped to the ground, as Crue hurled the dissipating head away. He rolled his shoulders and sheathed his claws. He looked down to the green gauntlets. They didn't have a name yet. He wondered if he should even give them one, considering they weren't made by him in the first place.

"Not like Setanta was either." He murmured, using his Semblance to walk up another tree and get comfortable. He stared at his gauntlets, flexing his hands as the blades came out one by one, before they receded once more.

He called his hurley 'Setanta' because he thought he was meant to be a Hero. A legend from his world. A myth from his home. Now that he knew what he was meant to be, should he change how he named things? "Big and Bad?" He tested, the gauntlets glinting in the moonlight.

He frowned. That sounded ridiculous. And it didn't matter what he was meant to be. He didn't choose to be a Villain. He didn't want to be Villain, so he wouldn't be one. But, could he call himself a Hero after everything that happened?

"The Fall still happened, because I didn't tell anyone it would. People still died. Penny…" Tears began to flow from his one eye. He had no problem crying when no one could see him. Otherwise, he kept everything tightly bundled under lock, key and a safe thrown into the ocean for good measure.

Mercury had been telling the truth. And he hated him for that. No more than he already hated himself, however. He thought he was protecting Penny and Pyrrha by making it so they couldn't fight each other. But Cinder had never learned Pyrrha's Semblance. So, they wouldn't have intentionally pitted the two against each other.

It was him. His ignorance. His arrogance. His weakness. His inability to save the ones he cared about. He tried protecting his sisters and failed once again. He blinked, looking down at his gauntlets. He wasn't weak anymore. And he had the perfect name for his weapons now.

He spotted another Beowulf slinking out of the shadows. Crue stood to his full height within the tree and leapt towards the Grimm with a growl, as the blades of Freedom and Sorrow sang free.

I do believe that is everyone's perspectives all caught up. RWBY, in reverse order, along with Pyrrha and Neo, are still alive and breathing and going through the motions of loss. For someone who is still alive as well.

Still haven't gotten used to the idea of writing a story where everyone is just "oh I miss this person so much and they've influenced me so much in their death" and then I just cut to Crue cursing like a sailor.

But, now that we've had a recap of what everyone is up to, we can get into the juicy stuff. Plot and problems will occur pretty soon. And I know the timeline of RWBY is fairly flexible, given we don't have an exact idea how long it's been since the fall of Beacon, or how long team RNJR's trip lasted, I'm gonna have to make some assumptions.

So, just give me the same amount of leeway you would've given the show I guess. Things will be picking up, and there will be a few jumping perspectives. But I'm actually very excited about what things are a-changing. And I hope you will be too.

I hope you liked this chapter, if you did let me know, and as always…

Until Next Time

-Friday