Jaune gritted his teeth in anger and sorrow as he ran forward, not looking back as the practical side of him forced his body to move forward even when the emotional part of him wanted to just give up.
But he would not spit on the sacrifice of his friends like that, he would not allow himself to fall and make the sacrifices of team RWBY, and Penny, to be in vain. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
Winter arrived at the portal leading to Vacuo and turned back to find a horrifying sight.
Jaune would not make it. He was too slow to outrun the pathway that was disappearing under him.
She wanted to fly back to help him, but since she was already partway through the portal, she was dragged in. Once again failing the brave students of Beacon who had given so much for humanity.
Noticing the horrified look on Winter's face as she was pulled into the portal, Jaune realized that something was wrong and pushed his body to the limits. But in the end, it was for nothing as the portal vanished the moment he was about to make contact with it, plunging him into the same abyss that team RWBY, his friends, had disappeared into.
In another time, in another place, he would once again reunite with his friends in a magical place known as the Everafter. But this is not that time nor that place.
In the first place, the abyss was a pocket dimension created by a shard of divinity. The staff of creation, a relic created through the divinity of a God. So it was no surprise that when the construct faded, all that would remain was the chaos of the dimensional gap, the realm between realms.
Yang was awoken by a jolt.
"Ah, you are finally awake"
She simply groaned, ignoring the voice as she focused on the massive headache she was experiencing.
Then, everything came flooding in. The evacuation of Atlas, Salem's attack, and Cinder's attack.
Neo attacking Ruby.
Yang's eyes shot open as she tried to get up, only to find that she was chained down to her seat on a...wooden cart?
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. The Imperials hate it when their prisoners try to escape"
Yang simply stared at her surrounding in confusion.
"Where am I?"
"...You must have been hit on the head if you don't know where you are. Anyways, welcome to Skyrim, Britton"
"...What is a Skyrim?"
Blake slowly woke up to the whispering of people.
While she was used to the whispering thanks to the enhanced senses from being a faunus, the whispers that she was now hearing were filled with suspicion, at what? She did not know thanks to the strange language that the people around her seemed to be speaking in.
As she slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings, she found herself in a room that looked similar to a normal hospital room. The only difference was that the machines looked different.
But for now, her attention was not focused on the differences. Rather, she was much more focused on trying to see if Ruby and Yang were around.
Since she was in a room with only a single bed, the same bed she was occupying, she concluded that Ruby and Yang must be in another room.
If they are alive, that is.
She ignored the traitorous and cynical part of her mind with a shake of her head.
If she was alive, then her partner and friend must also be alive.
She was brought out of her thoughts when the curtain that was separating her from the people whose whispering was drawn back, revealing a beautiful woman in her prime. Her blond hair was just as bright as Yangs's, as were her impressive..assets. But what really stood out about the woman was the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead and the sheer authority that she radiated just with her presence.
Once again, the woman spoke in that strange language that vaguely sounded like ancient mistralian.
Blake simply tried to convey to the woman that she could not understand her when the woman simply signaled with her hand, causing the two men behind her to move forward.
Blake observed the men that came forward. They were dressed in strange clothes that looked like some kind of uniform. With a green vest, baggy pants, a headband with a stylized leaf symbol, and wooden sandals like those that she used to see in old mistralian dramas from before the Great War when she was a child.
Before Blake could ask what was going on, one of the men's eyes turned red with strange patterns in it as she suddenly felt dizzy.
Just what was going on here?
Ruby woke up to the sounds of screams and roars of monsters.
As was her instinct, she immediately sprang to her feet and reached for Crescent Rose, only for her to freeze in shock at what she was seeing.
Men, women, and children were being slaughtered by monstrous beasts that were definitely not Grimm.
But her experience as a huntress shone through as she only froze for a few seconds before once again reaching for Crescent Rose, only to find empty air.
For the second time since waking up, she froze in shock. This time, her shocked form was not ignored by the monsters that were nearly done killing the humans around them.
Fortunately for Ruby, she suddenly felt her hand being dragged in one direction. She looked down to find a young boy who was probably only 11-12 years old with black hair and green eyes dressed in camouflage and travel gear.
"..We need to go before they kill us"
Ruby recoiled at the cold and cynical voice that the boy had at such a young age and could do nothing but follow him.
"What are those things? They are definitely not Grimm"
The boy did not turn back but confusion was evident in his voice.
"Grimm? Are they a type of Aragami?"
"Aragami? What is that?"
"...Did you hit your head or something?"
Slowly, Ruby was becoming frustrated with the situation.
"Look, I don't know who you are-"
"Utsugi Lenka"
"..Ok Lenka, but listen, you need to help me find my weapon so that we can kill those things"
The boy stilled for a moment and looked at her directly.
"Weapon? Are you a God Eater?"
"I am not a God Eater, whatever that is. I am a huntress"
"...What's a huntress?"
Ruby just knew that dealing with Lenka was going to raise her blood pressure very quickly.
Weiss woke up annoyed due to the loud voices of the people in the room.
Whoever the men were, she would appreciate it if they toned it down just a bit. People were trying to actually sleep here.
Then, her mind caught up to her situation.
Men? In team RWBY's room?
Her eyes snapped open only for her to clutch her head in pain from the sudden sensory overload.
Then, everything started coming back to her. The attack, Cinder, Neo. Yang, Blake, and Ruby's fall. Penny's death. Jaune's sword breaking. Then, she fell.
But, shouldn't she be dead if she fell off the bridge?
"Hold on little miss. I got just the thing to make you feel better-"
"I swear you flowery bastard, if the next thing that comes out of your mouth is trying to seduce her, I will shove my sword up you-"
"Sir Mordred, enough"
"..Yes, my king"
Weiss once again opened her eyes, slowly this time to observe who were the people talking around her.
Only for her eye to twitch in irritation.
She had once thought that Jaune's armor was redundant because as a huntsman, he had an aura for shielding. Well, now she realized that Jaune was keeping it to the minimum.
Because standing in front of her were four people, three of who were decked out in highly expensive and highly impractical full-plate armor. The last one held some kind of wooden staff and had a gaudy-looking white robe on.
"Greetings, stranger. I am Sir Lancelot, and this is Sir Mordred. We found you unconscious at the gates of Camelot-"
"And what was a fair maiden like you doing unconscious in such a place?"
The man in purple armor looked frustrated at the white-haired man's words and nodded toward him.
"...And that is Merlin, the court mage of our kingdom"
"..Unfortunately"
The man? In silver and red armor said under his breath as the final figure in the group stepped forward, causing the rest to immediately take a step back while the men in armor fell back, clearly showing that the man that looked very feminine with blond hair and green eyes was in charge here.
"I am Arthur Pendragon, King of Britain and I would like to know who you are and why you were unconscious right by the gates of Camelot"
Weiss knew this was going to be a long day.