Weiss' vision began to blur. How long had she been fighting exactly? It had been a long while, certainly. Her knees were practically crying and her hand had to reach out just for her to get some sense of surroundings. Something pulled her and she had no strength left to resist. It wasn't Grimm at least. Did she hear a voice? Many voices?

She was being guided somewhere. What was it that they were supposed to be doing again? Oh right. They were supposed to push through the Grimm horde as Atlas was preparing itself to take back control of the skies. Right, that was it.

There had been a Grimm horde that she and her squad were fighting against. She remembered going through quite a lot of them. The stronger kinds too since she didn't want to put the others at risk, especially the wounded and those carrying them.

No longer walking on her own, Weiss' feet were hovering above the ground, occasionally touching it. Her arms were being swung around by the momentum. Someone was carrying her, probably one of the soldiers.

She felt something on her back. A mattress? Was she on a bed? A hand was placed on her cheek. There was a blurry light that entered her eyes. Someone was fanning her.

Slowly, her vision returned. Things have slowly begun to become clear and the voices were becoming more coherent.

"…iss! Weiss!" cried Winter. Weiss had never seen this much relief from her sister. "Thank the Brothers, you're alright."

"What… happened?" she managed to reply.

"Don't speak. You overexerted yourself to a point of collapse. Your squad noticed the paling of your skin. Brought you here the moment we gave cover fire."

Weiss was still in a daze but she understood. Too weak and exhausted to get up, she would not bemoan herself for showing such weakness. She saw it from everyone with the little she was seeing. Right now, her priority was rest. They did it, the managed to break through the Grimm horde and make it back to base. Had she really exhausted herself that much? It doesn't matter. Or rather, she really is that exhausted for she didn't care much right now because of it.

She had been given water to drink. Nothing had tasted greater.

Outside, she could still hear the sounds of combat happening though muffled. Through the windows, Weiss couldn't help but smile weakly as the black skies have begun to clear. Atlas was finally breaking through the Grimm horde.

"You think the other kingdoms are having their problems?" She heard someone speak; one of the other soldiers, not from hers. They must have been injured as well.

"I hear Mistral is doing well, all things considered," another answered.

"How so?"

"Rumors only but every town and settlement has been defending their own borders. Some still fell but they aren't as reliant on huntsmen over there."

"Damn. I wonder what is going over there."

"No idea on the details. I hear there was a team of five there. Bunch of young ones who took up the defense all by themselves."

"What happened to the huntsmen there?"

"Wish I knew."

Weiss laid back on her bed. Her head resting on the one pillow that she had. It wasn't the fluffiest of them all but she could feel the dizziness flood out of her like a dam that had burst.

Her body must be crying right now for nothing felt as satisfying as being able to rest. If she wanted to she could go to sleep right now and no one would blame her. However, the screams she could hear every part of herself was deafening that it made it difficult to do. Instead, she took what rest she could until her body accepts that it is now safe. She was probably low on oxygen as well with how lightheaded she must have felt.

The two wounded fighters were still having their conversation.

"Where did you get this info from?"

"Word from Argus. That place has been receiving lots of refugees lately. The team has been taking care of them since. It gets even stranger. Reports mention of some huntsman who tells the fishermen to put their net somewhere in the water and they get a lot of fish."

"Isn't that just a semblance? Sounds weird but we've seen weirder."

"Not only that, they never seem to run out of rations over there. I'll give you a guess as to who that is."

"No way."

"Strange times are happening here in Remnant, I tell you. There are other reports as well but those are just ridiculous."

Weiss rolled her eyes. In times like these, it was to be expected stories that would make people feel better would be welcome, she supposed.

Eventually, Weiss' body accepted that it was no longer and danger and began to calm. Soon, she would rest and she would be better, perhaps even resume the fight. Weiss' eyes closed and she quickly fell into a dreamless slumber. The muffled sounds of gunshots and cannon fire sang to her like a lullaby.

When she awoke, things had become quieter. Looking out the window, Weiss' eyes widened and the darkness outside. It wasn't the darkness of the Grimm though she could still see silhouettes of them flying about. The night sky had greeted Atlas at last. The broken moon of Remnant hung over them all. None of those in that room with her were celebrating, all of them were asleep. How long had she been out of it? It must have been the dead of night.

Rather than getting up to walk, she simply sat up. Though her aura her healed most of her wounds, she still felt her reserves were low. They must have worked overtime and used what little they recovered during her rest. Her muscles ached and felt sore. She had overworked them this time. Normally, she would have chastised herself for not pacing properly. An enemy would take advantage of her and time spent here would mean time not spent in refining those skills. That didn't matter right now. She was alive and that was important enough.

She had lost a few soldiers of her squad. Everyone did. Part of her was ashamed that she never knew them. How many lives lost had lost them thinking that this was a losing battle? Weiss had certainly heard a few somewhere. Whether it was the hysteria talking or their genuine beliefs in that moment, she didn't know. Some of them may never know.

Looking around her, she concluded that it must have been Atlas Academy. The beds didn't appear like they belonged here with some being just the mattress without the bedframe. She could see the doors that would have led to classrooms had this been a proper school day. The school had been repurposed to house the wounded it would seem.

Atlas students and professional huntsmen can be seen among the wounded and injured. Some were making their rounds, making sure that nothing went wrong here. A few coughs were heard and those closest to it hurried with quiet haste as they tended to them. Some had a fever or were ill during their battles.

The lights on these halls weren't lit and those making their rounds had to rely on their scrolls' torches. No sense in disturbing their slumber, she supposed. Weiss reached for the top of her head.

"Oh." She realized when something wasn't right. It wasn't anything dangerous but it was a normal thing to her that it should have been noticed at some point. "My hair isn't a ponytail." Finding her hair tie on the small table next to her, Weiss decided to just leave it be.

She laid back down. Despite having slept though how many hours it had been since she was brought here, she was still exhausted. There wasn't even the hint of that conversation that she overheard earlier.

"Argus, huh," she muttered. If Atlas was going to be alright, it only made sense that they would send aid to their immediate allies. A selfish part of her believed that it was more for their own interest than anything; perhaps even some kind of revenge for what the Grimm did against them. She didn't really care either way. Argus was an important post for Atlas and served as the bridge between them and Mistral. More importantly, it meant that they could go to other places again. Namely, Vale was going to be an option at some point.

She would have preferred if they had gone to Vale first but that was just her wanting to see her team again. Perhaps after things had been done there in Argus she could volunteer to go to Vale if it wasn't an option. She will at least give her kingdom the proper service in exchange for that. If not, she will just have to ask help from the huntsmen and huntresses there in Mistral to help her get to Vale.

If the information was correct, then she knows what she will have to do. Weiss will see her team again. That much, she was certain of. Sleep didn't come to her as easily as it did earlier but it came better. When the next morning came and she had been greeted by the morning sun for once, she had felt herself as rested as she could be. By her estimate, her aura levels were hovering between yellow and green.

"A team of five?" she asked before falling asleep. "Wait… JNPR? What are they doing in Mistral? And what's this about feeding the plenty?" She had never known it having been brought back to Atlas almost immediately after the battle of Beacon.

/-/

It had begun since Salem's declaration. When team JNPR, along with Oscar and Ozpin, had received that news from the Queen of the Grimm, dread was the only thing that was on their minds. For the longest time, Salem had been content in keeping to the shadows and letting mankind fight among themselves. Tear them down from within and keep Ozpin and his allies on the defensive. Box them in within their walls and borders and let them fight among themselves for what space and resources that could be had.

Never could they have imagined, Ozpin especially, that Salem would publicly make herself known. It had its benefits sure. Reveal to the world that the Grimm aren't just mindless beasts and people will have more reason to fear them. However, that comes with the risk of having them unite against a common enemy. After all, the Grimm have fought against them for many eons by now. How many lives had been lost to the Grimm? Even if peace were an option, how many would take it? There would be those that would pursue such a noble aspiration if only so that the bloodshed would cease. But there are also those who would pursue the path of war. A just punishment for all the crimes that Salem committed.

With her declaration, the option to take had been clear: Salem has no plans of giving peace. It was either the Grimm would win or humanity would win.

Without Mistral's huntsmen thanks to Leonardo, JNPR, along with whoever they could gather had been tasked with the defense of all of Mistral. Every single member had to be a squad of their own as they dealt with as many Grimm as they could.

The plan had been simple at first, gather all the people in one place. While that would mean the Grimm would all converge in a single location, it also meant that they wouldn't travel as much. The huntsmen and huntresses in training were there to supplement their numbers as well. Despite the age difference, JNPR were the ones in command being the professionals now, even if it had only been recent.

Then, the number of people that they needed to protect started to grow. JNPR's members recognized them as being from the various towns and settlements that they had encountered on their journey. Battered and bruised, they sought shelter there with those that they had trained taking up the mantle of guardians; they shared their experiences with the populace originally there and next they knew, JNPR was raising their own team of defenders.

It was then that Jaune had suggested to them, "we need to get to Argus. They'll have Atlas tech which might be of help to us."

"Can we even protect these people on the way?" Nora asked.

"Get them to the trains," Jaune replied. "We'll have to think of doing something about the Relic. If they would be drawn to it at all."

"Don't bother with the trains," said a third voice. The most unexpected one and Jeanne certainly didn't blame the others of being suspicious when Raven Branwen made her return and even began to defend them. "Oh, don't look at me like that. She already took out the tracks when I got here."

"Gee," Nora replied. "Really uplifting."

"And the Relic?" Jaune asked.

"I'll do it. I get that none of you have any reason to trust me but you can at least trust that I care about saving my own skin if nothing else."

"Yeah," Nora replied. "That's kind off why we're not sure about just giving the Relic to you."

"Look, I don't know why Salem decided to get out here herself but there is no running anymore. There's no place for me to run to."

Ren sighed. "A cornered rat, huh."

"You shut it, kid. You all may be professional huntsmen and huntresses now but your still kids playing heroes." She opted not to mention that Leonardo did it as some sort of apology.

"Can we trust her fearless leaders one and two?" Nora turned to the blonde siblings.

"Jeanne?"

"Meet us in Argus," she replied.

In front of them, Raven turned to a bird and flew away with the Relic, leaving the Branwen tribe at their command. They weren't the best bunch but Raven seemed to have given them orders to follow JNPR if they wanted to survive.

That was when it began. As their supplies were running low, it had become apparent that their ability to forage the lands wouldn't be enough to feed all those mouths. Even if Jeanne were to sacrifice her own on account of being a Servant, it wouldn't be enough.

It was there when Pyrrha asked, "Jaune are you sure? You'll need your strength to keep fighting."

"Yeah," he replied as he took out that last piece of bread and gave it to the child who looked guilty as he waited for his share; many of the older people are doing that for the sake of the children. "I'm sure. I'll… I'll think of something. Maybe we'll stick around the next river or something, gather up some fish."

Seeing the child take the last piece of bread, all of JNPR all looked on with resignation. Their supplies had dried up. Sure, the others have brought their own and they did what they could to ration them but it wasn't always going to last. With the Grimm on the hunt, the sight of the mass of people on exodus could only be a walking target for the Grimm.

When they had settled that night, Jaune had felt something from the bag where he had taken the last piece of bread from.

"What?" he asked. "I could have sworn I gave the last piece." Before he ate it himself, Jaune had checked everyone else first. Only then did he take a bite out of it.

The next day as they had continued their journey to Argus, that same bag contained yet another piece of bread. Even as Jaune began to give it away, it never seemed to run out. There was always a last piece of bread that never spoiled even. Not even Ozpin had any answers for that.

"I'm afraid that I even I don't know what is happening, Mr. Arc," he said. "I am just as in the dark as you are."

Only Jeanne had any answers but she held back on giving them. She didn't want to jinx it unless she had been absolutely certain. Even when Jaune had his own strange dreams, of which he still continued to have as he claims, there was still an uncertainty if she should. The real reason was that she didn't want Jaune to start demanding for more, even if it had been for a great cause. She remembered the stories growing up, of those who kept demanding more.

"Just…" she said. "Trust in it, Jaune. Just trust in it."

She had been certain of it when they arrived at the river. The water had been so low that there was hardly any to drink, let alone fish to catch. They were, all of them, despairing. They may be receiving blessings but they don't know how long it will last.

Then, they heard the Grimm coming for them from behind. Everyone had been made to rush in as orderly fashion as they could as they crossed the river. The good news had been that the water was so low that they could traverse it. Jaune had made sure to stay behind, making sure that everyone managed to get across before he himself would reach that other side.

When he had taken that final step and the Grimm were also rushing towards them, he had his shield up, ready to defend the people as a one-man shield wall, for whatever good that it would mean.

But the Grimm never came. No one had noticed it at first on account of the screams and shouts but the waters for upstream soon arrived as a torrent. The Grimm that had been on the riverbed drowned and washed away. To say that there was intense jubilation to be had would have been an understatement. Even Jeanne couldn't stop her jaw from dropping at the sight.

"What is happening?" Pyrrha asked. "Not that I'm complaining but what is going on? Jeanne?"

"The Lord is with us," Jeanne replied. "Give thanks with a grateful heart." She was smiling and shaking her head in disbelief.

Their arrival to Argus had been successful and Raven had indeed been there waiting for them. The Grimm that had been drawn to her were dealt with as they met up.

AN: Had I been told that I would start implementing my (fairly) religious upbringing into my writing, I would have jokingly said "the Holy Spirit is my muse."

I'm beginning to reassess the humor behind that hypothetical response.