Waking under the shade of trees stretching up 30 feet up Pyrrha groaned and pushed off soft and cool sands with confusion. With bleary eyes she Glanced around and called out to the others who were doing the same but with less tired movements "where are we" she called out "I thought we crashed on the island?"
"Let's just make shelter here for the night and plan for tomorrow," Ruby suggested, rifling through her bag. "No need to sit around and talk like idiots"
"So, is nobody going to question waking up under trees with our stuff stacked outside?" Nora asked, shedding her armor.
"Reaper pulled us out and interrogated me. Supposed to kill us, but..." Yang trailed off, uncertain.
Ren approached her, noticing the dried salt in her hair. "What is it, Yang?"
"I think he's not the only one following us. But he seemed to be the only one trying to protect us," she admitted, though Ren sensed there was more.
Jaune confronted her, pushing Ren aside. "Have you lost your damned mind, Yang?" he exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention.
Feeling the tension ren stood between jaune and yang "Take a deep breath, we'll figure this out."
standing firmly by Yang "You've got us, Yang. We'll get through this together."
Pyrrha gently comforting Jaune "It's okay, Jaune. We're here for you."
Weiss staring in disbelief said "I can't believe this is happening..."
Ruby moved in intervening to prevent a fight "Guys, let's not make things worse. We need to stay united."
Rayla eavesdropped while building a fire pit, smiled at the kick up in animosity hoped they'd do her job for her.
Ciri guarded the group, adding, "Reaper's no better than the Grimm we hunt, I doubt he would protect anything!"
All eyes turned to her, expressing concern. Jaune's abrupt change worried them, but they felt powerless to help. Weiss approached Jaune, debunking myths about Reaper's motives, and Ruby spat "you of all people that left Beacon know how screwed you are after you make enemies"
"Just shut it!" Rayla interrupted, dropping coals into the sand. She directed them to focus on immediate concerns, finding water and a safe place, highlighting the potential danger if Reaper returned.
Ciri was taken aback, and Ruby, observing the group's misery, sought a distraction. "Split into groups of two, find fresh water or water dust crystals. Dehydration is a faster threat than hunger." The group nodded, pairing off, with Ruby joining Yang to avoid further tensions with Weiss.
Ciri worked on the makeshift camp perimeter, creating a barrier from metal debris in the sand. Ruby noticed her plan and couldn't help but smile with pride. "geralt had it so much worse if he had more of them and me too," she muttered to herself.
Rayla glanced at Jaune and suggested to Pyrrha, "Pyrrha, I think we need to talk, don't you?" Pyrrha, nervous, stammered, "But didn't you just talk with me a few days ago?"
"Great, let's go look on the other side of this cliff," Rayla said, pulling Pyrrha away from Jaune. She added, "Hey Jaune, why don't you go with Ruby? Just don't rip his head off, please."
"Bring her back in one piece," Jaune nervously requested, walking with Ruby. She took his shield, returned his sword, and stopped to dig in the sand.
"Uh, Ruby, are you-?" Jaune began.
"Shut up or help dig" she snapped, driving the sword a foot into the ground. Jaune joined in, and together they gathered enough dust crystals for Ruby's cloak and Jaune's shield.
"Ruby, can we talk for a bit?" Jaune asked.
"What is it?" she asked flatly, sitting on a rock.
"Why aren't you giving us a chance; It's been hell since that day, and we're no closer than after he left" Jaune said, playing with a wand crystal. "he broke us physically and psychologically"
"The kind of trust we had needs to be re-earned, and it took Cole to show me who you all -and i- really were. So tell me again why I should consider it," Ruby replied bitterly.
Jaune stopped twirling the crystal, accidentally cracking it, causing water to explode and soak him. She looked down at him with anger. "Yes, I may have only known him for less than a year, but I still-"
Ruby interrupted, pacing back and forth. "When we met, you were the best kind of friend I could hope for. Weiss was difficult at first, but we got through it. Pyrrha understood me as the girl in the cloak, Yang was the overprotective sister, Blake and I shared a love for romance and books, and Nora and Ren helped me with schoolwork. But it's just like Cole said, you guys lost sight of who you were."
Stopping to look him in the eye, she tightened her fists. "Now that your actions caused all this, you expect me to hide that much anger and pain because you were once considered my family?"
Jaune trembled, tears brimming. "How long do I have for my mistakes to be dropped?" he shouted, grabbing her chest plate. "For the last three years, all of us tried to apologize, but you pushed us away, and for what?, Because of what? Some walking battery with a broken heart that treated all of us like shit?"
She kicked him, rolled him into an arm bar, and said, "He was a complicated man with a lifetime of pain. You all treated him the same way you'd treat a serial killer, so of course, I don't see any of you the same. People change when they're treated like trash."
Letting Jaune go, she palm-struck him in the back. "Give it time, and I might be willing to trust you like old times," she said, standing up and grabbing her cloak. "But I doubt you'll change back to the way you used to be." Jaune slowly got up, grabbed the dust crystals, and followed her back to the site. They now had enough dust crystals to last at least two weeks after running out of water.
He thought, "You're no different,"
"just as the ship came into view. Rayla casually dropped her cloak in the sand, walking to the ship and yelling, "I'm going to get out of my suit, call me if you want something!" Ignoring Weiss scolding her for dropping dust crystals, she slammed the broken door in her face.
Yang, in the midst of hauling provisions, was assisted by Blake's survival studies with Ciri and Geralt. Nora and Ren returned, blushing and sweaty, upsetting the others. Jaune set his pile of dust crystals with Weiss, kissed Pyrrha on the cheek, and sat next to her to watch the fire.
As everyone sat around the flame, Jaune was about to suggest fetching more wood when Rayla grabbed a pinch of fire dust crystals, creating a spectacular blaze. Weiss asked, "Why are you really here?"
"It's been over an hour. How long is she going to take to get that armor off?" Nora whined. Ren chuckled, "You aren't any different, Nora. She's probably cleaning herself up."
Ruby, wearing Cole's T-shirt and shorts, jumped out, and Rayla explained she got the fire dust crystals from Weiss' rapier. Yang tossed Ruby a meal, saying, "I was saving that for you."
Ruby thanked her, opened the foil-wrapped meal, and found it to be thick boar meat. Nora asked, "Can I ask you something, Ruby?"
"What is it, Nora?" Ruby replied evenly.
Nora asked "are you ever going to forgive us?"
Ruby sighed angrily, "I never said I hated any of you. I might never fully trust you again since Cole fled beacon. Weiss and I are the sole inheritors to everything Cole owned in his will; Weiss' sister has been sending me two hundred thousand lien every other month since Cole was technically a registered specialist with explicit orders to keep me safe."
Taking a drink, Ruby continued, "I may forgive you guys someday, but it's going to be difficult to earn. A few of you are at a good starting point, but not all of you."
Yang stood up and threw her meal into the fire, causing flames to toss ash and embers into the air. "Then why the hell aren't you acting like it? Family sticks together through hell and back again, yet you let us fall faster than an overweight competition eater!"
Ruby shot up, raising her voice, "Don't you dare throw Tai's logic in my face, Yang. You abused and agitated someone who needed a family. Your mother is still alive and breathing; you have a chance to see her anytime you want. You still have a full-time family to rebuild, but I don't have that privilege!" She showed everyone the scythes Cole had gotten her, one bigger than the other, but both as sharp as glass.
"We'll deal with it, you guys just talk it out," Rayla said, sprinting towards the approaching Grimm with Ciri. Back-to-back, they fought with fluidity that seemed almost beautiful.
"You all caused these events with how you all became. At least when I was turning out the same way, I decided to fix it at the source; otherwise, I would've been the worst of you all," Ruby confronted them.
Before she could finish, an Ursa head fell into the pit, startling everyone. They watched as an Ursa lost its top half, creeps were sliced apart, and mini Death Stalkers were dealt with by both Rayla and Ciri. Once the initial threat was contained, Ruby continued pressing Yang about the issue.
"After Cole passed away, you all thought he wasn't worth mourning for, deeming him a monster. When my mother died, Qrow once told me that an act towards another person creates a ripple that winds up leading back to you. Well, guess what?" Ruby said, gritting her teeth.
"What?" Yang asked, challenging her. However, Yang stepped back, feeling a bit of shame, as Ruby transformed from a depressed girl into the strong person she was now.
Ruby tried to respond, but her voice died in her throat as Reaper swiftly dealt with a Nevermore, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Rayla approached, panting, and asked if everyone was alright.
"G-good, 'cause I need to sit down," Rayla said, slumping against a log. "I swear those Grimm were getting stronger."
"That's because they feed off our negativity," Ciri explained."I thought they were just attracted to it?" Rayla questioned after draining the canteen.
Weiss clarified, "Grimm feed on, are attracted to, and, in some ways, can smell our negativity.
"Weiss scolded the group for not paying attention to Port and Rivia's lessons. Jaune chuckled, "Weiss, we either spaced out or fell asleep in their classes."
"All of you paid for it in Geralt's class, paid dearly for it too," Ciri added, watching them shiver in dread.
Yang remarked, "Y'know, you're probably the dumbest person here, Jaune." Everyone froze at her comment. "You don't have the right to talk."
"Says the girl that went to jail for throwing a tantrum after Blake left you high and dry," Rayla interjected, biting into an eel.
Ciri scolded Yang, "You had no right to act like a little brat when your actions destroyed a family and a team. You are the one I'm most surprised at seeing as you could have helped Cole recover from almost losing the closest things he loved.
"Weiss stood up, expressing disappointment in all of them, emphasizing the need for mutual support. Rayla added, "Especially since I've technically been dead for almost twelve years in his eyes!"
"I'm going to bed," Ruby declared, walking to the bullhead and climbing into the cockpit, staring at the stars as she drifted off.
"Well, I think she has a point," Pyrrha said, leading Jaune away to an improvised hut for some stress relief.
Ren and Nora found cover in a small cave, while Yang slept in a large tree, belted to a thick branch.
Rayla suggested to Weiss, "Seeing as Ruby hates you and me the least, let's go join her in the ship." Weiss nodded, and they used their bags as pillows.
Ciri stayed up to ensure their safety before going to sleep herself. However, they forgot to put out the fire. Ruby, realizing they were truly in the middle of nowhere, opened her scroll.
All in all everyone was fast asleep but they'd forgotten to put out the fire, which surprised Ruby that the dragon archipelago really was in the middle of nowhere...or maybe it was just too difficult to get to in the first place.
Opening her scroll she filled geralt in on events and called off his search since both sides came up empty handed, honestly it was disappointing that rayla practically didn't exist past cole's accidental destruction of village lakna.
Ciri: "Go back to beacon, plans changed for the worse and these students are not fit for beacon anymore; ozpin needs them gone in four months or less"
Geralt: "I und...nd, bu...'s al...me...per...co ...ive"
Ciri never fully received that last recording since her scroll was bugging out and shut down due to the lack of a charge on hand, so it was incomprehensible and to make matters worse, a certain killer stalked the far edges of their impromptu camp.