Author's Note: Important service announcement at the bottom.

Pyrrha grit her teeth against the pain, much as she had for the last few hours, forcing herself to push onward in spite of how her body demanded that she stop. Their pace was already noticeably slower than what was preferable, Qrow having kept a slow but steady pace since they had begun, but she found herself struggling to not fall behind.

Qrow had been watching her, despite the fact that he was ahead of her, closely since she had woken up. Whatever relationship Amber had with him, there was an irrefutable history.

Unfortunately, she couldn't tell if it was good or bad. For all she knew they had been intimate. Pyrrha felt uneasy at the thought. Not because of Qrow, he seemed nice enough with a few rough edges, but more the prospect that she might be forced to live a life that wasn't her own.

Was Amber a good person, or was she despised? Pyrrha couldn't say, and the idea of her friends coming to hate her because of a checkered past she had nothing to do with hurt her greatly.

Shaking her head, Pyrrha pushed the thoughts aside and focused on moving forward. She would get answers later, talk with the Headmaster and warn him of what was to come.

Her unease remained, despite her best efforts.

"Shit." Qrow had stopped ahead of her, eyes transfixed on something in the distance. It didn't take her long to guess what. A plume of black smoke was easily visible against the clouded sky.

Qrow looked back to her. "Think you could run a bit?"

No, she didn't. Her legs were sore and she felt nauseated just from standing, but that didn't stop her from nodding and forcing herself to run after him. She managed to keep up, just barely, arriving at the source of the smoke in only a few minutes.

Pyrrha felt her stomach churn and she nearly threw up. The road led directly into a set of high walls, and the smoldering remains of a small village.

Qrow withdrew his weapon, sparing a glance at her before stepping into the town. After composing herself as best she could, Pyrrha followed.

The first thing she noticed, other than the obvious destruction, was the silence. The only sound that could be heard was the wind rushing through the nearby trees and their own footsteps.

"Looks pretty recent. I'm going to have a look around, see if I can find any survivors. You stay here and… I don't know, make some noise if any Grimm start to creep around." Despite how much Pyrrha wanted to help, she knew she wasn't in any shape to fight. She nodded and Qrow set off down a side path that seemed to lead into a small marketplace of some kind. Leaving Pyrrha to observe her surroundings.

The village wasn't large by any means, only a few dozen buildings clumped together to fit inside the walls, but it was larger than some she had seen in her travels from Argus to Mistral. The further away form the major cities you got, the smaller and more isolated civilization became.

This town had done well for itself, clearly having sprung up around the road to give it access to travelers and easier supply chains. The walls were strong, solid concrete that would be able to stop or hold back small groups of Grimm with relative ease while those on top could pick them off one by one.

It wouldn't do much for larger hordes, but the mountains she could see in the distance would have kept too many from gathering together at once. It could still have fallen victim to a Grimm incursion, but as far as frontier settlements went, it was well defended.

It was also eerily familiar to her. Pyrrha spotted something behind one of the houses, a bright flower that contrasted the gloomy atmosphere around it. Stepping towards it and away from the road, she spotted what appeared to be a small garden.

It was mostly destroyed, as part of a nearby building had fallen on it, but a single blue flower still bloomed. The house it was sat next to wasn't very large, but it was still mostly intact having been untouched by the flames.

She also recognized it somehow, though she couldn't truly explain how. It was different from the nightmares she had experienced while dead, in those she had lived and experienced each and every place as she went along. Here, it was more like seeing something from a dream, something that wasn't real but now stood in front of her. She reached for the door only for a hand to grab her shoulder.

"Don't." Qrow said, snapping Pyrrha from her daze and causing her to jump slightly. She hadn't noticed him approaching. "You don't want to go in there, trust me."

She looked at the door for a moment, before turning back to him in search of an explanation.

"It wasn't Grimm."

There were alot of things that could happen to settlements outside the walls of the city, an uncontrolled fire for instance could burn the entire place down and leave everyone stranded in the middle of nowhere with Grimm rapidly approaching, but that wasn't what he meant.

Bandits? Vale typically did a good job of keeping bandits and raiders under control, but there was no doubt in Qrows eyes. People had destroyed this village. It wasn't difficult to figure out what he was saying, given his dark expression. The village that just so happened to be the closest one to where Amber had been attacked. The last place that might have been able to give people information if a traveler went missing nearby.

Pyrrha turned away from the house, shame building up within her. Amber had more than likely stopped at the village, and that probably explained why Pyrrha felt familiar with it, but had that been the reason it was destroyed?

Had the people been killed simply because they had met Amber? Because they had met her?

Pyrrha tried not to think about the dark thought, knowing what would come of it. Despite appearances, she wasn't Amber. She hadn't been the one to visit the town, she wasn't the one wandering around in the middle of nowhere with a power that people would kill for.

She knew it wasn't her fault, yet the shame was there all the same.

"I found a house where we can rest for a bit, most of the walls are still standing, so that's a plus." Qrow pulled her away from the doorway. "Maybe even scrounge up something to drink." Pyrrha turned to follow. "We'll be back at Beacon before you know it."

Something stirred within her, an emotion that wasn't her own filling her mind.

Fear.

There was a howl in the distance, and then several far closer.

"Shit, they must have been drawn in." Qrow looked back to her for a moment before readying his weapon. "Doubt we could outrun them. Just stay back while I deal with 'em." He smirked before moving in the direction of the howls. The gate they had come in from.

Pyrrha followed after, making sure to keep close enough that she could help if needed, while being careful to stay hidden so as to avoid trouble. She had been confused at first, as to why he had rushed off and left her alone.

That was, until she saw him fight.

Qrow was skilled, unbelievable so, weaving in between beowolves with an ease and swiftness unlike anything she had ever seen. He was a professional Huntsman, but he was an especially agile fighter.

He never held his ground, never pushed back against them or allowed himself to be pushed back for very long. That style of fighting was excellent for an individual fighting a horde, but if one was protecting another?

It was useless.

Qrow was effectively drawing all the attention to himself, not only by the sound of combat, but by sheer virtue of location. He had met them on the main road, meaning that when the Grimm entered, they would be met with the most obvious target.

Also the least likely to get hurt.

It was a clever, if basic, trick that they had been taught at Beacon. Of course, it was usually used in defense of civilians, but wounded pride aside, it applied well in the current circumstances. It worked.

Or it would have, had it not been for the Beowolf that had appeared some distance behind her. Pyrrha wasn't entirely sure how it had gotten into the walls without running into Qrow first, few Grimm would pass up the opportunity for such 'easy' prey, and yet here it was, staring at her.

The beast didn't move a muscle, red eyes filled with pure hatred watched her carefully. Pyrrha returned the gaze as best she could, waiting for the moment the beast would rush. A second later the Grimm pushed off the ground, closing the distance between them in a matter of seconds.

She narrowly managed to avoid its collision with the house behind her by rolling under it at the last second, just as it reached up to claw at her. The few precious seconds that bought her were wasted as she struggled to get back to her feet, her roll having resulted in her lying on the ground.

Still, she was able to gain her footing and move away before the Grimm untrapped itself from the house. Jumping around a corner she pushed up against the wood in a desperate attempt to hide herself from view.

Her breathing was erratic and the effort burned her lungs, wounded people were not meant to move like this. In spite of her desperation for oxygen, she tried to pace her breath and listen for any sounds of movement. It was silent nearby, only the sounds of distant fighting being audible as Qrow continued to battle the bulk of the pack that had descended on them.

There was a soft crunch directly beside the house she was up against. Pyrrha got a few steps away before the house exploded outwards as the Beowolf broke through it. She felt something hit her leg, causing her to lose her footing for a moment and scramble to get back on her feet.

As she stepped away however, she felt something hard strike her side, before the world became a blur. There was a loud sound of crashing and when Pyrrha opened her eyes she saw that she was now on the inside of one of the houses, the Beowolf having launched her clean through the wall.

Her aura was still holding, though she could feel that it was already low, and she attempted to stand. Her legs buckled and gave out as she did so, causing her to fall forward and smash back into the floorboards.

The sound of snarling caused her to look up, only to see the Grimm moving in her direction. Turning around, Pyrrha began to crawl to the other side of the house. She attempted to stand once more, only to find that the strength wouldn't come to her.

One of the floorboards creaked before snapping, causing Pyrrha to look over her shoulder and see that the Grimm was only a few feet away from her. It wiped at her legs, catching her lower leg and managing to tear away some of the cloth there.

The Grimm worked its way into the house, back scraping against the roof as it did so. Pyrrha turned over onto her back, pushing herself up against the wall to create as much space between them as possible.

It wasn't enough however, and the beast only grew closer. Pyrrha desperately looked for a weapon, anything she could use to defend herself, but there was nothing. No weapons for her to use and no metal for her to attempt and throw at the Grimm.

The Beowolf lunged forward, jaw open with the intent to bite her head clean off. Pyrrha closed her eyes, not wanting to see her death coming, and threw her hands out in a pathetic attempt to protect herself.

It wouldn't stop the monster though, not that she expected it to. She didn't want to die, not again and not before she had been able to warn the Headmaster, but it appeared that she had failed.

Only, death never came. The seconds began to drag on, the ringing in her ears beginning to fade as she opened her eyes. The Grimm was still standing above her, it's snout mere feet away from her face, but now there was a large white crystal pierced through its head. It was almost like a javelin, remaining stuck through the snout and exiting through the back of the head, holding the Grimm away from her.

Red eyes, once filled with hate, now filled with confusion as it attempted to understand why Pyrrha hadn't been killed. Pyrrha's thoughts were much the same for a moment, until she remembered just who she was.

She was the Fall Maiden.

Qrow had panicked when he hadn't been able to find Amber, fearing the worst despite his best efforts. He had gotten lucky however, it hadn't been his luck of course, but it was luck all the same.

Amber was alive, if even worse for wear.

"Keep this up and you might have me beat in the scar department." He chuckled lightheartedly, reaching out to grab Amber's hand and pull her up.

Her pants were torn at the bottom of one leg, though there didn't appear to be any blood, and she was even weaker than before. She winced as he pulled one of her arms over his shoulder to offer some support. "We'll see about getting you a new weapon back at Beacon, maybe one with some actual lethality to it, unlike that walking stick of yours."

"Beacon…" She shook as she attempted to speak, her voice sounding like it had been dragged through sandpaper. "When?"

Qrow set her down against a nearby house, one with a little cover in case it began to rain again. "Not so sure, I found a couple radios but they were all destroyed. I may be able to rig something up though, given a couple hours."

Amber nodded softly, one hand clutching her side as she winced in pain.

"You're in no shape to travel so we'll stay here for the night." She glared at him for that but he could only find it amusing. "I'll find us a safe building to hold up in."

Stepping towards the closest building, he made sure to stay in the eyesight of Amber as he did. It would have been just his luck for the building to crumble and fall on her just as the danger had passed.

Thankfully nothing happened, and he opened the door to look inside, hoping that this one wouldn't be a repeat of the horror scene he had seen in many of the others. He only got a step in before the smell hit him.

Sighing, he closed the door. Knowing that he was in for a long night, he reached for the flask on his hip, only to remember it was empty.

Looking back, he could still see Amber watching him. Pushing the sight from his mind, Qrow moved to the next house.

Authors Note: I've made an executive decision to go with the shorter chapter style I used for A Simple Bet Between Friends. It works better for my time table and is easier to put out on a regular basis, which I feel is what made SBBF so successful.

Other than that I hope you enjoyed and always don't forget to review and let me know your thoughts. I always read them and I strive to respond to them as well.

Sincerely SE