The next morning, everyone else was getting ready for the day. To Nora's request, Ren was making pancakes for breakfast. They were getting hungry, until Qrow suddenly showed up to check on them.
"Hey Uncle Qrow!" Greeted Ruby, "We're just about to have breakfast!"
"Morning Pipsqueak!" Said Qrow, he then proceeded to grab a cup of coffee. "Hey, is Oscar up yet?"
"Uhhh, no, why?" Asked Ruby
"Well, can one of you go wake him? We have a busy day today."
"Alright…"
Ruby and Weiss got up to see if Oscar was awake yet. They knocked.
"Hey, Oscar?" Called Ruby, "It's time to wake up, Ren's making pancakes! I know you're still stressed out from yesterday, but perhaps some good food might lift your spirits."
There was no reply, so Weiss gave it a go.
"Oscar, if you don't get out of bed, Qrow's going to be angry! So you might want to get up and at 'em!"
Again, no reply.
"Oscar?... Oscar?..." Ruby was now a little worried. Quietly, she opened the door, and what lay on the other side gave the two girls a great shock.
"UNCLE QROW!" Screamed Ruby from upstairs, causing Qrow to nearly spit his coffee in surprise. "COME UP, QUICK!"
The shouting got the attention of everyone else too, so they all quickly ran upstairs, wondering what was going on.
"Ohh dear, what can the matter be?" Sang Nora as she made her way towards the room, "Jaune is so long at the-"
"Never you mind about me!" Interrupted Jaune, "We've got a problem!"
"What problem?" Wondered Nora, but she soon found out as they looked inside.
"... Where's Oscar?" Asked Yang at last.
"I don't know!" Squealed Ruby, "This is what we saw when we opened the door!"
"When was the last time any of you saw him?" Questioned Qrow.
"He was on the couch when we all went to bed last night!" Explained Jaune, "He and I even had a lengthy conversation."
"I would have assumed he'd go to bed…" Murmured Nora, though the group went downstairs to check on the couch, but obviously, he wasn't there either. As they were trying to brainstorm where he could have gone, Winter came in.
"Hey all!" She said, but then noticed their distressed expressions. "What's going on?"
"Oscar's not here." Explained Qrow, "We can't go to that meeting later without him! Have you seen him recently?"
"Actually last night I saw him leaving the house, he said he was going to the library."
"... Did you see him come back?"
Winter's face fell once it truly sank in, and that answered the question to everyone.
"Right…" Said Qrow at last, "We need to form a search party this instant. Jaune, Nora, Ren, you three come with me and Winter, we'll go to the library, the rest of you, search east. There's no time to lose!"
Qrow, Winter, and Team JNR were soon out the door. Team RWBY soon made their way east, though they were frustrated, given this was supposed to be their vacation.
"I hate Mondays…" Muttered Blake to no one in particular.
Team RWBY began their hunt for Oscar through town, they ran into Neon.
"Hey Neon! Have you seen Oscar anywhere?" Asked Ruby.
"Nope, sorry."
"Bother…" She groaned, and they continued on their way. Soon they began conversing with each other.
"Doesn't it seem kinda chilling that the day after Oscar vented on how he didn't want to merge with Ozpin anymore, he… Disappears?" Asked Blake.
"You don't think that legend had anything to do with it, do you?" Quizzed Ruby.
"Legend… You mean…"
Suddenly Weiss had a look of fury on her face and stopped the three girls.
"Legends are just children's stories, you three… Wanna know my bet? What if it was that weird Kokkino dude who told us the legend? Blake, Yang, you must admit, he seemed… Pretty shady."
"True…" Pondered Blake, "But why would he want to kidnap Oscar?"
"I don't know, hold him for ransom? Maybe he wants a 'New kid'? Look, the more time we spend speculating, the more that creep is roaming free. I say we go back to that pub and have a word with him."
"Weiss, are you sure that's-"
"-Yes, Blake! I'm certain of it! Now, come on!"
She motioned them to follow her to the pub. Ruby and Blake were a little unsure whether or not this was a good idea.
"What if he's innocent?" Asked Ruby.
"What if he's not?" Admitted Yang, "You've got to admit, Weiss has a point."
Once they finally did get there, they saw the same man mopping the floor. It was opening time, and he instantly recognized them.
"Ah, hello ladies!" He waved, "Surprised to see you again so soon! What brings-"
But he was interrupted by Weiss and Yang both charging at him. They pinned him to the wall and drew their weapons at him.
"Woah-woah-woah hey! W-W-What's with all the hostility?!"
"I'm only going to ask this one time…" Said Weiss, "Do you think we're stupid?"
"No?..."
"Really?" Scoffed Yang.
"No, not at all!"
"Our friend Oscar went missing last night…" Continued Weiss, "And you want to know what the weird coincidence is?"
"... What's that?"
Weiss quickly summarized what had gone down the day before.
"Crikey… I guess your friend got taken by the legend."
"Orrr…" Continued Yang, "He got taken by the real deal, not some stupid fairy tale."
It was at that moment that Mr. Aspro walked in. Once he saw what was going on, he immediately went into defense mode.
"Woah woah woah, what are you two doing?! Drop your weapons!"
"Mind your own business, sir!" Interjected Yang.
"This is my business, you're attacking one of my employees!"
"I'm okay, Mr. Aspro!" Assured James, "One of their friends went missing and they're trying to find him! I thought it might be the work of Petra Barrie but-"
"-Petra Barrie?..." Said Mr. Aspro, he raised his eyebrow. "You did tell them about your kids, didn't you?"
"Yes, but I guess they didn't believe me… Maybe I should have given them the map."
"... Map? What map?" Quizzed Weiss, she and Yang let down their weapons.
"Come with me to the back," Said Aspro, "And I'll show you."
James and Aspro took them to the back of the restaurant.
"You still have it, right?" Asked James.
"Just a moment James, I know it's in here somewhere…"
Aspro did some digging through an old tool chest in the back. Before long he found what he was looking for.
"This is what you four will need!" He handed them a rolled up map. "Many say that it's impossible to find Never Never, but I was there once! Managed to escape, right under Petra's nose too, but luckily I was able to draw this out once I got back!"
"... Hold on, I thought the legend goes that nobody who goes to 'Never Never' returns?..." Asked Blake in confusion.
"Ahhh… This is mostly true, I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who's ever escaped, but… Can you ladies please keep that between us? It's not something I prefer to share publicly… Especially since my sister wasn't so lucky…"
"Uhhhh… If you insist, we'll be as silent as the grave…"
Weiss took the map, opened it, while Ruby, Blake, and Yang just peeked at it with intrigue.
"So… You believe this map could get us to Oscar, right?" Asked Weiss.
"And Petra Barrie too! You'd better be careful around her though! She's quite fierce, and she doesn't like uninvited guests if I remember correctly."
The four girls gave each other looks, making gestures as to what they were thinking. Suddenly something hit Weiss, and she couldn't let these two strange waiters off the hook without asking them about it.
"Wait a minute… If you've had this map the whole time, then…" She looked at James, "Why haven't you tried to save your kids yourself using it as a guide?"
"Oh, I wish I could…" Sighed James, "But you see how far away it is from here? I don't think I'd be able to make it through the desert, especially missing a limb." He said, gesturing to his hook.
"Well… She's missing a limb too." Said Weiss, pointing her thumb at Yang.
"Pushing, pushing…" Gritted Yang under her teeth.
"But she's got you three to aid her, I'd be alone, and my old pal Aspro here has to help run the bar."
"That's right, James."
"But what about your wife?" Asked Blake.
"My wife…" Sighed James, "She's in a psychiatric hospital. She was struggling to figure out how to go on without our kids and… Attempted to take her own life several times, so she had to be checked into one. I don't know when she'll be released. Only other family member is our Saint Bernard and I doubt she'd enjoy the desert."
All four of the girls gapped at each other in shock over what James had just told them about his wife. Finally, Ruby broke the silence.
"Well, we appreciate you giving this map to us, uhhh… Aspro, right?"
"That's right my lady. But please, you can call me by my first name, Bob."
"Good, thank you so much Bob! We must be going now." Then they left, both Bob and James seemed to have a look of hope on their faces.
When they got back to the house, Weiss laid out the map on the living room table and the four of them scrutinized it.
"Is this… Just a map of Vacuo?" Asked Yang.
"Looks like it…" Pondered Weiss. "So obviously this is where we are…" She said, pointing at the capitol. "But wait…" She noticed that down south there was a big red "X" marked in the hills.
"What do you think that 'X' is there for?" Wondered Ruby.
"That's probably where this 'Never Never' place is… If it does exist, of course."
As they were collecting their thoughts, Qrow and Team JNR returned.
"Where's Winter?" Asked Weiss.
"Flying around the perimeters of the city to do some doublechecking, Oscar wasn't at the library I'm afraid."
"Go figure…"
"I hope you guys have had better luck than we did on finding him!" Said Jaune.
"Uhhhh… I wish I could say we did, but… It's complicated…" Said Yang awkwardly.
They then noticed the map they had on the table.
"Is this… A map of Vacuo?" Asked Nora, intrigued.
"It seems to be…" Said Blake, "Remember that pub we went to yesterday? One of the employees gave it to us, and he… Uhhhh…" Blake paused, she didn't know how to admit that they were beginning to believe the legend.
"He said it might lead us to Oscar!" Finished Ruby.
"Really? I don't see how a map of Vacuo would be of any use." Grunted Qrow, but team JNR had a look.
"What's with that 'X'?" Asked Nora.
Team RWBY explained.
"What makes the employees at the bar think this'll lead to Os-Ohhh you've got to be kidding me..." Said Jaune, it had just clicked.
"Well… It's the only real lead we have!" Shrugged Ruby.
"So you're telling me that you now trust some shady guy who told us this random fairy tale about an immortal girl? And that he thinks that she is responsible for Oscar's disappearance?" Questioned Ren.
"The odds are a million to one!" Added Nora.
"It's possible!" Argued Ruby.
"But not very probable…" Said Jaune, "Now I'm with you Ren, we should have picked a different pub."
"Well, you don't… Have to come with us." Said Ruby, "I'm sure we can do it on our-"
"-Wait, you're actually thinking about going out there?!" Asked Jaune, "But you'd have to go all the way through the desert!"
Weiss, Blake, and Yang turned to Ruby. They weren't sure if they were being stupid, or if this could actually work. After all, they had just been to the Ever After, stranger things happened there! But this wasn't the Ever After… They were back in Remnant, so in this case it seemed really foolish to just take the words of two restaurant workers they barely knew and make a trek like that to find their missing friend.
Weiss broke the silence, "... I know this idea makes us look like idiots, but… Unless you have had any other luck, I don't know if we have much of a choice."
"So you're going to take that risk?" Asked Jaune.
"Might as well." Shrugged Ruby.
"Well… Count me out on this one." Said Jaune, crossing his arms.
"Seriously, Jaune?" Asked Weiss in annoyance.
"You want to go out in a scorching hot desert? Then be my guest, I'm too old for-" He stopped himself though, he was still having a hard time accepting that he was now a lot older than all of his friends.
"Yeah, I actually agree with Jaune on this…" Admitted Nora, with Ren nodding.
"Guess it's up to us then, eh?" Laughed Ruby. Blake chuckled, Yang reluctantly agreed, and Weiss… Just rubbed her nose brim and rolled up the map.
"Well… We must be off then, we'll take the hover bikes." She said.
But as they began making their way out the door, Qrow suddenly grabbed Ruby and Yang's shoulders.
"Are you two sure you want to do this?" He asked.
"Of course we are Uncle Qrow, we want to rescue our friend!" Said Ruby.
"And trust me, if any bastards out there try to mess with us, we'll make them regret it…" Laughed Yang.
"Oh you'll never lose your sense of humor…" Chuckled Qrow, "But… It's just, when you two were in the 'Ever After', I thought I had lost you for good…" He said at last, "And… The fact that we only just recently reunited, and now you two are going on another dangerous mission almost immediately, it's just…"
Ruby and Yang just hugged their uncle.
"We'll be back before you know it, we promise…" Assured Ruby.
"Please don't get hurt…" Sighed Qrow.
"We won't." They both said reassuringly.
Team RWBY soon gassed up two hoverbikes, loaded up their weapons and supplies into their bags, and prepared to head out into the desert. Blake and Yang obviously boarded one, Yang the driver. Weiss and Ruby were going to take the other, but before they climbed on, Ruby said something that confused Weiss.
"... Boba."
"Huh?"
"Oh, right… I forgot to tell you." Ruby quickly explained to Weiss the context, and she listened and understood.
"I see… What is it you need help with?"
"Well…" Ruby rubbed her arm and stared at the bike, "I was wondering if you could temporarily be the leader, just for this mission."
Weiss was surprised, "Me?!"
"Yes… After all we went through in the Ever After, I'm… Still not sure if my mental health is 100% stable. I just think it'd be too much pressure to act as the leader this soon, I was actually hoping our vacation would help clear my mind… But alas, Oscar had to go missing. What do you say to being the leader on this one?"
Now, if this had been the Weiss they knew back at Beacon, she would have gladly taken this opportunity without a second thought. But this was the Weiss they knew now, and for the longest time she couldn't think of anyone besides Ruby being the leader, and admittedly, none of them knew this, but Weiss had recently been having doubts about her own independence. Had everyone forgotten when she had been impaled by Cinder and barely survived, she wondered? Not to mention, she was still struggling to prove to people that she was more than just a Schnee. She was actually pretty hesitant to do it.
"Are you sure?" She asked, "Look at what everyone says about my family now, I-"
"-They're just still angry about what happened at Atlas." Interjected Blake, "We know that wasn't your fault."
"Well, yeah true, but like… I don't know, I don't think my mind has been fully clear either, not to mention the other day I-... No, I can't tell you guys, you'll only… Laugh."
"... Was this what I saw you getting upset about the other day?" Asked Blake.
"What? You saw-I-I… I mean…"
"Weiss, we're your teammates and friends, you can be honest." Said Ruby.
Weiss winced, "... I asked Jaune out on a date, and he rejected me."
The other three were speechless at first, then Yang broke the silence. "Talk about an ironic twist of fate!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Come on, you know 'What'."
Weiss gnashed her teeth, "Look, I… I admit it, I do find his new look… Attractive, I've also been having a hard time finding a date recently, so I thought back to when he used to pester me non-stop for one at Beacon… I thought he might still be interested."
"It never occurred to you that he lost interest in you after Pyrrha died?" Asked Blake, "I imagine all that time in the Ever After did a number on him too."
"Yeah, but… He also told me he was seeing somebody, but he didn't say who…"
Weiss just crossed her arms and pouted in silence for a moment. They now tried to comfort her, "I'm sure you and Jaune can still be friends!" Said Ruby, "But I do think… As a couple, it wasn't meant to be. Besides, there's still plenty of fish in the sea."
"How do you know that?... Every other person seems to hate me, so what are the odds? I'm the only one on the team who's still single, even you, Ruby. You and Azure seem to be having a good relationship…"
"I'm sure there's exceptions out there, you just gotta be patient… Besides…" She then lowered her voice to the point where no one could hear her, "I had feelings for Penny before she died…"
"Well… Patience is the key I guess…" Sighed Weiss, she then tried to calm down and made her decision. "Alright Ruby, I'll lead the way. That's what friends are for after all."
She climbed on board, Ruby then followed as the passenger. Then, they revved up their engines, and off they went. They actually passed the Pyratin's Brauen as they headed out into the desert. None of them noticed that Mr. Aspro had been watching them.
"Clean that witch to the brisket you four…" He said.
To be continued...
A few things to quickly make a note of, as evident by this chapter, I'm not a fan of Whiteknight personally, but no shipwars please. You may also have noticed that Weiss mentions a character named "Azure" who is in a relationship with Ruby, he's an OC and was actually created by one of my closest friends, who unfortunately isn't on this website, but he did give me permission to use him in my stories. You will find out more about him in a later chapter. Cheerio!