Everyone was currently on their way to Mistral. However, Seth's condition was getting worse by the minute. Mewtwo had gone to help the nearby villages, so he wasn't there. Seth was on a stretcher, and Eva snuggled up next to him. Rapidash was also using Heal Pulse to slow down the spread of the poison.
"We're so close," said Ruby, "I can feel it."
"We've gotta be close," said Nora.
"Without the map, there's no way of knowing," said Ren, "but I feel like we're close to something."
Up ahead was a junction, and signs.
"What is it?" asked Jaune.
The sign lead to a town called Kuchinashi, another lead to the Kingdom of Mistral, and a final one crossed out lead to something called Kuroyuri.
"Mistral! We're on the right path!" cried Nora.
She then turned to Ren, and saw his face, and realized what was wrong.
"Does it say how close!?" called Ruby.
"No," said Ren, "And it looks like the path takes up through the mountains."
"Guys," said Pyrrha, checking Qrow's condition, "I don't know if all of us can make that climb."
Seth coughed, and Ruby said, "What about that path? Kuro...Kuroyuri, am I saying it correctly?"
"That village was destroyed years ago," said Ren.
"But," said Pyrrha, "If we go around the mountains, it could be our best shot."
"It will take too long," replied Ren.
"The town would've had a doctor right?" asked Ruby.
"Maybe we could scavenge for medicine," said Jaune.
"You're not going to find anything," said Ren, getting angry, "We just have to press on!"
"Ren," said Jaune, "Why are you acting-"
Eva then tackled Ren down, and jumped up hard on Ren's chest, yelling, "VOI VEE VEE EH-VOI VOI EH-VOI EH-VOI!"
Eva then jumped up back to Seth, glaring at Ren.
"We should split up," said Nora,"Ren and I can cut through the mountains."
"No, we need to stick together," said Jaune, "We keep each other safe."
"We don't have time for safe!" said Nora, "If we make it to Mistral, we'll bring back help! If we don't we'll get a better view of the land!"
"Kids," said Qrow, "Now's not the time to argue. We-"
Seth coughed once more, and Ruby said, "We'll go down. Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, you go up. Jaune, Qrow, and I will go down toKuroyuri."
"But Jaune-"
"Pyrrha," said Jaune, holding her hands, "I can take care of myself."
He then kissed her.
"Okay," said Pyrrha. So, they all took the separate paths and Ruby said, "They're gonna be fine Jaune."
"You don't know that," said Jaune.
"We gotta have hope," said Ruby.
Ruby, Seth, Jaune, Eva, and Qrow made it to the village.
"Oh man," said Jaune.
"Come on," said Ruby.
They then walked through and saw all the buildings completely destroyed and ruined.
"Does any of this look like a pharmacy to you guys?"
"Ren really didn't want to come here, did he?" asked Ruby.
"Didn't...seem so," said Jaune.
"Do you know why?" asked Ruby.
Jaune sighed, "I think I have a pretty good idea."
After looking around the town, they heard an ominous roar. Jaune and Qrow got their swords out at the ready.
"It's far off," said Ruby.
"I know," said Jaune, "But Ren, Nora, Pyrrha and the others are still out there."
Ruby then looked down and said, "This is all my fault."
"I should have never dragged any of you into this."
"Ruby," said Qrow, "You don't need to be sad. We made a choice. We wanted to come."
"But," said Ruby, "you didn't know about Tyrian, about-"
"Ruby," said Jaune, "We lost our friends. And Penny, and your team, and...in a way, your sister. But you're still here, despite everything you lost, everything that you could lose, you chose to come here. Because you felt like you could make a difference. We wanted to make a difference. We wanted to be the ones who helped no matter what."
Ren, Nora and the others were heading up the mountain. Lucario and Centiskorch were accompanying them.
"Ren," said Pyrrha, "You okay?"
Lucario could sense something with his Aura. He gently put a paw on Ren, and looked at him, as if to say, 'Let it out. It will be better that way.'
Ren then sighed, "That village was my home. I lost my family there. One night, my father returned home out of breath. He took me, but my mother didn't make it. My father then told me to run and take cover. I then discovered my Semblance, I can mask emotions. I then ran over to a young girl who was homeless and had no parents. I helped hide her, and the Grimm that killed everyone but us in that village almost found us, but thanks to me, I managed to get us out. That is how I met Nora. Since then, we came closer and closer and I looked after her."
"GUYS!" cried Nora.
The four ran towards Nora, to find her holding a flag."That's the symbol of Shion village," replied Ren.
"But what is it doing here?" asked Pyrrha
"Exactly," said Nora, "It's weeks away from here."
Centiskorch then looked out the cave, and got everyone's attention, as he pointed towards smoke from the village.
The team was quick reunited and were facing a giant Grimm that was familiar to Ren and Nora.
Lucario charged up an Aura Sphere, and launched it into the Grimm's top.
The Grimm was a horse with a weird humanoid figure fussed to the back. "What the hell is that?" asked Jaune.
"That is the beast that destroyed this village," replied Ren.
The Grimm suddenly turned it's attention towards Seth.
Ren then used his semblance to hide Jaune and Seth. Jaune then lifted Seth up and carried him off to a safe distance.
Nora then unleashed a fury of grenades and the Grimm turned towards the others. Ruby attempted to slice, but she was grabbed before anything could happen. Ren then shot straight at the Grimm, who then grabbed his guns. "GUYS!" cried Jaune, "KEEP MOVING! GO IN A CIRCLE!" Those with projectile weapons kept shooting the Grimm from all sides.
Centiskorch used a quick flame charge, and rammed into the horse's head. Lucario joined Jaune in hitting it up close.
Jaune then came and slashed at the leg again. The Grimm was now PISSED! And it let out a cry and his back spines grew. Ren then ran to a tree and shot at it to get it's attention. Pyrrha then threw her shield at it, and she shot a single round from her rifle form. Soon, everyone was attacking from all sides.
Qrow was quick, and started slicing from it's back, making real damage. Qrow, Ruby and Jaune then pinned down all the limbs down with their blades.
Nora then jumped down, and she smashed the head of the horse. Ren had found a knife. The same knife from his father before he died. Ren then sliced the Grimm in painful ways, each one for his family, the people that died, and himself. Just then, airships came, and there were soldiers on board, and they helped treat to Seth.
When he woke up, he was instantly tackled by Eva.
"Ooff! Eva, really?!"
Eva just climbed up, and licked his face. Seth looked around, seeing the room, and said, "Looks like we made it."