The setting is bright and sunny in the forests of Anima, the continent that Haven Academy resides in. A small group of huntsmen and huntresses from the now defunct Beacon academy are here after their academy was brought down by a mixture of manipulation to destroy the academy's reputation and ultimately destruction at the hands of Cinder Fall and her crew who had assistance from the White Fang and grimm they were able to attract to the school. With the evil growing stronger and the good falling apart, something must be done...
...
...
...
Anima Forest
Ruby, Nora, Jaune and Ren find themselves in a battle, very much a detour from where they really want to go, which is Haven Academy. However, when passing through a little village on the way there, the people were kind and friendly but also afraid. They rejected the idea of traveling with the team and prefer to stay in their village. Instead what they do ask for is their help seeing as they are huntsmen and huntresses. A geist is terrorizing their village and it needs to be eradicated as soon as possible...
"Guyssssssssssss! Are you guys sure this was worth it?" Jaune stumbles back and forth, showing signs of dizziness
"Hey! We asked for no money or food in return for this! We needed to get those upgrades for your gear and this is how we get them for free!" Nora growls
"Yeah! We cannot possibly give up now only to go back, say we didn't defeat the monster terrorizing their village then leave with NOBODY benefiting." Ruby frowns as her back is turned as just about manages to dodge an attack
"Okay okay..." Jaune shakes his head, "Hey guys, my bad for my moment of weakness but I got it! I know how to defeat this thing."
"Great, so what's the plan? Cause I'm so ready." Nora smirks in anticipation
"We need to hit it harder!"
"Is that it?" Ren sighs in usual monotone voice, only this time more in disbelief, "That's your plan you've been coming up with this entire time?"
"No, seriously." Jaune claps his hands together, "Haven't you guys noticed? This entire time we have been fighting it, that thing has been trying to keep us from its face. If we kill the limbs and weaken its defenses, we'll have a shot to kill the whole thing! And Nora, you are perfect for this. Out of all of us, you're the one here who can generate the most power with a single attack sooooo yeah what do you guys think? I know it's sloppy but-!"
"Alright Jaune we trust you. Come on, team, let's do this!" Ruby is seen wearing the mask left behind to her by a friend as she nods in agreement
Ren and Nora look at each other and respectively mouth the words 'yeah' and 'right' at the same time
"What should we do Jaune?" Ruby points at herself, Ren and Jaune
"We have to keep it distracted at the very least, unless you're able to kill any of its limbs then that would be awesome." Jaune outstretches both of his arms to the opposite sides of the opponent in front of them, "Ren, left. Ruby, right. I will go behind it and try to distract it in my own way, while you two attack it and Nora waits for her chance to strike. Before you go Ruby, can I ask you something?"
Ren and Ruby give nods as the former departs as rapidly as he is told, with Jaune not even able to see him leave
"Yes Jaune? Make it quick too! Time is of the essence." Ruby jumps in excitement but also with nervousness
"Well okay how do I put it? Nora, Ren and I have been wondering, could you take off that mask?" Jaune chuckles and signals for the new leather straps that keep the mask on Ruby's face to come undone
"That was your question? Are you serious?" Ruby's eyes widen, "Jaune..."
"I'm just saying-!"
"No thanks, this conversation can wait." Ruby takes off and almost instantly catches up to Ren
"Oh man, even to one of my closest friends I still can't pick the right words to say. What was I thinking?"
Jaune sighs and jogs away from where he and Ruby just finished talking before catching up to Nora in no time
"O-okay Nora." Jaune glances at her, "Ready to try out the new upgrade?"
"I'VE BEEN READY!" Nora nods and sprints to get in position
"Right on! I on the other hand will-!" Jaune attempts to call out what is about to do but is promptly flattened to the ground by the giant boulder grimm known as a Petra Gigas, the rocks and elements within the monster controlled by the Geist terrorizing the village
"Jaune!" Ren calls out
"I'm okay!" Jaune quickly springs up to his feet to dodge further attacks, "Just might need to change my pants later..."
Ruby springs forward and attacks the right side of the Geist while Ren attacks the left, giving Nora plenty of time to activate a new feature that generates a current of electricity across the top of her long maul 'Magnhild'. On the other side of the grimm is Jaune who runs around to make himself a target this time purposely, waving at the Grimm
"Over here you ugly pile of pebbles!"
The Petra Gigas goes after Jaune fully speed, the weaponless huntsman gulps as his eyes widen
"G-guys... too close for comfort!" Jaune initially dodges one attack but realizes he won't be able to dodge the next and braces for impact by simply raising his forearms to cover his face
However, the dramatic huntsman is quickly saved as Ruby and Ren divert the attention of the Petra Gigas by attacking it once again. The two work solidly with Ren being an aerial distraction and dodging every attack the geist throws at him while scaling the massive beast made of rocks. Meanwhile, Ruby provides the offense by firing bullets from 'Crescent Rose' in its scythe form, whilst she also avoids attacks with quick scythe slashes to block the incoming blows. The grimm scrambles to pick its target as it wants kill the easy prey that is Jaune but the armed huntsman in Red and two huntresses in Ruby and Nora are making that far too difficult for it. Right as it is about to figure out how to attack the team, Ren begins to attack by firing rapid fire shots from 'Stormflower' and Ruby gets closer to the monster whilst switching up her attacks to powerful swings of her scythe rather than bullets. A wise move to mix up their attacks as the grimm is back at square one
"READY WHEN YOU ARE!" Nora shouts and fully charges Magnhild while digging her feet into the ground, the power she generates is so much so that the ground beneath her cracks
"You gonna be okay?" Ruby asks as she lands next to Jaune and checks on him
"Y-yeah, now go! Use everything you've got!"
Ruby uses her lightning fast speed to fly at the Petra Gigas, she grabs Nora on the way and spins with her. The red and pink swirls of rose petals and pink lightning surge through the geist's defenses, with Ruby slicing its main form of defense which is a tree arm in half. Opening the way for Nora to strike the head of the boulder grimm with a powerful and direct hit
BOOM!
The rock body shatters into many pieces and the ghoul like grimm rises out of it and flies off, attempting to live another day
"You got it?" Nora nods at Ruby
"Hell yeah!" Ruby aims a shot at it, squints her eyes and fires a flaming bullet out of crescent rose
What should have come next is the Geist meeting its demise with a direct shot but instead it falls dead before the bullet ever reaches it because a quicker projectile strikes it directly in its face
"Hm?" Ruby cups her ear, waiting for the sound she always expects when shooting grimm
Jaune jogs towards Nora and Ruby, he breathes heavily before smiling and posing with his hands on hips
"Another victory for Team JNRR!" Jaune notices the instant silence and only seconds pass before he shrugs and speaks in a deflating manner, "Yeah, okay. Ren, I think you're onto something. It's just not sounding great anymore, RNJR it is."
"Finally a tiebreaker." Ren smiles
"YOU DON'T GET IT DO YA?" Nora whines
"Guys..." Ruby growls when everybody is obviously ignoring her, "GUYS!"
"Yes?" Nora turns around first and notices Ruby's eyebrows creased, "What's wrong?"
"That grimm, my bullet didn't hit it." Ruby turns head to the side
"Are you sure? You're always accurate... even if your bullets are sometimes ineffective."
"Hey!" Ruby stomps her foot, "Friendly fire much?"
"Oop! Sorry!" Nora giggles
"Back to what Nora said, are you sure?" Ren speaks as he agrees with his closest friend, "You never miss."
"I'm positive, I have to go check it out... ya know, to be sure that grimm is dead." Ruby begins to jog away
"No!" Jaune grabs her by her hood and pulls hard
"You're choking me!" Ruby scrambles and squirms until Jaune lets go
"S-sorry, I just meant we should go together, it could be a trap. Not that grimm know how to play dead but what if it lures you in and then you're surrounded by more."
"Ohhhhh, right!" Ruby waves the rest of newly formed team as the four of them leave the open area and head back into the trees, they find the remains of the grimm they just defeated but Ruby's bullet clearly continued to travel as it pierced a handful of trees, "Yeaaaaah, something definitely killed this grimm before my bullet reached it."
"That's incredible." Jaune's eyes widen, "Something had to be thrown or shot faster than you can shoot crescent rose, but who would possess that kind of speed?"
"More like impossible unless they were at a really close range." Ren looks around but sees nothing or nobody
"Yeah but there's nobody around as far as we know."
"Well, what's important is the grimm is dead so the people of the village are safe." Nora smirks
Just as the newly formed team of RNJR/JNRR are about to walk away, it's the more quiet member that notices something glowing
"Check it out." Ren kneels next to the remains and picks up a glowing object
"What is it?" Nora asks
"It looks like a knife, a knife engraved with dust perhaps?" Jaune rubs his chin as he inspects it
"Let me see! Let me see!" Ruby tries to barge through the JNPR trio to take a look but they are sturdy and do not budge at all
"No it would be much heavier if it was a knife engraved with dust, also why would someone just throw it and not retrieve it?" Ren passes the knife to Nora, who does not take a lot of time to inspect it before she hands it off to Jaune
"Maybe we can take this to the blacksmith too?"
"Unlikely, it looks like the entire weapon is dust so any time now it should just-!"
Ruby pushes through Nora and Jaune and grabs the dust knife for herself, but as soon as she gets her hand on it, the knife explodes into many dust pieces, what she was able to notice was the shape, design and length of the knife, it was not a hunting knife or a dagger but a throwing knife
"Great look at what you did." Jaune sarcastically laughs
"M-me? I barely even got to touch it because you were hogging it!" Ruby scans the area, hoping to see someone hiding in the forest or watching from a distance on top of a tree "I know I'm not going crazy, that knife was exactly like Link's, I've seen and touched his throwing knives before, but if he's here why doesn't he show himself?"
Ruby continues to scout the land around them, her eyes narrowed and ready to spot who she thinks it is or if it happens to be somebody else with an identical weapon
"Ruby?" Ren speaks quietly
"Ruby!?" Nora shouts
"Hey! Earth to Ruby!" Jaune waves his hand in Ruby's face, breaking her concentration
"Whoa, thanks. Sorry I didn't hear you guys, did you guys say something?" Ruby softly laughs but her attention is still elsewhere
"I said we should get back to the village, our job is done here and the sooner we tell the mayor we got rid of that grimm, the sooner he and the rest of his people can rest easy knowing that thing will never terrorize their village again."
"Right, let's go!" Ruby, the assigned leader of the team says happily and leads the way
Minutes pass and at last a head does poke out of the bushes and indeed Ruby's theory and slight vision of the dust knife used are a mystery, the person watching them and who took out the grimm was hooded, a dark green cloak covers their head and a barely visible wooden mask hides his face. However, rather than run out and address them normally or being a slimy scumbag who demands compensation, he does and says nothing. His expression remains cold, his eyes lifeless and yet despite not moving an inch to approach the former Beacon students, the hooded figure continues to watch the four discreetly
"..." The person with the hood over their head says nothing and continues to watch them walk off until there is enough distance between themselves and the team of four to advance and continue following
Approximately fifteen minutes later, after talking to the mayor and saying their goodbyes to him, team RNJR next go to the blacksmith who agreed to make the upgrades to Jaune's armor, sword and shield as payment for defeating the geist. After some time Ruby who has now taken her mask off, Ren, and Nora exit and wait outside the shop. Jaune comes out wearing the armor upgraded armor. He pulls out the sword, expands the shield and smiles at both of his weapons, almost shedding a tear in the process until the blacksmith cuts in and pats Jaune on the back
"He cleans up alright, don't you think?"
"Certainly." Ren softly smiles
"I still think a grenade launcher would've really brought the look together but hey the classics work fine too."
"Nothing's gonna stop us now!" Ruby cheers, "Go team R-!"
"JNRR!" Nora cuts in and celebrates like she got the final say
"...Still not a color Nora." Ren's smile turns into a smirk
"It doesn't matter what we're called." Jaune says as he puts away his sword and his shield retracts to a sheath, "As long as we're together."
"YEAH!" Ruby jumps for joy at this statement
After some more talking with team RNJR inquiring about the next village they will go to next, only to be given next to nothing regarding information. The blacksmith nor anyone in the village has been in contact with the Shion village since Beacon was taken down. With a somber wave from all four, Team RNJR turns and leaves; The blacksmith waves back and grunts.
"Mister? Are you lost?" An elderly woman walks up to the hooded figure following team RNJR and almost manages to touch them
"...!" The hooded person quickly takes off and does not look back but at the same time is careful since the people they're following are only walking
"C-come back son you look like you haven't slept in days!" She calls out but to no luck as the person in the hood keeps moving
The next path back into the forests of Anima consist of less and thinners trees and a pattern of rocks in the form of a road to lead the way, Jaune, Ren and Nora walk ahead while Ruby trails behind
"Everyone got ammo?" Jaune asks
"Locked and loaded! Thank you, Schnee Dust Company!" Nora nods and gives a salute
Ruby looks down and to her right sadly, thinking about Weiss as soon as Nora says the word Schnee. Soon enough she shakes her head and reaches for her belt, grabbing her gifted mask and slowly putting it on, still getting adjusted to the tightness of it along with how the straps work
"Who's got the map? I want to see approximately how long the next village is."
"Ren's got it." Nora nudges Ren with an elbow to the arm
"No, I don't. You have it." Ren shakes his head
"Wait, what?"
"Guys..." Jaune almost comes to a complete halt, "Please tell me you're joking."
"Uhhhhhh..." Nora smirks in shame
"Guys!" Jaune raises an eyebrow until it finally dawns on him and Nora and Ren are being serious, "Guys?"
"It'll be okay, we're huntsmen and huntresses, we can figure out where to go next all on our own." Ruby speaks in a chipper tone
"Ruby is right, hey why are you behind us anywa-!" Jaune turns mid sentence and then shrieks like a girl when seeing the metal mercenary mask back on Ruby's face "Ahhhhh!"
"HA! HA! HA!" Nora points and laughs at her former leader who almost falls to the ground
"Jaune it's still Ruby." Ren puts his hand over his mouth to cover a smirk
"I know but can you please stop wearing that thing? It's creepy!" Jaune crosses his arms and looks away to hide his embarrassment as the team keeps walking
"I do not find it creepy at all." Ruby speaks with a completely serious tone, "I think it's nice that Link left something behind for me."
"Right, I get the sentiment buuut..." Nora shrugs her shoulders, "He could've left you some cash or weapons or if he wanted to be discreet, his hat? I dunno."
"Well money ultimately has no sentimental value, it isn't something that lasts forever." Ren says softly, barely heard by anyone, "So I have to side with Ruby on this one."
"Yeah and besides, he's our friend and seeing this mask should let you all know he's probably fine, that he's with us in spirit AND that we will see him again one day." Ruby smiles until she crashes directly into Jaune who stops walking, "Ow! What gives? Is there another monster to take down?"
"No no, thankfully not." Jaune shakes his head "I just wanted to ask, will we see him again? Because he had no problem abandoning you. He also had no problem telling the rest of us off before abandoning us, you got spared from the ugly rant."
"Whoa whoa... you got spared too." Ruby frowns, "Anyway, what are you getting at?"
"Weiss was forcefully taken home by her father, Yang is at your house dealing with her injury, Blake witnessed something scarring and has her reasons for running away, but what about him? You said he was brought back to your home when the battle was over. Your dad made him feel welcome to the best of his abilities and as soon as he got the chance, he left..." Jaune looks at the ground with disdain, "He could have been here right now with us."
"Well that would have made the name picking process a lot harder though, what would we have been called then with a spare L?" Nora laughs, clearly not reading the room
"Not now Nora." Ren put a hand on her shoulder and shuts his eyes
"You don't understand, he witnessed something scarring too." Ruby smacks her lips, "Link was with m-!"
"No offense Ruby." Jaune sighs, "Maybe it's best we don't say his name right now. Ren and Nora told me everything he had to say, if he doesn't consider us his friends anymore then I don't know. It's heartbreaking because I hope he's okay but knowing that he doesn't care about us, it doesn't feel good at all."
"That isn't fair." Ruby grits her teeth, "I understand he said hurtful things but we can't just assume he actually hates us."
"Easy for you to say." Nora sighs, "You weren't there when he said everything he had to say. Believe me when I say it was a lot of awful things and I know that you were hurt by what he said too. But it's different when you hear it from somebody else versus actually hearing it from him. He didn't just say we weren't his friends, he said we had no concept of the word friend, as if we don't truly know who we love and care for. Like Jaune said, I hope he's okay too but-!"
"ENOUGH!" Ruby shouts so loudly the village they just left could probably hear her, "Stop emphasizing 'he' and let's stop pretending like our friend doesn't exist. Link gave me this mask for a reason. If he didn't want to be reminded of his mercenary past, or quite frankly anything else he wanted to erase, he would've broken or burned this. So I'm treating it like a cherished gift from my friend, a friend who I know still cares about me and all of you. No matter what he said on that day, anger was at an all time high... I know it's not an excuse but he had plenty of reasons to be angry. We probably wouldn't be on this mission right now if we heard him out and listened to everything he wanted to say to us."
"Ruby..." Jaune growls, "Are you saying if he told us everything sooner that Pyrrha could ha-!"
"Alright that is enough like Ruby said." Ren lowers his head, "It really is unfortunate how everything unfolded the way it did, things could have gone far differently."
"Well we can't turn back time now can we?" Jaune grips the handle of his sword and begins to walk forward, "No. What's done is done, so let's just keep moving forward, that's mainly why I question your choice to wear the mask, it's just more reminders of the past."
"You can't erase the past." Ruby mumbles, "And honestly, Link isn't the past either, I know we will see him again. I know he isn't and was not perfect either, there was a time and place where he could have told us everything he knew and he chose not to. Maybeee he needed more time."
"Yes he chose to withhold information and I don't understand why. Needing time is no excuse, we didn't have the time to wait." Jaune's grip on his sword tightens in anger, "If we do see him again, I have plenty of questions but-!"
"But!" Ruby interjects, "Ultimately, whatever his reasons were that doesn't matter anymore, it won't reverse anything that happened. He didn't have to explain himself then and doesn't have to when we do see him again. Those decisions are his and they should have been and will be respected."
"Why are you defending him so much? He didn't exactly name drop you as people he still liked during his entire blow up." Jaune scoffs and does not even bother to turn around and look back
"Because Jaune..." Ruby looks down and frowns angrily, "He is our friend and that really should be all I need to say. But if you really must know more... we already lost our school. According to my uncle Qrow, there is no sign of Professor Ozpin, our teams are either broken permanently or separated by entire regions. Plus we are potentially walking into something that will be more difficult than anything we've ever faced before, the last thing we need is animosity and tension between people who should be allies. And we could seriously use all the help we can get against Cinder and everyone who is helping her destroy the world. "
Ruby plants her feet and in a rapid motion she springs into the air and jumps in front of the JNPR trio
"We are all in this together, whether it's us here right now traveling to Haven on foot, my sister at home, Weiss in Atlas, Blake wherever she is, Link wherever he is, and the rest of our friends from Beacon. Grudge or no grudge being held, needing time alone, being forcefully kept at home, it doesn't matter because we are going to save the world together."
"Those are beautiful words Ruby and I know you believe in them but, we'd be lucky to be allies at this point considering we're dead to him." Jaune sighs, "Either way, if we see him again back in Vale or wherever he chose to go during all this time, hopefully things can go back to normal."
"What is normal now?" Nora asks
"I guess you're right." Jaune's eyes rise to the sky, "If we see him again and he joins us... amazing. If we don't see him then it is unfortunate but, we do not need his help. We're all strong and are more than capable of saving the world just us four. We haven't seen him in months Ruby. He probably doesn't even think about us and this isn't me being unfair, it's assumptions based on hurtful words that were said to state a clear message about where we stand."
Right as Jaune, Nora, and Red are about to get in front of Ruby again, she lifts her arms for them to keep standing still as she sniffles
"It doesn't matter how long it's been since we last saw anybody, we haven't lost him have we? There is always a chance for reconciliation so we can come together to save the world. With everyone included, not just us four." Ruby's tone lowers as she struggles to say her next sentence. "We already lost Pyrrha, I don't want to lose anybody else."
Those words garner no reactions but instead Jaune speeds past Ruby and continues to walk, Nora follows him but Ren stays behind to keep Ruby company
"He'll come around, it's been a tough time for all of us but, especially Jaune. He blames himself for a lot and took everything to heart, this mission for him is more than just assisting you. He wants to take down the woman who..." Ren cannot even bring himself to finish the sentence, "And I agree, we are all in this together."
"Thanks Ren." Ruby weakly smiles as they both jog to catch up to Nora and Jaune who are now speed walking
Elsewhere: Atlas, Schnee Residence
The slow clicking of heels on the pristine carpeted floor are heard as Weiss walks down a long, blue and white hallway. Extended columns from the walls are decorated with well lit candles. Next, she is walking on a balcony above a large dining hall, a white and green floral centerpiece decorates the table, with there being plenty to admire and appreciate. However, Weiss does none of that and continues to walk, dreading her talk with her father. She walks down a wide stairway with curving balconies on both sides above it, with large armor statues filling the space on either side of the bottom stairs. They resemble the partial Paladin Weiss summoned during the fall of Beacon. Walking in another room with blue and white floor patterns much like every room and hallway in the Schnee household, Weiss slowly walks past a life size statue of a King Taijitu, never once looking up at it. Last but not least, she stops when passing by a music room with a grand piano. Weiss walks towards a window and stares out of it, letting out a big sigh
"I miss all of you." Weiss looks up at the bright blue sky as she thinks about her team, next she thinks about team JNPR, even Pyrrha, following them there's team SSSN, mainly the few moments of flirtation she had with Neptune, then lastly there is Link who more than anyone, has been at the back of her mind since she was forced to return home, "I hope you're all safe wherever you are. I promise I will see all of you again one day, especially you Ruby... and Link. One always wanted to be my friend while the other became my most unexpected and fastest close friend I have ever experienced."
Weiss smiles and thinks about how she can potentially see her friends again. The happy vibes are cut short and before any daydreaming or planning can be done, she sees her brother approaching her rapidly. Weiss' smile drops as she glares at him...
Forests of Anima: The next day
"...They just kept doing pigtails, but personally, I think I'm more of a 'warrior's wolf' tail kind of guy." Jaune says as he puffs up his chest as much as he can
"Isn't that just a ponytail?" Ruby cackles
"I stand by what I said."
The two friends smile and bury their faces deeper into the the map as they blindly continue walking forward
"You guys..." Nora says as she and Ren stop walking at the same time, she gasps while Ren's eyes widen
"Yeah?" Jaune asks as he and Ruby simultaneously look up from the map and immediately they react the same way as Nora and Ren just did seconds prior
In front of them is a village that just met its destruction. The sky is gray but not due to incoming rain or a sudden weather change, it is from two ginormous trails of smoke in the air the size of a communication tower. A dead bodies can be seen on the side of the road immediately upon entering the village and for the most part every building is either dismantled or completely looted and vandalized but something else is different too. Besides dead bodies and destroyed buildings, there's many dead grimm on the ground too. All four members of team RNJR sprint into the village fast, with Ruby and Jaune drppping their map as the destruction was more important at this moment
"Over here!" Ren who sprints ahead of everyone finds the first and what looks to be the only survivor
"A Huntsman!" Ruby recognizes the weapon next to the injured person who looks to be a young man. He breathes heavily and holds his hand against a bleeding wound in his chest, only slightly below his heart
"What happened?" Jaune quietly asks, "Who killed all these people?"
"Bandits. The whole tribe, they all just came and..." The young man coughs out blood, "Then, with all the panic..."
"Grimm." Ren says with anger and sorrow in his voice as he stands up and puts his hands on his head in disbelief
"I'm only alive because... someone saved me."
"Really? Who? Are they still here?" Jaune kneels down next to the huntsman
"No I... told them to save themselves, it's too late to save me anyway."
"Hey don't talk like that!" Jaune shakes his head
"Did you get a look at them, was it a man or woman? Or the direction they went towards?" Ruby asks
"H-hey he doesn't need to answer anything, conversing his strength should be top priority."
"It's okay... you guys could use all the information you can get out of me" The young man sighs as he accepts his inevitable fate, "This person, they were really fast... I initially couldn't see their face at all because they were wearing a green hood and a mask. When the grimm arrived, the bandits got scared and ran off. Although some didn't even make it... one of them had the nerve to still try and kill me for my weapon, and that's how I have this wound right now. That's when an ursa wiped him out in one strike and I was next until..."
"That person arrived." Ruby slightly smiles
"Y-yes." The young man smiles back, "They were like nothing I'd ever seen before, I only got a glimpse of some blonde hair poking out of a wooden mask. He fought with only a sword but that's all he needed to wipe out every grimm here and fast too. I couldn't get a good look at his sword because it was glowing with a bright golden aura. Then after all the grimm were gone that's when they came up to me and..."
"He tried to patch you up?"
"That's right." He chuckles now but it was a painful chuckle, "That's when I could tell he was a boy but a boy with a lot of experience, although he felt really cold and sad, almost like he was saving me just for the sake of not wanting another person to die."
"W-what..." Jaune's jaw drops
"I told him to save himself, this village is gone and the area will be overrun by more grimm soon once more of them sense what happened. He looked hesitant until he understood there was nothing to do anymore. T-that's when I saw his eyes, they were..."
"They were?" Ruby's eyes widen as she realizes the man is now really struggling to speak
"Ruby! Don't push yourself sir." Jaune shakes his head and pulls Ruby aside until they're both side by side with Nora
As the members of RNJR look on with sadness and confusion, the hooded figure shows themselves again. He peeks from behind a building that did not get destroyed and when he is absolutely certain that nobody looks his way, he carefully treads back to the front of the village. He breathes a little heavily but soon gains his composure. Sprinting across, he swipes the map on the ground and quickly hides again by going behind more buildings
"Guys, I think we can get him to the next village, right?"
"YEAH!" Ruby nods, "If we move fast we could get him to a doctor there! Let's get going now, our chances will be better this way. I can run ahead and look for help!"
"I don't know if he'll make it." Nora speaks with sadness in her voice
"He will. He has to." Jaune with a look of determination turns back but his face falls as the huntsman slumps over
"Guys..." Ren shakes his head
"Should we bury him?" Nora says as she looks around for tools
"No." Ren walks right past his team without a backward glance, "We should go. You heard him, it's not safe here."
'Ren..." Nora turns and follows him
"It's going to be okay." Ruby puts her hand on Jaune's arm, she notices her friend looking stressed and sad.
"I believe that you believe that. I'm just tired of losing everything... and everyone."
Jaune and Ruby look at each other with somber express as they walk to meet back up with Ren and Nora who look shell shocked as they recognize a hoofprint on the ground. While the four of them regroup, the hooded person takes advantage by getting ahead of them, using the stolen map to see for themselves where to go next. However, he is unaware that while he is following team RNJR, he himself is also being watch by a lone crow in the distance
"I don't know who that guy is but... he seems to be on our side." The crow speaks to itself but it is no regular crow as the voice is that of Ruby's uncle Qrow, "I already got enough on my plate keeping an eye on these kids, a fifth person is going to drive me nuts but ah to hell with it."
Qrow, while ironically in his namesake crow form, leaps off the hill he's on and flies towards the hooded figure. This was new for him as opposed to flying behind team RNJR like he had been doing previously. The hooded boy sprints through the forest after conserving most of his energy throughout the day by walking, his head is down and eyes on the ground while he runs. Qrow flies inconspicuously or so he thinks but unfortunately does not realize that who he is tailing is more aware than he thinks. And when the crow gets too close...
"...!" The hooded boy stops running and in a rapid motion he spins with his sword fully drawn, intending for a powerful slash. The same bright gold aura mentioned by the dying young huntsman surrounds the blade
"Shit! How did he know?" Qrow attempts to fly upwards to avoid the strike, knowing he does not have the time to transform
At the very last second however, the boy stops right as he is about to slice the crow in half. He shuts his eyes and sighs, realizing that he is just paranoid and not actively being trailed by 'anybody'. He nods at the 'innocent bird' as an acknowledgment of guilt and puts his sword away, proceeding to promptly walk away before sprinting again soon after
"That would've been some way to lose my life, dying as a crow to a kid." Qrow shrugs as he flies away and back towards team RNJR to resume traveling behind them like was doing before, "He was way too fast for a kid, and I didn't even get a look at his face. I just saw he had a wooden mask with a strange design painted on. That was quite a bizarre face in red paint, and a creepy yellow eye in the middle but the kid cut out what he needed to for his own eyes and mouth to see and breathe... and that mouth was something else. It was a sadistic smile... what a weird kid to design a mask like that. I suppose it is to make his opponents fear him so I can give him props there but he's not slick, I saw blue eyes... if only I saw the blade of his sword. A person can change their appearance all they want but they can't replace their weapons."
The crow and hooded boy go their separate ways quite literally as Qrow flies back to watch over and protect Ruby and her team from the stalking grimm. The hooded boy gets ahead of everyone in order to potentially eliminate future threats that may come at himself and the team he is watching over. Although Qrow stays focused on going back to his original mission of ensuring Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren make it to Haven alive and well, the person who almost killed him turns back and narrows his eyes, questioning why a crow was so close to him when normally they are incredibly hard to spot
Later on, Nighttime
A Beowolf attempts to retreat and flee but its life is cut short when the same sword seen earlier goes right through its back, as it falls, two more beowolves and a giant Ursa charge at the cloaked boy who evades their attacks with slick footwork and picture perfect dodging until it is his turn to strike. And strike he does, he closes in on the evil grimm in the forest and has to pull out a familiar shield in order to block attacks. Whilst he blocks successfully, he also gets closer and closer, shredding through the beasts with single slashes for each one. A direct swinging slash for the Ursa who falls backwards and perishes due to a large wound going from its midsection all the way up to its neck. The second beowolf meets the most gruesome death as the boy charges at it and aims directly for the neck, slicing the grimm's head completely off its body and sending it flying to the ground along with the carcass. Lastly, the third beowolf manages to get behind the huntsman and almost clobbers him with a big claw strike. However the huntsman simply lifts up arm. And with his shield now raised, he effortlessly blocks the attack without planting his feet into the ground or even setting himself up in a defensive stance. To repay the beowolf that came the closest to harming him, the boy spins with lightning fast speed and stabs it directly through its stomach, the grimm lets out a huge shriek of pain before it flops over and soon disintegrates exactly the same way as its three companions who died before it. The boy retracts his weapons back to their original state and has no reaction. No smile, shock, anger, displeasure, amusement, excitement, relief or fear. The boy simply looks around to see if there are any more grimm lying around. When he ensures that the part of the forest he is at is to sleep is secure, he nods to himself and finds a tree to rest on
(...) The hooded boy says nothing as he prepares for another night in the forests, with no supplies to make a proper campfire or build a tent, he simply sits up against a tree and stares up into the shattered moon just like he did when revisiting a special place close to his heart. He shuts his eyes and proceeds to inhale and exhale calmly, trying to ease his mind to hopefully fall asleep very soon. Having found somewhere to sleep was not easy as he had to clear out the grimm in the area, doing all the work that would have come directly at team RNJR by getting rid of the grimm ahead of them. Unfortunately, the boy yet again cannot fall asleep, almost as if his brain refuses to let him as he has evidently not slept in a long time. Upon realizing this yet again, the boy begins to panic and breathe heavily. His heart which was once calm and cold enough to be considered frozen solid is now beating rapidly and loudly too. A churning feeling in his stomach occurs, very uncomfortable tingling and borderline prickling ensue on his hands. He attempts to combat these negative sensations by quickly balling up his fists and opening them repetitively, along with more calm breathing, but when he begins to feel light headed, the boy gives up. While feeling restless and unable to sit still any longer, the anxious and panicking huntsman debates on getting up and running, until...
"Ahhhhhh!"
The hood covering the mysterious boy's head comes completely off, revealing blonde hair and his mask nearly comes off too. He hears screams in his head that feel way too real and recognizes the voice immediately... Pyrrha.
(...where...) Finally mustering up a word in his own head, the huntsman looks around frantically, hoping to spot beautiful red hair and a tall huntress wearing red and gold with sparkling green eyes and an angelic smile. However, when he tries to get up to physically look around, he is quickly aware that he can't move in the slightest
The boy grunts and tries to move everything, his feet, hands, arms, legs, any attempt to explode up to his feet quickly fall flat, all he can do is turn his head side to side
(...c-can't... move...)
The attempts to calm himself down from earlier prove to be futile as he stops the slow breathing and stops clenching and unclenching his fists, letting these sensations take over and showing that he has dealt with and is familiar with them. Having started to experience them since one dark and fateful day. As a last ditch effort, he removes his mask and opens his mouth to breathe without the small nuisances that come from his makeshift wooden mask. The blue eyes Qrow saw, the blonde hair by the unfortunate huntsman from Shion, and Ruby's suspicions about the throwing knife made of dust all lead back to Link who reveals his face. His now cold and expressionless eyes What he sees next is an all too familiar sight
(...what... is...)
The entire scene from the top of beacon tower plays out but just in his head, he visualizes it right in front of his own eyes while he cannot move a single muscle
"Do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha with no fear in her eyes stares right back at her opponent, never once breaking eye contact
"Yes." Cinder's smile disappears and a frown takes its place
Cinder stands back up and forms her bow and arrow again from what seems to just be shards of glass. She pulls back an arrow and lowers the bow to aim at her weakened opponent. Pyrrha shuts her eyes and accepts her fate, Cinder narrows her eyes even further and releases the bow, striking Pyrrha directly in the chest within a second
(...where... am... I?... and... Ruby?) Link blinks and breathes harder as in this recollection, he never makes his appearance to try and stop the arrow from Cinder and Ruby never springs to the top from the opposite side to end Cinder's destruction with her special silver eyes
"Finally, I will be the catalyst for everything!" Cinder's clicking heels get closer and closer to Pyrrha as she places a hand on Pyrrha's head, using her fully acquired maiden powers to incinerate the young girl completely, the angelic and powerful JNPR huntress stops moving and gasping, her body glows orange briefly and then she scatters away into ashes. All that was left was the circlet she wears on her head which is in Cinders hands now; the evil woman smirks before dropping it on the ground like a piece of trash
(...RAHHH!...) Link finally breaks the paralysis his body was under and sprints at his own vision, he swings his sword with every combination to his knowledge but ultimately absolutely nothing happens, when it happened in real time he couldn't stop Cinder and even during his delusional vision he could not stop Cinder either
The former one man team from Beacon closes his eyes and attempts to scream loudly but no sound comes out of his vocal cords, when he opens his eyes the vision is back again and it replays the exact same way: Pyrrha being shot in the ankle, her failed attempts to get up and continue fighting, Cinder's heartless execution, Pyrrha scattering into ashes and the evil smile on the latter's face, only this time the entire scene felt even more real than the last one
(...w-what... is... this?) Link's eyes widen as he is seemingly physically there at Beacon tower but he is clearly just a bystander as neither of the two women notice or hear him and yet again, Pyrrha's execution replays for a third time
This time when Cinder is about to drop Pyrrha's circlet onto the ground like a worthless scrap of metal, Link grabs his sword and swings it to sever Cinder's hand, only for nothing to physically happen again to Cinder. When she and Pyrrha disappear, the huntsman is left on top of the destroyed tower alone and on a brink of self-destruction as he cannot understand why he continues to see Pyrrha's death over and over and over again. What is clearly just a vision feels quite real as the 'concrete' Link stands on collapses and he starts falling down the entirety of Beacon tower, with every single floor having been destroyed and the bottom is the vault where Link almost found Amber
(...why... is... this... happening?!) Link attempts to reach for his hook shot to stop his fall but it isn't there anymore, and the same applies to the rest of his weapons, projectiles or accessories and he has nothing to grab onto for stability as he was right in the middle of the destruction
The way down feels like it lasts for hours as the huntsman continues to fall alongside a heap of never ending rubble and materials of importance from the main part of Beacon Academy, at one point he manages to spot Professor Ozpin's coffee mug and that nearly brings a smile to his face, but ultimately it does not. Link closes his eyes and accepts his fate. He falls all the way down and slams into the vault but not with a sickening thud. It was a massive plop into a big body of water, he plummets into what feels like powerful ocean waves actively being affected by the moon as the vault is now submerging with water. The panic struck boy tries to swim but every time he swims forward, backward, or side to side, the water prevents him from getting anywhere and instead keeps him in the same position, with the only change being the water rising and Link eventually not floating to the surface anymore. The amount of water increases at an unrealistic and freakishly fast pace, going past Link's chest all the way up to his nose in seconds. It gets slower and more methodical when it is about to submerge his entire head to die a slow, painful, and horrible drowning death
(...No!...)
Link opens his eyes and he is back in the forest, at last he is able to move more than just his head sideways and he makes sure it isn't another dream or hallucination as he performs various physical tasks: first he moves his head up and down, then wiggles each one of his fingers individually, flexes and extends his arms, rotates his shoulders slowly, completely extends his legs, bends his knees and lastly gets up to his feet. He lets out a sigh of relief and walks back and forth to regain his composure whilst trying not to think of what he just witnessed for a fourth time. His body shakes as he struggles to even clasp his hands together due to his unsteadiness. To make matters even worse, basic noises like wind are now louder than ever before, making the huntsman paranoid over his surroundings again despite being in no danger. Link reaches for his right side with his left hand and digs into his pouch, where he pulls out Ray's pendant given to him as a gift to cherish forever. With his right hand he reaches for his belt and grabs Pyrrha's circlet that he managed to grab during the battle at the top of Beacon tower. He balls up his fists without any force, holds both items dearly and with plenty of care. Finally, the tiniest smile emerges from the corners of his mouth that anyone could confuse it for a fake smile. To Link however, it is the most emotion he can show while holding two extremely valuable and sentimental items to him, holding the pendant and circlet immediately help calm him down. The paranoia, shaky nerves and rapid heart rate all come to a swift conclusion. Link looks up to the dark but well lit sky, remembers his lost friends and stays that way for a long time. Soon enough, he puts both of the precious items back where they belong and proceeds to sit against the tree again. The troubled boy looks up and stares at the shattered moon once again...