Halo, it's time for the newest chapter. Enjoy the reading.

As a protector knight, Lance was terribly disappointed that he couldn't protect his friends. After being fallen into the deep abyss by Cinder's exploding glass shards, his shield structure was damaged and unable to transform, so he could do nothing but fall helplessly into the great void.

He fell for a long time, but then he felt something unusual. It felt like he wasn't falling at all, but rather floating and sinking at a slower pace. Whatever happened, he knew he couldn't get back into the passage, so he just closed his eyes and waited for death to fall into.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, because when he opened his eyes, he saw light, sunlight at that. He felt that he was lying on solid ground and the water was constantly washing him back and forth.

When he sat up he saw that he was on a sandy beach, the shore was full of rocks and shells, while further inland it was more of a tropical jungle, but above the vegetation he saw a rocky mountain with even more trees on top.

He stood up, dusted himself off the sand and salt water and took out his Scroll to look for the others. Unfortunately, he had been in the water for too long and the device was broken. Disappointed, he threw the broken device aside and started in one direction along the coast, hoping to find Blake or any inhabited settlement.

If he got here, then the faunus girl should be here too and maybe together they could figure out where they were.

He walked for a while until he found someone on the beach, lying on the sand just like him.

- Ruby! - He ran straight to the girl, who immediately woke up when he called her.

- Lance?! - Ruby was relieved when she saw the Knight, but she also looked around curiously as she sat up. - Where are we?

- I don't know, - Lance helped the girl up. - I wake up here after I fell. I didn't expect you to fall too.

- Not only me, - Ruby lowered her head in disappointment. - but the others, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune and Neo fell too.

- No... - Lance could hardly believe that so many people had fallen. - And Penny? The people of Atlas?

- The people got out, - Ruby explained. - but Cinder got the Staff and Penny... - Her tears also flowed when she thought about what had happened to the girl, who could barely be human for a few hours, but had to sacrifice herself.

- Penny... - Lance's heart also trembled, because Ruby's expression revealed that something bad had happened to her.

- I'm sorry. - Ruby took the boy's hand, but Lance just pulled it away and started walking.

- We need to find the others. - Lance, although he didn't show it, felt a terrible pain in his chest, but he wanted to help the others. - Maybe they're here somewhere. Or find a settlement where we can get help.

- I don't think we're on Remnant. - Ruby looked up at the sky curiously and saw something strange.

- What are you... - Lance also looked up at the sky and could hardly believe his eyes when he saw two suns in the sky. - You don't see something like that every day.

- I think we shouldn't walk along the coast, - Ruby saw a huge tree on the rocky mountain. - we could see farther from that tree for a while.

- Good idea, - Lance nodded and the two of them took themselves into the jungle. - maybe the others thought of it too.

It was a strange jungle, inhabited by plants and insects that the two Hunters had never seen before, but this didn't deter them and they continued on their way. Next to one of the trees, a strange bird, at first glance a flamingo, but in appearance resembling a flowering bush, balanced on one leg, flapping its wings in alarm as the two Hunters passed by.

- Is it just me or we're really not getting any closer? - Ruby noticed that despite the fact that they had been walking for twenty minutes, the tree was just as far away as when they started.

- How is that possible? - Lance also looked curiously towards their destination.

They continued their journey, cutting through a dense vegetation, but when they reached the end, the same flamingo that looked like a flowering bush flapped its wings in fear again and this time crowed angrily for daring to disturb it again.

- That's impossible! - Lance found it a little scary, but the flamingo didn't care, it just kept crowing.

- Some kind of magic or illusion? - Ruby didn't understand either and the flamingo was still making noise.

- Maybe we should... - Lance was really annoyed by the flamingo's continuous complaining and angry crowing. - Shut the f*ck up! - He stepped towards him threateningly and the flamingo fell silent and backed away in fear. - So, let's try to move sideways.

- There's no other option. - Ruby shrugged and they both continued along the shore, but in vain, they ended up again where the flamingo had been standing and crowing.

- Okay, this isn't funny. - Lance was starting to get irritated.

- It's like we're in a stupid maze! - Ruby was already growling in anger.

They had walked the same path at least a hundred times and were already starting to feel embarrassed that they were walking so much, but not getting anywhere. They tried for hours, but they weren't getting any closer to the tree.

- Hopeless. - Lance finally stopped and sat down at the base of one of the trees and took off his helmet. - We won't find the others and we won't get home. - Ruby could hear the fear and despair in his voice.

- We can't give up. - Ruby tried to encourage him.

- So what do we do? - This question from Lance was a serious challenge for Ruby, because the girl was speechless and sat down next to Lance, just as disappointed.

- I don't know. - Ruby, just like the Knight, was desperate and tears welled up in her eyes.

- I thought so. - Lance put his arms around Ruby and pulled her close. Suddenly, the sky began to rumble and the previously cloudless, clear sky was now covered by dark clouds and it started to rain. - And that's our luck.

Ruby heard a squeak from next to them and saw that a mouse, a little larger than an average mouse, although this isn't at all unusual in this place, was trying to pull a plant out of the ground, but it proved too difficult for it.

She held her hand out to the mouse, which the little creature smelled and after understanding that it posed no danger, it climbed on her, then she pulled the plant out of the ground with her other hand, but both she and Lance just shook their heads as to what it really was.

- Is that... cheese? - Lance simply found it unbelievable that Ruby pulled a piece of cheese out of the ground.

- It looks like. - Ruby, after smelling it, determined that it was indeed cheese and heard the mouse squeak pleadingly and point to the cheese in her hand that it wanted. - Here. - She gave it to it and the mouse began to eagerly nibble on it.

- At least there won't be any problem with the food. - Lance pulled several of these cheese plants out of the ground, gave one to Ruby and ate one, then put the rest away.

- At least the starving is no problem. - Ruby smiled at the mouse, still eating the cheese, while she also took a bite of another cheese and whispered playfully to the mouse. - I wish you could help.

- I can try. - Unbelievable, but when the mouse swallowed the bite, it spoke, causing Ruby to scream and throw it away, along with the cheese and fall to the ground in pain.

- Is this talking?! - Lance could hardly believe his ears when he heard the mouse speak.

- Why did you scream and throw me away?! - The mouse stood up angrily and demanded an answer from Ruby.

- I'm sorry! - Ruby couldn't help but excuse herself and apologize. - I didn't... I mean... - Although her curiosity was just as strong as her pity for the mouse. - you're a...

- You're a mouse. - Lance finished.

- So? - The mouse just tilted its head to the side curiously.

- And neither of us have ever spoken to a mouse before. - Ruby tried to be as gentle as possible.

- Well... - The mouse looked Ruby and Lance closely. - I don't think I've ever spoken to beings like you either. - It's clear that it found the two Hunters as interesting as they found it. - What are you?

- Oh, - Ruby answered. - we're humans. - The mouse just stared blankly, as if it'd heard some foreign word. - I'm a girl, he's a boy. - In vain, it just didn't understand. - Hunter and Huntress.

- That's a lot of things. - The mouse still didn't understand.

- I'm Ruby Rose. - Ruby finally introduced herself.

- I'm Lance Monroe. - Lance joined in.

- Ruby Rose and Lance Monroe are your goal? - The mouse simply couldn't comprehend what they were saying, Lance and Ruby were completely foreign creatures with foreign habits.

- No! - Ruby shook her head. - Those are our names. I'm Ruby and he's Lance. - The mouse was still looking at her in confusion. - Do you have a name?

- I'm too young, so no. - The mouse was already starting to understand.

- But what do your friends call you? - Lance added.

- Little, Brother, Kid, Hey You, Come, Go and many more. - The mouse listed them.

- What if, - Ruby thought of what to call me. - we call you Little? Will that be okay?

- Very creative. - Lance just shook his head, laughing.

- Hm, - Little thought about his name. - What does this... "Little" feel like? - Ruby just laughed, but she turned her head sadly and looked at Lance. - What's wrong? - Little noticed that the two Hunters were suffering from serious grief.

- We... - Ruby already knew that Little would have to phrase it differently to understand what she was saying. - Have you seen other people who look like us?

- Look exactly like you? - Little misunderstood a little.

- No. - Ruby clarified. - Not exactly like us.

- Four girls and a boy. - Lance helped.

- I'm sure it will make sense eventually. - Little was getting more and more confused.

- Well... - Ruby already knew that they would have to give a description. - One of the girls has long, blonde hair. Another has white hair tied in a ponytail.

- The boy has white armor and short, blonde hair. - Lance joined in. - Another girl, short, with pink and brown hair.

- And one of them has cat ears! - Ruby finished, but as soon as she mentioned Blake's cat origins, Little screamed in horror and hid behind the cheese. - Sorry, - It's clear that Little is afraid of cats. - I should have known! I've seen a lot of cartoons!

- Don't be afraid, our friend won't hurt you. - Lance stood next to the girl and reassured Little.

- Well... - Little came out from behind the cheese and made up his mind. - I've never seen anyone who looked like you before. But maybe someone in my village did. They're always looking for... - He looked at the cheese. - You know, food and stuff.

- Could you take us to your village? - Lance asked.

- I could, - Little looked at the cheese again, then back at the two Hunters. - but I came here for food too and if you can get me more of that, we can talk about it.

- Deal. - Lance and Ruby assured Little of their help.

It didn't take more than ten minutes for Lance and Ruby to gather enough cheese plants to feed Little's village and the mouse led them to his home. Little rode on Ruby's shoulders and showed them the way and interestingly, Ruby and Lance didn't end up back at the same place they started from.

- Are you drooling over me now? - Ruby heard Little start snoring and drooling on her cloak.

- You still think it's cute? - Lance asked after putting his helmet back on.

Before Ruby could answer, they saw a huge horde of mice, who were just like Little, but were celebrating the fact that Weiss and Blake had been tied to trees with branches and were about to be executed.

- We are no longer prey, but predators! - One of the mice, probably the village leader, gave a speech, to which the horde began to cheer. Ruby and Lance just stood there in silence, their voices broken by what they saw.

- What's going on here? - The loud noise woke Little up and he also noticed Blake and Weiss. - Hey, there's your cat friend. - As soon as he remembered that Blake was part cat, he screamed and hid in Ruby's cloak, but Ruby quickly silenced him.

- New enemies have arrived! - The village leader heard Little's scream and the horde also noticed Lance and Ruby. - And they took one of us hostage!

- No! Wait! - Ruby quickly raised her hands.

- We surrender! - Lance just chuckled under his helmet. Stopping a horde of mice from executing his friends and convincing them that they were no threat wasn't on his bucket list. - We brought cheese as a peace offering! - He took out the cheese plants from his pack and threw them in front of the horde.

The mice stopped, started sniffing the cheeses and started eating instead.

After everyone had calmed and settled down, Little assured his village that the newcomers weren't hostile and let Weiss and Blake go.

- I didn't know what to do, because they seemed sad. - Little explained to his companions. - But then we talked and after that they weren't so sad anymore. Then, they pulled all these cheeses out of the ground, with their bare hands! - The other mice listened as if he were telling some incredible heroic story, some of them fainted.

- Please, - the village leader, a black and white mouse, one eye of which was gray and empty and judging by the scar, a cat could have clawed it out, ran up to Blake and bowed his head. - accept our sincere apology. Please understand that our kind is quite skeptical about cats. And snakes. And cats.

- We understand. - Blake wasn't angry. - If I may ask, have you seen anyone like us? - She was hoping to find Yang. - With long, blonde hair? Who looks a little scary, but in reality isn't?

- But sometimes she is, if she wants to. - Weiss added. - Maybe a blonde boy with white armor? - She also wanted to find Jaune.

- Or a girl with pink and brown hair? - Lance didn't want them to forget about Neo.

Unfortunately, the scarred mouse just shook his head, which only disappointed Team RWBY and Lance.

- Thank you though. - Ruby, even if they couldn't help, she was grateful that they let their friends go. - Before all this happened, - She summed up what had happened. - Lance and I were trying to get to that big rock. - She pointed to the tree that was lying on a high cliff. - We're hoping that we could better see where we were from a high place.

- So far, this sounds like the best choice. - Weiss agreed.

- If you want to get to the rock, I can help! - Little immediately climbed onto Blake, which greatly annoyed the faun girl. - I... - He lowered his head a little sadly. - I don't have anything to do yet anyway!

- "Yet"? - Ruby and the others looked at the mouse in confusion.

- I could be your reliable guide! - Little offered enthusiastically.

- We don't know this area, - Lance supported the mouse's suggestion. - so it would be nice to have someone who does.

Unfortunately, the "trusted" guide fell asleep on Ruby's shoulder five minutes into the journey, drooling.

- I think it's cute. - Ruby said smugly to Lance.

- If it's going to poop, you clean it up. - Lance pointed it out.

- I think - Weiss was being bothered by a strange bug that she simply couldn't shake off. - we should figure it out ourselves. - It annoyed her that the guide had already fallen asleep.

- At least he showed the right way. - Blake stood up to protect Little. - We need to hurry. - She was clearly worried about the others, especially Yang.

- Come on, - Lance wasn't that worried. - you've been here the longest and you've never had any problems. Yang can take care of herself.

- I saw what happened. - Ruby remembered everyone who fell. - Neo, Jaune and Yang fell besides us and of course, Adam.

- Adam?! - Blake was terrified at hearing the man's name. - Why didn't you say that before?!

- I didn't think it's important. - Ruby shrugged.

- Not important?! - Blake was a little angry at their leader. - That madman tortured and mutilated your sister and you didn't think it was important to talk about him?!

- I think when we get home, Ruby, you need to start rethinking your values. - Lance also just shook his head at the girl's carelessness.

- If Yang and Adam are here, Yang's in danger... - Blake's worried words were interrupted by a blood-curdling, inhuman roar.

The group quickly hurried in the direction of the sound, continuing along the road, until they reached a bend and saw a terrifying beast, which they couldn't determine what it was.

A tall, lean beast, its body dark purple and black, with long, clawed legs and arms and most of its body covered in armor-like purple bone plates. Its head was covered by a gray, bone mask that resembled a Grimm mask and from its head grew four light, long and thick horns covered in purple stripes. It had a long, thin tail that ended in a large, pointed spike.

- Searching... - The creature was clearly searching for something. - Lurking... - It saw the group, who were just standing there silently, watching the strange and frightening creature. - Following... Tracking... - It turned and started searching again. - Following... Searching... - Little knew exactly what this creature was and quickly wrapped himself in Ruby's cloak. - Finding... Monitoring... - It turned back to the team, but Team RWBY and Lance had their weapons ready and were ready to fight.

Ruby would have reached for her scythe too, but she forgot that she had lost it in the fight with Adam, so she stayed behind and let Blake, Weiss and Lance deal with the beast.

- Danger...! - The monster charged. - Death...! Bite...! Break...! Tear...! - It slashed at Lance with one of its clawed hands, but he blocked it with his shield and pushed it back.

- I said I'm not done with you yet! - Farther back, from the road, a familiar, stern voice hit everyone's ears and the creature's head was hit by a rock.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and there stood Yang, tired, panting and with one hand, but alive.

- Finish... - The monster saw that its opponents were outnumbered and began to retreat. - Retreat... Wait... Return... - It quickly turned around and ran into the jungle, jumped onto a rock and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Lance and Weiss ran after it to make sure it was really gone, while Yang collapsed to the ground panting from exhaustion.

- Yang, - Ruby immediately ran to her sister. - are you okay?!

- Damn it! - Yang angrily slammed her into the ground. - You shouldn't be here! - She looked at her sister, but she wasn't at all happy to see her here.

- If you think I had any choice in the matter, you're very wrong. - Ruby glared indignantly at her sister, who blamed her for being here. - What happened to your arm? - She noticed that her sister's mechanical arm was missing.

- I don't think you'd believe me if I told you. - Yang was sure of that.

- Why not? - Little emerged. - You seem pretty reliable.

- Is this talking?! - Yang could hardly believe her eyes when she saw the mouse talking.

- Why does everyone ask this? - Little found it annoying that everyone had the same reaction when he spoke.

- Ruby... - Yang was a little afraid of Little. - What... - She couldn't finish because Blake immediately jumped on her neck, hugged her, which made her fall to the ground and they started kissing.

- Yang... - Blake was unspeakably happy that they had found each other and snuggled up to Yang, who returned the hug with her single hand.

- Aren't you scolding her for being here? - Weiss, after she and Lance were done with the reconnaissance, looked displeasedly at Yang, who was angry at everyone except Blake.

- You'd think she'd be glad she wasn't alone. - Lance was also upset by the girl's behavior.

- I am. - After getting out of Blake's embrace, she sat up and tried to formulate what she wanted to say. - It's just... things went really badly in the passage... and... I feel like everything I did was unnecessary.

Ruby knew very well what had happened in the passage with Penny and still couldn't get over her death.

- Ruby... - Lance put his hand on the girl's shoulder to calm the trembling and on the verge of crying girl.

- I couldn't do anything... - Ruby wiped her tears away. - After you fell, Adam held me back so I couldn't help her... - She clenched her hands into fists, as if she blamed herself. - I lost my scythe and... - She felt ashamed that it was all that mattered. - I couldn't do anything without it... - The rain started to fall again. - and... - Tears were flowing more and more from her eyes. - Jaune... - She sniffed weakly. - he tried to help her, but... there was no time left and... - It was really hard to say what happened. - Penny sacrificed herself to protect the power of the Maiden.

- Hey, - Lance hugged the girl, who almost fainted from the trauma. - it's okay. It wasn't your fault.

- If I hadn't dropped Crescent Rose... - Ruby hugged the boy. - maybe I could have done something about Cinder...

- Penny made the decision to protect others. - Weiss also tried to comfort her.

- Like a true Huntress. - Blake also joined in.

- Thanks to her, a lot of people got to safety. - Yang also encouraged her sister. - And what happened to the relic? - She tried to change the subject.

- Cinder took that too before she pushed me. - Ruby answered, calming down a bit.

- And why didn't they come back from Vacuo to help?! - Yang remembered that no one came back to help.

- Maybe the space gate from Vacuo didn't work on the way back? - Lance guessed.

- I think I messed that up. - Weiss thought and remembered something. - We asked Ambrosius for a one-way trip to Vacuo.

- Is this serious?! - Yang was annoyed by the spirit's pickiness.

- Ozpin warned me about how annoying he could be. - Blake remembered.

- It doesn't matter where we did wrong, - Lance focused on the present. - we need to find Jaune and Neo and get home.

- I'm worried about Adam. - Blake was afraid that Adam ended up in this place too. - He could be anywhere and there's no way he'll give up his revenge campaign against us.

- If he shows up, I'll beat him to the ground! - Yang tried to act as if she wasn't afraid of the man at all, but her trembling hand, which she clenched into a fist, revealed how scared she was.

- It'll be okay. - Blake took Yang's hand, which reassured the girl.

- In summary, - Weiss thought about what to do next. - Ruby's weapon is lost, Yang's arm was stolen, Neo and Jaune are still missing and Adam could show up at any time to finish us off.

- I think we should find Jaune and Neo, Ruby's weapon and Yang's arm, then find a way out. - Lance finished as he sat down tiredly under a tree.

- And what do you think, - Blake asked. - where are we? - Suddenly, the rain stopped and the sun came out.

- And what if we can't get out of here? - Weiss feared the worst.

- We ended up here somehow. - Ruby pulled herself together and didn't give up hope. - So, there must be some way to get home.

- And what if we died and this is the afterlife? - Yang worried about that. - Until you found me, I really thought I was dead.

- No. - Blake just shook her head. - I don't think we're dead. - She ducked through a pile of green vines. - I know it sounds a little strange, but... - She reached the end of the cliff and an amazing sight opened up before her. On one side he saw an island covered in candy, full of giant sweets, on the other side a hill covered in red flowers, a luminous, multicolored mushroom forest on the other side and many other incredible things that can only be seen in fairy tales, but at the center of it all was the tree where Ruby and Lance originally wanted to get to. - I think we've entered a fairy tale.

Thank you for reading. Please sign it to follow and as favourite and don't forget to write reviews.