The Knight Who Fell Back To The World

by NeoShadows

A wish to fix what she had broken. The Rusted Knight had been given a chance to go back, to regain the youth he had lost amidst the time in Ever After. But hesitation at the knife's kindness led to a different choice. Jaune was too old for fairy tales but it looked like he would have to continue Remnant's most beloved children's book back in Remnant.

3. A Walk Through The Desert

Been a long, long, long, long while, huh? NeoShadow, back with the milk.

They were out of whole milk- skim is just as good. You're lucky I'm not so cruel to have grabbed soy.

Now as for the reasons why I haven't uploaded...they're too many to get into. Let's shorten it, huh?

Work, work, work, laziness, laziness, laziness, and, well, family drama. Lost both my grandfather, uncle, and father this last year, so my productivity in all my writing has taken big hits. Being an adult sucks and I will never stop saying that dried out old line.

But no one wants to hear excuses. They want a meal! And this one has been sitting on the stove for a long while; seriously have to get to editing the other chapters. This one is an action-packed plate, so dig in already!

Stop waiting- get to scrolling!

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Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to RWBY- wait, who owns the rights at this point!? Anyway, whoever currently holds the license have all rights reserved.

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Chapter 2: Once Upon A Hot Vacuan Desert.

Amplify_The_Hype

[-]

Insufferable heat.

Blazing light.

Scalding winds.

Sand...everywhere.

"I mean EVERYWHERE. It's like I'm trudging through the Acre with the pyramids."

"Pfft, that's what happens when you wear a full suit of heavy armor out in the desert, Vomit boy. You were bound to trip or something in the sand. Why do you think most Hunstman and Huntresses forgo wearing heavy-plated armor? It's just added baggage and puts further strain on their auras."

"Well, forgive me for not putting that into account before stepping through a magical doorway straight into the vacuan desert! Damn it, I just got my armor cleaned in what feels like years! Now it's going to rust again from all the sweat drenching my body."

"Wait, isn't aura supposed to protect us from environmental hazards like cold and hot climates? Even with our average aura reserves, none of us are sweating just yet. How are you already suffering from the heat?"

"Because he's old."

"Oh, there it is. Now we're starting with the old jokes now, huh? I'm not even that old! I'm, like, in my mid-thirties! ...High twenties?"

"You went down almost ten years. How is it that you don't even know how old you are? You have gray in your hair like Uncle Qrow! And he's ancient!"

"Kids these days."

"See!? You're already mumbling about 'kids' these days with a disgruntled old man's scowl! What's next? Ya gonna wave your cane/sword at us troublesome brats to get off your lawn?"

"This close, Yang! You're this close!"

In the distant horizon of Vacuo's desert, five darkened silhouettes could be made out steadily traversing the hot landscape amid scorching winds. Where they had come from, who could say? As if by magic, those five individuals had appeared as if from thin air in the middle of Remnant's most infamous, unforgivable, land with only the clothes on their backs. No supplies, no cloaks, no vehicles, no map, not even canteens for their parch throats growing dryer by the minute.

All they had in sight of a landmark was the shadow of the Vacuo Kingdom and the many army fleets floating above its crown ike waiting stars.

Even as Ruby's aura slowly drained away due to the scorching desert heat and winds batting into her small body, she smiled happily for what felt like the first time in who knows how long. Even if she couldn't make out the sigils on the bullheads and fleets stationed above the last remaining kingdom, she knew.

Vale.

Mistral.

What remained of Atlas.

Her message across Remnant had reached those who could still fight and desired to act against further tragedy at the hands of an ancient terror. Failure was a common pill she had taken these last few days but she was happy. She was happy to know that her message for unity hadn't been another failure she had to swallow with tears.

Ironwoods betrayal. Martial Law. Salem's agents wreaking havoc. The Hound. The Invasion. Penny's corruption. The Fall of Atlas, the destruction of Mantle below, the loss of hundreds of lives by Cinder's attack, the collapse of the Central Bridge, RWBY's loss and descent into the Ever After…

Penny's death.

It had all become too much for Ruby to endure. Those regrets, the anger, the frustration the disappointment, the pain, the despair, the grief, the sorrow, the emptiness. It had all just broken her and caused her to collapse emotionally. Not even being reunited with her first friend at Beacon and Jaune had been enough to relieve that sense of brokenness. If anything, seeing her longtime friend and partner in such an equally broken and rusted state had further cracked her heart.

Idly, silver eyes glanced back at the slouching old knight trying his best to weather the heat in a suit of full armor while glaring at an amused grinned Yang throwing some barbs at his age. Maybe she should have told her older sister to kinda ease up on the jokes.

But perhaps this was fine. The fact they were able to smile and joke after what they had just been through was a testament to those wounds healing.

Healing.

Not healed but bit by bit, mending the wounds they had all suffered.

And of all those here, it was Jaune who had perhaps the oldest wounds.

The Ever After had not been kind to the once vibrant and bright knight. Its trickery and magic had led the troubled boy to pick a clockwork fruit from a ticking tree, rewinding the Ever After's very clock back who knows how long. And for an unspecified amount of time, the lonely knight had been forced to wait for the world to reach the point of time when Team RWBY would descend upon the wonderland.

And in that time, he had suffered through his own failures and betrayals all on his own. Continuing to erode with each passing day, alone, haunted, hurting, until he became no more than a rusted piece of armor.

Like herself, his mind was breaking and his heart was drowning. It was only until she had lost her heart and drank Neo's tea to Ascend had the blond knight put himself together.

Silver eyes suddenly met deep blue. Both swiftly looked away.

Things were better, they were sent back home, and it looked like a promising start was waiting for them by the looks of all those military fleets at Vacuo's side. But their wounds weren't all mended but healing carefully. And certain wounds had been inflicted upon the reaper and knight that were still tender.

Words never meant to be said between two close friends. Hate directed at ones who had once given the other courage to keep moving.

There was no easy way to address the other's wounds. Just thinking about what had been said caused Ruby to grimace lightly and clench her small hand over her chest.

Things were finally hopeful for her friends. But there was still so much that needed to be fixed. Dealing with Salem and Cinder was simply the bigger picture; the end goal. It was the smaller issues when compared to such a global threat that made her nervous right now. So much awaited them in the kingdom ahead of them.

What had happened to everyone evacuated to Vacuo? What about her friends? Uncle Qrow? Maria? Had Salem's forces been active while they were gone? How long had time passed in the Ever After compared to Remnant?

Ruby sighed but refused to let all those questions and problems get to her. No, not again. She wouldn't let herself drown in misery again. Her failures wouldn't be an excuse to close herself off again.

Who she was now, was just perfect the way she was. And that person would do her best to fix all the damage left behind. Including the strain on her friendship with Jaune.

Before such arduous tasks could be tackled though, they first needed to cross the barren wastelands of Vacuo's desert. Which was proving to be a long trek despite the fact they could see the Kingdom of Vacuo ahead.

The scenery around them could be described in one word: Sand.

Sand, sand, sand, sand. Nothing but hills, slopes, dunes, and maybe the occasional rock formation greeted them as they walked in a straight path to the border of the kingdom. The only color for what felt like miles was sandy yellow, tints of orange and red, and the brief tint of rare green of the resilient plants capable of surviving the harsh climate with little water to drink.

Were it not for their aura being utilized to combat the cruel sunlight, they'd be joining the occasional dry heap of bones. Heatstroke was a thing and it would happily snap at those unprepared for the desert's malice.

Another slope to slide down(Ruby had to try her hardest not to squeal as they basically surfed down the long slope) and it seemed they were getting a bit closer to their destination. Hopefully, they could make it in time before anyone's aura began to flicker, or worse, break. Or die of thirst.

Once again, pleading silver eyes turned to a disgruntled Weiss, who rolled her eyes.

"No, Ruby. You can't just use what remaining Ice Dust I have left just to sate your thirst. I have only a single chamber left for, at most, three uses before I'm left with half a chamber of Lightning Dust. At the rate we're moving at, we should reach the border of Vacuo in just another hour or so. You simply need to grit your teeth a bit longer."

"But I want a Weiss Pop!"

"We are not calling my ice chunks Weiss Pops! Stop pouting and keep marching!"

"Boooo! Boooo!"

"Yang, I swear to the brothers."

"Wait, why can't we just use one of your large Summons to carry us the rest of the way? You know, like, a giant Nevermore! We'd cut our time to reach Vacuou in half!"

An exasperated, and now slightly sweaty faced, Weiss massaged her temple with what dwindling patience she could retain.

"Need I remind you that the Kingdom of Vacuo is being guarded by several fleets of airships at the ready to blast whatever Grimm they spot encroaching their borders? Now that the world knows of Salem and her agents, they won't ask questions at the sight of an airborne Grimm with human passengers flying overhead. They'll shoot first before even indulging in the very idea of us being friendlies. In the current state of the kingdoms, or what's left of them, they can't entertain guesses or uncertainties. I wouldn't be surprised if Martial Law is instated in the...Fall of Atlas."

Just the mention of her kingdom, her home's, collapse upon Mantle, still brought an unpleasant grimace on Weiss's face.

"Not to mention...they all most likely think we're dead," Blake added somberly.

"…"

"…"

"…"

No one had wanted to think about it. About what the world, their family, and friends, had logically believed as Team RWBY and Jaune had fallen into the abyss in Cinder's attack. A sense of unease and guilt immediately struck the four girls, enough to bring them to pause in their footsteps.

All except the rusted knight who glanced back in puzzlement.

"Something wrong?"

"How long do you think we've been," Ruby couldn't finish the sentence, eyes drawn down to the shadow stretching from her feet across the hot sand.

Yang scratched her lovely blond locks, scowling lightly at the dust of sand the action brushed out.

"The Blacksmith never did say. Just that we would be brought back at a time when we're needed most. It could be days, weeks...months…"

Not even the boisterous and bright brawler had it in her to say it.

How long had they been absent from Remnant?

And what would await them when they made it to Vacuo? Would any of their friends even be there to greet them? And then what?

"What does it matter?"

"Excuse me?"

Weiss couldn't help the indignant glare aimed at the back of the older Huntsman.

Jaune didn't look back. His words were callous and blunt, uncaring to the apprehension and guilt on the girl's faces at the thought of the pain their disappearance had most likely caused their family and friends.

"It could have been a year. Five years. So what? You're back now when they need you most. Be grateful that at most, you've all only lost a couple of years instead of no longer recalling whether its been ten years or twenty."

Eyes kept forward, the haggard and dented knight spoke with a simmer of frustration not even he was sure he could say was aimed at the girls.

Or at himself.

Patience was something the older Huntsman had not gained in his time in the Ever After, told by how he continued to walk ahead of the brooding girls. He didn't wait or slow down. No apologies were given for his biting words said out of scorn he had gathered and hated.

"Jaune…"

Ruby's hand twitched. Out of a habit for the well-being of her first real friend, she wanted to reach out to his turned-back and offer some comfort. Yet she hesitated and clenched her fist in frustration.

Team RWBY and Jaune were back in Remnant. The Ever After and all its troubles were behind them.

But something had changed. Even as their lovable knight was reunited with them, gained some spark back in his eyes, and accepted his own demons and flaws, it wouldn't fix what was done.

The distance between them on the sands of Vacuo, as he continued to walk ahead, symbolized that change.

Ruby felt a gentle pat on her back from Yang.

"Come on, Rubes. He's right about one thing. We should keep moving."

Judging by the melancholic smile on her older sister's face, she wasn't happy with the distance either.

Vacuo's borders weren't going to shrink if they continued lamenting what had already happened.

Ruby took a deep breath, steeling her silver eyes at the stretching shadow refusing to wait on their behalf.

Feeling bad wouldn't fix anything. It never did. Their time in the Ever After had taught her that. Those regrets and guilt would only serve to hold her back from actually changing things for the better. And she had already run away once before.

Jaune was right. It didn't matter how long they had been gone. A chance had been gifted to them to make up for whatever time they had lost.

So, keep moving. And don't be afraid of the distance in front of you.

With determination in her step, Ruby resumed going forward.

And not even before her foot fell back on the grains of searing hand did an all too familiar nightmarish roar erupt in her ears.

[-]

"Grimm?!"

"All the way out here in the desert? I know there are species of Grimm who have adapted to thrive in harsh climates like Mantle's unforgiving cold land but this far out? Other than Vacuo, there's no civilization to harass. Are they after a roaming caravan?"

"Grimm means people. If they aren't attacking us, then they're most likely attacking others this far back. If it's out this far then it's possible they're after some kind of patrol party safeguarding the border."

Grimm.

Grimm.

...Grimm?

Oh, right. Those things.

'For a good few moments, did I really forget what Grimm were? Seriously, how long has it been since I last had to bat aside the claws of those things that I would actually forget what they were?'

At the sound of howls and roar breaking the silence of the desert followed by gunfire and explosions, Team RWBY and Jaune abandoned their straightforward path to the kingdom and rushed towards the proximity of the fighting. Over high dunes, rock formations, and sand hills the five endured the hot winds kicked up by whatever battle was causing such noise.

Jaune grimaced as another lash of hot sand and hot air slapped his face. Aura was a nifty thing but it did jack shit against certain environmental hazards like sand in your face. Times like this he really did miss his cool visored helmet.

Shivering, a metallic rustle he'd never heard of, tickled his left forearm. A new decoration had been gifted to Jaune just before he had departed the Ever After, a unique armor piece crafted by a magical and seemingly all-knowing blacksmith made out of metal and bolts. For whatever reason, said specially made piece was shivering as if to call attention to itself.

It looked like the flattened helmet, fitted onto his shoulder like a protective pauldron, famously belonging to his other self: The Rusted Knight.

The mask-faced pauldron continued to shiver even as Jaune gave it a glance as the sound of heated fighting grew louder and closer.

Was it...calling to him? To do what?

It wasn't long until the sound of fighting had grown loud enough for everyone's auras to instinctively pop up to protect their soft eardrums.

Down a mile-long slope of shifting grains of sand and jagged rocks, the five Hunters could make out several men and women in distinct military gear(Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo?) aiming various long-ranged weapons at a large band of Grimm. Strange new Grimm could be seen, the likes of which the five had only ever read about or seen in pictures back in their time in Beacon, attacking the fiercely fighting combatants in the scorching desert heat.

From the blazing sky, aerial bat-like Grimm swooped in and screeched, firing ballistic-like soundwaves upon the battlefield.

Giant black-furred rabbits with heavy platting on their powerful legs hammed onto the sands with such force even the five Huntsman atop of the slop nearly stumbled down.

Small unique insect-like Grimm crawled around the field with orange-hot hooked feelers sweeping and slicing at what unlucky human was caught in its wild swings.

And at the center of the pack of deadly darkness was-

"A DeathStalker?!"

A giant barbed tip, practically burning with malice like it were the sun above their heads, dropped down onto the Huntsman like a javelin. It had lost its true target in its attack, but the venomous(Or was it burning?) barb struck the center of the fighting with a shockwave powerful enough to kill lesser Grimm and knock back even the burliest fighter like they were a flicked bug.

Yes, at the head of all the Grimm was a DeathStalker, a scorpion-figured monster of the God of Darkness's own creation. Yet it wasn't anything like the giant one Team JNPR had slayed during Initiation.

Its bone platting was denser, darker as if baked by the sun itself, and littered with broken chunks of rock for additional protection. Its pincers had lost their sharp edges, growing rough and bulky to better crush instead of piercing their prey. It was double the size of the Sanus breed Grimm, its body bulkier by design in order to endure the harsh blazing, and dry land with little prey.

With a yank of its tail, it freed its sizzling barbed stinger from the burnt sand. Unlike what Jaune had seen firsthand, the barb was thicker, sleeker, and reminded him of the tip of a jackhammer.

Disregarding even its own comrades, the Vacuo DeathStalker swung its clamp-like pincers like it was sweeping aside rubbish, striking everything in its path with audible cracks of bone.

"Shit! Are those some kind of patrolling guards or something?!" Yang cursed as she hurriedly loaded what leftover slugs she could into Ember Celica.

"Doesn't matter. They won't survive long against something like a DeathStalker. I'm not even sure any of them are Huntsmen." Down to only half a cartridge of Dust to infuse her Shadows, Blake readied her weapon and followed right after Yang down the slope before spinning her weapon like a lasso and letting it fly high into the air.

Without a pause or vocal confirmation, Yang fired off a shell downward as she ran, flying up after the hooked kusaragi. And with her monstrous strength, she yanked hard on the bungy-like ribbon to pull her girlfriend up into the air.

Weiss spun her rapier to the most well-suited of her dwindling Dust reserves. Like everyone else in their party, she was running low and close to dry. None the less she followed suit, glyphs springing forth below her feet to skate down. Sparks popped along the length of her rapier as she watched Blake and Yang finish the set up their combo as the cat-Faunus spun in the air to gather centrifugal force and slam the now fist-cocked brawler into the fighting like a meteor.

An explosion of dirt, sand, and flames erupted from the descending fist, killing a fair amount of Grimm. Luckily the patrolling guards had caught sight of the blazing sun-dragon girl and smartly retreated to escape the earth-shaking blow. What stragglers had survived were swiftly taken out by wasp-like zaps of lightning.

The three girls quickly joined the battle. All that was left were Ruby and Jaune.

Crocea Mor's worn-out hilt was gripped tightly as Jaune took in the battle down below carefully. Being a front-line fighter, he had to be careful where he placed himself in all the unorganized chaos developing down below. No tactics, no order, no plan- just fighting. It didn't even appear as if the patrolling guards had a leader to direct them.

Or, if they had, they were one of the first to go down.

Again, he felt his Rusted Knight pauldron(he really did have to come up with a name for that special piece sometime) shiver. Weird considering Petulant Memory was behaving itself.

Finding a suitable point to charge into to better control all the unorganized fighting, Jaune leaned forward and readied himself to dust off his sword once again.

Blue eyes peeked at the silent reaper by his side.

"Are you going to freeze up again?"

The whir of a mechanized scythe/sniper rifle unfolding brought a wistful smile to his lips.

"No more running. No more freezing up."

"Then hurry up and start dicing up those Grimm. Because it looks like we arrived just in time."

Red petals burst open like a popped balloon, scattered wildly as Ruby dove straight into the fighting with a gleaming blade ready to go wild.

For a second, just a second, an all too familiar determined grin had been found on the girl's moon-pale face.

Good. It was about time Crater-face had come back.

Ready to go down himself, Jaune was only stopped by the growing shiver irritating his shoulder. Growling in frustration, he unclipped the pauldron and glared at it.

"What? What do you wan-!"

Metal snapped open like the jaws of some beast and the Rusted Knight's face slapped onto his face. And Jaune was suddenly reminded of an old-timey space horror movie very similar to what was eating his face. It didn't turn out pretty for the hot chick with the creepy and slimy insect all but thrusting into her face.

Jaune expected teeth, feeters, something wrong piercing his face the second the pauldron mask attacked his face. Instead, before he could start screaming, and fell down the slope with his hands fighting to peel it off, the mask glued to his face. A warm, pleasant, and gentle sensation could be felt as the pauldron's metal stretched and went on to cover his entire face.

As quickly as it happened, it stopped. Jaune blinked anxiously, breath quick but calming down as he noticed his vision had returned. Immediately, he ran his hand across his face. Cool metal could be felt, familiar and comforting to the touch of even his gauntlet fingers.

Unfortunately, Crocea Mors's blade was far too beaten up and rusted to act as a reflection but he knew instantly without needing a mirror.

His helmet, The Rusted Knight's infamous helmet, the piece of The Ever After he had discarded upon reuniting with Team RWBY, had returned.

"Is this the Blacksmith's gift?" Jaune was in awe as he felt around the helmet, amazed that it had returned home after being left behind in another world.

Time to inspect it would have to wait. A thundering boom of the Vacuo DeathStalker cracking down upon the fighting patrolmen and Team RWBY's scattered fighting snapped him back. Shaking his head with a mental note to inspect the armor piece more later, Jaune unsheathed his broken sword and leaped forward down the slope.

Crocea Mors shield sprang to life.

And was quickly thrown down below his feet, angled perfectly down the downward slope as his boots landed.

Shield surfing. What a nifty little trick. All that time in the Ever After had certainly helped him learn to be creative with what he had in so many unique and strange acres of land.

With momentum building the further he surfed down, Jaune angled his sword and focused. Right foot at just where he wanted on Crocea Mor's shield, he tickled the mechanism of its Gravity Dust pulse and pressed down when he was at just the right angle.

Instead of the exploding shockwave sending him up, he had angled his surfing descent to send him lunging with greater force just before he touched the bottom of the battlefield. Riding on the surging force, he swung his sword at his target with a controlled sweep.

To the profusely bleeding patrolmen being preyed upon by a trio of Jackalopes, it was as if a gale of blurred gray had swept by like a sudden gust of wind. In an instant, the heads of the rabbit Grimm were lobbed off just before they could dive in for the kill.

Blood swam down the man's gaping mouth. Both in disbelief and pain.

"That's it? Huh, I could have sworn it was harder than that to kill Grimm. Guess the original is superior."

Face grimacing, the heavily wounded man sat up and found a strange figure, even by Remnant's standards, standing across from him.

A knight. An old-timey knight not seen since the days of even The Great War. Decked out in an entire suit of gray and faded gold lined armor, wielding a sword broken down the middle to leave a jagged edge and a faded old shield. The knight swung his sword off to the side to flick the fading black blood of the creature of darkness off before looking back at the man.

In that moment, the bleeding man felt his heart stop. Maybe it was because he was close to death, maybe he was recalling those golden days of his youth when his mother and father both sat down and read him fairy tales, maybe the blood loss was making him see things, but…

Rust.

The Rusted Knight leaned down and lifted his gauntlet hand over his chest.

"You'll have to forgive me since I'm out of practice, but let's see if it still works."

Golden light, rippling like the surface of a clear blue ocean below a sunny day, coated the rusted arm. The warm glow traveled onto the profusely bleeding man, skimming across various open wounds, and stopped the bleeding.

No. It did more than that. The near-death man felt his own aura return and immediately began working on stitching, mending, and soothing everything! As if his reserves had been filled and amplified!

"Huh, that's interesting. It's been a long time since I had to use my semblance on someone, so I was afraid of what would happen with a muscle I stopped using. I just gave you a small bit but it has this much of an effect? Don't tell me you're Aura is already topped off?"

Soon as the coat of golden warmth covered him, the man felt it vanish. He couldn't help but be disappointed as he took hold of the open metal hand of rust and found himself pulled back on his feet.

Time to breathe wasn't an option for either man at the moment.

An untold amount of time in the Ever After, constantly fighting and surviving on his own, had helped the eroding knight gain a better sense of his surroundings.

Even if his shield had lost its splendor, the metal heater swiftly sprang to life and swept for Jaune's back. A thunderous crack of metal and bone erupted with enough force to send waves of sand blowing back to buffet the now recovered patrol man and others close by. Jaune scowled as he felt his weathered greaves creek but refused to budge even on the uneven crushed dirt. Heavy bone-plated feet stamped on the faded family crest of Crocea Mors, sticking like glue from above their crashing stomp.

From the looks of it, it was another Jackalope Grimm. Powerful forelegs refused to let up, pushing off with an odd whine from the nightmarish rabbit before the beast crouched low, twisted-boned antlers armed like gouging spears, and bounced forward in a skewering lunge. What smaller Grimm was in its line of piercing death were run through in a gory rush.

A warm and pleasant memory was brought up at the sight of the horned rabbit.

'Juniper.'

It wasn't her. Just because that false, twisted, mimic shared her name didn't mean they were at all similar or even alike in any form. Just a name. That was all that thing shared!

Jaune didn't need a shield or a sword for this one. Broken steel clicked as it slipped home. In the face of those bloodied spears, he stepped forward with a rusted gauntlet cracking open like jaws. Ripples of light surged from fingertip to shoulder as if he had dipped them in shining golden sunlight.

Anger helped to up his amplification as he caught the Jackalope's antlers. Not even his metal gauntlets were scratched. Utilizing the momentum of the startled Grimm's lunge, Jaune twisted the antlers in his grip, dug his feet deep into the shifting sand, steeled his upper body muscles, and did something those watching out of the corner of their eyes made gape.

With one hand, the Rusted Knight lifted the double his size Grimm up above his head and slammed it viciously down like a sack of unwanted and spoiled fruit. One of the antlers was broken off as the Jackalope wheezed.

"What are you waiting for? That's a rifle in your hand, or some kind of lance? A mechshift? Whatever it is, it has a barrel, right? Then shoot!"

It took the stunned patrolman Jaune had saved to realize who he was addressing before the man hurriedly aimed his lance/rifle at the weakened Grimm. Without a word, he fired and splattered the Grimm's head to bits.

Jaune nodded simply, the now slowly decomposing antler spun in his hand like a knife. With a flick of his wrist, the antler's sharp point flew into the descending bat-like Grimm aiming to dive-bomb him from his left. He stared at the clearly nervous and frightened patrolman, eyeing his state of wear and gear carefully as he batted aside a bile-like bullet of liquid with his shield(Did...did a Grimm seriously just spit at him?!)

"What was that?"

"A-A Dromedon, Sir! Camel Grimm with h-hard armored humps, acidic spit, and an eroding bite that eats through the hardest of metals!"

So, the patrolman was knowledgeable about the Grimm? Meaning they weren't exactly civilians forced into fighting late into their life. As an old greenhorn in all things Grimm and Huntsman, not even Jaune had known what Beowolves were capable of other than clawing and biting. Not to mention the shaking man's aim had been true enough to land a headshot in one fire.

True enough, a camel-like Grimm trotted through the sands, its bright red eyes honed in on Jaune and his rusted old shield. Sticky acidic saliva seeped from its lipless snout like string. Its height was just about Jaune's own. And it's hard teeth were flat, rough, and designed to crunch its prey and let its seething saliva dissolve away metal, skin, muscle, blood, and bone.

Seeing the Dromedon glare them down, the patrolman stepped back with chattering teeth.

"Shit, shit, shit! T-Those things have thick hides in addition to the bone platting! It doesn't matter if you have an aura! It can eat right through your average Huntsman's reserves!"

Jaune eyed the approaching Grimm carefully, shield raised to block another acidic spit bullet.

"Are its eyes platted?"

"W-What?"

With a frustrated growl, Jaune rolled to the side, evading the charging camel's path. Thick neck muscles bulged as it swung its neck like a whip at the old knight, creating a gong-like clang as Jaune deflected the hit. Sizzles of spit landed on his armor, smoking yet failing to do what the frightened patrolman had predicted; eat through metal.

The Rusted Knight's armor had weathered The Ever After for years. It had soaked in damage from far larger beasts of myth, endured blasts of far more seething energy and fluids, and had refused to dent when struck by the precursor of all Grimm. As if spit would singe his metal platting.

With a swipe of his broken sword to carve a nasty wound on the forehead of the Dromedon, Jaune called out the fearful patrolman.

"Stop focusing on what you can't damage! It has eyes, right?! Are they armored? What about the kneecaps? It's throat?! It's mouth! You have a sharp eye from the looks of it. So, use it! THAT GOES FOR ALL OF YOU IDIOTS STANDING BY!"

Of course, Jaune and the unnamed patrolman weren't alone. This was a battlefield, one Jaune had only just joined.

All around them were men and women, some possibly close to his age, all fighting tooth and nail against the creatures of Grimm. All just afraid and fearing for their lives. All who had stopped moving at the sight of a rusted old knight from some fairy tale appeared out of nowhere like some fairy tale hero from their childhood.

Standing around.

As if they were waiting to be saved.

"You're not dead yet! If you're struggling against the enemy in front of you, then group up! Stop fighting by yourselves in a panic. If you're a good shot, aim for the points on the Grimm's body that are soft like the eyes, ears, mouth, or stomach! Focus on distracting them and those who can, attack them when their guards are down! You don't need to be a Huntsman to take them down."

The Domedron breathed in deeply, inhaling a large quantity of air and sand in one breath, before spitting out a laser-like stream of acidic saliva through a gap in its teeth. It cut through the sand like a diamond-cutting jet of thin water, mowing down Grimm, splitting rocks, and tearing through weapons thrown up in an attempt to shield their owners.

At the sight of men and women unlucky enough to be caught in the cutting acid, Jaune rushed to fall in the line of sight of the Grimm, cursing as the thin bile green sprayed droplets of hot spit over his shield and armor.

Words the knight lost to time should have said long ago were spat out.

"No one's going to save you but yourself!"

BANG!

A single bang of a rifle was heard.

The Dromedon whined in agony as it found a bullet lodged into its right eye.

A shaken but scowling unnamed man took aim with trembling fingers and fired again. The second shot cracked the beast's snout, interrupting its laser cutter acid attack with a sputter of sizzling green.

And with a swift horizontal slash of Crocea Mor's broken edge, the lifted jugular of the camel Grimm was torn open, severing muscles and bone in a gory spray.

Ear-piercing shrieks could be heard above as the bigger Grimm dissolved to nothing. Ravager, Grimm taking the form of small dog-sized Grimm, opened their mouth as one to prepare a volley of sonic screams to bombard the deadly knight of eroding white and gold.

From below, multiple gun barrels, arrows, daggers, and a variety of morphing weapons locked onto the bats. Hot dust shells howled together in rebellion of further bloodshed. Sonic screams were muffled by the taste of gunfire obliterating the pests to nothing.

Jaune heaved a discreet sigh of relief as he swiped his sword to rid it of the hissing acid.

Good, it was about time they stopped shivering in fright. Even if he had greater aura reserves, the Dromedon's acidic spit really wasn't anything to take lightly. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his aura had been chipped and he had grown worried about what it could actually do against his armor.

Blasts of magic from the likes of a lying cat aside, acid was still acid; Grimm acid at that.

Hearing a soft growl to his backside, Jaune swung his shield back to block a set of gnashing teeth from what looked like a devilish Grimm with horns. A repulsion of Gravity Dust sent the Imp flying back to die to a buckshot of a sawed-off shotgun crossed with an ax from a patrolwoman close by.

Jaune paused, only now noticing the crowd of men and women gathered around him.

"Sir, what do we do now?!"

"The caravan we were guarding is down and nowhere in sight. Even if we take out the Grimm, what about the supplies? Are we going to have to abandon them?"

"W-We can't do that! The refugees need the food and medicine the tribesmen were transporting! There are people at the campsite that are in dire need of those supplies! People will die!"

"So, what?! Do we have to die for those weaklings? Survival of the fittest. That's fucking Vacuo! Why do we have to die just so low lives can continue bleeding our kingdom dry?!"

"You mother fu-!"

Left and right, voices began to shout at him. Each one was scared, nervous, anxious, uneasy, angry, confused, and worn out by the battle in the hot desert battlefield. A whirlpool of chatter spun around him without any clear direction as the howls of Grimm added to the disorienting chaos.

Jaune had no idea what was being said. But he did know one thing.

Crocea Mors was sheathed into its scabbard, the fading arcs of its wide shield glowing a violet purple before it was stabbed down.

And released a deafening shockwave of Gravity Dust to both silence the numerous questions and repel the lesser Grimm close by.

Dark blue eyes glared through the slits of the metal mask, silencing the startled adult men and women.

"Does now look like the time to be bickering among yourselves like children? Is this why good men and women had to die? For petty fighting? Grow the fuck up. Because I won't be putting up with a bunch of idiots who can't even work together to survive for their own good."

Ripping Crocea Mors out of the collapsing crater of sand beneath his feet, Jaune looked to one of the men, the unnamed patrolman he had first saved. No one said a word as they felt the imposing presence of the suited knight stifle any backtalk.

"Someone mentioned a caravan of supplies? If you're this close to the border of Vacuo's kingdom, then you must have been sent to escort them to safety. I'm guessing the Grimm attacked not long after."

The creatures of Grimm were attracted by negativity. If the fighting around him wasn't anything new, then it wasn't even worth guessing what must have lured them in.

The unnamed patrolman nodded, face sweaty but no longer trembling.

"Yes, Sir Knight!"

Sir Knight? Really?

"A nomadic tribe of merchants had caught wind of the dire straights Vacuo was in: specifically, the refugee camp. We were able to establish communications with them and agreed to escort them to safety, so that we may procure what supplies we could to support the people who require those supplies. But…" The man made an ugly grimace, clearly upset with himself while shooting small glares at a few of the now shy-eyed men among the group, "Things had grown tense and...some infighting erupted. Emotions were high and-"

"And now people are dead."

Jaune grit his teeth at the shamed-faced adults, feeling even more frustrated at the gall of a few who spat to the side.

Scolding them wouldn't do anyone any good.

"Where is the caravan?" he demanded.

"The caravan? What does that matter now?!" One of the women asked in disbelief before taking a step towards the rusted suit of armor.

Even if the man had saved their lives, stood a few feet taller than her, and carried himself like some forgotten children's hero, she spat angrily at Jaune as if he was out of his mind.

"We've lost a good number of our men! I'm not even sure the tribesmen are alive after that thing attacked them and dragged them away! Not to mention the Death Stalker slaughtering what remains of us! And you think what we should be doing is salvaging a wrecked and bloody caravan?"

The dusty blond-haired woman looked like she was going to throw a punch to his face.

"You must b-"

"I really wouldn't worry about the Death Stalker."

Words caught in her throat, the dusty blond woman followed after the gestured metal finger. Out of curiosity, she looked back. And blanked.

"Black Out Stinger!"

"We're not calling it that!"

"Oh, oh, oh! How about we go for, um, White Rose Blitzzard!"

"Blitzzard is not a word!"

"But Weiiiiiiiissssssss!"

Many of the patrolmen followed suit with the dusty blond woman, gawking and staring at the stunning sight.

Red.

White.

Black.

Yellow.

Four pigments of death spammed the dessert Death Stalker in a flurry of red, white, black, and yellow streaks. A wild scythe spun around the frustrated giant scorpion, distracting it from the fine points of the surgical rapier aimed at its joints. Its burning stinger stabbed at an elusive shadow, hitting only its afterimage. Bulky claws lashed out, swinging without care at everything and anyone, only to hit the blocking arms of a grinning and blazing blond huntress with red eyes. It swung down at the durable human.

A right hook collided with its crushing pincer and cracked bone.

Ruby smirked at the damage her older sister dealt as she flew up high above the back peddling Death Stalker's form. A familiar ribbon followed after her airborne form just as she spun the long handle of Crescent Rose to rest on the small of her back.

What little ammunition she had left was put to good use as she fired the trigger just as Gambol Shroud hooked itself onto her scythe. Down below, she caught Weiss spinning the appropriate Dust in preparation for the big combo.

"Wild Rose!"

Blake rolled her amber eyes with a smile as she and Yang dug their feet in together and yanked Gambol Shroud down. Beside them, Weiss pinched her brow and summoned a forgotten glyph to finish the setup.

A wisp of golden energy flew up to Ruby as she fired Crescent Rose repeatedly, the Time Dilation Glyph aiding in increasing the centrifugal force to leave her form spinning madly like a dark rose-colored industrial saw. In addition, a Gravity Glyph was summoned to keep both Blake and Yang in place as they pulled hard on the ribbon to swing the sawing Ruby wheel around like a flail.

A deadly spinning bladed flail aimed at the slow tanky Death Stalker.

Off to the far side of that glorious spectacle of a battle, Jaune found himself also watching as he witnessed Team RWBY swing their saw blade of a cute leader at the squalling(Since when did Death Stalkers squeal in horror?) scorpion Grimm. It was like watching a shrunken giant swing a bladed yo-yo around in a tantrum. Even the Grimm seemed to have some small sense of awareness of the danger of creeping close as what monsters did were culled just by getting close.

'When the hell did they come up with that kind of team attack? And can I do something like that?!' An old and still much alive bit of the old dorky of a Jaune Arc said giddily.

"I wouldn't worry about the Death Stalker. Those...are professional Huntresses," he said wistfully, watching as Team RWBY ended their attack by letting the madly spinning Ruby yo-yo go.

With one final shot of her scythe for extra oomph, Ruby cut the Death Stalker's burning barbed tip off, timing it just right as Weiss froze the hissing Grimm's legs in place temporarily. Eyeing the lobbed-off stinger of fire, Yang leaped for her prize and punched it after the bulky claw ready to crush a baiting Blake.

No amount of bone platting could stop the pincer from erupting in a fiery explosion.

"Team RWBY can take care of the big guy. All that leaves is a bunch of grunts that are going down by the minute. Meaning we can search for what you all were originally protecting: the caravan. Any objections?"

Jaune dared one of the now silent patrolmen to speak up. A few sneers could be seen even as he noticed several of the men and woman take aim at Grimm prowling close by, but no one argued.

Good. It didn't matter if they didn't want to listen. Just so long as they did what he told them to.

Several barks of a rifle were heard as Jaune focused back on the unnamed man he saved before. He really needed to get some of their names later.

"The caravan. Where is it? The cowboy lady said something had attacked and dragged it-"

"I have a fucking name, Rusty!"

"So, does that mean it's already too late?" Rusty, ha! How original.

The unnamed man shook his head carefully, "No, I don't think so. I'm not sure how to explain it but it was like a sinkhole swallowed it. No one can confirm the caravan was destroyed though. Especially with the Huntsman Team that had tagged along being caught up too."

Huntsman team?

Above their heads, bullets whizzed by, seeking to drop the number of Ravagers flocking the field, courtesy of the few competent fighters who didn't need to be told to continue killing Grimm. Jaune contemplated the information as he idly inspected the amount of Dust left in his shield.

'If a Huntsman team is with the caravan, I can only hope they're competent enough to protect its people and supplies for as long as they can. Judging by what's said of the caravan being swallowed by a sinkhole, it has to be a large Grimm. Bigger than the Vacuo Death Stalker maybe?'

Being trapped in the Ever After had taught him to preserve what little resources he had. In all the years he had been traveling across the many Acres in search of a way home, he had scarcely touched the Dust ammunition for his shield, knowing full well that there would be no restocking once he was empty. The first cartridge had been used up in the first few days, leaving him with only three clips for his sheath. By the time he had met Alxy and Lewis on their journey, he had been down to one last cartridge and had never used a single drop of Dust from then on.

It was great in sending lesser Grimm flying and killing weaker grunts with just one pulse. Against something obviously as an Alpha? Even with all the experience and combat gained from countless years in the Ever After, it wouldn't be enough. What he needed was something with a bigger punch.

"Who here has spare Dust ammunition? Specifically .25 SDC-M: Gravity, non-ballistic." It didn't matter how long it had been, Jaune still remembered the brand of Dust cartridge Dr. Polendina had drilled into his skull upon upgrading his family's heirloom.

A round of negative shakes sadly told him there were only bullet Dust magazines. Of course, as if simple patrolmen would carry such a specific type of Dust for their firearms even if they were mechshift. He was handed a few raw elemental crystals: Fire and Earth. Maybe he could do something with the pure stuff if he played things right. Nodding in thanks, he mentally noted the amount of Gravity Dust he had left just in case a few pulses would be needed in a sticky situation.

No Hard Light. That rare gem had been emptied after one hard-fought fight with the Jaberwalker that nearly put him in the ground.

"You said the caravan was swallowed up, right? Does that mean the sinkhole is still intact? Is there any sign of where the Grimm has run off to?"

Someone pointed past Jaune, past the heavily damaged Death Stalker being ganged up on by Team RWBY, and to what Jaune could now see rested several spires of jagged rocks stabbing upward. He had to wonder if those rock formations were natural or spawned by whatever had created the gaping hole the Death Stalker was guarding like it were its den.

Jaune rolled his shoulders with a creak.

The Kingdom of Vacuo wasn't going anywhere any time soon. It had taken him decades(he really hoped it hadn't been more than one decade) to make it back to Remnant. What did an hour or so matter? He was already late as is.

With a hand gripping Crocea Mors, idly ghosting over the new short sword, Petulant Memory as he did, he moved towards the beast's maw.

He didn't wait for anyone to follow.

"Team RWBY will finish off the Death Stalker. If you feel like fighting instead of waiting to be saved, help them out by picking off at whatever Grimm strays too close to them. You can run away while you have the chance too- I don't care. Stop whining. There's nothing strong or tough about a bunch of weaklings who can only complain while good people are dying around them with sneers on their faces."

He nodded once at the nameless patrolman he had saved, glanced at the glaring dusty blonde woman who crossed her arms over her chest like a certain bratty child he had once known and ran ahead without another word. Leaving them to do as they may.

Jaune Arc…was no longer a leader. He hadn't led anyone in years. Failure was all he had been capable of achieving when at the helm. Too many people had died because he wasn't enough.

Such responsibility had only ever crushed him. So, he would move on all on his own from here.

Running through the sands, Crocea Mors broken edge cut through what Grimm jumped in his way, he spared a glance at the whizzing colors of red, white, black, and yellow picking apart the giant scorpion Grimm.

A bulky and heavily damaged pincer swung his way. Instead of blocking the blow, the rusted Huntsman slid underneath without losing momentum. Not a second later did a deadly scythe lob the claw off at the joint and send its heavy limb crashing down with a loud bang.

Team RWBY didn't need him. They never had. But even this failure of a make-believe hero could try to do some good instead of wallowing in despair.

The gaping sinkhole, a maw of about several feet long that could swallow a Bullhead and then some with ease, was fast approaching. Taking a deep breath, Jaune threw caution to the wind as increased his speed and leaped up above the dark desert mouth.

Fighting could be heard as Jaune floated for mere seconds over the sinkhole, a welcoming sign of not being entirely too late as he made out the yellow-red pops of gunfire in the darkness along with...ghostly pale blue reminiscent of Hard Light? Nagging familiarity in the back of his head aside, Jaune dove straight in as natural gravity sent him hurtling down thanks to his heavy armor.

Darkness ate away the sunlight of the desert above, illuminating only a scarce space in the sinkhole he was plunged into. Even without a light, he could tell the cavern from underneath the gaping hole was large enough to fit a battleship from Atlas. Were those tunnels he spotted close by? Did that mean he was heading towards what was essentially the landing base of whatever Grimm was running a network of sinkholes and underground caves?

There was no telling how close he was to the bottom. Even with the sight of gunfire picking at moving waves of darkness representing starving Grimm, he had no clear idea of when he would land. So, it was time to improvise and make some light.

Or, in this case, a blazing bonfire.

Reaching into a pouch tied beneath his chainmail, Jaune flipped Crocea Mor's shield over so that he would land on its backside.

Just before he crash-landed into the new battlefield, a raw Fire Dust crystal was crushed beneath the gravity-pulsing face of the beaten shield's emblem.

Rippling flames popped open in a searing burst washing over the unlucky Grimm caught in the explosion's range. A whipping pulse of energy spread the licking flames further like a budding rose spreading its devouring petals to burn bright. Even in the seemingly pitch-black darkness of the sinkhole, the newly erupted flames helped to cast out the dreary black.

Only thanks to his aura and durable armor was Jaune able to step out of the bonfire of bright flames. He grimaced as he felt the heat lightly singe his skin, telling of the damage his aura had taken with the little stunt.

'25%- 30%? My Scroll was smashed up during the first few years, so I don't have anything way of checking up on how much of a hit I've taken. And I don't think the Grimm will let me regenerate what I've lost for even a few seconds until I'm in the green.'

A powerful wide swing of Crocea Mors in its greatsword form swept away some of the flames tickling his form while severing the head of some unknown twitching Grimm. Already he was being attacked. At the very least his explosive entry created some light as the flames continued to spread.

Slicing downward to split apart a worm(?) Grimm down the middle, Jaune searched around the now-illuminated sinkhole cavern.

Where was the caravan?

[-]

Elm was not having a good day.

Which wasn't anything new to speak of considering the disaster that was the Fall of Atlas. It seemed those good days were very scarce when nothing but bad times were blotting out the positives of having survived the complete destruction of her people's kingdom falling straight upon Mantle like a meteorite. Some days she had to wonder whether surviving was a blessing.

Like now.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

In the shambles of what was once a five cart caravan belonging to a nomadic tribe of merchants, with her back pressed against a large wooden crate full of urgent goods the refugee camp was in dire need of, the powerhouse of the Ace Ops openly grit her teeth to the point one could hear her molars creaking.

Both of her hands were pressed against her foreleg with as much pressure as she could muster. Thick droplets of blood seeped through her clasped fingers as if she had been clamping down onto the leak a high-pressured valve. The wound was severe. Muscles refused to listen to the commands of her brain as if the signals from her nerves had been snipped. Considering the damage, she wouldn't be surprised.

Groaning wood could be heard being pried open by a piece of debris, cracking as the crate of supplies had been broken. One of the nomadic tribesmen, equally hurt but at the very least not bleeding profusely, rummaged through various medical supplies meant for the people of the refugee camp. Instead of applying the medicine and gauze onto his battered self, the old man in a leather vest, colorful beads and feathers, and one eye clamped shut by drying blood running down his forehead, knelt down beside Elm to treat her wound.

Pride was dented but there was no room to be frustrated. The strong woman could only clench her teeth as she felt alcohol poured onto the open wound.

"Gusano's are a rather vicious and deadly breed of Grimm. They secrete a unique toxin in their saliva that stops the blood of their victim from coagulating, thus keeping the wound from properly sealing itself and said victim to bleed out. Aura has little effect unless you have impressive reserves. It eats rather than burns at the wound. Even if it heals, the amount of Aura eaten will leave you vulnerable."

Then what was the alcohol for?!

Seeing the pained glare, the tribesman continued undeterred as he went on to rub an odd lemon-scented cream over the throbbing bloody wound.

All while gunfire could be heard right outside the broken down remains of the caravan and fighting continued.

"The alcohol will clean out the toxins as well as prevent an infection. Next, we apply the medicinal cream of a unique fruit found only in Vacuo's unforgiving dunes to dry the blood cells, forcing the wound to scab and prevent blood loss. It will likely leave a scar."

Stinging agony aside, the tribesman was right. Elm found the nasty wound of the Grimm's razor-sharp teeth darkening a deep pomegranate red. Blood no longer spilled out like a leaking pipe. She was out of the danger zone.

Lot good it would do her.

Try as she might, the Ace Op found her left leg trembling as she tried to stand back up and join the fight. As if she had fallen asleep on the limb, her leg felt nothing but pins and needles. She fell to one knee with a vicious curse on her snarling lips.

Looks of sympathy could be found on the tribesman huddled in the remains of the caravan as they watched the olive-skinned woman punch the broken wooden floor in anger.

Elm was pissed. Right now, outside of the ruins of the caravan, she should have been protecting, fighting could be heard against the nest of Grimm they had been dragged away to. And where was she? Left behind because of one fucking wound crippling her ability to even stand up.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. It should have been a simple escort mission. The kind of easy objective offered to plenty of in-training academy soldiers and Huntsman.

As one of the most competent Huntsman left after the Fall of Atlas, she had been assigned with a young Huntsman team, alongside a group of patrolmen assigned to aid the refugee camp, to ensure the caravan of nomadic merchants safely arrived at the Kingdom of Vacuo. The supplies being transported were meant solely for the survivors of Atlas, not the people of Vacuo. Meaning it was imperative that those supplies arrived in perfect condition.

It should have been easy. They had established a checkpoint with the caravan. They were well-supplied for the mission. It was merely a few miles to the border and the Grimm had been quiet. No sandstorms were in sight and their aura helped to alleviate the scorching heat from burning them alive.

Yet it turned out like this? With the patrolman Vacuo provided getting into an argument among themselves and the young Huntsman team? Because of one argument producing just the right amount of negativity to act as the drop of blood in an ocean of calm sharks, the Grimm went into a frenzy and struck in a sudden ambush? With said patrolmen leaping out of the caravan they should have been protecting with their lives just as some strange Grimm Elm had never encountered dragging them into a nest of darkness?

Because Elm had lost her cool for just a second as she butted heads with the 'cool girl' fashion brat as they surveyed the damage of the caravans, she had been attacked by a worm-like Grimm the size of a St. Bernard?

It shouldn't have turned out like this: kids fighting to stave off a large nest of Grimm in darkness, the tribesman heavily wounded with some dead and devoured, and the only capable adult with military training left as dead weight because she couldn't fucking stand on two feet!

Bright luminescent light shined through the slits of the caravan's wooden boards, telling of the bunny girl finally pulling out the big guns. Thundering impacts striking into the mob of worms shook the shelter of the ruins they hid themselves in. Explosion after explosion boomed to take out as much of the cornering darkness full of red eyes and sawing teeth as they could. Four Huntsman were all that stood in the face of the creatures of Grimm, all that stood to prevent the malicious crashing wave of death from swallowing them whole.

It frustrated Elm to no end. That all she could do was weakly sit back while a bunch of kids fought to save their lives.

Again.

Just like Atlas.

Just like when their Headmaster/General of Atlas had gone mad and declared martial law. Just like when Salem's army had knocked on their door and slaughtered hundreds. Just like when their city fell straight down upon Mantle below like an Atlesian press.

Just like then, she was being saved by a bunch of kids with half of them dying in rescuing the entire populace of both Atlas and Mantle from annihilation.

Really, what a pathetic failure of a Special Operative she was.

CRACK!

"Coco!"

Wooden frames were broken through by the meaty object crashing through. Aura sparked sporadically, warning of going out as the body that landed in the shelter slid until it had slammed into several crates in a battered state. The heavy Gatling gun in their possession fell out of their hand as they coughed up a glob of sticky red syrup.

A pair of fashionable shades, cracked and losing a lens, slid off the bridge of the girl's nose as she tried to sit up. Coincidentally, she found herself right beside the crippled Elm.

Elm offered the bloodied girl a grim smile.

"What happened to that beret of yours?"

Coco Adel, leader of Team CFVY, fabulous and badass to a fault- so you better recognize- laughed hoarsely as she tried to fix the strands of hair over her face.

"Those mother fuckers are gonna pay for that. And the shades. Do you know how difficult it is to find a decent designer clothing store in Vacuo? Very. My wardrobe survived the Battle of Beacon, traversing Vacuo's desert, The Crown ordeal! But one bad fight and look at me!"

Wounded as she was, Coco still had the energy to gesture to her clothes with a scandalized expression. Tears revealed skin in certain inappropriate areas, one of the legs to her pants had been torn right off, blood and sand stained everything, and one of her kick-ass combat heels had the leg snapped. Not to mention her prized beret was missing. Were it not for the excruciating pain she was in, she'd be pissed.

No, wait, she was pissed nonetheless.

Hard as it was for her to do, Coco forced her legs to pick her up. She propped herself standing up with the aid of a barrel of leaking fluid, breath short, face sweating, and body swaying.

She was hurt. Very hurt. But she gave the terrified tribes people they were protecting a flirtatious wink before facing back to the fight outside the shelter.

"We just...j-just have to hold up for however long we can. At least until our distress signal reaches the kingdom. We just have to endure and survive. We don't have to win this. We just have to live through it."

The two women had endured the worst. They had survived worst. They had seen worse.

Even if it seemed hopeless, they merely had to keep fighting on.

Because falling into despair wouldn't save them or anyone else. They had seen so firsthand and refused to let such a scene play out again when they could still fight.

Staring at the back of the Valean team leader, Elm took notice of Coco's primary weapon, Gianduja. What had first been a designer bag at first glance was now a Gatling gun capable of firing over a hundred rounds a minute. Normally it would have a long belt of dust shells trailing behind it or loaded in the drum magazine. Said collapsible gold drum was missing. Either damaged or emptied.

"Are you really going out there with an empty gun?"

"Hey, it's still really heavy. My baby doesn't need to scream bloody murder to get the job done. It's durable and tough enough to be used as a blunt instrument as a handbag. Just a swing of my gal and crack goes the Grimm skulls."

Elm laughed at the bravado but she felt she had a better idea.

"Got any experience with a hammer-missile launcher?"

"Who would?"

"You will now."

Elm couldn't fight as she was. Even if she hated it, she was crippled and couldn't even die standing tall. She had to be protected by a bunch of kids once again. And truthfully, she didn't like the smug chick who called her outfit bland, uninspiring, and boring.

Still, she could at least do some good and offer some aid.

Timber, her personal weapon, was gestured to the surprised Coco. It was collapsed but a simple press of a button would let him smash anything into a paste.

"I can tell from the dents, cracks, and faint smoke on your weapon that it's either busted or about to break. It won't last long. Rather than let it break, set it down and take a functional weapon out with you. You have the strength to wield it well enough; better than an empty weapon about to break. Fair warning if you decide to use the rockets: you only got two and the recoil might break your shoulder."

Coco appeared to want to argue but by the sounds of shouting from her teammates and the dwindling sounds of gunfire from Velvet and Fox, there wasn't time.

A quick explanation of the mechanism to Timber's functions and the heavy-handed weapon was given a test swing by the fashionista. She couldn't help herself even in the break before the gruesome battle: she cocked her hip and let the hammer rest on her shoulder in a cool pose.

"So, how do I look?"

"Like you can crush your enemies to nothing."

For reasons Elm wouldn't understand, Coco winced as if struck by a sudden headache.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be right there. Can't a girl have a little fun and flirt a little? You saw those thunder thighs! How could I pass up on a chance to raise a flag?"

Coco spoke under her breath as if responding to an invisible person nagging her ear off. Had she an earpiece all but invisible to the naked eye to communicate with her teammates? With a wave of her hand, she ran back into the battlefield.

Never once saying a word about how grim the situation actually was.

Elm dropped her head back against the stack of wooden crates and sighed softly.

This...was probably it, huh?

Four Huntsman weren't enough. Not for the sheer shroud of darkness wriggling outside the shelter of the caravan. A considerable chunk of the Grimm nest had been wiped out, and it even seemed the numbers were beginning to thin a bit. But it wouldn't be enough.

Dust was limited. Ammunition was limited. Aura was limited. Blood was limited. All of which was dwindling at a steady pace.

And waiting at the end of the nest of Grimm trapping them in a sinkhole was the true threat. What they were killing off were nothing more than grunts. Above those disposable soldiers stood the true enemy bidding their time to strike when the meat was tenderized and bloody.

Really, what a way to die. At the very least Harriet and Marrow could still keep the spirit of the Ace Ops going.

Maybe, if there was an afterlife, she could apologize to those brave kids who had saved her people's kingdom, for letting them down. They had protected the remnants of Atlast and Mantel's people all they could and then some. Just because a few of them here today would be lost didn't mean all would be hopeless.

Just as Team RWBY and Jaune Arc had died on that day, the others would keep moving, keep fighting, and keep surviving even in the grimmest of times.

At the very least, before the Grimm would descend upon them, even in her wounded state, Elm would spend those final moments tearing apart whatever Grimm she could to defend the innocent people behind her.

Grasping a beat-up spear used by the tribesman, Elm prepared herself for one last stand.

"Wait...what is that?!"

Fierce orange heat exploded outside the shambles of the caravan. An uproarious plume of flames pierced out of the middle of the wriggling mass of Grimm from an unknown object falling down from the gaping hole above. Waves of searing orange-red devoured a good chunk of the Grimm. Even as the roaring bonfire at the center of the eruption began to die, flickers of the explosion's flames could be seen pecking at the shrieking bone-platted worms.

From her viewpoint offered by the window created by Coco's earlier crash, Elm could briefly see it.

Chrome gray armor. Faded gold you could mistake as bronze accenting the rusted suit of smoking mobile armor. Black cloth. And an old Great War helmet found only in fairy tales or a history museum.

With a swing of the rusted knight's broken sword, a whipping wind of sulfur, heat, and force sent the creeping Gusano's flying away like tin cans swept by a strong wind.

Elm, alongside the other staring tribesman and stunned Team CFVY, gawked at the living suit of forgotten armor stepping out of the licking flames. Not even the emotionless Grimm could help but stare at the calm metal figure marching out with only a broken blade and battered, faded shield.

Was...was this back up? One person?

"The..is that...T-The Rusted Knight?!"

Something utterly ridiculous had been said. Had it been one of the tribesmen? The starstruck bunny Faunus girl? The sweating-faced blind boy who appeared shaken?

Though not even Elm could deny the thought as she stared at the silent knight. Atlas had its fair share of fairy tales native to Solitas but even she had been read the story of The Girl Who Fell Through The World.

Wriggling darkness clicked and struck, fed up with staring. From every direction, Gusanos rushed at the marching suit of gray and bronze metal like branches of a dead vengeful tree.

Chill baby blue dust sprinkled over the broken sword in the knight's hand, sparking with elemental energy to trail after the wide full moon sweep of dull gray steel. A ring of cold frost froze the rushing Gusanos into stone-cold statues. They fell to the sand with cracks, the few in the unperturbed knight's path smashed with a bash of his collapsed shield.

Elm felt a bitter pang at the collapsible shield. An old face flashed in her face in their darkest hour.

"Are you going to keep staring, or are you gonna fight? Because I don't think the Grimm are going to be kind enough to give you a breather."

Eroded metal fingers snapped like a snake to catch a wriggling mass of black and white in his hand before it could bite him. With the flames of the knight's arrival still lingering in pockets to light up the sinkhole pit, she could finally see the Gusano for what it was.

Slimy tar-like skin stretching to five feet long. Bone spines, bladed like hooked knives running along its spine. And a bone mask reminding Elm of a thimble, capable of cracking open to expose the barbed tongue lashing out with deadly saliva to bleed out its prey and tiny thorn-shaped teeth spinning around its mouth like a garbage disposal.

A brief coat of aura(gold?) around the knight's hand and the shrieking worm was crushed in his hand.

The Rusted Knight(without knowing his name, Elm felt it was appropriate seeing as he strongly resembled the fairy tale figure) reached the members of Team CFVY first just outside the makeshift shelter. At the sight of the four teens, the knight stopped completely still. It seemed as if he had locked up and couldn't move.

For whatever reason, Fox, the blind Huntsman who couldn't have possibly been able to see the suit of armor, stepped back and trembled.

"So, you guys survived after all? Heh, isn't that a relief." The Rusted Knight bowed his head and whispered under his breath.

Shaking his head, The Rusted Knight looked past the members of CFVY. And seemed to lock up even more to the point his armor could be heard letting out a clanking creak from his joints. Was...was he staring at her? A strange sense of anxiousness was felt.

Why?

"Is this all that's left of the caravan? Is there any more taking shelter in the other remnants of the caravan? Any injuries? Even if it's just a sprain, tell me."

The Rusted Knight stepped into the shelter, uncaring of the still active hive of sand-dwelling worms waiting at bay to attack in mass. He inspected the seven men and women huddled against the large wooden crates, searching for...wounds? Was he a medic of some kind?

Naturally, everyone was wounded, so it was a rather dumb question to ask; in Elm's opinion. Nevertheless, the civilians raised their hands like children, and a few winced in pain. The Rusted Knight nodded in acknowledgment before kneeling.

Right in front of the wide-eyed Elm.

The man(It had to be a man) wore a helmet. His facial expressions couldn't be seen. For whatever reason though, she had the sense he wore the ghost of a smile behind the beaten metal face.

"Busted up your leg, huh? Don't think I recall ever seeing you like this. If Nora could see you now, she'd be devastated. Thankfully, I can patch you up real quick, though I can't do anything about the blood loss. You might need to stick back for a bit."

Rusted gauntlets carefully fell over Elm's leg. Familiar gold glowed from the Rusted Knight's palm.

Warmth, unlike the scalding heat of the desert, ghosted over Elm's body from the metal hand that hadn't even touched her. Sores, scratches, bruises, cuts, broken bones, everything was soothed as if by magic. To Elm's disbelief, she watched as the burned and torn scarred skin on her foreleg was mended by the knight's aura.

No, not the knight's. To her further disbelief, her shattered aura sprang back to life and immediately went to work on healing her wounds.

How? Was this the Rusted Knight's semblance? It had to be. And...why did it seem familiar?

At what felt like 3/4ths of her reserves filled up, the Rusted Knight shut off his semblance.

"You should be good now. But again, I can't do anything with how much blood you've lost. Take it easy. Even with your dark complexion, I can see your face paling and notice your breathing is heavy. Not to mention it looks like Coco is going wild with your hammer out there. Never thought of her as a hammer girl."

A thunderous quake hit the shelter and went as far as to break a few loose boards in the caravan. Seemed like the fashionista had learned how to use the rocket launcher. Another twin explosion followed behind, courtesy of Velvet's Light Dust variant.

Back upright, the Rusted Knight went to work on the other wounded tribesman, leaving Elm speechless as she tried standing up. A sense of lightheadedness struck and nearly caused her to trip as she took a step. Had she really lost that much blood from one wound?

"I told you: take it easy. You're not good to anyone if you can't even walk straight without falling over. We can take things from here."

"Who are you?" Elm bit out with a strained scowl.

Some random stranger crashed down into the pit of infested Grimm. From the looks of it, he wasn't Atlesian or Vacuoen. He spoke to her like he knew Elm and Team CFVY. And the Semblance he had used was recovery in nature and nagged at the edges of her thoughts with familiarity.

Anxiety nibbled at her chest as if she stumbled upon a strange package giving off a ticking noise.

Finished with healing and restoring the aura of the wounded, the Rusted Knight turned back to join the battle outside.

"I...I'm…" The Rusted Knight choked on his words but swallowed something thick caught in his throat, "We can explain everything later, Elm. There's a lot we have to go over but now is not the time. Right now, focus on surviving. It won't be long until more help arrives and we're all back at the kingdom. There...there we can talk freely."

Dull yet chromatic gray, stern and tall, turned for the battlefield outside and departed with what felt like a promise to an utter stranger.

Elm bit her lower lip in frustration.

Sitting back wasn't her style. As if she would just allow herself to be the one protected. Even if she didn't have her prized Timber in hand, a beaten old-fashioned spear could still tear apart lesser Grimm with some aura fortification.

'Why does his voice sound...familiar?'

Like the Rusted Knight had, she swallowed something thick and heavy in her throat. She gripped her spear tensely.

Right now, those questions could wait. Surviving always took top priority.

[-]

Elm. Team CFVY?

Seriously. What were the odds of seeing people he knew this soon?

Stepping out into the chaos of the sinkhole pit, Jaune was greeted by the swarm of wriggling...worms(?) slithering in an almost panicked frenzy all over the walls of the pit.

"What are those?" he couldn't help but ask just a large pocket of the creepy insects was swallowed up by twin Hard Light rockets erupting in a luminous burp of energy.

Timber, right? That was Elm's personal weapon. If he recalled correctly, the thing packed a wicked recoil(and punch). Only thanks to the tall woman's semblance rooting her in place could she withstand the blowback smashing into her tall stature.

Just how tough was the bunny faunus? To think he used to think she was a dainty one.

"Gusanos, Sir. They're blind sand-burrowing Grimm worms commonly found only in Vacuo. To make up for their lack of sight, the Grimm used the sharp dolphin-like spines running on their back to pick up vibrations in order to track their prey. Be careful, they're capable of spitting acidic bile like grenades and secret a deadly toxin along their spines and teeth to bleed their prey out."

Jaune nodded his head in thanks to the familiar giant of a man known as Yatsuhashi. He took note of the greatsword user's state: clothes torn here and there, multiple wounds ranging from scratches to lacerations still bleeding, shoulder armor visibly cracked and burned through by acidic bile shots, chest lifting up and down in a labored manner, and body leaning against his giant heavy weapon for support.

'Sir? Since when was I Sir!? I mean, I know I'm older than everyone here but come on!'

An odd phenomenon occurred as Jaune studied his once upper classmate.

Tan brown energy arose from the giant teen like he was sweating smoke. Was that his aura? It seemed...so weak. Without a scroll to judge the accurate percentage of the Yatsuhashi's aura, Jaune could only estimate it was roughly twenty-ish percent of its typical full tank. Meaning it wouldn't be long until the giant ex-Beacon student's shield was shattered by one good hit.

Calling on his semblance, Jaune aimed his shimmering palm at the worn-out Huntsman in all but official license.

Immediately, Yatsuhashi's demeanor loosened up. His dwindling aura was sparked, roaring back to life to the visible eye as open wounds began to quickly mend as Jaune boosted what was left. Stamina was rejuvenated by a caffeine-like rush flowing through the typically calm and collected swordsman and pain numbed to nothing in a matter of seconds.

The sudden flow of aura boosting his own reserves was powerful enough to cause Yatsuhashi to gasp with wide eyes.

Nodding in satisfaction, Jaune regarded the far brighter and full aura practically whipping from the stunned Huntsman. He looked at his armored hands skeptically despite the positive outcome, his new sight revealing his own status.

'What is that? 50%? Guess I have taken a few direct hits, not to mention boosting the auras of several people back to full would take a significant amount out of even my large serves alongside refilling my own. Meaning I should be careful with overusing my Aura Amp any further. I can boost myself back up but even that would take too much time.'

As someone with a knack for tactics, the smart thing to do would be to hold back on using his semblance until after the battle.

Without another word, Jaune made his way over to a flinching Fox, kneeling on the ground with a hand grasping his bloody left arm. Metal hands, overflowing with golden energy, patted the battered blind boy.

Like Yatsuhashi, Fox's reserves were filled up. Not all the way but 70% should do.

'Is...is it really you?'

Jaune blinked, grimacing as he felt an odd pressure in the back of his head. Was he hearing voices now?

With the Y and F of CFVY back to fighting strength, all that was left were the C and V holding the line just a few feet ahead. For a second, he couldn't help but marvel at the sight of Coco swinging Elm's Timber around with ferocious swings that would make Nora weep tears of sugary joy.

With a Hard Light construct of Gianduja mowing down worm after worm with light energy bullets, Velvet stood just a bit back from Coco's frontal assault. Making her the closet for Jaune to patch up. Luckily for his reserves, she was the less wounded of the bunch and seemed to only be suffering a laceration on her forehead, telling by the drying red running down her face.

5% should do it.

With a small smile on his face, Jaune patted Velvet's shoulder from behind.

"It's...it's good to see you again, Velvet."

Dark chocolate brown eyes grew wide as a rush of warm and soothing energy flowed into her sore body.

Gianduja's dust copy beamed brilliantly alongside the boost of aura. Mad rapid-fire bullets screamed bloody murder with an insane kick of RPM decimating droves of Gusanos in mere seconds. It was no longer a stream of light bullets but a laser-like beam carving the wriggling worms like a searing hot blue lance.

Caught by surprise, Velvet nearly lost control of the screaming laser machine gun's carving line. Her buckling did help to take out more Grimm in greater numbers. Deep burning scars marred the pit in the wake of black smoke and ashes of the Grimm.

Guess Aura Amp gave Dust a kick too? That certainly never happened before. And here he thought it was only limited to Semblances.

Ceasing his Aura Amp, Jaune patted Velvet one more time, happy to find the once nervous upperclassman was still fighting on.

"R-Rusted Knight…?"

No time for a reunion. Jaune was already heading towards the epicenter of all the action. Didn't surprise him much to hear Velvet call him out as The Rusted Knight. He'd always taken her for the kind of girl, like Blake, who adored fairy tales.

Streaks of wriggling darkness edged with bone spines swarmed after Jaune. Eyes locked onto the fiercely fighting Coco, he paid them no mind. Broken gray teeth cut apart whatever Grimm tried to intercept him. A few broad strokes of Crocea Mores easily tore apart the pests.

Other than a few sizzling green bile grenades flung his way, he didn't evade the attacking darkness.

Rich gold. Warm light colored a hue of gold reminiscent of the top layer of foam floating above a shot of espresso.

Flowing from the cool girl of Beacon was a still wild and hungry aura of rich gold. Whether it was the effects of Jaune's Rusted Knight helmet or a possible evolution of Aura Amp, he could see the leader of Team CFVY's aura was still strong.

Strong but waning with each second.

A whirlwind-like swing of the borrowed Timber sent at least six of the Gusanos flying like rag dolls. Jaune was careful as he approached, slightly thankful that such a strong move had taken the wind out of Coco. She leaned against the mighty rocket-hammer for a breath, sweat raining down her face in a mix of dirt and blood. She was strong, going strong, but she couldn't keep it up for much longer. Aura aside, her stamina was about spent.

63%. A rough estimate told him she had either taken time to regenerate her aura or had been keeping herself in the back of the fighting with her Gatling gun while front fighters like Yatsuhashi and Fox took the brunt of the attacks. With her team stepping back to let their aura regenerate, was she acting as bait for the Grimm then? Years had gone by since Jaune had to concern himself with Grimm, but he did recall something about the monsters being highly attracted to Aura and those with powerful Auras.

Careful not to frighten the heavy-breathing girl, Jaune reached for something he had found in his fireball landing into the pit, and patted it onto Coco's head.

"There. That's how I remember you. Too bad about the shades though." Golden yellow accompanied the torn but still salvageable beret returned to Coco.

Coco's shoulders stiffened considerably, but upon the flow of relieving Aura amplifying the healing aspect of her soul, the tension at the touch of a complete stranger in rusty armor dwindled. Rolling her now soothed left shoulder, she glanced back at him with a ghost of a smirk. One had hadn't seen since his days in Beacon.

"Sorry, big guy. I don't go for your types unless your figure is in the shape of an hourglass and you're rocking some big tits with that shake. I do encourage you to try though." She winked weakly.

Thank The Brothers for his helmet shielding his facial expressions because even Jaune rolled his eyes. Funny to think back on how he looked up to the celebrity Huntress of Beacon as an example of a leader.

Cracking a bit of raw Dust in his left hand, Jaune blasted a messy fireball back at another swarm of Grimm diving in to crush them. Still keeping up with ensuring the last of Coco's wounds were healed, he positioned his shield up to defend her from any attacks as a volley of acidic bile hailed down upon their position. To counter such a widespread melting attack, Jaune readied his shield to blast a pulse of Gravity Dust to destroy what he could.

Maybe applying Aura Amp would give it a kick too?

Silently, a hand fell on the back of his shield.

What happened next caused Jaune's jaw to drop and hang on its hinges(again, thank The Brothers for the helmet).

Gravity Dust had always been a weird one. It both attracted and repulsed. In other words, it was like a magnet that could use both poles. Its applications were wide and Jaune had only come to understand its uses when left with just a few magazines for Crocea Mors in the Ever After. With his weapon, he could release powerful centered shock waves to blow away Grimm with enough force to kill lesser Grimm.

Ominous purple energy howled from Crocea Mors's shield in a wide blast that sent sand kicking up a great curtain. A massive sphere of force was formed like a blasting moon.

Never before had he seen his shock waves erupt in a shotgun-like buck to not only pause the hail of bile but slam them all back into the crawling Gusanos on the walls of the pit. It was like watching glowing green meteors rewind with a roar. Seething, hissing, burning sick green melted through the worms and then some as the grenades of bile splattered. A large pocket of the beasts was taken out, further dropping their numbers in a bubbling splatter of green.

A massive warship shotgun blast of gravity decimated over twenty Grimm in one move.

"Holy shit, I didn't think that would work."

"Holy shit, I didn't think that would work."

Both Jaune and Coco blinked dumbly at the insane repulsive shotgun blast. Both glanced at the other.

"Was that me, or you?"

"I brought the Hype but everything else was you, Rusty. The hell was that? Does your semblance give people's semblances a boost too? My Hype increases Dust's capabilities to some killer effects but I've never seen it create a gravitational field so powerful with Gravity Dust. Seriously, I think we took out like twenty of those gross worms in one shot."

"Your semblance can boost Dust? And mine can boost Aura." Jaune mulled to himself thoughtfully, swinging Crocea Mors behind his back to lob off a sawing-mouthed Gusano without looking, "From the looks of it, you can pass the Dust amplification to others with a touch, just like I can with Auras. That's rare. Haven't met anyone else who has amplification-based semblance like myself."

"You can amplify Auras? Explains why my wounds are almost gone and my broken finger is fixed. Pretty cool, Rusty."

"Please, don't call me Rusty."

"Unless you got a name, Rusty it is, Tin Can."

Jaune fought the urge to slouch as he muttered to himself.

"Guess no matter how old you are, you never outgrow nicknames." At least it wasn't Vomit Boy or Juan.

Hard Light rocket copies soared above Jaune and Coco's heads, detonating into another branch of warming Gusanos ready to tear them apart. Small earthquakes from an enormous sword sent the Grimm crawling along the floor flying up, defenseless to evade the bladed tonfas of Fox slashing away. The rest of Team CFVY leaped back into action with Aura and stamina back two-fold.

A sight the old Huntsman hadn't seen since his days in Beacon painted the dimly lit pit of Grimm in explosive colors.

Coco joined the wistful knight in marveling at the members of her team tearing apart the Grimm with vigor. She whistled at the sight of her favorite bunny girl falling into a combo move with Fox, their forms turning into a whirl of bladed mayhem decimating all the Grimm closing in on them.

"That Amp of yours come with a caffeine kick too? Seriously, Velvet's buzzing like craz-...Am I seeing things, or is Yatsuhashi just grabbing Grimm and chucking them into the blender vortex of sharp metal and Hard Light with a laugh?"

Jaune titled his metal head. Indeed, from the looks of it, the giant Huntsman was just reaching for whatever wriggling mass close by and tossing them into the Huntsman garbage disposal. With an excited grin and booming laugh. Wasn't Yatsuhashi supposed to be the calm and collected one? Idly, Jaune stared at his left hand and wriggled the rusted digits.

"Been a long time since I had to use my semblance, so it might have changed a bit since retirement."

Were they even needed right now? Because it seemed the F, V, and Y of CFVY had fallen into a wild sense of euphoria thanks to his semblance. Seriously, they were just ripping every living thing apart.

Hand still on Coco's shoulder, he felt the tense leader's shoulders relax. A small laugh fell out of her dry and chapped lips.

"I really thought…"

It was left unsaid but Jaune knew the feeling all too well. He gave the tired, worn out, but still standing Gatling girl a comforting squeeze.

A dark maw of scissoring teeth, seething bile glow, and a chatter of death had swallowed them whole. They had been running on sheer willpower, bodies wrecked and bloody, ammunition and Dust scrapping the barrel, Auras all on the verge of breaking with one wrong hit. Alone in the dark with just a peek of sunlight and fighting above their heads.

Once upon a time, Jaune had felt the same sense of despair and hopelessness.

A deep, thunderous, tremor stopped all movement. Sand poured down from above in thin and thick trails reminiscent of water leaking out of cracks of a dam. Rocks slipped out and crashed down like rain. Even the screeching Grimm had paused, frozen as if by a silent command to the point of being crushed by large boulders from above.

Velvet, Fox, and Yatsuhashi fell back to the side of their leader and the Rusted Knight, chests heaving and faces wet with sweat. But hands strongly clenching their respective weapons with determination and auras buzzing with energy.

Something stirred from deep within the pit. A waiting malice now awakened by the delicious buzz of the souls pushing back against its flooding pitch black.

The tension in Coco's shoulders returned at the familiar terror ready to burst into the scene. Confidence creaked as her hands began to tremble.

It burst out of the small caves with a metal raking screech, sending large chunks of hardened sand from above the pit's maw crumbling down like pieces of the sky. Large dusty bone platting glared down cruelly at the shaken ex-Beacon students as thousands of tiny shark-fanged teeth spun around its cracked maw.

Alpha.

The pinnacle of a Grimm enduring battle, after, battle, after battle, for countless years against the harsh environment of its territory and humanity. Against what many researchers had believed long ago, it had done what humans and animals had done.

Evolved; evolved into a killing machine fit for the title of Grimm.

The Alpha Gusano's head alone loomed over the Huntsman and broken down caravan at ten feet tall and stretched at five yards long. Its body had gained a serpentine form with sailboat-like bladed fins piercing out its spine. Sharp corners shaped the mask of its snake-like head like a viper's to better flow through the tough, hot sand beds of the desert. But the snake mask was only for show.

Like a deadly flower, the mask parted open like petals to a bud, revealing the true sinister face of the death worm. A tube of tar-black, nothing but darkness, and a wide open hole circling with numerous eviscerating teeth designed only to mince and shred meat and bone into a paste. It didn't even have eyes. Its true face was nothing but a screeching slaughter disposal seeping with acidic saliva.

Jaune was reminded of why humanity feared the Grimm in the face of such a towering monstrosity bearing down upon them.

Despair and fear stained the buzzing lights gathered around him.

When faced with terror, what would you do? Run and hide? Cower and cry? Give up?

A rusted knight stepped up underneath the crushing shadow of the behemoth.

Behind a face of gray metal, a voice spoke up sternly.

"You've done this before, haven't you? You've faced despair and malice in greater mass than this back in Beacon and survived. You've lost before, but you overcame those grim losses together. Even when you had every right to give up the fight, to lick your wounds, to seek a happier life than this never-ending fight, you picked yourselves up and kept fighting. You had the chance to leave this behind, but you didn't. So, why stop here?"

Reminiscent of the fairy tale image he had failed to live up to, the Rusted Knight glanced back, sword and shield drawn.

"Don't let it end on an unhappy end like so many other stories. Strive for the final page of a story you can happily retell over and over again."

Laughter was heard.

"What? Did you literally come straight out of a fairy tale, Rusted Knight?" Coco snickered with a reaffirmed grip of Timber.

It was cheesy. Definitely something you'd hear in a storybook. But it helped to stop the trembling in their hands and follow behind the back of a childhood idol they had all admired long ago.

Jaune shrugged, "Something like that."

It was good to see those kids(Jaune cringed at the thought) step up again. Being scared was a terrible thing. And it certainly wouldn't save them. All one could do was fight until you couldn't fight anymore.

'But seriously, how the hell are we going to take that thing out?'

Jaune gave his broken sword and faded shield a second look. Like fighting a giant with a toothpick. Even with Aura Amp up to increase the durability and power behind his sword, it would only deal small cuts at best. To take out a Grimm like that, they'd need some heavy hitters.

Where was Team RWBY when you needed them?

Above the heads of Team CFVY and Jaune, the Alpha Gusano was fed up with the wait. It screeched with an ear-grating scream further sending tremors all around the pit.

Teeth clenched, Jaune's mind desperately tried to come up with a way to deal a devastating blow with what they had on them. Semblances, Dust, weapons, environment, and weaknesses, were all accounted for as his hand threatened to bend the hilt of his shattered family relic.

Amid his heart beating into his ears, his throat quivering, and his eyes clenched shut in frustration, the weakling and failure of a green knight from long ago spoke up silently.

'I...I wish I had the power to win and not lose anyone else.'

[-]

Shiver.

A quiet and far too patient arm grew impatient.

Someone had grown forgotten in all the fighting. She wasn't surprised in the slightest. She had thought to let the knight have his fun, to stretch his old joints, to see old friends, and try to do things on his own. Far be it from her to steal the show at the very beginning of their return.

At the faint wish uttered in the heart of their master, a reborn soul was moved to act.

Without being called, or even thought of, A Petulant Memory shivered and flew out of her sheath.

She cared little for the rusted and useless Crocea Mors. The old arm was weathered. It had seen better days. It was lost to the time. Compared to the new short sword that was Petulant Memory, it was better left abandoned in the Ever After.

Nevertheless, the blade of silver, bronze, green, and brown flew around the stunned Rusted Knight like a hornet and slipped into the sheath compartment of the open heater shield as if she belonged there.

She held no heart. No brain. No nerves, veins, blood vessels, bones, or pulse.

Yet in a place that did not exist, she spoke to the ears of no one.

"Hmph! You really are useless without me, aren't you? You're lucky I'm so generous. I've waited a long time to come home, so we can't exactly have you falling apart now. Now come on, you'll make Lewyis cry if you don't show off some of that Rusted Knight-ness the world's come to know."

She grinned mischievously as Crocea Mor's shield creaked, its edges collapsing to transform into its long sword form without the command of its wielder.

Luminescent emerald green magic burst out from the long sword like hissing steam. To the bewilderment of Jaune, his arms were pulled back by some unseen force into an odd drawing stance. Crocea Mors's shaking form was reared all the way back at his waist, its collapsed frame touching his shoulder and upper back. Were it not for his helmet, the curious Huntsman close by would have seen his eyes open wide like dinner plates.

No amount of fighting against the strings taking control of his entire being would dissuade the snickering child at play.

Especially when the feel of magic in the air caused the Alpha Gusano bearing down their bodies to grow wild and manic. The Grimm bucked like a pissed-off horse, slamming its masked face all about the pit with a sputtering venomous hiss.

White death petals of bone opened wide with an audible snap. The tape-faced Grimm screeched at the heavens peeking out of the pit hole as its razor-mouthed maw stopped spinning. Particles of sickly green responded back to the taste of magic in the air, the droplets of saliva gathered in its mouth manipulated to condense at the center of its fleshy gaping mouth.

To those left to watch in both awe and terror, it looked like a giant bone-petaled flower forming a massive bud of seething green acid.

A grenade of acid, one large enough to engulf the entire pit in a crashing flood of burning liquid, was ready to be launched.

She scoffed with a bored look on her face.

"Too bad for you~!"

Emerald energy whined, now bursting like an out-of-control steam wand. Magical energy whipped around the confused rusted knight almost like coiling flames.

She grinned proudly with her hands on her hips in the face of the shimmering, wavering, unstable glob of acid.

"I found a knight in rusted gray armor to scare away all you ugly bastards."

A pearl.

An emerald pearl, round and pure was formed at the tip of the rusted long sword as all the magic whipping around Jaune condensed into a shell.

Before the massive droplet of hissing acid could drop…

The Rusted Knight swung with all his might, with all his soul, in the face of the Grimm.

And the emerald pearl cracked.

[-]

To the burning red eyes of Yang Xiao Long, it looked like a giant had swung a kitchen knife from deep blow the pit hole/sink hole/cavern-whatever-it-was-it-was-fucking-hole-in-the-ground.

One minute, Team RWBY and the now fired-up patrolman they had saved were ready to deal one last blow to the already weakly whining Vacuo Death Stalker and the few straggling Grimm acting as its front line.

The next?

Green.

Emerald green.

A massive hot knife of emerald green cut itself out from beneath the desert blanket and swung across the field, just barely missing the Huntsman and patrol guards. Reminiscent of a laser cutter, it cut down the dying scorpion and its grunts in one swift slash. Like a slice of cake being cut down, a section of the battlefield was removed and soon collapsed, crashing down into the pit below.

Quickly as it appeared, the knife of emerald green withered away. Nothing but faint particles of green fireflies were left behind to flutter about and fade away from above the giant hole left behind.

"Uhhhhhh...the hell was that?"

Gobsmacked like the others, Yang leaned over the edge of the crumbling hole. She blinked and recognized a few familiar heads of hair she hadn't seen in years.

"Wait, is that Team CFVY?! No way!"

She grinned excitedly, ignoring her girlfriend's gesture to wait as she waved her robotic hand down below. She cupped her free hand over her mouth and shouted.

"Heeeeeeyyyyyyyyy! Coco, Velvet, Fox, Yatsuhashi! Long time no see, you losers!"

As one would expect when called out happily by a grinning ghost, the members of Team CFVY's jaws dropped to their feet along with their weapons.

"Y-YANG?!"

"Shit, girl! I thought they said you chicks you were dead?! The fuck have you been!?"

"Fox, I believe I see dead people."

"…"

"My friend, there is no need for that kind of language! C-control yourself!"

Fighting the urge to massage the bridge of her brows at her friend's antics, Weiss leaned over the crevice of the pit. Color her surprise to find their seniors trapped down below. From the looks of it, they had been dealing with a Grimm situation of their own, told by the torn clothing, broken armor, and blood staining their bodies.

A delicate white brow was lifted at the sight of a large quantity of black smoking wafting off an equally large black and white stump. Had that been a Grimm?

Not a second sooner to finding Team CFVY in the pit, did Weiss feel Ruby rush over to her side and giddily squeal.

"Oh, my god! It is Team CFVY! I would have never expected for them to be the first ones we'd come across after coming back to Remnant! W-Wait! What's that weapon at Coco's feet?"

Being the weapon nut she was, Ruby instantly recognized the unique rocket launcher/hammer Coco had been wielding.

"That's Timber- Elm's weapon! Does that mean she's here too!?"

"Good question."

Blake narrowed her amber eyes at the weapon, the very sight of the weapon raising certain questions as to why it was there. But first…

"How exactly are we going to get them, not to mention the surviving caravan merchants and the supplies, out of the pit?"

It was going to take some creative use of their semblances to lift everyone and everything out of the deep cavern/pit/sinkhole/crevice- it was a giant hole in the desert, let's leave it at that.

[-]

With the last of the supplies carefully secured above ground, the gathered Huntsman, tribesman, and patrol guard could finally relax and sit back. Being it their mission, the men and women sent by Vacuo's kingdom went to work on accounting for what remained of the crucial supplies. Among the remaining group, a few approached the tribesman and apologized for their ill behavior.

Jaune nodded from afar at the nameless man he had saved, noticing him bow his head sincerely at who he believed was the head of the caravan of traveling nomads. Alongside the man was the dusty cowboy girl, her face annoyed but bowing as well. The gestures wouldn't mean a thing to the lives lost but at least it was a step in the right direction to stave off any more negativity.

First time back in Remnant and already he was reminded of the current state of the world. People still at odds. Even with the big, dramatic reveal of a big bad responsible for all the chaos and death, useless arguing could still be found. Guess just having a target for all the world to rally against wouldn't instantly set aside conflict.

Leaning back against a cracked boulder, Jaune took the moment away from everyone to inspect his hand. Or, more accurately, at the lack of armor protecting him.

No, not his armor armor.

"My aura...it's gone?"

Shattered in an instant as the emerald energy erupted from Crocea Mors long sword mode. He couldn't sense his vibrant aura shielding him from the harsh elements of the Vacuoan desert and had to seek shelter in the shade of a large boulder close by. Beads of sweat were already swimming down his face and his armor now felt uncomfortable to be moving in. His helmet had to be taken off, thankfully detaching itself and folding back into a wearable pauldron.

Exactly what had just happened down there?

Unsheathing his newest weapon, Jaune stared at Petulant Memory with suspicion.

Alxy's soul, what remained of her being, had been welded into a new form. The Blacksmith had created it with unknown materials and techniques, giving it a magical vibe. From the looks of it, it wasn't just a vibe either. That emerald energy bursting from his weapon wasn't anything like Dust or Aura, but it was familiar.

Magic.

Having been stranded in the Ever After for years, he came across plenty of odd and strange things in the many acres that made up The Great Tree. And he'd come across a lot of supernatural oddities too. Magic wasn't a strange thing to witness in the topsy-turvy dimension where a talking raccoon would barter with the Afterans in exchange for dreams, emotions, memories, and promises.

It wasn't just the release of a powerful magical attack. Something had taken control of his body, commanding his muscles to move and fix his posture into a new stance he had never performed. Like invisible strings had coiled around his joints and made him their puppet. From the moment Petulant Memory had locked itself into Crocea Mors sheath compartment, Jaune had lost control of his entire body and could only watch as he cut down the Alpha Gusano with a giant swing of magical energy.

…

Petulant Memory wouldn't speak. It was a weapon, not a person.

As the Blacksmith said, it was only a knife made up of a wish. It wasn't Alxy herself. Just the drop of her remaining soul. It wouldn't answer his many questions. Not like the real Alxy would either.

The insufferable heat must have been getting to him; he could have sworn the short sword had shivered in his hand like it was giggling.

Exhaling through his nose, Jaune sheathed his new weapon back to its home and regarded another party of interest formed at the end of the battle.

A worn-out Team CFVY was subjected to crushing hugs from Ruby and Yang, the two girls going on and on about not having seen their senior classmates in years, all while Weiss and Blake tried to ease up the tight grips of their partners. It was funny to see someone like Yatsuhashi, who Jaune remembered as being calm and collected like Ren, regarding the girls like they were figments of his imagination. Or ghosts.

Seems the older team had made it to Vacuo to finish their education after all.

'It's nice to see them after so long but...I guess I was hoping to see them instead. Maybe it's for the best it wasn't them. I don't think I'm ready to explain everything right now.'

Nora, Ren, Oscar. Hell, Emerald. All those years in the Ever After had even made the bitterness clinging to Jaune's heart at the illusionist Huntress's involvement with Cinder and Salem basically wither away. All four of them had been named after a Paper Pleaser he was incredibly fond of.

But now Jaune was back.

Question was: what was he going to say when he met them all again? In this state?

Scratching his chin(he really missed his grizzled beard) in frustration at what to do, he didn't realize he had company.

"I can't believe they're alive."

Careful not to show he had been slightly spooked, Jaune regarded the tall amazon woman known as Elm with a curious glance.

Elm wasn't as worse for wear as Team CFVY was. Having suffered a crippling blow right at the start of the battle, she had only some tearing here and there on her Special Ops uniform and splotches of dried blood. From what he remembered, she was never one for footwear(something about it getting in the way of her Semblance) so he could see a large stain of red from the heavy wound that had left her unable to walk.

To think he would stumble across one of the remaining Spec Ops out in the Vacuo desert.

"Not joining the reunion party?" he asked with a slight smile.

Elm sheepishly rubbed her arm, very intent on sticking to the large shadow cast by the boulder Jaune was resting back on. Was it the desert heat, or was she nervous?

"You might have patched me up and restored my aura, but I don't think I'm quite ready for those girls to jump-pile me in a giant hug. I don't think my ribs can take it. Besides, this isn't a reunion party. I have a feeling a much bigger, louder, weepier, one will await us once we return to Vacuo with our thought to be dead heroes."

Jaune nodded absently. No one said how long it had been. But from what he could guess, enough time had passed for people like Elm and Team CFVY to think of Team RWBY as deceased in the Fall of Atlas. Judging by their appearances, with the exception of Team CFVY who they hadn't since the Battle of Beacon, not too much time had passed since they fell into the Ever After. Maybe a few months if they were lucky.

"I just wish...I just wish you had found him too."

"Him?"

A somber tone overtook Elm's voice as she stared at the familiar young Huntresses talking with old friends, her dark brown eyes searching for someone. She sighed heavily, her exhausted body leaning back against the warm boulder as she had just accepted a heavy weight to carry back.

"I can't thank you enough for finding Team RWBY after all these months. I'm sure you've heard of their distress call to everyone in Remnant concerning Salem by now. It's no doubt why you've ventured out into the unforgiving desert, just like all the other Huntsman beginning to show up. From what little was gathered by Winter, the only person to have seen their 'demise', all five of them had fallen into some strange void. No one could find them. So...we all just accepted the thought that they were dead."

No surprise there. Even Jaune had thought he had died when he had fallen into the Ever After. As if he had woken up to some strange afterlife. Even after meeting Alxy and Lewyis, there were times he genuinely believed he was just living out some kind of afterlife.

From the look of grief on Elm's face, she truly believed they had all died back then.

"Had we listened, had we not been so stubborn! Maybe...we could have helped and even stopped Salem's forces from doing so much damage. Those kids' deaths were my fault too."

Jaune placed a comforting hand on the melancholic woman. She smiled tiredly, eyes seeking the four girls she had failed as professional Huntress and adult. As if she was afraid taking her eyes off of them would cause them to disappear again.

"On second thought, we really didn't have the time or forces to actually search for them. Vacuo is a large continent, with a harsh environment, and nooks and crevices scattered all over. Maybe we had accepted their deaths too quickly. To think," Elm laughed half-heartedly, "they were simply lost out in the middle of nowhere this entire time! Probably dropped off in some random dune far from any kind of civilization for months."

Yes, but also no. Jaune wasn't sure now was the right time to explain the Ever After. Or the fact she was speaking with the actual Rusted Knight of a certain worldly famous children's book. Man, was Nora going to milk this when she found out.

"But you couldn't find him, could you?"

Jaune frowned in confusion at the melancholic amazon. Him? Who was-

"That's the real reason you're out here, isn't it? You must have heard about his involvement, so it's only natural for a father to go out and search for his son. Heh, he looks just like you."

Hold up, hold, hold up! F-Father? Son?!

Against Jaune's wishes, his jaw fell open in disbelief as he put two and two together, all while Elm looked down at her bare feet with frustration and grief.

"Jaune Arc was a proud Huntsman of Atlas. He was strong, tough, kind, and caring. A Huntsman who fought for the people rather than glory or duty. You're son was a truer Huntsman than someone like myself, who was caught up in their duty. And I'm sorry for failing to save him like so many others."

A lot of thoughts were stirred up by the apologizing woman's words. Of those many thoughts, one stood out the most.

'Do I look like my dad? Do I really look so old that I could have a son? Wait, am I older than the Ace Ops now?!'

Was that how everyone would perceive him?

Well, this was a strange misunderstanding he would have to awkwardly correct.

Hand rustling his long blond locks in contemplation, Jaune wondered how exactly he was supposed to tell Elm he wasn't missing but standing right in front of her.

"WHAT?!"

Jaune cringed, the loud exclamation from behind telling him all that he needed to know. If Team RWBY were talking to Team CFVY, and from the sounds of it, he was also among those who had 'died' in Cinder's attack, then they were probably wondering where he was too. He had to wonder which one of the girls had broken the news to the now bewildered second(or were they third, forth?) year students of Vacuo.

Yang. Had to be Yang.

Face still cringing, he looked back to find, indeed, Team CFVY and a shit-grinning Yang were staring at him. He could see the once older Huntsman's eyes grow impossibly wide and-

THUD!

...Velvet fainted. Heatstroke. Had to be heatstroke.

"J-Jaune? Jaune Arc? The Blond Noodle of Beacon Academy. That's him?"

Yes, Coco, it was him. Wow, he'd almost forgotten being compared to a noodle back in school.

Being a veteran Huntress, it was now Elm's turn to put two and two together as her mouth struggled to close properly at the revelation.

"Jaune? Is...that you?"

"Yeah, funny story, actually."

THUD!

Like Elm's weapon, she went timber. On top of the fabled Rusted Knight.

---

No more waiting.

The first steps have been made and old yet unfamiliar world now awaits you. Time has finally resumed with the sounds of battle signaling a forgotten fight.

The easy part is over. What awaits you next is the true hurdle.

Alright, let's get to discussing this overdue chapter.

When thinking of what to write as Team RWBYJaune's start to their return back to the others, I wanted to introduce a battle to show how they've returned to the semblance of their old ways. A sign that they've overcome a majority of the troubles of the Ever After. Especially Jaune.

In V9, we really didn't see too much action from Jaune. And I wanted to show how he much he's improved now that he's been cleaned up, gained a bit of his spark back and had all that wear and tear exhausting him chipped off. This chapter was meant to show a Jaune whose decades of experience he's compiled in the Ever After has improved. More of said experience and battle prowess will be shown off later on, of course.

Along with the battle scenes, I also wanted to sprinkle bits of the lingering effects of the Ever After's trauma on both Jaune and Ruby at the beginning of the chapter. All's not forgiven and the wounds they inflicted on each other have yet to be patched up, which will rear up as well as things move along. After all, the Jaune that's returned isn't the youthful boy they had all cherished anymore. We've gotten snippets of his new personality here as well; a hint to the kind of man he's become despite leaving behind the world of fairy tales.

Oh, and we also have some familiar faces showing up too!

I wanted to leave our reunion with the rest of Team JNPR, Oscar, Qrow, Emerald, and everyone else for the next chapter. That's the hefty feels one- hot damn. But I also still wanted some familiar faces involved. Naturally, I thought of Team CFVY...because I'm a coffee addict. Sue me.

And I've always liked Elm, so why not?

We also got a peek at what Petulant Memory is capable of. It's a special magical sword, one that's yet to show off its true power. It still has a feature or two to show off. And as I've always liked the Rusted Knight's helmet, and he couldn't return to Remnant without it, I thought to have added it in as a mechshift pauldron of sorts- courtesy of the Blacksmith.

Now, the fighting is out of the way. Which mean's we can resume our path to the Kingdom of Vacuou!

...Man, is that going to be an interesting reunion.

Yes, yes, yes; I know. Especially with my RWBY story here, it takes me a long time to update. I can't blame the hard feelings and doubt. But still, it won't stop me from writing or updating. Hell, at this point, I'm continuing this because I want to.

For those of you willing to put up with the wait for some quality content, I thank you. Keep reading and I'll do my best to keep writing, eh?

Until next time.

Read and Review. It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.