Soldiers to the End

AN: The title says it all.
Enjoy.

Jaune had his sword and shield drawn against an enemy he has never seen before. Some had melee weapons, others had guns, and a few had weird staffs that had dust crystals at the end of them, "Well, this is new."

Just then one of the creatures with a sword came at him and swung hard, Jaune barely had enough time to duck under the blade. He swung his sword across its chest, but it barely scratched its armor. "Oh, great." He then noticed, like any armor plating, there were gaps below the shoulder and at the neck. Jaune blocked the creatures second swing with his shield and stabbed though the armpit, straight though the body, and then kicked it off his sword.

He then heard several of them shoot their guns at him, protecting himself from the bullets with his aura and his shield. As he turned around he saw them run right for him, they were going to try and swarm around him, "Okay, time to move."

Jaune quickly ran toward the ruin that Ruby was hiding on not too long ago, and lead the beasts up there to fight on a higher standpoint. As he ran up the stairs he blocked several swings form axes and swords, once at the top he stabbed his sword into the ground and drew his pistol. Using his magnetic glove, the gun flew from the holster to his hand quickly. He fired several armor piercing shots at the hoard as they were charging up the stairs. Some shots made it though the armor and hit others behind the first, but not enough for Jaune to feel comfortable up there. He unloaded his whole magazine and was forced to run away from them again at the top of the stone building.

"RUBY!" Yang shouted as she was searching though the forest for her sister. Then she started to hear familiar gunshots. "Jaune…"

It was then that she realized that they were in under attack, which only motivated her to find her sister even more.

As Jaune was fighting the Uruks, Locus and his Shadow Troopers arrived in their armored trucks. They dismounted and looked on to see the small hoard of Uruks doing what they were bred to do, swarm and attack. They were like ants running into the forest by the dozens.

Locus held his left arm up to his face, much like how Cinder did during the Battle of the Five Armies, "All units, spread out and search for the members of RWBY. I want them alive and unharmed. KILL the others, but leave the Knights to me."

Jaune looked down at the hoard as they continued into the forest, running the same direction Ruby ran when he sent her away.

"YOU'RE FIGHTING ME!" Jaune shouted as he jumped off the building and shield-body slammed down on a couple Uruks. He quickly turned around to see an Uruk with a gun pointing its rifle at his head but was quickly struck by a spear straight though the chest, knocking it to the ground.

Jaune turned around to see Pyrrha, Nora and Ren charge out of the forest and join the fight.

Pyrrha used her polarity to pull her javelin out of the Uruks chest, back into her hand. She helped Jaune to his feet; she gave him a wink, which he returned and then they both continued to fight.

Ren moved quickly and slashed at the Uruks behind the knees or stabbing them by the base of their necks. An Uruk with a dust staff fired several ice shards at him; he dodged them and fired a few shots form his guns. The Uruk blocked the shots with a thin ice wall, which was then quickly blasted by Nora's hammer. It sent a shockwave of ice and pink dust at both the "Warlock" and some of the other Uruks.

Ruby ran as fast as she could. She could hear the sound of gunfire and metal clashing behind her.

As she was running, she was tackled by an Uruk and was grabbed by the back of the neck. It then forced her to the ground; she reached for her Crescent Rose but felt the beast step on her hand. Just then she heard several slashing sounds and then a gunshot, the beast fell off of her.

Ruby quickly sprung up to her feet to see both Blake and Weiss sanding there with their weapons drawn.

"You okay?" Weiss asked with worry.

Ruby nodded, "The others will need your help."

"Aren't you coming too?" Blake asked in confusion.

Weiss could see the look in Ruby's eyes. She was scared and sad, not because there was a fight, because she was leaving. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"I have to." Ruby tried not to cry again. Now wasn't a good time to start.

Weiss didn't hesitate as she walked up to Ruby and hugged her tightly. Once she let go she gripped her shoulder, "Then get going."

Ruby looked to Blake and saw the same look that was on Weiss' face. They all then heard the Uruks up the hill, and they weren't alone; local Grimm packs joined appeared to be among the horde. Mostly Beowolves and Creeps.

"Go, Ruby. We got this!" Blake said as she drew her sword form it's sheath and held both in her hands. Weiss switched her dust revolver to a 'wind dust' crystal and blasted some of the Grimm back up the hill to buy Ruby time.

Ruby ran as fast as she could, dripping a few tears off her face as she was forced to leave her friends behind to fight for their lives.

"How long do you think we can hold them?!" Blake asked as she cut down two Beowolves.

"As long as we have to!" Weiss said as she stabbed an Uruk in the neck and used a fire dust to roast it inside it's own armor.

After dispatching two more Grimm and an Uruk, Blake grabs Weiss' arm, "We have to keep moving; don't let them surround us!"

Jaune tried to lead JNPR back into the forest but Uruks and Grimm kept catching them up.

As they were running, Jaune sheathed his blade but kept his shield open as he was reloading his pistol. Pyrrha covered him by standing on his right side and shielding him from oncoming fire. Once he finished reloading, both he and Pyrrha unloaded their guns on the Uruks in front of them; Jaune using armor-piercing rounds and aiming for the head, while Pyrrha aimed for their chests. That quick burst of bullets killed 17 Uruks and Grimm in less than 5 seconds.

Nora swung her hammer at any that got too close for comfort. She quickly converted her hammer into the grenade launcher and blasted several Uruks that were attacking from the rear. Although unintentionally, Nora's grenades blasted tree's truck, knocking it over and crashing down on some Grimm and stalled some of the others up the hill. Ren moved faster than any of the Uruks could react as he slashed behind their knees, forcing them to the ground and fall behind. He moved too fast for them to hear coming before they felt their legs give out on them.

Blake and Weiss ran down hill as fast as they could without tripping or tumbling down. As they were running, they reached a more leveled area and tried to make for the edge of the forest, but then they saw more Grimm coming at them from in front. They stopped in their tracks; they were cornered.

They prepared for a fight of their lives as the monsters surrounded them. Just then they heard several small explosions, and turned to see Boromir blasting his way though the small hoard to them. He was using a sub machine gun, which he was enhancing with his aura like Jaune normally did, and was blasting some of the Grimm and Uruks off their feet. He extended his disk shield from his left guard and blocked some of the gunfire that was meant for the girls. "Keep moving!"

Blake and Weiss followed him as he tried to lead them out of the 'kill box' they were in.

Blake swung her swords fast and hard as she decapitated several Beowolves and Uruks in a quick and swift spin.

Weiss switched her dust to the Silver Dust Maleficent gave her and launched a small ball at the charging hoard. The ball hit an Uruk in the chest and then expanded into a big sphere that engulfed six others and froze them in place. "Time Freeze bubbles, NICE!" Weiss said as she ran after the others.

Yang searched desperately for anyone, until she ended up stumbling into a small Uruk pack. There were several Grimm with them. "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" She shouted as she blasted them to pieces, one at a time.

(Hell hath no fury like a protective older sister.)

Meanwhile, JNPR was cutting down the last of the horde that was in their immediate area. They took this moment as a chance to catch their breath. Then they heard several explosions in the air, they sounded similar to the explosive bullets Jaune usually fires. Then they all saw a red flair fly up above the trees and explode, it came from the south. Jaune knew who it was form, "Boromir."

Everyone then ran as fast as they could toward the gunfire. Jaune didn't know whether or not Boromir was himself again, but if the others were there he had to take the risk.

Boromir used the bladed edge of the top of his SMG to slash at any Uruks that got too close. While their armor proved to be as strong as steel, they also proved to be immune to the pain of a gunshot.

He quickly loaded a second magazine of flair bullets and fired three round bursts into the air, hoping someone else from the Fellowship could come to help. "I'm running low on flares!" Boromir said as he converted his gun back into its sword form and stabbed an Uruk in the neck as it charged at him.

"They'll come, I know it. Just keep going!" Weiss said as she unleashed a small barrage of ice shards at a group of Uruks that tried to flank them.

They did their best to move and fight as much as they could, but for every Uruk they killed a Grimm arrived to take their place. On the higher hills behind them, Locus and his Shadow Troopers could see the group fighting. Alpha walked up to Locus with his head lowered, "Should we engage them, Sir?"

"I'll have my men hit them with tranq-bullets. Once their down take them straight to Saruman. Finding the other two will take more skill, so I'll deal with it." Locus said as he reached over his shoulder for his sniper rifle.

"And the Knight?" Alpha asked.

Locus loaded his rifle with a four round magazine containing obsidian bullets. "I'll deal with him."

Locus looked into his scope, aimed for Boromir's left shoulder and squeezed the trigger until the rifle fired. The bullet flew across the downslope, past a few Uruks and Grimm and hit its intended target.

Boromir was swinging at an Uruk right when he heard the gunshot, then the next thing he knew a bullet was in his shoulder. The pain form the bullet surprised him. He knew he had enough aura to block bullets without thinking about it, how did this one make it thought.

Blake and Weiss were stunned to see Boromir actually wounded after one shot. They almost didn't notice some Uruks coming at them. They broke out of their shock and continued to fight, trying to cover Boromir from behind.

Boromir ignored the pain and shield punched a Beowulf that tried to come at him from the side. He continued to fight with just as much strength.

Locus lowered his rifle and smirked under his helmet, "Stubborn as always…" he walked a few feet down the hill and lined his rifle up for another shot.

As Boromir was fighting, his eye caught a light glare from up the hill. Once his vision focused enough, he recognized the armor to be Locus himself. Then he heard a gunshot and then he was hit to the right side of his gut. Boromir was sure this time; the bullet passed though the barrier as if it wasn't even there.

Weiss and Blake saw Boromir kneel to the pain. Blake ran to Boromir, trying to help him to stand again. To the corner of his eye he saw another Uruk come at her from behind, so he switched his sword into a SMG and fired at the coming Uruk. "KEEP FIGHTING!"

Weiss looked in horror as the man was on the verge of death, fighting to protect them with every breath. Tears were welling in her eyes as she fought.

Locus put his rifle over his shoulder and started to run down the hill, straight for Boromir.

Blake saw him coming and put herself between Locus and Boromir. She fired her gun until it was out of bullets and Locus was still coming, showing no signs of slowing down. It wasn't until he was right on her that he stopped and jabbed at her to move. She did but was then shot in the neck by some kind of dart. She instantly felt weak and hit the ground unconscious.

"BLAKE!" Weiss shouted as she tried to move towards her fallen teammate, but then the same kind of dart hit her in the arm, causing her to fall flat on her face into the leaves.

Boromir stood back up and swung his sword in a defensive posture at Locus as he moved between them. Locus smiled under his helmet and drew two short swords, "I'm going to enjoy this."

Boromir came at him first, swinging diagonally left and then back swung right, hoping to catch him off guard. But Locus proved to be faster than the swings and dodged both.

Locus then moved in to slash at Boromir's left shoulder but was blocked by the shield. Boromir then swung his shield arm to hit Locus in the face with it; this quick move stunned him enough for Boromir to throw another swing. This time he hit Locus on his left thigh, Boromir's aura was strong enough to allow his sword to cut though the armor plating and hit his thigh.

Locus grunted and backed off, he then saw that Boromir was getting weaker. "Take him!" he said to the mercenaries around him.

Two troopers moved into strike at him, one with an axe, and another with a katana. Boromir felt the gift belt Maleficent gave him, the Stärke Belt, began to glow. Just then he swung his blade at the samurai and cut the katana in half before decapitating the man behind it. The belt gave him the strength to swing his sword and cut though that metal just as easily without his aura enhancements.

With the other dead, the axe user swung at Boromir, he dodge and swung across the man's body, cutting him in half. With him dead, Boromir set his sights on Blake and Weiss, who were in the arms of Uruks not too far from him. As he made his way, other Uruks intercepted him.

Without orders, four Uruks moved in to try their luck on the wounded knight: two with large swords, one with a rifle, and the last with a staff with Dust shards on it.

Boromir's strength proved to surpass them as he blocked their blades with ease, hitting one in the face with a shield and sending it flying to a tree. The Marksman tried to shoot him with a barrage of bullets; Boromir lifted his sword up as the bullets hit his shield. Using his aura, he enhanced his feet and began to run at the beast with his shield up. And then swung his sword at the rifle, cutting it in half and then decapitating the marksman where it stood.

Then he blocked several fire dust blasts from the Warlock. Without thinking, he threw his shield at its head to disorient it as he ran at it. Once dazed, it tried to block Boromir's downward swing of his sword. The sword cut though the staff and sliced the Uruk right down the middle.

Just as Boromir was about to turn to Uruks that held Weiss and Blake, he felt two bullets hit him in the legs. He fell to his knees paining hard, he turned to see who shot him and saw Locus there with his rifle out. "I think I've had enough of the show."

Locus walked up to Boromir, he kneed him in the face, causing Boromir to fall on his back and drop his weapons.

Locus motioned for his men to lift him up, while he turned to Alpha, "Take them. I'll find the other two."

Alpha nodded and then howled for the other Uruks to collect the girls and leave. As they were picking up the girls, Weiss started to wake up somewhat to see Boromir at the mercy of Shadow troopers and Locus. She wanted to call out to Boromir but she had no strength to speak.

Jaune was carving a path though the forest that was drenched in black blood form Uruks and Grimm. He was determined to get to the others; he made a promise. As he was fighting he couldn't help but think, "If you only come out when I have a need to protect my friends, now would be a GOOD TIME!"

Before he knew it, he saw a yellow glow emit from behind him. "Jaune?" He heard Pyrrha ask from behind. Once he learned that he wasn't the only one who noticed, he started to smile.

The Shadow troopers lifted Boromir to his knees and set him in front of Locus. Boromir looked up to see Locus kneel down to his level. "Lt. Ortez…"

"I'm not your lieutenant anymore. I'm not Atlas' puppet either, my strings have been cut." Locus said as he opened his helmet to reveal his face. "And I enjoy my newfound freedom."

"Oh yes, you traded one master for another. Tell me, is Salem really an improvement?" Boromir asks.

"She's a means to an end. And I'm no slave this time, I volunteered." Locus said with an agitated tone.

"You volunteered for us too." Boromir spat, to which Locus grabbed at his neck.

"You manipulated me, mutilated me, and tried to destroy me. When you tried to forget me, you replaced me with some android with orange hair…" Locus then let Boromir go and drew a knife that was made of obsidian. "But we're not here to talk about the past, Commander…"

Locus then held the knife up to Boromir's neck and brushed it across his bearded, "Tell me which of those four girls in RWBY have the Ring, and I promise to make your life end quickly."

"Is that supposed to be your idea of mercy?" Boromir asked with the blade over his throat.

"It's more than even YOU deserve… and yes, it is mercy. Are you going to tell me?" Locus asked. He looked into Boromir's eyes and saw that he was dazed, falling in and out of consciousness. Locus removed the blade and slapped Boromir lightly on the face, "Hey, you listening to me?"

WAAAM

In that split second of asking the question, Locus was gone in a flash of yellow light.

"I was." Boromir said with a smirk.

Locus was being pushed though the brush of the trees by something behind him. He kept getting hit until they were above the trees and was let go, falling back to the ground. Locus activated his jet pack to stop falling and looked up to see the one who rammed him.

"Jaune Arc, I presume?" Locus asked.

Jaune was above Locus with his wings flapping enough to keep him hovering. "You're a lot younger than I thought you'd be." Locus smirked as his helmet closed, he hit his boosters and charged at Jaune.

Jaune squinted and charged with his shield. The two clashed in midair, flying so fast one could only see two glowing objects clashing; one red (Locus' jetpack) the other yellow (Jaune's wings). After about the third clash, Jaune tried using his long sword against him but proved to be just as ineffective to break Locus' blades.

Pyrrha was down below, taking out the mercenaries that had Boromir in their arms. They were quick to dispatch, once she was done she moved Boromir to a tree and sat him down. Boromir looked to her and then up to the sky, "He may need you... Help him."

"You're wounded." Pyrrha said as she ripped a piece of fabric off her hip and put it over the wound. Boromir put his hand in place of hers, "I got this, go help him." Pyrrha looked at him and saw a look of worry, "Locus is stronger than Jaune thinks, he needs you..."

After firsthand experience of how tough Locus was, she knew he was right. She backed away from Boromir and looked up at the sky to see the fight, "How am I supposed to help down here?"

After the tenth clash they collided and held each other in a blade lock, Locus' swords vs. Jaune's long sword. When they broke the lock and swung at each other, Locus backed up and then tackled Jaune and aimed them towards the ground as he gunned it.

Jaune barely had time to adjust his wings and make them just hit the ground at an angle instead of straight down. Jaune and Locus tumbled back to where they started; Jaune could hear the rest of his team attacking the Mercenaries and Uruk Hai as he kept his full focus on Locus.

Jaune and Locus then proceeded to have a dual in sword play, Jaune proving to have an impenetrable stance while Locus proved too fast to get any strikes in.

Locus then moved in to try to disarm Jaune by blocking the sword with one sword and slash at his hands with the other, just as Jaune let go Locus was hit in the face with Jaune's glowing fist in an uppercut. "Thanks for the boxing pointers, Yang."

Locus' helmet cracked but wasn't too broken. Locus then sheathed his blades and pulled out his rifle and aim for Jaune. Jaune moved as he fired, but the bullet hit him in the left thigh as he tried to dodge. "AAH!"

Jaune fell to the ground, gripping at his leg. Locus smiled but then looked down to see that his rifle was now empty. Jaune then got back up on his strong leg, was then grabbed by the neck by Locus and lifted into the air.

Locus drew a knife form his hip, "You may have wings, but you didn't earn them." Just as he was about to stab into Jaune, he was slashed across the back, breaking the jetpack and causing it to explode on his back.

The explosion knocked Jaune back; after he hit the ground, he lifted his head to see who caused it. Pyrrha was now dueling Locus one-on-one.

Locus stood in a more aggressive stance while Pyrrha stuck to her normal one. "You'll find that your polarity won't work on me anymore. Mercury Black's polarity nullifier is built into the suit."

Pyrrha glared, "I don't need it to beat you."

"We'll see." Locus said as he made the first move.

Pyrrha and Locus charged and clashed. Locus proved to be faster, but Pyrrha appeared to have a stronger defense than he initially expected.

As they fought, Jaune got up on one knee to look at his wound. He saw the blood run down his leg, whatever Locus used it went right though his aura like air. Jaune brushed his finger over the bullet hole in his leg and felt that the bullet wasn't too deep in his calf. It may have broken though the skin; the thick leather under his pants stalled the bullet enough not to go too deep.

His aura wasn't healing him to the point of pushing it out, whatever it was made of was keeping his aura suppressed. He stuck his finger inside to pull it out, thanks to the adrenaline that was already flowing in his system; he didn't feel it that much.

Once it was out he could feel the wound start to heal. He stood up but felt a bit of a limp in his posture. "Hopefully it's enough…"

Pyrrha blocked several swings and used some of her combat acrobatics. But despite all this, Locus could see a pattern forming and began to anticipate her moves. Once he saw the pattern he used it against Pyrrha.

She attempted a spear shot but Locus swung his sword to knock the blade off course and miss. He then moved to get her off her balance by aiming his blade swings more at her feet. She tried to avoid his wings but was hit twice by his fast hands, one cut to the left thigh, one grazing the right shoulder. Were it not for her armor in her shoulder, the damage would have been worse.

Jaune looked down at the knife to see it was made of the same material as the bullet. He picked it up and started to run as fast as he could towards Locus.

Just as Locus was kicked Pyrrha in the chest to the ground, he raised his left sword to stab her. Just then he felt a blade pierce his left shoulder and stab into the mechanical joint under the skin. "AAAH!" Jaune stabbed the blade in-between the metal joints of Locus' shoulder, right where he remember the 'mechanical failure' was written in the old file on him.

He turned quickly elbow Jaune in the face from behind. He attempted to use his left hand but it wouldn't move at all. He looked at his shoulder to see his obsidian knife buried in it. "Damn it." He reached over with his other arm and pulled it out.

He looked back to Jaune with a death glare and threw the knife as hard as he could. Jaune barely had enough time to react. He saw Pyrrha's Milo and swings his sword to deflect the knife. The resulting swing shattered the knife like glass. (Obsidian is like glass, and metal beats glass)

Jaune then stood up as Locus came at him with his other sword. They shared a few strikes, until Locus knocked the weapon out of Jaune's hand and slashed up his right arm.

Pyrrha watch Jaune drop milo and saw that Locus was swinging with intent to keep Jaune from getting it back. She looked back where Jaune was on the ground before and saw Joyuse in longsword-mode. She used her semblance to tug on the sword and send it flying towards the two fighters, hoping Jaune would see it and use it.

Jaune saw the sword coming and tumble rolled past Locus and caught it in mid air. With a quick spin and a powerful strike with both strength and aura, Jaune swung upwardly in a diagonal swing at Locus. Locus tried to block with his sword but Joyuse's aura enhanced blade cut though the sword like butter.

Locus didn't even notice that he was falling until he hit the ground. Once he hit the ground he realized that he was bisected diagonally. His other half fell to the side, motionless.

Locus looked up at Jaune who was covered in blood, sweat and breathing heavily. "There are… no strings on me…" Locus said with a fait voice and a chuckle as his last breath left his mouth.

Unaware to Jaune or Pyrrha, one of Salem's Sheer's was floating in the trees above watching the whole thing. Once it saw that the battle was over, it floated away deeper into the forest.

Jaune ran up to Pyrrha and helped her to her feet, then he looked back to where Boromir was and ran as fast as he could.

Once he found his way back to his fellow knight, and found him rested up against a tree. Jaune ran to, before he could say anything, Boromir exclaimed, "They took them! They took Belladonna and Schnee!"

"I know. Try not to move." Jaune turned to Pyrrha, "Find Ren, HURRY! GO!" Pyrrha could see the fear in his eyes and ran away as fast as she could to find their teammates.

"W-where's Ruby?" Boromir asked as he was panting.

Jaune was hesitant to answer but he did anyway, "I let her go…"

"Then you had the strength to do what I couldn't…" Boromir said as he put his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "I almost killed her for it."

"The Ring is beyond our reach now." Jaune said as he was putting pressure on the wound closest to Boromir's heart.

"I'm sorry… I didn't understand what you went though then, until now…" Boromir had tears welling up in his eyes, "I failed you all…"

"No, no, no! You did not fail anyone! You redeemed yourself! You did!" Jaune said as he was trying to get Boromir to look him in the eye, "You tried to save them from Locus and you fought with all the strength you had. That is more than enough to achieve redemption."

"How could you know that?" Boromir asked with a fast breath.

"Because that's what I had to believe in when I saved Vale." Jaune said with a sad tone. He then turned behind him to see if anyone was there, when he realized there wasn't he shouted, "COME ON! GET OVER HERE! NOW!"

"Leave it!" Boromir said as he pulled Jaune back to look at him. "It's too late for me… for me and my people…"

Jaune was confused, "What are you talking about?"

"The world humanity will fall, because of the sins of Atlas and Mantel… We enslaved Faunus by the tens of thousands and we though nothing of it." Boromir began to weep over how much he ignored and how bad it will come back to haunt them. He saw it first hand with Locus. "And it's not just humans, it's all those we see as inferior. My people would rather fatten themselves than help those that starve! When Atlas falls, the punishment for our sins will be paid. And for most it will be 'just a start.'"

Jaune gripped Boromir's arm on his shoulder and held it tight, "I don't know what destiny has in store for me or our people, but I promise you that I will commit whatever I can to ensure that your home won't fall… Nor our people, the people of Remnant, to fail."

"Our people." Boromir spoke though a mouth full of blood, "Aye… our people…" He lowered his view to look for his sword. Jaune saw what he was reaching for and placed it in his hand. Boromir lifted the sword to his chest and pressed it hard against his chest place.

Jaune didn't notice, but Pyrrha and Ren had arrived to help but realized that it was too late. The least they could do was remain silent as Jaune says his last goodbyes to a fallen comrade.

Boromir turned his head to spit out blood and then preceded to speak, "I would have followed you, my friend. My brother… My Lord Commander."

And just like that, Jaune could see that Boromir finally let go. Then a light glow began to shine on his sword and then it died down back to normal. Jaune started to sob, he moved his hand to close Boromir's eyes as he rested his head on his chest plate. He felt a hand lie on his shoulder and saw it to be Pyrrha's hand.

He stood up to hug her and she hugged him back to give him comfort. As they were holding each other she heard him speak, "They will wait for him to return… We need to make sure that they find him to bring him home."

Meanwhile back at the beach, Ruby was standing there at the boat. She was hesitant to turn it on, but she knew she had to. She knew that once she sailed away, she would truly be on her own.

In the forest, Yang was running as fast as she could, shouting Ruby's name. Her hands were covered in Uruk blood, and she looked like she punched her way though a whole hoard.

Ruby was sitting at the helm of the boat, thinking to herself before she turned the engine on. "I wish the ring had never come to me, I wish none of this ever happened." Ruby thought to herself. Just then a memory came to her from Maleficent.

"So do any that live to see such times… But it's not up to them to decide. The only thing you can decide is what to do with the time you have."

Tears began to drip down Ruby's eyes. She gripped the wheel on the helm tight as she turned on the engine. She set the boat in reverse and backed out of the beach.

Yang reached the beach and shouted, "RUBY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Ruby could hear Yang from behind; she didn't look as she shouted back, "GO BACK, YANG! I have to do this on my own."

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE! I'M COMING WITH YOU!" Yang said as she walked out into the water. Once she saw that it was pointless to swim, she ran back to the beach. She looked up at one of the trees and felt it was tall enough. She ran behind the tree, waiting for the tree to be right between her and the boat and shot at its bark until it timbered over.

As the tree fell, she ran up the bark until she reached the end, used her weapons to propel her forward until she landed on the boat's deck. She landed rather roughly and hit her head on the side.

"YANG!" Ruby said as she got off the helm, not before setting it to autopilot. She ran to Yang and helped her to stand, "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I made a PROMISE, DAMN IT!" Yang shouted. "A promise I made to dad and our mother when you were born, 'I'll always take care of you'. And I'd be damned before a stupid ring will keep me from keeping that promise." Yang said as she hugged on Ruby.

Ruby started to tear up more as she hugged her back just as hard. They held each other for about five minutes; although Yang was never known to cry, this moment didn't stop her from bawling into her sister's shoulder.

Once they let go, Ruby smiled, "Lets go."

Jaune laid the first stone over the pile of rocks that was Boromir's temporary grave. Once it was set he walked over to the 'head' of the pile and stabbed it into the ground. Boromir's shield was opened into full disk and set up next to the sword. Jaune then placed Boromir's right gauntlet on the sword's handle and turned on its distress beacon.

Atlas was known to patrol this part of Anima for Mistral, when they would pass by they'd see the signal and would be the ones to take Boromir home for them. But since that wouldn't happen for a while, Jaune felt it would only be appropriate to have their funeral now while they have time.

"His name was Boromir Numenor, the eldest son of Chancellor Denathor and older brother of Faramir Numenor. He served as the Star Knight of Atlas for 23 years. He was tempted by darkness, and it almost cost him his honor, but when it came down to it he put his life on the line for the sake of his friends. He only first met all of us a few weeks ago… and he was willing to die so that we could fulfill our mission." Jaune's words started to choke up as he tried not to cry. Pyrrha rested her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, which gave him enough composure to finish, "He more than made up for his mistake. And I believe he found both redemption and peace today. He was a brave man, a good soldier… He was a soldier." Jaune took a deep breath, "He was a true Star Knight… And now his watch has ended."

"And now his watch has ended…" Pyrrha, Ren and Nora all said in unison. They may not have been Sky Knights, but they felt it was only right to say it in there absents.

Jaune turned to them and gave them a smile that was the best 'thanks' he could give without bawling in front of them.

Once it was over, Jaune placed Boromir's left gauntlet over his left arm. Since Jaune's was broken in the fight with Locus, he needed a replacement. In a way, it was like Boromir was still fighting with him.

Nora was standing on the broken stump that Yang made not too long ago and looked out to the coast where she could just barely see the boat. "Jaune, if we're going to catch up to them, we'll need to go now."

Nora turned back to Jaune when he did not answer. Ren could see it in his eyes, "We're not going with them, aren't we?"

"Ruby and Yang are on their own now," Jaune said with a sad tone, "It's safest for them as it is for us."

"Then it's over… The Fellowship failed…" Nora said in a depressed voice as she jumped down from the stump. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Jaune and Pyrrha saw the same kind of hopelessness in Ren's eyes as he and Nora stood close to each other. Jaune turned to Pyrrha and gave her a hopeful smile and a wink, he then walked to Ren and Nora as he rested his hands on both their shoulders, "This isn't over. And right now we need each other more than ever… Don't forget, we're still team JNPR."

Ren and Nora started to look up at him as he continued, "We're not just going to let Boromir's sacrifice be in vain and let Weiss and Blake remain captured. Our friends are out there, and they need us." Just as Jaune saw hope grow in their eyes he let go of them and moved towards the small pile of weapons they had stacked after the battle.

From there Jaune tossed to Ren Weiss' Myrtenaster and the Stärke Belt to Nora. Just as he put Blake's Gamble Shroud and placed it over his shoulder. "Only take essentials, leave anything that would only slow us down." Jaune then passed the bag full of food rations to Pyrrha as he picked up one of the duffle bags full of spare ammunition for all four of them. The other was given to Nora, whom put it over her shoulder.

Once Pyrrha caught the bag of food she gave a rather curious look and a smile, "I'm guessing you have a plan then?"

Once Jaune was sure that the bag was sealed and was in a good place for running he turned and smiled at her, "We're huntsmen and huntresses right?" they all nodded, "Then let's go hunt some monsters!" finished with a wink and stared running back into the forest.

Ren and Nora looked at each other and smiled, Nora shouted, "HELL YEAH!" as she ran after Jaune at top speed. Ren followed suite after he secured Myrtenaster on his belt. Pyrrha placed her bag over her shoulder and smiled as she ran after them, "Feels good to be back…"

Meanwhile, Ruby and Yang were still sailing on the ferry up the coast of Anima. As they were sailing, they were reaching the northernmost tip of Anima, close to the mountians and the more snowy regions. Form there, they hope to find some kind of refueling port to refuel their boat and go across another ocean to get to Mordor's continent of Draco. As they stood there, staring at the snowy coast of Anima, Ruby stood put her arm around Yang.

"Just one more full tank and we'll be on our way to Mordor…" Ruby said with a less than hopeful tone, more scared than otherwise. "I hope the others are ok…"

Yang put her arm under Ruby's shoulder and side hugged her, "I'm sure Jaune can take care of them… He did get us to Vale, I'm sure he'll think of something."

Ruby smirked for a second, but then it went away, "You think we'll see any of them again?"

Yang took a deep breath as she answered, "I would hope so."

"Yang…" Ruby said as she looked to her older sister, "Thank you for coming anyway."

Yang smiled back as she petted her sister's head like Qrow used to, "Where else would I be?"

Ruby and Yang then let go and continued their boat ride up the coastline, hoping to find the nearest port. Whatever was in stored for them next, they were both ready to face it together.

AN: AND SO ENDS THE "Fellowship" ARC! WHOOW…

I kid you not this chapter tugged on a lot of heartstrings for me…

And for those of you that are Game of Thrones fans, yes, I based Boromir's funeral off the Night's Watch funeral. Why? Because I thought it best for the scene since we didn't get any eulogies in the original story.

I hope you guys liked this one, and I hope to have the next one done by next month on the day of the month. School is almost at a break for me so I could get more chapters done over the break (I hope…)

Either way, this is the end of the first arc, please send me a review of how you felt about it and what you though overall so far. I would also like to thank all of you fro supporting me up to this point, and know that I have no intention of slowing down any further than I have already.

PLEASE R&R!

Oh I almost forgot, as always, ARKOS!