Yo! Back with another chapter of RKWW! Hope you guys like this one! Should be moving to a more normal schedule on this story, likely biweekly uploads.

Start Chapter 3

Jaune informed Winter, privately, about his realization as to their potential location, alongside just who it was he thought they had with them. It had been an awfully long time since he'd read the story, and he didn't remember all that much of it, but he couldn't help but feel like it had been a relatively happy story, without much conflict.

It was the first piece of good news that Jaune had received in going on a month now – counting their time in Atlas – and he was very much a fan.

"It… adds up." Winter sighed out, clearly not wanting to buy such an out-there theory. "As much as I'm loathe to believe it. I will admit that I am familiar with the story; I used to read it to Weiss when she was having trouble sleeping as a child."

That had Jaune smiling; the mental image of the normally hard-ass Winter Schnee doing something as kind as reading a bedtime story for her little sister.

Evidently Winter had realized that, for she rolled her eyes. "Regardless of such things, however, I do not recall a character named Lewis being present in that story."

"Yeah…" Jaune swallowed on nothing as he turned back around, looking at the two kids who were grouped up on their own around twenty or so meters from them, talking amongst themselves at the edge of the water. "Neither do I."

"Let us hope it was simply an omission." Winter echoed his own thoughts. He was very much hoping nothing bad happened to Lewis, and that there was a much kinder explanation as to his lack of appearance.

In the meantime, Jaune was certainly going to be keeping his eye on the boy, that was for sure.

"What do you want to do?" He asked Winter. "Take them to the stream we found?"

"I'd say that's probably out best bet." Winter sighed out. "There were crawfish – or, well, crawfish-esque creatures – present there as well, so we can feed them more easily."

"Mm."

They'd been sitting on the beach long enough now that the sun had set, however, so any such thoughts of moving would have to wait for the following day.

"Hey, you two!" Jaune called out to Alyx and Lewis, waving to them. He was doing his best to try and be open and friendly with them.

Lewis waved back at him, but Alyx shot her brother a look that had him clamming up. It had been their dynamic so far. It seemed that Lewis was… not subservient to Alyx, but that he trusted her, and was willing to go along with her suggestions.

Jaune didn't get a bad vibe from Alyx, to be clear. Obviously, the two of them were hiding something, but he had a feeling that had more to do with the 'how' of their presence here in the Ever After than anything else.

Jaune and Winter had gotten there through using the Relic of Creation, and that told Jaune that getting here in the first place was a difficult thing to do.

He had a feeling making it here on accident was even more so.

He'd talk about that with Winter in the morning, though. For the moment, he was tired, and honestly, he still kind of wasn't over this whole…

Ever After thing.

Winter had harvested a good few palm fronds for all of them, which Jaune laid down on the sand close to the fire that Winter had lit up to form a very makeshift bed. So far, they'd not encountered any other intelligent creatures – which was to say alike to humans or faunus – or aggressive animals. Even so, Jaune and Winter would be continuing to split watch between them until they knew for certain that they were safe to sleep through the night unattended.

They would not be taking chances.

Jaune respected that about Winter. She wasn't one to take anything for granted.

Honestly, this whole being in the Ever After thing had given him a newfound respect for Winter in general. He'd worked with her so very sparingly, oftentimes only brushing by her in high stress situations, like when they'd been headed into the Grimm Whale to rescue Oscar.

But he could see how she'd been made into a Specialist so young, now. He'd been able to see it in the determined expression on her face. In the way that she didn't hesitate to make hard decisions. In that she made no assumptions, only estimates, that, more often than not, were proven right.

It was as he was drifting off to sleep, however, that he heard something that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

"So… we're not telling them?" He heard Lewis whisper. "About… y'know, the blue guy?"

"No." Alyx responded, barely loud enough to make out over the crackling of the fire. "We're not. Now lay down. You need to sleep."

"Okay…"

"Goodnight, Lewis."

"Goodnight Alyx."

Jaune found a tiny smile slipping onto his features. Even with how crabby she was, it was clear that Alyx cared about Lewis more than anything.

But even so…

Blue guy…

Yeah… Jaune had an idea as to who they were talking about.

/

Jaune awoke at what felt like two or three in the morning to take over watch duty, which Winter very clearly appreciated by the heavy bags hanging under her eyes.

In all fairness, he wasn't much better off. As Winter laid down to rest her eyes for a few hours, Jaune started to, for the first time since they'd arrived, really feel the effects of sleeping just four or five hours a day for multiple days in a row.

It hadn't ever been a problem for him when he'd been a kid, staying up way too late playing videogames with his friends. But then, that was because he'd done literally nothing with his energy. It was a problem now because he was actually using all of the energy his body could supply per day, and then not giving it enough time to truly replenish it, to refresh itself.

He was running on fumes. Winter was as well.

She was just a lot better at it, courtesy of being both older than him, thusly requiring less sleep, and being in the military.

Still, it wasn't just him that would be at risk if he fell asleep at the proverbial wheel. Alyx and Lewis were sleeping right behind him as he stared out at the forests beyond their temporary camp.

It was mind-numbing, but it gave Jaune a chance to think.

And he needed to think.

His hands go slack around his blade, and yet, even despite that, it stands without his intervention, propped up by the now human flesh it's pierced right through. The light's gone from her eyes; there's only a blank, hollow stare, and–

He wretched, barely fighting back the urge to vomit. He… Winter had made it very clear that he could not afford to be shedding either food or water at the moment. It was funny how that – the pragmatic, purely logical approach to the problem – was what allowed him to avoid jettisoning the modest meal he'd had earlier in the day.

Or, technically, the previous day, given it was far past midnight. Or what constituted for such in this place.

He wiped at his mouth, removing the small bits of spittle that had come out as he'd wretched. He sort of expected things to end there, but…

Then someone sat down beside him.

He panicked initially, reaching for his fractured sword for but a moment before he realized it was Winter who'd plopped down beside him. She nodded to him curtly, and he nodded back, just as much so.

"…I thought you were getting some sleep."

"It appears that such eludes me at the moment." Winter spoke. "Added onto that, I heard you nearly vomit just a moment ago. I came in to check in on you."

He was surprised she cared… even if he shouldn't have been. From a purely logical standpoint, coming to check in on her one trusted ally in a foreign land, making sure they were alright, was entirely understandable.

Still…

"I'm fine." He lied, and it was an obvious one. Still, he hoped Winter would get off his case, allow him to–

"You are not fine." Winter didn't so much as hesitate. "I let it go before, yesterday morning, but it is clear that whatever this is, it is not something you are going to get over quickly."

He looked away. Mostly because he knew Winter was right.

He debated trying to clam up and say nothing… but in the end, he realized there wasn't much point. For the moment, it seemed as if Winter was his only real compatriot in this place.

And it would be nice to have someone to share his troubles with. Especially someone who likely shared his own emotions on the subject.

"I was thinking about Penny."

He saw the smallest, tiniest twitch on Winter's face, then. Her gaze went towards the tree line, where it seemed to get lost for just a moment, before training back on his own. She wet her lips with her tongue to give herself a moment to think.

What she eventually said, however…

"Do your best to put such thoughts out of mind."

It was an unexpected thing for Jaune. He'd assumed that Winter would've been just as devastated as he had been to see Penny – sweet, innocent Penny – struck down just when she had a chance to be a real girl. And yet…

Maybe it was the lack of sleep catching up to him, but he couldn't help snarling.

"How can you say that!?" He shot out, barely able to keep his voice down with the fury coursing through him. "She loved you! You were like a big sister to her, and you–"

"Do you think I don't know that!?" Winter hissed as she rounded on him.

It was a quick change of expression on her face. Before, she'd seemed almost uncaring, but now…

Now, for the first time since they'd arrived, he saw Winter's feigned visage crack. Her lower lip quivered; her brow was tense, and her breaths uneven.

"Do you think I don't…" Her voice was still burning, but she forcibly took a breath then, as harrowing as it was, to cool herself down, and that gave Jaune time to deflate as well.

"I know." She eventually gritted out. "I know that she loved me. I loved her as well. She was… a wonderful girl." Winter spoke, her voice sounding paradoxically emotionless and heart-rending. "But this… we are far from in a stable situation, right now. We cannot afford to take time to mourn her. When we can… believe you me, I will be the first to do so."

Jaune felt any last bits of anger still hanging about his frame going up in smoke. He'd been an idiot, he realized, and he'd snapped without much reason. Obviously, Winter had cared. It was just…

"I'm sorry." He pushed out, unwilling to admit to the true reason he was as broken up as he was; that it had been him that Penny had turned to when she'd been unable to make that choice for herself.

"Thank you." Winter murmured, barely there.

There was no conversation between them for a while after that, up until Winter suddenly spoke again.

"…I may present as strong, and unaffected by my surroundings, but know that I am not some unfeeling machine, Jaune Arc. I, too, am experiencing what is very likely the same sorrow that you are. But we need to keep going. Precisely because of that. Precisely because there are people waiting for us. Precisely because there is a world we must return to." She looked to him, into his eyes, and he saw steel reflected there as the fire behind them illuminated one half of her face.

"We cannot falter here."

He swallowed, doing his best to beat that truth into his own head. "Right…"

They didn't speak again. Winter didn't try to go back to sleep, either. She simply sat with him a while, until eventually, she slumped forward; sleep catching her with her arms balanced on her knees, her head dipping.

Jaune just watched the leaves rustle in the trees beyond, as the sky continued to grow lighter by the minute.

Perhaps later, much like they might mourn Penny, Jaune might admit just how striking Winter had seemed, then, when she spoke with the fire at her back; with the fire in her heart.

But now was not the time.

/

Jaune woke up to the realization that he'd had to wake up at all, which meant that he'd fallen asleep.

Aka, he'd not been watching over the camp.

He pushed himself up and off of the sand – he must've fallen off the log he'd been resting on during his sleep – and took inventory. It was light out, which meant it had been a few hours; he didn't remember actually seeing the sun rise. Winter was still resting next to him, in the same position she'd been in before, which had to be terrible for her back, but…

Alyx and Lewis were gone.

Jaune's heart hammered in his chest as he stood up, and scanned their surroundings.

He had to just be moving too quickly, missing them. Perhaps they had headed down to the water, or were playing about at the edge of the jungle?

No. They were nowhere to be found.

He swallowed down his panic and moved over to Winter, shaking her awake. He shook a bit hard, and Winter shot up, drawing her saber and pointing it right at him.

She was out of it; as tired as he'd been.

"Alyx and Lewis! They're gone!"

Winter's entire demeanor shifted. "What!? What happened!?"

He bit down on his bottom lip. "I… I fell asleep. I'm sorry–"

"Apologies can wait." Winter shook her head. "For now, we need to find them. They're children alone in a land that neither of us know the true dangers of. For all we know, the two of us could have narrowly avoided attack several times by now. We need to find them, and quickly."

He nodded his head, and the two of them shot up the beach.

Luckily, the sand at least served to give them a good idea as to where the kids had gone. There were footprints leading inland up until the dunes gave way to dirt. From there, they had a general direction they knew they needed to travel in.

Unless the kids were trying not to be found, and had intentionally changed their direction.

Jaune just hoped that wasn't the case.

"What on Remnant were they thinking, going off on their own!?" Winter growled out, seemingly unable to hide her frustration. Honestly, Jaune wasn't too thrilled with the children, either, so he was right there with her.

"I don't know." Jaune bit out. "I think they don't trust us."

"I gathered that much, yes."

He pushed a laugh through his teeth, even as they pushed on through the jungle.

In truth, they didn't have to go particularly far. They were lucky that they heard a scream, and though Jaune paled, and his stomach dropped in his chest, they at least knew the direction they were going. It was north-northwest, and Winter and Jaune both practically flew in that direction.

When they pushed through the final thicket, they found Alyx and Lewis, as they'd hoped to.

But they also found…

It was a hard thing to describe, that which had apparently chosen to attack the two children. A strange creature, a dark plum in color, with bands of gray that ran down its sides like jagged stripes. It muttered to itself as it stalked forward, towards Alyx and Lewis.

"Prey? Prey? Prey."

Jaune's teeth clenched as he and Winter both moved to intercept. Where Jaune took a defensive position in front of the two children, Winter charged right for their adversary, her eyes alight with the Winter Maiden's fire.

She was pulling no punches at all.

Then again, they were trying to defend the defenseless, and, from what they knew, auraless children. Now definitely wasn't the time for pulling their punches.

Winter's sabers struck down on the creature's left flank, but its skin seemed far thicker than Winter had anticipated. Her blow cut into it, but not nearly deep enough to hamper it. Its head turned at an unnatural angle, locking 'eyes' with Winter.

It swung at her, although of course, Winter was faster, shooting fire out of her feet to dodge back and away.

Unfortunately, buying herself space only served to give the creature a moment, and it used that moment to charge right for Jaune and the children.

He heard them panicking behind him. Could see out of his peripheral the way that Lewis cowered in on himself, and how Alyx, steadfast, took hold of her brother, and shielded him with her own body.

It made for a rather harrowing scene; an older sister preparing to give her life for her younger brother.

For once, however, Jaune could actually make a difference.

He took the blow that the creature meant for the two of them on Crocea's shield. With a proper blade, he might have been able to cleave the creature's head clean from its shoulders, but without…

Well, he'd settle for a good hit.

He instead used every ounce of his strength – further enhanced with his semblance – to drive the shattered tip of Crocea Mors into the creature's chest.

It howled, throwing itself off of Jaune's weapon and grabbing at its injured chest. He would've moved to finish it off, but it had already proved to be fast enough to duck out from Winter's attacks. He wasn't confident he could get back around to protect the kids if he missed his attack.

So, he stayed right where he was, and allowed the creature to scamper away, bleeding, further into the jungle.

Winter seemed to feel much the same, because despite being able to do so, she didn't attempt to follow it. She simply watched it, making sure it was fully gone before she allowed herself to take a breath, and let the Winter Maiden's fire fade from her vision.

"What on Remnant were the two of you thinking!?" Winter immediately rounded on Alyx and Lewis both. There was a palpable rage about her whole form, and Jaune took a step back from her without even realizing. "Do you have any idea how dangerous what you just did was!?"

The two shrunk in on themselves. Lewis more than his sister, but even Alyx seemed to be affected by Winter's words.

"You could've gotten yourselves killed, easily!" Winter hissed. "Did you have a plan for acquiring food? A plan for acquiring water? How about the skills to build a fire when the midnight chill hit, or a way to protect yourselves in case of aggressive wildlife, like what we just saw!?"

It was clear that the two hadn't thought about any of it. They were just kids. Of course they hadn't.

They likely thought themselves invincible, just like Jaune had when he'd been their age. Completely and utterly incapable of making a real mistake.

They'd been very, very close to it today.

They got lucky that Jaune and Winter had been able to rescue them in time.

"We're sorry…" Lewis mumbled out, and Alyx, despite not saying anything, looked away, clearly feeling much the same.

That sentiment seemed to be enough to thaw some of the ice that had been hanging about Winter's tone, and she let out a breath that was equal parts a release of anger and worry.

They might not have known Alyx and Lewis very long, but Jaune didn't think he was alone in wanting to protect the two children who'd suddenly found themselves in their care. If they'd been hurt…

"Well, do not do so again, understood?" Winter asked them, and they both nodded. "Good. We'll be doubling back to grab the supplies we left behind when we had to come and fetch you, but after that, we'll be traveling towards the small crick that Jaune and myself located yesterday."

The two kids nodded, and together, the four of them started making their way back towards the beach.

It was a trip that Jaune was expecting them to make in silence, and yet, halfway through, Lewis broke off from Alyx, and shuffled over towards him a tad awkwardly.

"U-Uhm…"

"What is it?" He tried to project himself as easygoing.

"Well… just…" Lewis took a breath, before looking up at him and smiling. "Thank you, Mister Jaune! For protecting us."

It was odd how much that simple phrase affected him. After so very long of feeling like the bumbling idiot, the useless tagalong…

He'd saved someone.

He did his absolute best not to show how deeply he had been affected by Lewis' words, tilting his head up so that the small number of tears gathering in his eyes didn't spill.

"Hah…" He chuckled. "You're welcome, Lewis."

It was then that he cottoned onto the expression on Alyx's face, who was watching all of this from her position two or three meters left of them. She'd been glaring over at him up until he turned to look at her.

And it wasn't exactly a mystery why.

Jaune had enough siblings to know what was going on here. Alyx was wondering why she wasn't being thanked for also moving to protect her brother. She had, after all, prepared to shield him with her own body. Even if she hadn't the strength to fight back like Jaune could, she'd have done everything she could.

And that deserved commendation, in Jaune's eyes.

"But y'know, Lewis, I think you should thank your sister, too." Jaune nudged the boy, and he turned to look over at Alyx, who was now doing her best to pretend she'd not been staring at them the entire time. "She was going to protect you, too, wasn't she?"

Lewis thought about that for a second, before he nodded his head with a smile on his face. "Yeah. She was."

He walked over, and smiled. "Thanks, Alyx."

"I…" Alyx looked away; a blush noticeable on her cheeks.

Neither Jaune nor Alyx commented on it, although, idly, Jaune thought he could see the tiniest of smiles on Winter's lips as she looked back at the three of them; all of them following her back to the beach.

It was clear as day that Alyx didn't trust them. Jaune didn't exactly know why, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to do anything about it.

He could make it past that spiky exterior.

He had a feeling a nice, caring girl laid behind it.

And he'd do what he could to meet her.

End Chapter 3

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