Kingdom of Vale

Port: Good day citizens of Vale! It is I, Professor Peter Port!!

The gray-haired teacher jumped atop the desk before him and flexed for the camera.

Port: Some of you may recognize me from some of my heroic exploits as a Huntsman!

As Professor Port continued to show off for the camera, he completely ignored his co-host.

Oobleck: And I am Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. Greetings.

Oobleck adjusted his glasses and leaned against the desk.

Oobleck: The moment that everyone from Menagerie to Atlas has been waiting for has finally arrived.

Port: Of course!

Port hopped back down and sat back down in his chair and re-joined his friend.

Port and Oobleck: The Vytal Festival Tournament!!

Throughout Remnant men, women, and faunus, cheered as they watched their screens.

Oobleck: Broadcast to you live, directly from Amity Colosseum!

Port: That's right, my friend! This magnificent colosseum was collaboratively built by all four Kingdoms to allow everyone throughout Remnant to enjoy the most anticipated part of the Vytal Festival!

Oobleck: Correct! And the two of us shall be your hosts!

Port: Aren't you lucky?

Port winked at the camera.

Oobleck: Right. As everyone is aware, the students from Huntsman Academies Haven, Shade, Atlas, and our very own Beacon, have entered the tournament in hopes of emerging victorious and bring home glory to themselves and their respective academy.

Port: And who doesn't like glory? I'll tell you!

Port slammed his fists against the desk.

Port: No one!!!

The gray-haired professor laughed as he relaxed his hands.

Port: Now, onto the rules! There are a total of three rounds to the tournament. The first round will feature a four versus four team match! The winning teams of this round will then select two members of their team to continue on to the two versus two round! And the final and third round shall be a good old fashioned one versus one duel!

Oobleck: Yes, incredibly exhilarating indeed! Now then, time to reveal the teams that shall be participating in this year's tournament!

The screen changed and a long list of team names appeared and slowly began to scroll upward.

_____

Ruby: Woah.... There's so many...

Ruby stared in bewilderment at the large screen as the team names continued to scroll by.

Blake: Yeah, seems like the competition will be pretty fierce this year.

Yang had a big smile on her face as she cracked her knuckles.

Yang: Wouldn't have it any other way!

Blake: I wonder who our first opponents will be.

Weiss: The pairings are randomized to prevent cheating, so we won't know until we're actually in the arena.

Blake: That makes sense...

As the names continued to scroll by, Weiss grew concerned.

Weiss: Uh, guys? Where's our team?

The other three girls joined Weiss and looked for 'RWBY' on the registered teams list. When they couldn't find it, Weiss, Blake, and Yang each turned their heads simultaneously towards their leader.

Yang: Ruby?

Ruby: Yeah?

Yang: You did register us for the Vytal Festival Tournament, right?

Ruby: Of course I did!

Ruby reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

Ruby: I got the registration right here!

Ruby's teammates stared at the paper and then to Ruby, and then back to the paper.

Weiss: You're supposed to turn that in, you dolt!!!

Ruby: Oh...

Yang: Ruby! You were supposed to do that weeks ago!

Blake: How much time do we have left before the deadline!?

As if waiting for that exact question to asked, the screen changed back to the two hosts.

Oobleck: Registration closes in thirty seconds.

The screen changed back to the list of teams and resumed scrolling.

RWBY: 0_o

Yang: Ruby!!!

Yang roughly grabbed her little sister.

Yang: Go...

Yang lifted Ruby over her head.

Yang: REGISTER US!!!!

Yang launched Ruby with all her strength toward the registration office.

Ruby: Aaaaaahhhh!!!!

Ruby flew through the air at blinding speed and crashed into the office with a small explosion.

Moments later the three remaining members of team RWBY turned to the screen and breathed a sigh of relief when their team name instantly appeared on the list.

Yang: Phew! Crisis averted!

Weiss shook her head.

Weiss: What an amazing leader we have...

Blake: ...Is Ruby okay?

Ruby, on the other hand, was seeing stars as she lay on the ground of the now destroyed registration office. Standing above her was a very angry office worker.

_____

Sitting alone in his office, Ozpin chuckled to himself as he looked at the display showing the secretary in the registration office lecturing the young Ruby. The Beacon headmaster found team RWBY's, as well as many of his other students', carefree lifestyle very nostalgic. It reminded him of a time when he was the same. When things were simpler.

Ozpin's reminiscing was cut short when an incoming video call from General Ironwood. Ozpin mentally sighed and cleared his throat before tapping the 'answer' icon on his desk.

Ozpin: General Ironwood, how may I help you today?

Ironwood: I think you know why I'm calling you, Ozpin.

Ironwood had a stern look on his face as he addressed his fellow headmaster.

This time Ozpin visibly sighed.

Ozpin: We aren't enemies General.

Ironwood: Then why are you trying to protect him?

Ozpin: Why are you treating him like he's a monster?

A loud silence filled Ozpin's office as the two of them stared intently at each other. However, Ozpin was the first to relax himself and break the silence.

Ozpin: I understand that you're concerned about the safety of the people, but Y/N isn't an inhuman monster. Surely you've realized that.

Ironwood: I...

Ironwood looked away from the screen and thought back to the time when he showed the young teen the images of Trist. The genuine emotion on his face.

Ironwood: I... understand that he may not understand what is happening to him...

Ozpin: On that we have a level of agreement. So why must you be so heavy handed on this matter?

Ironwood: Because we don't know what's happening either.

Ozpin had a mixture of perplexion and concern on his face.

Ozpin: What do you mean?

Ironwood tapped on the terminal on his end and a projection appeared on Ozpin's desk displaying the first burned out crater. Next to the image were various graphs and charts.

Ozpin took his time to understand the various displays before him as Ironwood continued.

Ironwood: With permission from the Vale council, I had a research outpost set up at the first site.

The screen changed to display a digital image of the crater, the outpost, as well as the surrounding forest.

Ozpin: Spared no expense I see...

Ironwood: What was discovered was... concerning, to say the least.

The image on Ozpin's desk shifted to display a model explosion that would match the crater.

Ironwood: The energy that was expended incinerated a perfect circle approximately three kilometers in diameter in the forestry.

Ozpin: Yes, I've read the reports. I'd find an explosion that left a perfect circle to be strange as well.

Ironwood: It's not just that...

The 3-D model of the explosion began to slowly expand, causing Ozpin to raise an eyebrow.

Ironwood: The energy that was expelled is incredibly unstable and volatile. If what the findings of my research team discovered are true, the blast radius that should have occurred would have been significantly greater...

The image kept expanding, eventually forcing the display to zoom out. The circle continued to grow, causing Ozpin to feel more and more uneasy. Eventually the circle engulfed a whole third of the entire continent of Sanus.

Ironwood: I understand that you want to protect him, but this energy is too dangerous to be left unchecked.

Ozpin glanced at the projected blast radius once more before looking back to the general.

Ozpin: Have you perhaps thought that this explosion is Y/N's Semblance?

Ironwood: Of course, all the more reason to-

Ozpin: All the more reason to handle this matter more gently.

Ozpin tapped his desk and the image of the blast radius disappeared.

Ozpin: Y/N has been a student at Beacon for a while now, and not once did any sort of explosion occur.

Ironwood narrowed his eyes.

Ironwood: That doesn't mean it can't happen.

Ozpin: True. However, as you're well aware, General, a Semblance is often linked to the mental state of its user. If we start treating him like a piece of meat to be poked and prodded at, I can't possibly imagine the outcome.

Ironwood remained silent, clearly contemplating what Ozpin had told him.

Ozpin: Let's at least compromise.

Ironwood: How so?

Ozpin: Allow me to handle this my way, at least until the end of the Vytal Festival. After which I will hand him over to you and your soldiers.

Ironwood sighed and glanced at the projected blast radius and reports his team had sent him.

Ironwood: Fine.

Ozpin allowed himself to relax and smile at the general's decision.

Ozpin: Thank you general, I promise this will benefit us both.

Ironwood: I will still be sending a ship to the second crater to study it.

Ozpin: Of course.

Ironwood: Very well then. I'm risking a lot, allowing you to do this.

Ozpin: Your trust in me is not misplaced, I assure you.

Ironwood: I'm sure...

The transmission ended and Ozpin felt relief at Ironwood's cooperation. Shifting his gaze to his own Scroll the headmaster read a recent text message that was left to him: 'Thirty minutes out'.

Ozpin tapped another part of his desk and an image of Anima popped up. A red flashing dot on the south-western portion of the continent.

_____

Unbeknownst to Ozpin and Ironwood, someone else had received the exact same information as they had.

Cinder: Aaaarrrrgh!!!

And they weren't particularly happy about it.

Cinder: How is he still alive!?!?

Cinder violently slammed her fist onto the desk in their dorm room causing a small fireball to erupt from the impact. The once immaculate wooden desk now had a very large scorch mark on top of it, fortunately, she'd missed the small screen just a few inches to the left.

Hazel: Calm down.

Hazel spoke sternly to Cinder, uncaring about her outburst. The enraged woman merely turned her fiery glare toward the screen that he spoke through and narrowed her eyes.

Cinder: Shut up!

Cinder grew more and more enraged, as the mere thought of Y/N brought her no end of displeasure. Behind Cinder were her two disciples, both of whom fearfully stood as far away from their wrathful master as they could, knowing better than to try and talk to her in her current state of mind.

Cinder: How is he still alive!? We saw him fall into that lake! Nothing survives falling in there!

Hazel: All of us are surprised by his tenacity, but we have our orders.

Cinder grinded her teeth as Hazel reminded her of their orders.

Cinder: Why!? Why are we going through so much effort for that brat!? Even after everything he's done to us!?

Cinder reflexively rubbed her neck, the humiliation she felt, still very fresh in her mind. Hazel, on the other hand, knew that Cinder's rage stemmed from her pride being damaged by the teen and didn't care.

Hazel: We don't have time for this, just send us coordinates.

Fire erupted from Cinder's eyes as Hazel ignored her rage.

Cinder: We should just kill him.

Hazel: Salem wants him alive.

Cinder growled.

Cinder: He knows who we are, if he manages to tell Ozpin or Ironwood our identities this whole operation will crumble. He's too much of a liability.

Hazel: That is not your decision to make.

Cinder's anger only grew the longer she spoke to the large man.

Tyrian: Oh! Oh! Let me try!

A familiar voice could be heard off camera before the screen was pulled away from Hazel to redirected to the mentally unhinged scorpion Faunas.

Tyrian: Oh Cinder, I can understand how you feel...

Tyrian's twisted smile vanished and was replaced with a depressive frown.

Tyrian: ...the pain of defeat, the agony of failing before our goddess...

Tyrian's smile returned as he finished his sentence.

Tyrian: ...the humiliation.

Cinder snarled at Tyrian's blatant taunting, causing her hand to steadily burn the desk.

Tyrian: But time is of the essence, and our goddess wants him alive before he expires!

Emerald and Mercury assumed that Cinder's rage would only grow with Tyrian talking to her and for a moment it did, but suddenly it subsided, much to their surprise.

Seeing Cinder's confused face made Tyrian chuckle to himself.

Hazel: That's enough.

The screen was pulled back to Hazel who's stern expression hadn't changed.

Hazel: As Tyrian said, time is important on this issue, send us the coordinates who got from Atlas and we can be on our way.

Cinder: Before that...

Cinder narrowed her eyes at Hazel.

Cinder: What exactly did he mean?...

_____
_____

Second Charred Crater

Qrow jumped down from the overhead foliage, knocking down leaves, branches, and a few black feathers. After dusting himself off the Huntsman reached into his pocket and pulled out his Scroll and noticed that his message had been marked as: 'read', causing him to smirk.

Putting his Scroll back into his pocket Qrow started to trek forward through the forestry until he came across a familiar site.

Qrow: This is definitely the same crater as back near Trist...

Scratching his chin, Qrow slowly walked toward the center of the crater, carefully observing the burned landscape. Arriving at the center, Qrow found another human shaped indent.

Qrow: Yep, it's you alright... but...

Qrow turned his head to take a second glance at his surroundings.

Qrow: This is far sloppier than the first one.

Similar to the first crater, the second was scarred by the markings of a vicious fight that had occurred. This time, however, the strikes, lashes, and impact holes, were all far more eratic than before.

Qrow carefully walked around the burned out crater, meticulously investigating how the brutal fight played out.

Looking at the tracks, Qrow knew that there had been a large concentration of Grimm that gathered here, just like before. And like before, the Grimm had been defeated by Y/N singlehandedly, but this time around it appeared as though the teen was struggling.

Following the tracks of Grimm, Qrow noticed the fight had been slowly moving toward the treeline. Looking up, the Huntsman found that a path had been roughly torn through. Stepping away from the crater, Qrow followed the path through the forest, noting the destroyed trees and bushes.

The destruction eventually came to an end and nothing but thick forestry was all that remained in front of Qrow.

Qrow: Well, at least I know the direction you went, kid.

Before he left, Qrow noticed something strange against a nearby tree. Getting closer he noticed that the tree had a black liquid substance on it causing the tree to partially melt.

Concern grew within Qrow, who immediately decided to speed things up and dashed deeper into the forestry.

Qrow: Let's hope I'm the first person to be looking for you here...

_____

_____

Branwen Tribe Camp

Y/N sighed.

The heavy chains that bound the teen rattled as he shifted his body to get more comfortable.

Y/N sighed again.

Once again, the chains rattled followed by a loud *thunk* sound.

(Y/N): -_- Nope.

Since Vernal left, Y/N had been struggling to fall asleep due to the fact that his binds were too cumbersome for him to get comfortable.

(Y/N): How am I supposed to get out of here if I can't sleep!?

Y/N crossed his arms as he tried to come up with a way for him to fall asleep. Feeling an itch on his neck, Y/N deftly removed the collar and scratched himself before snapping it back on.

(Y/N): What to do?... hmmmm....

Y/N's thinking was halted when he heard Vernal return.

Vernal: I hope you've changed your attitude, because someone here would like to talk to you.

(Y/N): Is it a doctor?

Vernal: No.

(Y/N): A childhood therapist?

Vernal: Why would there be a- Grrr!

Vernal had to force herself to calm down before she did anything she'd regret.

Raven: You weren't exaggerating when you said he'd be 'difficult'.

Stepping out from behind Vernal, Raven approached the imprisoned teen. Her face hidden behind her Grimm mask, she stood confidently in front of the large metal cage.

Raven: So you're the kid that the whole world seems to be looking for. I must say...

Raven looked Y/N up and down, sizing him up up close.

Raven: ...I thought you'd be tougher to catch.

(Y/N): Well, to be fair, I'm pretty sure I was unconscious when I was brought here.

Raven: Well, I'm not the kind of woman to look a gift horse in the mouth. With the whole world looking for you, I can safely say that we'll make a lot of money ransoming you.

(Y/N): Who are you?

Raven: Oh, where are my manners? My name is Raven and I'm the leader of this tribe, over there...

Raven gestured to Vernal.

Raven: ...is my second-in-command, Vernal.

(Y/N): Oh I get it. With your mask you have the visage of a bird. That's clever.

Raven paused and then looked at Vernal who shrugged.

Raven: Aren't you... perceptive...

(Y/N): Can you turn into a raven?

Raven was taken aback by the sudden question.

Raven: How do you-?

(Y/N): Do you have a raven pet?

Y/N gasped.

(Y/N) Does Vernal turn into a raven!?

Raven calmed herself when she realized that he didn't actually know anything about her, instead, she started to pace around the cage.

Raven: Do you have any idea where you are?

(Y/N): No, not a clue.

Raven: Right now you are in the heart of a camp filled with hardened killers and thieves, all of whom will kill you at my order.

(Y/N): I thought you were going to ransom me.

Raven quietly grunted, her impatience with her prisoner falling shorter by the second.

Raven: That's correct. So long as you obediently follow our orders you'll be back with you friends soon enough. Or Atlas, who ever pays more.

(Y/N): Ok. I'm good with that.

Raven stopped and looked at the restrained teen.

Raven: Excuse me?

(Y/N): I said 'ok'.

Raven: You're... fine with us... selling you?

(Y/N): I mean, I have no idea where I am and you guys have given me medical attention, food, and a roof over my head. Also, you just said that you're going to give me back to my friends or Atlas, which I'm pretty sure will be a significant improvement over this and what's happened to me over the past couple days.

Raven stood in silence as she stared at Y/N.

Raven: You're very cooperative, for someone your age.

(Y/N): Well, to be fair, you're a lot nicer than the last woman who had me...

Raven: Oh? And who had you before me?

(Y/N): Oh! It was uh... um...

Y/N racked his brain as he attempted to remember his previous kidnapper.

(Y/N): It was... Salami!! No... wait... Shalom? Salamander...

Raven rolled her eyes beneath her mask and shook her head.

Raven: Enough. Just stay here and you'll be back in civilization in no time.

Raven gestured her head toward Vernal and started to leave.

(Y/N): S...S... Salem! That was it!

Raven and Vernal froze, a chill running up both of their spines.

(Y/N): -_- Mean, angry, marshmallow woman...

Raven: What did you say?

(Y/N): Hm?

Raven marched up to Y/N's cage and stared down at the teen.

Raven: What. Did. You. Say?

(Y/N): The person who had me before was Salem. Got to see her haunted castle and everything.

Raven: You... met Salem?...

(Y/N): Yep. She's craaaazy. And I know you don't know me, but that's a lot coming from me... I'm pretty sure she's a ghost.

Y/N couldn't see, but beneath the mask that Raven wore her face was a mixture of anger and fear. Her body tensed as the realization that with this boy here, she painted an enormous target on her back.

Vernal: Raven?

She wasn't expecting this. She wasn't prepared for this. This was bad.

Raven: Salem...

Raven steadily reached for her sword, her hand trembling slightly as she wrapped her fingers around the hilt.

Should she kill him? Toss his body in the woods and flee?

Raven took a second glance at Y/N.

(Y/N): I can feel you looking at me... perv...

Raven: Rrgh... let's go Vernal.

Raven abruptly turned around and started to leave.

Vernal: But what abo-

Raven: I said let's go.

Raven marched away and Vernal followed suit, glancing back at the boy in the cage.

_____

After entering her tent, Raven tore off her mask and threw it on the floor, uncaring where it landed.

Raven: Rrraagh!! This can't be happening!

Raven slammed her fist on the table in her tent and thought back to when Vernal first told her about this particular teen and the following information they had learned or rather, lack thereof. There was nothing. Even Malachite in Mistral couldn't dig up much information on him. What little information that was dug up only made the teen even more peculiar.

His background was non-existent. For all intensive purposes, it seemed as though when Vernal first met him in the forest was the first time he'd ever existed at all.

Trist was the next lead they had, but that only raised more questions. When she investigated the town all she found were ruins, Grimm, and an Atlesian garrison. Malachite had informed them that some type of explosion had occurred near the town, the following day, the Grimm population in the area had been reduced to near zero.

Atlas arrived a short while later and set up an outpost in the area. Evidently, they believe that the destruction of the town was caused directly by the explosion, hence their interest in him.

Malachite, however, knew differently. The information broker had explained that the town had been destroyed after the teen had left, though how it happened is still unknown. While the destruction of the town was tragic, that didn't explain why Atlas had cordoned off the area.

How could she be so foolish? Of course a boy like him would interest Salem. And now that very boy was in her camp, a large bullseye in the center of her tribe. Raven tightened her fist as she kicked herself for allowing this to happen.

Following close behind her leader, Vernal entered the tent.

Vernal: Raven...

Raven didn't respond.

Vernal: It's my fault that he's here. I found him in the woods and thought we could-

Raven: I know it's your fault.

Vernal tensed.

Raven: If you were anyone else, I'd have cut you down where you stood, but I still need you...

Vernal relaxed a little, though she didn't want to anger her leader again.

Vernal: What are your orders, ma'am?

Raven: Get the word out. We're leaving

_____

_____

Beacon Academy

Ruby: Ugh...

Ruby groaned sadly as she crouched down to sweep more rubble into her dustpan. Standing back up, the Huntress-in-training dumped the debris into the trash can next to her. The dust from the debris kicked up causing Ruby to sneeze.

Ruby: *Achoo*!

After wiping her nose Ruby looked at the secretary in charge of the registration office she destroyed.

Ruby: I said I was sorry....

The secretary glared at Ruby and pointed to the very large hole in the wall they she made.

Ruby: B-but that wasn't my fault!

The secretary quirked an eyebrow and started tapping her feet.

Ruby: Err... well it was... but-

Ruby didn't get a chance to finish when she was given a hammer and nails and was directed to replacement wall parts.

Ruby: Yes ma'am...

Understanding what she had to do, Ruby started to repair the damage to the wall, much to her dismay. As the office workers went about their business, Ruby tried her best to fill the large hole in the wall she made.

Ruby: Stupid teammates...

Ruby pouted as she picked up another nail from the toolbox.

Ruby: Where even is everyone!?

_____

Yang: *achoo*!!

Yang wiped her nose before taking another sip of her drink.

Blake: Shouldn't we... you know, help Ruby?

Sitting across the table from Yang was Blake, with a large bowl of tuna.

Weiss: Do you want to dirty your hands with physical labor?

To Blake's left, sipping tea, was their last teammate, Weiss.

Blake: No... but... don't you guys feel guilty leaving Ruby to clean up the mess by herself?

Weiss and Yang looked at each other and then back to Blake.

Weiss and Yang: No.

Yang: Besides, Ruby likes helping others. It's like, second nature to her.

Blake: But- Mmmghff!!

Before Blake could retort, Yang grabbed a fish and jammed it into cat-Faunas' mouth.

Yang: Shhh... there, there... eat the tuna.

Blake: Q_Q

_____

After a short while Ruby stepped back and smiled at the secretary.

Ruby: Tah-dah!! All done!!

The secretary looked at the wall Ruby repaired and sighed.

Ruby: Soooo... can I go?

The secretary sauntered up to the wall and lightly tapped it with a single finger.

BOOM

The entire wall crumbled instantly, leaving a small cloud of dust, and an even larger hole in the wall.

The secretary glared at Ruby, who shrugged and picked up the hammer once again.

Ruby: I know... I know...

As Ruby resumed her work, the secretary returned behind the main desk and continued with their duties.

A few moments later, a familiar person entered the office.

Penny: Hm? Oh! Hello Ruby!

Turning from her work, Ruby found Penny standing in the entrance to the registration office.

Ruby: Penny!

Excited to see one of her friends, Penny instantly closed the gap between them and gave Ruby a strong hug.

Ruby: Ugh! Nice... to... see... Ugh!! Too... Penny...

Penny: Oops! Sorry!

Realizing she was hugging too tightly, Penny gently placed Ruby down.

Penny: Hello Ruby! How are you?

Ruby: I'm doing well! Thanks!

Secretary: Ahem!

Ruby jumped slightly when the secretary noticed she wasn't working.

Ruby: R-right! Sorry!

Quickly picking up the hammer again, Ruby began working again. Penny looked on in curiosity as she watched Ruby try and repair the wall.

Penny: What are you doing Ruby?

Ruby sighed.

Ruby: Me and my team kinda... broke the wall when we were trying to register.

Penny: Oh. But why isn't your team helping you?

Ruby: Yeah... I wonder why too...

_____

Blake swallowed the tuna in her mouth and caught her breath.

Blake: Guys I really think we shoul- Mrrgh!!!

This time, Yang and Weiss shoved a tuna in Blake's mouth.

Weiss: I am not doing manual labor. I just got my nails done.

Yang: I just don't want to work.

Blake: Q_Q

_____

Ruby sighed.

Ruby: So, yeah. That's why I'm repairing the wall.

Penny's smile widened.

Penny: Worry not, Ruby my friend! I can help!

Ruby: You can-? Woah!

Penny's eyes suddenly glowed and a faint humming sound seemed to be coming from her head. After taking a few seconds to look at the wall and then the materials and then back to the wall. In the blink of an eye, Penny instantly grabbed the materials on the floor and began to repair the wall.

Everyone's eyes in the office widened as the orange-haired girl rapidly and perfectly repaired the damaged wall.

Penny: There! All done!

Ruby: W-wow, Penny... that was... amazing.

Penny smiled.

Penny: Thank you, Ruby!

Turning back to the secretary, who had a surprised look on their face, Ruby smiled.

Ruby: All done!

The secretary shrugged and nodded.

Ruby: Yes! High five!

Penny: Okay!

SLAP

Ruby: Ow! Ow! Owie! That was a mistake!

Penny: Wow! My first high-five! That was amazing!

Ruby: I'm- Ow!- glad I can -Ouch- have the honor. Ow...

As the pain subsided, Ruby dusted herself off.

Ruby: So, what are you doing here Penny?

Penny: Oh! That's right! Pardon me, Ruby.

Ruby: Okay...

Stepping aside, Ruby watched Penny walk up to the front desk and speak to the secretary.

Penny: Hello! I am Penny Polendina and I would like to withdraw my team from the tournament!

Ruby: What!?

As Penny handed the secretary the proper forms, Ruby ran to her side.

Ruby: You're withdrawing from the tournament!?

Penny: Yes, we are.

Ruby: How come!?

Penny: I'm sorry Ruby, but I've been ordered to withdraw from the tournament.

Ruby: Aww... And I was looking forward to seeing more of those cool daggers you use! DId General Ironwood change his mind or something?

Penny: Actually, it wasn't General Ironwood who told me to do this is was- oops!

Penny stopped herself from continuing by putting her hands to her mouth. Ruby looked at her confused.

Ruby: Who?

Penny: I'm sorry, but I can't say... but it wasn't General Ironwood.

Ruby: Oh...

Noticing Ruby's saddened demeanor, Penny came up with a way to cheer her up.

Penny: Oh! I know something that may cheer you up!

Ruby: Huh? What's that?

Penny: Errr... one sec.

After taking a moment to finalize her team's withdrawal from the tournament, Penny pulled Ruby aside.

Penny: There's been news about Y/N...

Ruby: What!? Really!? Where is he!?

Penny: Shhh!

Penny brought a finger to her mouth and tried to quiet Ruby down.

Penny: I'm technically not supposed to be telling you this, it's top secret.

Ruby: Oh, sorry.

Penny: So, as I was saying; there's been news about Y/N.

Ruby: Okay...

Penny: Atlas detected another explosion very similar to the one that occurred near the former town of Trist.

Ruby: So does that mean Y/N is alive!?

Penny: Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it seems very likely.

Ruby: That's great! I can't wait to tell the others!

Penny smiled.

Penny: I'm glad to see you smiling again, Ruby.

Ruby: Thanks Penny! That's really reassuring!

Penny: I'm very happy I could help! Now, I should probably get going. Good luck with the tournament! I'll be cheering for you!

Ruby smiled back.

Ruby: So does this mean you're heading back to Atlas?

Penny: Oh um... Yeah!

Penny appeared to be struggling to keep something down after she answered.

Ruby: Are you okay, Penny?

Penny: Yep! Right as r-rain Ruby my friend!

Ruby: Oh, well, I hope we see each other soon!

Penny: As do I, Ruby my friend!

Ruby waved goodbye to her orange-haired friend as she left the office. As she left, Ruby thought she heard Penny hiccup.

_____
_____

Branwen Tribe

Bandit Gate Guard #1: You hear? We're moving out.

Bandit Gate Guard #2: What, already?

Bandit Gate Guard #3: Oh, come on! We just got here!

Bandit Gate Guard #1: Well, that's what's happening.

Sat around the large wooden gate to the bandit camp, the armed guards discussed with each other the current events of the camp.

Bandit Gate Guard #2: I didn't even get a chance to go on a raid! I've been stuck on guard duty this whole time.

Bandit Gate Guard #3: Well, at least we haven't had to face a bunch of Grimm recently.

Qrow: Great... of course the kid is here...

Hidden out of sight from the guards behind a nearby tree was Qrow.

Qrow: Getting him out of here isn't going to be easy... and I'm not prepared for a family reunion like this...

Using the cover of the forest, Qrow moved around the perimeter of the camp and climbed a nearby tree to get a better view of the outlaw stronghold.

Qrow: Let's see what I'm dealing with...

Hidden within the branches of a nearby tree, Qrow was able to peer into the camp and observe what they were doing.

Qrow: They're packing up... pretty fast too...

Looking in, it appeared as though every single member of the tribe was moving around. The bandits were quickly and efficiently tearing down tents and packing up supplies onto trucks and wagons.

Qrow: It looks like the whole camp is up. That's going to make my job significantly more difficult. Now, where is he?...

Looking around the camp, Qrow attempted to locate his rescue target.

Qrow: Let's see... ah. There.

Standing out among the constant movement and activity of most of the bandits in camp were a few sitting around an entrance to a large tent. These particular bandits were more armed than the others and weren't helping pack things up like the others.

Qrow: This is going to be complicated...

Before Qrow could finish his thought three people--along with a familiar figure--stepped out of the large tent, forcing him to hide himself.

_____

Stepping out of the tent were Raven, Vernal, and a tribe member.

Raven: The sooner we leave, the better.

Bandit Tribesman #1: Yes boss.

Raven: And remember to tell the others not to leave anything that could be used to track us.

The bandit nodded in acknowledgement and rushed off to a separate part of the camp.

Vernal: You sure we're going about this the right way? I only just found him the other day, I'm sure we still have some time.

Raven: I'm not taking any chances, the sooner we get rid of him, the sooner the target on our backs is gone.

Vernal: What about his bounty? We'll need to physically hand him over to Atlas in order to claim the reward.

Raven: If everything goes according to plan we'll collect the reward and disappear before anyone even noti-

Raven's attention was suddenly pulled to a nearby tree outside the camp walls. Her hand on her sword, the bandit leader scanned the treeline for something.

Vernal: What is it?

Vernal looked in the same direction as Raven, curious on what grabbed her attention mid-sentence.

Raven narrowed her eyes.

Raven: Let's speed things up, I have a feeling that we have less time than I thought.

_____

_____

Second Charred Crater

The calm serene sounds of the forest were interrupted when a bullhead made a landing approach right in the center of the large crater. Before the bullhead could finish its landing a person jumped out from the side.

Laughing hysterically has he fell through the air, Tyrian landed on his feet and took a deep breath.

Tyrian: Would you smell that wonderful air?

The bullhead landed softly and following after his compatriot was Hazel. The large man disembarked from the bullhead and joined Tyrian on the ground.

Hazel: Let's not waste any time, we have a job to do.

Tyrian: Oh Hazel, my dear friend, you should always take time to take in the scenery...

Tyrian's smile widened as he twirled around.

Tyrian: ...As you can never know when it will be your last.

Hazel: Hmph. All I see is a burned out spot in the forest.

Tyrian: Don't you see it?

Tyrian seemed positively ecstatic as he gestured to their surroundings.

Hazel: See what?

Tyrian: The carnage of course!

Hazel raised an eyebrow and took a second glance around.

Hazel: Hm...

After looking again, Hazel started to notice the distinct markings of a battle around them.

Tyrian: And that wonderful smell of blood! Ah... so wonderful!

Hazel: Enjoy the scenery on your own time, we need to be fast if we want to get the boy back alive.

Tyrian's smile didn't waver even slightly.

Tyrian: But of course!

The scorpion-Faunas pointed in the same direction Qrow had journeyed through earlier.

Tyrian: I'm not the best tracker our esteemed goddess for nothing you know!

Hazel: Right, then let's get going...

Tyrian's smile turned maniac.

Tyrian: Oh, I'm so excited to see the young man again! I'm sure it will be fun!