Ruby is looking at the map as she, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren walk on the road. Pyrrha was just telling them about the Maidens.

Ruby: So the Maidens are powerful warriors that can use powers without dust?

Pyrrha: Yep.

Jaune: And there's always four of them.

Pyrrha: Mhm.

Ren: Which means that, whenever one of them dies, the power transfers to someone - a female - that they cared about?

Pyrrha: Whoever was in their last thoughts. That's what Qrow told me. If it was a man or old woman, then the Maiden powers would go to a random woman.

Nora: That's a stupid rule!

Ruby: It really is.

Ren: A lot could go easily wrong with that.

Pyrrha: Yeah, Qrow thought so as well.

Jaune: So, Ozpin wanted to turn you into a Maiden after the last -Fall Maiden?- was badly injured by Cinder?

Pyrrha: Yes, and as we know, that didn't work out too well. Hey Ruby, where's the next town?

Ruby: So the next town is... uh-huh... uh-huh... We're lost.

Jaune: We're not lost. The next town is Shion. My family used to visit it all the time.

Ruby: Oh yeah. Don't you have, like, four sisters?

Jaune/Pyrrha: seven.

Ruby giggles.

Nora: You know, that actually explains a lot.

Jaune: Wait, what do you mean?

Ruby: So, what did you guys do there?

Jaune: Oh, all sorts of stuff! Over here is a great hiking trail, and over here is where we went camping all the time. I got my own tent because I was special. Also, so my sisters would stop braiding my hair.

Ruby: Didn't like the look?

Jaune: Yeah, they just kept doing pigtails, but personally, I think I'm more of a "warrior's wolftail" kind of guy.

Ruby: That's just a ponytail.

Jaune: I stand by what I said.

Pyrrha giggles.

Nora: Uh, guys?

Ruby: Huh?

Jaune: What?

Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ruby look up from the map to see Shion village desolated. Their eyes widen in horror like Nora and Ren. Pyrrha puts the map away as the five run into the village, passing by a dead body.

Ruby: There could be survivors!

Ren: Over here!

The team rush to where Ren is leading them. On the ground, sitting propped against a broken building wall is a young man in armor. He breathes heavily and holds his hand against a bleeding wound in his abdomen. Ren drops by his side and puts his hand on his shoulder.

Ruby: A Huntsman!

Jaune: What happened? Who killed all these people?

Huntsman: *coughs* Bandits. The whole tribe... Then, with all the panic...

The Huntsman can't finish and coughs repeatedly.

Pyrrha: Grimm.

Ren stands and walks a few paces away, placing his hands atop his head. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora step away from the Huntsman.

Ruby: Alright, we can get him to the next village and try to find a doctor there!

Jaune: Yeah. Ren and I can take turns carrying him there.

Nora: I don't know if he'll make it.

Jaune: He will. He has to.

Ren turns back and walks over to the Huntsman and Pyrrha.

Ruby: If we get going now, our chances will be better. I can run ahead and look for help!

Ren: Guys.

The other three turn and discover that the Huntsman has already died. Pyrrha covers her mouth.

Nora: Should we bury him?

Ren walks right past them without a backward glance.

Ren: We should go. It's not safe here.

Nora: Ren...

Pyrrha and Ruby glance at each other before they look at Jaune. He looks sad while looking at the buildings. Pyrrha places a hand on his shoulder.

Pyrrha: Jaune?

Jaune: It's okay, I just....hate losing things I care about.

Pyrrha hugs Jaune as Ruby looks over at Ren and Nora. She sees the two looking at something on the ground before seeing them look at each other. Ruby walks over to them and sees a hoof mark on the ground.

Ruby: A hoof mark?

Nora: Not just any hoof mark...

Ren: We need to move. Come on.

Ruby adjusts her hat as Jaune and Pyrrha joins up to them and the team walk out of the village and continue traveling on the road. After they make some distance from Shion, they set up camp near the road as the sun was setting.

~Timeskip to the middle of the night, brought to you by chibi Reaper holding a young chibi Ruby from getting the cookie jar~

Pyrrha wakes up after a bad dream to see Jaune holding her hand as he was sleeping. She smiles at him and caresses his cheek before standing up and stretching. She looks at the camp, seeing Ren and Nora asleep by the dying camp fire but notices that Ruby isn't to be seen. Pyrrha raises an eyebrow and looks around before hearing a somewhat distant yell. She walks in direction of the sound with her spear and shield in hands just in case.

Pyrrha sees Ruby in a forest clearing practicing with Crescent Rose in her hands. Ruby spins her scythe vertically to her right before lifting it above her head, spinning horizontally before making a final swing at a tree, slicing it in half with the momentum buildup. She pants a little before she picks up her scroll.

Ruby: Okay, work on tree cutter attack, check. What's next?

Pyrrha: Ruby?

Ruby turns to see Pyrrha walking over to her. Pyrrha's appearance startles Ruby that she drops her scroll onto the grass.

Ruby: Ah! Pyrrha! How long have you been standing there?

Pyrrha: Well, I did just see you swing your scythe around and cut down a tree in one strike.

Ruby straightens her hat out.

Ruby: Yeah, Reaper taught me that move. It wasn't easy to get that move down honestly. Hehe

Pyrrha smirks.

Pyrrha: Oh? It sounds like you have stories to back that up.

Ruby: Weeeell, let's just say that in the first several attempts, I nearly beheaded Reaper or Uncle Qrow, or both.

Pyrrha: Wielding a scythe is a real challenge isn't it?

Ruby: It is at first, but it gets easier with practice.

Pyrrha: Of course, practice makes perfect.

Ruby: Exactly! Well, Reaper always seemed to think that practice is the start of perfection but actual combat and experience is what makes your form perfect. I probably read into it a bit more than needed but Reaper was able to tell me lessons in a forward way. Since he couldn't speak and all....

Ruby sighs and picks up her scroll and pulls up and picture before sitting down. Pyrrha sits down next to her and Ruby shows a picture with her in the middle holding a chalkboard saying "Going to Beacon!" with Yang standing next to her with a smile. Reaper, Qrow, and Tai are standing behind the two with Qrow and Tai smiling with Reaper just giving a double thumbs up as he couldn't smile or anything.

Pyrrha smiles at this picture but sees a tear fall on the scroll and she looks up to see Ruby crying.

Ruby: He's always been there for me. Ever since he showed up at my house's door, he's always been there. He helped Qrow train me, he helped Yang teach me how to fight without a weapon, he was there when I was sad or angry. But now he's gone....

Pyrrha hugs Ruby as she cries more as she thinks of Reaper. Pyrrha can't think of words to comfort Ruby over the loss of someone that was basically family to her so Pyrrha just silently hugs her.

After a while, Ruby stops crying and she just passes out from exhaustion. Pyrrha lifts Ruby up gently and walks back to the camp and lays Ruby on her sleeping bag. Pyrrha then lays down on her sleeping bag near Jaune and just looks up at the stars for a while before going back to sleep.

End Part!