Blades Of A Rose

Chapter 41: Remembrance

You were watching over Ruby early in the morning when she wakes up with a gasp. She's lying in a red sleeping bag on a clearing in some woods. Nora and Ren are also in sleeping bags around a long burned-out campfire. Magnhild rests beside Nora. Ruby sits up and looks around. Birds can be heard tweeting and all seems peaceful. Ruby, however, puts her hand to the side of her head and sighs as though she's in pain.

[Timeskip - To Walking]

All five members of the team walk down a sunny road. Ruby is in front, looking at a map.

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

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

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

"Uh, seven." Jaune corrected

Ruby giggles.

"You know, that actually explains a lot." Nora said, making a joke about his masculinity

"Wait, what do you mean?" Jaune asked

"So, what did you guys do there?" Ruby asked him

"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." Jaune said

"Didn't like the look?" Ruby asked

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

"That's just a ponytail." Ruby said

"I stand by what I said." Jaune said

Nora stops short, raising her hands to her lips as her eyes widen. Soon after, Ren and Pyrrha stop, visibly tense.

"Uh, guys?" Nora said

"Huh?" Ruby said

"What?" Jaune said

Jaune and Ruby look up from the map. Their eyes widen and jaws drop. In front of them is a desolated village. They sky is gray and two columns of smoke rise in the air. A gazebo has a broken tower and lampposts are askew from the ground. At least one dead body can be seen on the side of the road approaching the town. They map is dropped and all four rush forward. They briskly move into the town, looking around. Ren tosses his backpack on the ground and moves ahead while the other three gather in the middle of a road.

"There could be survivors!" Ruby said

"Over here!" Ren said

The other three 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.

"A Huntsman!" Ruby stated

"What happened? Who killed all these people?" Jaune asked

"Bandits. The whole tribe... Then, with all the panic..." The dying huntsman said coughing

The Huntsman can't finish and coughs repeatedly.

"Grimm." Pyrrha said

Ren stands and walks a few paces away, placing his hands atop his head. Ruby, Jaune, and

Nora step away to confer.

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