Team SHDW Volume 2

Chapter 2: Remembrance

After they managed to find the culprit responsible for taking the map (Skyler was given the silent treatment for the rest of the day), the members of Team RNJRS walk down a sunny road. Skyler was now in the back of the group, nowhere near the map, sulking. Ruby was in front, looking at a map.

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

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

"Don't you have, like, four sisters?" Skyler remembered somewhat.

"Uh, seven..." Jaune corrected awkwardly while Ruby giggled.

"You know, that actually explains a lot," Nora spoke.

"Wait, what does that mean?"

"So, what did you guys do there?" Ruby asked for his sake.

"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."

"What, didn't like the look?" Skyler laughed.

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

"That's just a ponytail," Ruby pointed out.

"...I stand by what I said."

"Alright then, Sokka," Skyler shook his head with a wide smile.

Nora suddenly stopped short, nearly causing Skyler to bump into her. Soon after, Ren stopped too, visibly tense.

"Uh, guys?" Nora said quietly.

Jaune and Ruby looked up from the map and Skyler looked past them. Their eyes widened and jaws dropped. In front of them was a desolated village, the sky gray and two columns of smoke rising into the air. A gazebo had a broken tower and lampposts were askew from the ground. At least one dead body could be seen on the side of the road approaching the town.

Jaune and Ruby dropped the map, only to be picked back up by Skyler (not for nefarious purposes this time), and all five of them rushed forward. They briskly moved into the town, looking around, Ren tossing his backpack on the ground and moving ahead while the other four gathered in the middle of a road.

"There could be survivors!" Ruby said hopefully.

"Over here!" Ren called out.

The others rushed to where Ren was leading them and found their friend next to someone. On the ground, sitting propped against a broken building wall, was a young man in armor, breathing heavily and holding his hand against a bleeding wound in his abdomen. Ren dropped by his side and put his hand on his shoulder.

"A Huntsman!" Ruby realized.

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

The dying Huntsman coughed, "Bandits. The whole tribe... Then, with all the panic..."

The Huntsman couldn't finish, coughing repeatedly.

"Grimm..." Skyler muttered drearily.

Ren stood up and walked a few paces away, placing his hands atop his head. Ruby, Skyler, Jaune, and Nora stepped away to confer.

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

"Yeah," Jaune agreed, "Ren, Skyler, and I can take turns carrying him there."