Team SHDW Volume 2

Chapter 5: Tipping Point

The reason I'm writing Tipping Point here instead of Menagerie is because Menagerie was a Blake/Sun focused episode with nothing else, other than a tease of Tyrian at the end. So no, Menagerie will not be in this book. As much as we all want to see Kali "Best Girl" Belladonna in this book, it's just not happening yet.
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It was a cloudy day on the road to Mistral, and RNJRS was following a mossy stone tile path through the wilderness. While walking, Nora stretched her arms up wide.

"Another day, another adventure!" Nora said with glee.

After it had become obvious that Skyler was actually the one most trusted with the map (since Jaune had needlessly dropped it when they had reached what remained of Shion), Skyler was reading the map and guiding the group while Ruby and Ren continued alongside them, Jaune not far behind.

"What's on the agenda today?" Ruby asked.

"Walking!" Skyler said with fake enthusiasm.

"With a side of...?" Nora asked.

"Walking," Ren answered.

Ruby sighed, "Haven is a lot farther away than I thought."

"Ruby?" Ren asked, "How long did you think this journey was going to take?"

"I don't know!" Ruby exclaimed, "I grew up in a small area; I've never been this far away from home!"

"Right but... how long?" Jaune questioned, wanting specifics.

"Maybe like, uh... two weeks?"

Skyler looked up from the map to stare at her incredulously, "What?!"

"Okay, fine! Three or something!" Ruby shouted, then not making eye contact with anyone, "Look, whatever."

Ruby looked up again after a beat and noticed something ahead, "Hey, what's that?"

Nora jumped onto a slightly fallen post of a fence to get a closer look at a wall and building ahead.

"That's... strange," Skyler muttered, checking the map, "I didn't think we'd be hitting another village for a few days."

"Are those buildings... damaged?" Nora said, shocking everyone.

Jaune's eyes widened, "We should search for survivors!"

Skyler tucked the map into his duster pocket and all five of them started running into the village, with Nora leaping onto the wall and to a rooftop from there. When they got in, RNJRS discovered that the town was completely empty. Ruby lifted a fallen plank of wood to find only plants outgrowth underneath.

"Anything?" Ruby called out

"Nothing over here!" Nora replied.

"No one over here, either!" Jaune answered.

It almost seems like... the town was abandoned," Ren observed.

"Yeah, mid-construction too," Skyler agreed, "These buildings aren't just damaged, they're incomplete... What the heck happened here?"

"Hey, I think I found something!" Nora called out

Everyone turned and rushed over. Nora moved the ivy growing over a sign to the side to read what it says, revealing the town's name.

"Oniyuri?" Nora read, "Never heard of it."

"Me neither," Jaune replied.

"I have," Ren responded.

The other four looked at him, surprise on their faces as Ren continued, "You might think of it as Mountain Glenn if it never been completed. Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the Kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources together to build their own city in East Anima, with their own laws. They hoped that one day, it could maybe even become its own Kingdom. Many thought it would be the future."