RWBY Watches Grimm May Cry: Grimm Never Cry

Chapter 12: On the Run

"Not gonna lie, that was pretty cute," Coco admitted, grinning.

"Indeed it was," Ozpin agreed, hiding his own smile behind his mug.

Jaune and Summer walked in silence as the traversed the linear tunnel, until they finally reached a ladder leading up to the well-lit chapel. Reluctantly, the Huntsman let go of his daughter's hand.

"Wait here," he told her, before clambering up the ladder. Once Jaune reached the top, he stopped for a moment, checking the inside of the building for an ambush. To his immense relief, there were no villagers hiding in the chapel's darkened corners, waiting to pounce. Still, after the Huntsman had fully climbed into the chapel, he made sure to throw open the building's door to see if anyone would lunge into the entryway. But again, there was not a hostile face in sight.

"Man, those guys really did leave the village undefended!" Mercury commented, surprised. "You'd think they would've left someone behind watching the chapel, in case Jaune or Forest came back through."

"Well, kid, that's how mob mentality works," Torchwick said with a shrug. "The more brains there are together, the less of 'em are put to use."

Watch out, Roman, your genius is showing, Neo told her boss, causing him to laugh.

Satisfied, Jaune looked back down into the tunnel beneath the chapel.

"Okay, Summer, it's safe. Come on up!" he called down to his daughter. A few moments later, Summer appeared up out of the pit, her cheeks flushed from climbing up the ladder as fast as she did. Her father reached out a hand, which she took inone of her own, allowing him to pull her onto solid ground. Jaune nodded down at her, and together, the two of them exited the chapel.

"Well, this place sure got creepier," the Huntsman commented, once he and his daughter were outside. The rain had stopped, leaving the village quiet and desolate, as though it were a ghost town. Not even a single light flickered from within one of the buildings. A soft breeze, carrying away the dark clouds of the earlier thunderstorm, blew through the village square, haunting and lonely.

"You said it, Jaune," Emerald agreed. "If there hadn't been that big fight in the middle of this place earlier, I would've assumed this village had been abandoned long ago."

"Well, no use dwelling on it," Jaune told himself, before looking down at Summer again. "Let's get out of here, sweetie. Auntie Winter's sending an airship to pick us up."

"'A-Auntie Winter?'" Winter spluttered, her face turning red at Jaune's title for her, made worse by Qrow's peals of laughter. "Why would he call me that?"

"Well, if you married Qrow, does that not make you Ruby's aunt?" Weiss pointed out. "I would think that is perfectly clear."

"But did Qrow marry Winter?" Blake wondered quietly. "Jaune never did specify who his wife was..."

Jaune and Summer started off again, heading towards the rendezvous point Winter had specified for the Huntsman. They had gone very far, though, when suddenly the little girl let out a scream of pain, letting go of her father's hand as her hands flew down towards her legs.

"Whoa, what?!" Yang shouted, caught off-guard.

"What happened to her?!" Ruby demanded, her silver eyes wide with concern.

Horrified, Jaune spun around to see what had happened. His hands curled into fists as he looked upon Summer, tears streaming down her cheeks as she attempted to pull her leg out of a bear trap.

"Damn it!" the Huntsman swore. "How could I be so careless?"

"But how could he have known?" Cinder asked. "Mr. Arc has not been back to the village since his battle with its residents several hours earlier!"