[DISCONTINUED] The Soldiers Of Remnant - (RWBY + Star Wars Crossover)

Chapter 24 - Hope

Bold Font - Time/Location

Italic Font - Thoughts

Qrow, Glynda, and Crane took a gunship back down to Beacon. Teams JNPR, RWBY, Gizmo, Crimson, and the professors were standing at the landing zone. Yang was still unconscious and Blake was gone. Jaune was finally accounted for and he and Pyrrha were sitting on the ground hugging, refusing to let one another go from either of their grips. The LAAT landed beside them and the doors opened. Crane walked out a little disheartened, and Qrow simply hunched over and put his hands in his pockets and walked away. Ruby tried to talk to Qrow but he didn't even notice her.

Ruby: "Uncle...Qrow..."

A moment of silence passed before Glynda broke the tension.

Glynda: "All of you must return to your homes. Our allies will no longer be here to protect Vale, so the city has been evacuated. It is no longer safe here. I will be remaining here to try and clean up this mess."

Nora: "You can't be serious! It's suicide to stay here!"

Port: "Please children. I'd very much appreciate it if someone lived to tell about what has transpired here today. Go home, we'll take care of this."

Crane: "They're right guys. I'll be helping those who need it return to their homes. I've already made an arrangement with Qrow to take Ruby and Yang back to their home at Patch."

Weiss: "Unfortunately I won't be able to come..."

Jaune: "What?"

Weiss looked down at the ground in sadness and a hint of hatred.

Weiss: "My...father, has requested, no...ordered, me to come home...to Atlas."

Jaune looked shocked and saddened, but slowly began to understand that there was nothing more he could do.

Jaune: "I...understand. But I'm staying with Ruby."

Nora: "If you're staying with Ruby, then so are we!"

Pyrrha: "Yeah!"

Ren: "That's correct."

Ruby panicked a little bit internally. It wasn't the time for everyone to stay together. At least not yet. Meanwhile Gizmo and Crimson were taking Yang aboard the LAAT.

Ruby: "Woah woah woah guys! Listen, we've all just been through so much! Everyone's families are going to be worried about them! We just...we need time to get our heads straight."

Team JNPR thought about it and decided that their friend was right.

Ruby: "But hey! You can come talk to me tomorrow! I think I have a plan on what to do next..."

Crane: "Speaking of which, I think it's time to go. Qrow informed me that your father isn't usually home at this hour. I'd like to leave him a nice surprise for when he returns home."

Ruby turned and looked one last time at the friends she had beside her.

Ruby: "Okay..."

Ruby and Crane boarded the gunship followed by a depressed Qrow who didn't say a word the entire trip. Team JNPR went off to do who knows what while the LAAT ascended into the night sky.

The Next Morning - Ruby's House

Ruby was sleeping in her bed. Nightmares were constant throughout her very limited sleep schedule for that night. Sitting on a chair beside her bed was he father, Taiyang Xiao Long. His hair was a very bright blond and he wore brown and rugged clothes similar to what a mercenary would wear. The collar of his shirt was a blood red and he also wore orange cargo-shorts. He had a double-layered shoulder-armor piece on his right shoulder at the expense of a sleeve and a red bandanna around his upper-left arm. Ruby slowly awakened to see her father sitting on the chair beside her bed. She yawned catching the attention of Taiyang who quickly awoke from his slumber.

Taiyang: "Ruby!"

He jolted toward her bed and knelt down with a face full of relief.

Taiyang: "You're awake!"

Ruby: "Yeah dad! I'm not dead!"

Taiyang sighed with relief but also a bit of annoyance. So much had been cluttering Ruby's mind that she just now remembered that Yang had lost her arm.

Ruby: "Wait, Yang! Is she okay?!"

Taiyang hesitated for a moment before looking down at the ground in sadness.

Taiyang: "Uh, she's uuh.......she's gonna be alright. I think she's just.......I think it's just going to take some time...for her to get used to things. She's too strong to let this stop her."

Ruby was on the verge of tears. After the whole year that passed for her stay at Beacon, she never thought it would all go to hell this soon. Taiyang put his forehead in the palm of his right hand and sighed in regret and relief. He wiped the tears out of his eyes, sniffed, and looked back at Ruby and smiled.

Taiyang: "I'm just glad to have my girls back home."

Ruby jumped off of her bed and rushed over to Yang's room, despite still being in her pajamas. Yang sat solemnly at the head of her bed and stared out the window. Ruby cracked the door open and tried calling out to her.

Ruby: "Yang?"

Yang gave no answer, so Ruby put her hands together and started to walk out slowly.

Yang: "Ruby."

Just as she was leaving, Ruby turned back around to talk to Yang. Yang turned her face to Ruby and revealed that she was in just as much pain. Yang began to cry, so Ruby ran over and hugged her older sister. Ruby began to cry too.

Ruby: "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Yang hesitated for a moment while she tried to explain her though process.

Yang: "But I'm not."

Ruby stopped hugging Yang and stood up.

Yang: "It's all gone. The school...Penny...and..."

Ruby: "Yang. It will be okay..."

Ruby felt just as bad about Beacon being destroyed, and even worse about Penny, their robot friend who was accidentally destroyed by Pyrrha during the final round of the Vytal Tournament. Yang looked at Ruby, and decided she'd had enough. She just sat there in silence.  Ruby took this as her cue to leave and did so. Yang hit the wall beside her bed, the force of the impact causing a leaf from a tree to fall outside.

Timeskip - Ruby's House

Ruby shut the door to her house as she was leaving. It was now winter and she decided today was the day she and team JNPR went out into the world. Team JNPR approached Ruby at her house, undoubtedly called here by Ruby herself.

Jaune: "Hey."

Ruby: "Hey Jaune."

Ruby walked over to Jaune and revealed where they were off to.

Ruby: "Haven's a long way to go."

Jaune: "I know. It's the only way we have..."

Ruby: "And you're sure you wanna come along?"

Ren: "The journey will be perilous. And whether we'll find answers at the end is entirely uncertain."

Nora: "But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it."

Pyrrha: "We're here for you. You won't do this alone."

Ruby smiled at her friends' determination and most of all...hope.

Ruby: "Then let's get going."