Well, here is the Volume 4 finale for this book. This will be mainly focused on our group of six as they make the final stretch to Haven. Now then, let's get to the chapter!
————————————
*3rd Person POV*
A cracked signed bearing the name Kuroyuri rests against ruins. An upwards pan and several cuts show the dilapidated village. Ruby, Azure, and Jaune walk down the road, carrying Qrow on a stretcher. They pause and look unhappily around.
Jaune: "Oh, man."
Ruby: "Come on."
They continue forward.
Ruby: "Any of these places look like a pharmacy?"
Azure: "It doesn't look like there is one."
Jaune: "It's... honestly hard to tell."
Ruby: "Ren really didn't want to come here, did he?"
Azure: "From how he was acting, not really."
Ruby looked at Jaune.
Ruby: "Jaune, do you know why?"
Jaune: (sighs) "I think I have a pretty good idea..."
They get to a dead sakura tree and sit Qrow down, leaning against it. Ruby stays with him while Azure and Jaune search the ruins for anything. After a few minutes, they return and walk up to Ruby in the ruins of Kuroyuri. They are looking dejected.
Jaune: "Nothing."
Azure: "I can't find anything."
Ruby: "We should get back to Qrow."
Qrow is leaning against a dead sakura tree, groaning. Though not conscious, he holds a hand over his wound. Ruby is crouched near his legs, Azure kneels next to Ruby, and Jaune is standing over them three.
A creature makes a loud noise from off in the distance, causing Ruby, Azure, and Jaune to turn. Jaune's hand immediately goes to his sword and looks around for the source of the noise.
Ruby: "It's far off."
Jaune: "I know, but Ren and Nora are still out there."
Azure: "They'll be okay. I'm sure of that."
Ruby looks at Qrow before standing and approaching Jaune.
Ruby: "I'm sorry."
Jaune: "Huh?" He turns around to face her, though she is not looking up.
Ruby: "This is all my fault. I should have never dragged you guys into this."
Azure gets up and stands next to Jaune, facing Ruby as well.
Jaune: "You didn't drag us in. We wanted to come."
Azure: "This was our choice to make, so don't blame yourself."
Ruby: "But you didn't know about Tyrian, about—" Jaune cuts her off.
Jaune: "Ruby. We lost... We lost Pyrrha. You lost her, too. And Penny, and your team, and in a way... your sister." Azure picked up where he left off.
Azure: "But you're still here, despite everything you've lost, everything you could still lose, you chose to come out here."
Ruby turns to face the two, and becomes emotional as they continue.
Jaune: "Because you felt like you could make a difference."
She lifts her head and looks at them.
Jaune: "You didn't drag us along. You gave us the courage to follow you."
Azure: "And that courage is one of the many things that I love about you."
Jaune puts his hand on her shoulder. Ruby smiles at him, grateful, and he smiles back. She then goes up to Azure and hugs him. He hugs her back as they stay like that for a few seconds before letting go.
Nora and Ren run towards the group in front of them, with Jaune, Ruby, and Azure facing the other way. Footsteps were heard and the trio abruptly turn, Jaune putting his hand on his weapon. They realize who it was and calm down.
Ruby: "What are you guys doing here?"
Jaune: "Did you hear that noise? What was that?!"
Ren's eyes grow wide and he falls to his knees, clearly alarmed.
Ren: "No..."
Ruby: "Ren! What is it?!"
The sound of plodding footsteps can be heard coming closer.
Azure: "Wait, do you guys hear that?"
Ren: "No..." He said in weak protest.
Nora: "Ren?"
The footsteps come to a stop. A bone horse head breathes loudly, exhaling black smoke. Within the bones are glowing red lights and around it is the black flesh of a Grimm.
Ren lifts his head.
Weapons can be seen, stuck into an offscreen body that has bones sticking out perpendicular to its spine. Slowly, a torso raises, revealing a horned, humanoid Grimm. The horns and front part of the face are bone while the mouth is merely thin strips of Grimm flesh stretching across an opening. The mouth, the bones, and the eyes all glow red.
The sounds of lightning and gunfire are heard. A wide shot of Kuroyuri shows the empty, degraded town. A billowing cloud of dust and pieces of wood rise in the distance around the top of a tree that is barely visible above the town rooftops. Jaune, Ruby, Azure, Ren and Nora all fall back by the dead cherry tree. Qrow is still unconscious and propped against it.
The Nuckelavee twitches its head and roars, sending out a shockwave that causes all five teenagers to flinch. The Grimm looks at the teenagers and turns its head to look at Qrow and begins running toward him.
Jaune sheaths his sword and makes a run for Qrow. The Nuckelavee lashes out with one of its arms, able to extend it at a far reach. Jaune avoids it and gets Qrow upright, but the Nuckelavee is heading right for them.
Ren uses his Semblance to hide Jaune and Qrow from the Grimm, which stops short and looks about in confusion. Jaune stands still, staring at the Grimm.
Ren: "Just get him to safety!"
Jaune walks away with Qrow while the battle resumes. He sets Qrow down behind a building and narrows his eyes at the wounded man before turning to leave. Qrow grabs him by the hand, but falls unconscious before he can say anything. Jaune gives Qrow another look before rejoining the fight.
The Grimm is using its arms to grab hold of each of Jaune's teammates, but is continually distracted by the fire of the next one.
Jaune: "Guys, keep moving, go in a circle!"
The team follows this plan, and Ruby gets distracted when Jaune sheaths his sword after landing a strike.
Ruby: "What are you doing?"
She smiles when she realizes that Jaune is using his upgraded Crocea Mors to land strikes on the beast. Azure takes note of said upgrade.
Azure: "Woah! That's a sweet new upgrade!" He goes back to shooting blue lightning bolts at the Nuckelavee with his railgun.
The fight continues and Ren ends up pinned to a building by one of the Nuckelavee's extended arms.
Nora: "Ruby!"
Ruby nods, and she uses Crescent Rose to launch Nora in between Ren and the Nuckelavee's would-be fatal strike with its other hand. Magnhild is pinned to the building above Ren, with Nora dangling from it. Ren looks up at Nora.
Nora: "Stop looking!" She says to Ren while pulling her skirt to hide herself.
Ren: "Ah-ugh." He looks away.
The Nuckelavee flings Nora around until she is knocked to the ground with her Aura depleted. Ren uses StormFlower to give himself leverage to pull the Nuckelavee's hand off of him. He repeatedly goes after the creature, exhibiting reckless behavior, his eyes wild.
Jaune: "Ren! Knock it off!"
Ren ignores him and ends up on the ground beside Nora, separated from StormFlower and his Aura also depleted. The two partners rise together, Nora first. Ren's eyes are only on the creature, and Nora tackles him and drags him under a building.
The Nuckelavee advances, but Jaune blocks it with Crocea Mors. Azure follows up with a slash from Blue Flash, which hurts the Grimm. Ren attempts to rejoin the fight but Nora holds him back by the wrist, her head down.
Ren: "Nora, let go! Nora, they're going to get hurt if we don't—"
Without even looking up, Nora slaps Ren. He stops and turns to face her, and she finally lets go, putting her hands in her lap.
Nora: "No. I won't let you kill yourself like this. After everything we've been through, I won't let it end."
She raises her head, but Ren sees his memory of Nora as a scared little girl before blinking and seeing her normally. Like back then, she has tears in her eyes.
Nora: "Not like this."
Ren sighs and pulls the knife his father gave him out of his boot. He holds it in both hands. Nora places her hand on the hilt with his and closes his fingers around it. She looks at him with a fierce, determined expression.
Nora: "We can do this."
Ren looks at her with big eyes before nodding in agreement. Together they step out from under the building. Nora picks up Magnhild and the two are promptly joined by Ruby, Azure, and Jaune.
Ruby: "Ren. Jaune and I can take care of its arms."
Nora: "Azure and I can take care of the horse."
Ren: "And I'll take care of the rest."
Nora and Azure head to a rooftop. Ruby uses herself as a target until she manages to pin an arm to the ground with the tip of Crescent Rose. Ren's knife is flung and embeds itself into the body of the Grimm. Jaune is positioned to be the next target as Ren uses Jaune's shield to pin down the other arm.
Ren: "Now!"
Jaune strikes his sword through the Nuckelavee's arm into the ground.
Ren: "Nora! Azure!"
Azure grabs Nora's shoulder and charges her Semblance up with his Lightning. She freefalls from the roof to land a killing blow to the head of the horse. Azure jumps down and throws his sword, now crackling with purple electricity, at the torso of the horse, making it fall to the ground. Ren retrieves his knife and walks before the trapped Grimm.
Ren: "For my father."
He cuts off the Grimm's left arm.
Ren: "For my mother."
He cuts off the Grimm's right arm.
Ren: "For all the people you killed."
He strikes a gash into the Grimm's torso. Ren closes his eyes.
Ren: "For myself."
He opens his eyes and swings with the knife, beheading the Grimm. It dies in a pillar of black smoke. Azure retrieves his sword and puts it back in its sheath. Ren drops the knife and breathes out a sigh of relief only to be tackled by a giggling, triumphant Nora. He hugs her back and gives a single laugh.
Ruby and Azure run into the alley where Qrow was left during the fight. Ruby breathes a sigh of relief that he is still alive. Azure smiles at the good news.
Qrow: "It's quiet. Good job, kiddos."
Jaune: "Guys! I think I hear something!"
In the courtyard, two wood and metal airships are coming in to land and Nora points in Qrow's direction. A man in a brown flight suit with an air tank on his back carries Qrow on a green stretcher with Ruby walking alongside them, her hand on Qrow's shoulder. The two rescue ships take off, everyone on board.
Jaune: "How did you find us out here?"
Mistral Pilot: "We were on patrol and saw the smoke. Nobody's been out here for years, thought something might be wrong." Ruby is crouched by Qrow and is holding his hand.
Ruby: "What if we don't make it in time?"
Azure looks out the window and sees a hopeful sight.
Azure: "It looks like we did make it, Ruby."
Ruby looks up and sees the flourishing city before them.
Ruby: "We made it, Uncle Qrow."
Nora and Ren sit on the edge of the open rescue airship, their legs dangling. Nora is looking out at the city, feeling happy. Ren is watching her, begins smiling and puts his hand on hers. She gives a slight start but turns her hand over to hold his. She looks at him and gives him a smile, and he smiles back. Nora scoots closer and rests her head on his shoulder. The airships fly in to the city.
*Timeskip*
Ruby walks into a double bed accommodation. It has barren furnishings: two beds, a large desk and a nightstand. Qrow sleeps under the blankets of one of the beds. Ruby sets the collapsed Crescent Rose on the empty bed and walks over to Qrow, putting her hand on his head.
She walks over and sits at the desk, picking up the pen and writing on the notepad. She starts to narrate her thoughts as she writes.
Ruby: (voiceover) "Hey sis, I hope my letters have been reaching you and Dad. Hand-written stuff's never been super reliable, but I guess it's all we've got these days. Anyway, in case you haven't been getting them, I want to say I'm sorry for leaving the way I did. I know you told me it was a reckless idea, and after everything I've been through, I can definitely say you were right. It's been hard, on all of us, and I'm not just talking about the monsters we fought out here."
An Atlesian pilot counts Lien.
Atlas Pilot: "Okay, you can hide out back in the cargo hold. I'll take you as far as I can, but if we get caught, you're on your own. Understand?"
Weiss nods affirmatively and begins walking forward.
Ruby: (voiceover) "Every step we made took us further and further from the things we knew. And every morning we woke up wondering, if just over the next hill would be something good or something terrible."
Weiss' airship takes off, and the scene changes to Blake in Ghira's office. She places a small chest on the desk and opens it. Inside are various objects, including a flag with the White Fang emblem, a spiral notebook and a book.
Ruby: (voiceover) "It's scary not knowing what's going to happen next. And the things we do know now—just how bad it can get—it almost makes it all worse."
Yang is on the same ship Blake and Nero took to Menagerie. She is looking at a ticket and a photograph of Team STRQ, with Bumblebee nearby.
Ruby: (voiceover) "You told me once that bad things just happen. You were angry when you said it, and I didn't want to listen."
Tai stares at a framed photo of Team STRQ.
Ruby: (voiceover) "But you were right, bad things do happen, all the time, every day. Which is why I'm out here with Azure and the others, to do whatever I can, wherever I can, and hopefully do some good."
Zwei barks at Tai, and he smiles, looking across the room at a framed photo of Team RWBY. On the photo, "New Friends!!!" is written with a heart shape drawn near the writing. He then looks at another framed photo of Ruby and Azure that Yang took during the dance. On the photo, "Happy Couple!" is written with a heart shape drawing as well.
Ruby: (voiceover) "We've all lost something, and I've seen what loss can do to people."
Jaune is in his room with a frustrated look on his face as he stares at Crocea Mors propped up against the wall.
Ruby: (voiceover) "But if we gave up every time we lost, then we'd never be able to move forward."
Nora and Ren open the door. Jaune smiles as Ren sets his father's dagger next to Crocea Mors. Nora sits beside Jaune and leans on him, while Ren sits on the bed behind them and rests his hand on Nora's shoulder.
Ruby: (voiceover) "We'd never have a chance to see what beautiful things the future might have waiting for us. We'd never have the strength to change; whether it's ourselves, or the world around us."
Weiss, sitting on top of her suitcase in the airship's cargo hold, gazes out into the sunset and smiles as the airship flies over the Atlesian mountains. In Menagerie, Blake puts down the current White Fang flag and picks up the old white and blue flag. She lowers it and smiles at Sun, who is sitting in a chair with his arms behind his head in a relaxed position.
Over with Nero, he is in his room as he opens up his closet to see a new outfit hanging up. It consists of a tight black shirt, a dark gray sleeveless jacket with no hoodie, long fingerless black gloves, black pants, and black combat shoes with white laces. He looks at it with resolve and goes to grab it.
Ruby: (voiceover) "And we'd never be there for other people who might one day be lost without us. This is what we were training for, Yang, to become Huntresses, to be the ones to stand up and do something about all the bad in the world."
The Captain and First Mate smile and wave goodbye as Yang drives Bumblebee away from the port, headed toward Mistral. Elsewhere, a small farm boy named Oscar sits in the dining car of the train as it crosses a bridge surrounded by mountains and water. He is staring at a poster advertising Haven Academy. The poster shows two figures: a female with an axe and a male with a rifle. The poster reads: "HAVEN ACADEMY: BE A HERO".
Train announcer: "Approaching, City of Mistral."
Ruby: (voiceover) "Because there are plenty of people out there who are still lost and even more who will try to gain everything they can from their sorrow."
Ilia lands on a rooftop in Menagerie in the night, as Corsac and Fennec wait for her. Ilia gets on one knee and lowers her head after they turn to face her.
Ruby: (voiceover) "Believe me when I say, I know it can feel impossible, like every single day is a struggle against some unstoppable monster we can never hope to beat."
In the Land of Darkness, Cinder snaps her fingers, having defeated at least the two Beowolves disintegrating on the ground in her continued training. Mercury is leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. Emerald puts two fingers on her head, concentrating as she generates a hallucination of Ruby and Azure begging for mercy. Cinder focuses a large stream of fire on the hallucination from her right hand, glaring at it with her eye glowing. Nearby, Salem is watching, looking pleased.
Ruby: (writing) "But we have to try, if not for us, then for the people we've already—"
Ruby stops and crosses out the last few words as she alters her statement.
Ruby: (writing) "Then for the people we haven't lost yet."
As Ruby finishes writing, the note is shown and two tears fall on the page.
Ruby: (writing) "I miss you so much. I miss Weiss, Blake, Nero, Rosa and Vert too. But I think you'd all be proud to know that I made it to Mistral. All of us did, and we even ran into Uncle Qrow along the way."
Qrow pushes himself over with one arm and grunts while propping up his head with the other hand. Ruby stops writing to check on him.
Qrow: "Hey, aren't I normally the one saving you?"
Ruby wipes tears from her right eye and smiles down at Qrow. He smiles back as he goes back to rest with his eyes closed, aka sleeping.
Ruby: (voiceover) "He's going to take us to see Professor Lionheart, the Headmaster of Haven Academy. And he told us some things that you're gonna wanna hear, things I can't trust will make it to you in this letter. But maybe, if you join us, he could tell you himself. With Beacon gone, they'll need Dad at Signal more than ever, and I know you need to focus on yourself before I can expect you to come out with me. But it sure would be great to get Team RWBY back together again."
The scene transitions to Yang riding down a path on Bumblebee, before coming to a stop at a crossroads and looking at a sign post. The signpost points right for Mistral and left for Kuroyuri, and the sign for Kuroyuri has "BANDITS" spray painted across it in big, red letters.
Yang: "You are in so much trouble when I find you."
Ruby: (voiceover) "Until next time, your loving sister, Ruby Rose."
Yang smiles as she continues to ride her motorcycle.
Ruby: (voiceover) "Oh! Uh, PS. I'll be sure to give you the address of where we're staying in Mistral! I'd love to hear back from you and Dad, and I can't wait to fill you in on whatever's going to happen next! Now that we've made it across Anima, I really think things are gonna start going our way."
After Ruby finished writing her letter to Yang, she left the pen on the desk. The door to the room opened to reveal Azure, who walks in.
Azure: "Hey Ruby. How's Qrow doing?"
Ruby: "He's doing well." They both look at at him as he sleeps. "So why did you come here?"
Azure: "Can't I visit my cute and beautiful girlfriend?"
Ruby: "Azure!" She blushed at his compliments towards herself.
Azure: "There's not much to do right now... and Rosa and Vert will be joining us later on, so... Do you... wanna go and take a look around town?"
Ruby: "Are you asking me out on a date?" She said in surprise.
Azure: "Of course." She got excited.
Ruby: "Then yes! Let's go on a date right now!" He grabs her hand.
Azure: "Well, let's get going, Strawberry."
Ruby: (confused) "Strawberry?"
Azure: "You are sweet and red, just like strawberries. I figured it was time I gave you a nickname. So, what do you think?" She thought about it for a few seconds before she smiled at him.
Ruby: "I love it! Oh! Since you gave me one, I should give you one as well! Hmm... How about Cookie? You're nice, and sweet as well, and I love cookies, just as much as I love you!"
Azure: "I like that. All right, time to go look around."
Ruby: "Yeah!" She turns to look at Qrow, who was sleeping with his back to them. "See you, Uncle Qrow! We'll be back in a bit!"
The two left the room and closed the door, not knowing that Qrow was listening to their conversation with his eyes closed.
Qrow: (chuckles) "Lovebirds." He smiled as he goes back to sleep.
-
--
---
*No One's POV*
In a house made of pure white marble, in one large room is a lone girl seated in her bed. She has pale skin, lavender hair, and purple eyes, and she is floating a dagger in the air, covered in a purple glow. The door to her room opens, revealing Cinder who opened the door.
Cinder: "What a nice room you have here, though white's not my kind of style."
The lavender haired girl stood up from her bed and turned around to look at the intruder, the dagger pointed at Cinder.
Cinder: "Relax, girl. I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to make you an offer."
The girl calmed down and stopped using her Semblance, letting the dagger drop to the floor with a clang.
Cinder: "I want your help in getting rid of some pests in the way. And in return, I will allow you to get payback at someone who is closely related to the man that killed your mother."
This interested the girl, and her reaction made Cinder grin.
Cinder: "So, what do you say? Are you in?"
After a few seconds of thinking about it, the girl grinned back at Cinder.
???: "I will be glad to join you."
———————————————————
That is the end of Volume 4! The group of six finally made it to Mistral, and our couple now have new nicknames for each other! And the others are currently either making their way to Mistral right now, or are getting things planned for the trip.
Also, who was the mysterious girl at the end of the chapter? Leave your guess in the comments. Time to get to Volume 5!