Here is the next part of this volume. Our group find themselves in this world and make plans to try and leave. But it won't be as easy as they think. Challenges and obstacles will appear, and it's going to take everything they've got to be able to succeed. Let's see what the first obstacle is right now.
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*3rd Person POV*
Team RWBY and AVR overlook the whimsical land before them from the precipice.
Yang: "So are we gonna just stand around thinking about this in silence? Or...?"
Ruby: "I knew this place is weird, but a fairy tale? I mean that's impossible."
Little nods to her statement.
Azure: "Not really. I mean, we do have a little mouse that can talk." He said, talking about Little.
Blake nods while pointing at Little. Ruby gives a sweat drop.
Weiss: "What we've seen is improbable, but that doesn't mean we're in an actual fairy tale. Are we seriously entertaining this?"
Vert: "Do you have a better explanation for what's going on, Weiss?"
Rosa: "Yeah, there's no other explanation for all of this."
Weiss: "Well, let's try to be more logical, shall we? We fell from the sky. Ruby made friends with a tiny mouse."
Little: "Friends!"
Weiss: "Blake and I got caught by killer vines." Blake cringes. "And... uh... Yang, you got your arm stolen by... a... What was it that you said?"
Yang: "A talking raccoon riding on a purple wagon filled with trash."
Weiss blinks at Yang's predicament.
Weiss: "Yes, that. Okay, I see your point of view. I am going to go over here now."
Weiss walks away. She starts to talk nonsense to herself as she tries to grapple with the team's current situation.
Yang: "Hopefully, she'll be okay."
Rosa: "Hopefully..."
Ruby: "As crazy as it sounds, something about this is familiar."
Azure: "Now that you say that, it does. This seems like--"
Blake: "'The Girl Who Fell Through the World'. I... I think we're in the Ever After."
Weiss: "Blake, that world is make-believe. It was just part of the story we all read as kids."
Little: "It's not make-believe, it's where I live!"
Blake: "Can you tell us all about it? Have you ever heard the name Alyx?"
Little: "An "Alyx"? Is that a purpose?"
Azure: "No, Little. Let's see... In the story, Alyx fell from the sky and met with the Hunter Mice."
Vert: "She got trapped in vines, fought a Jabberwalker..."
Rosa: "Oh! And she got her knife stolen by a talking raccoon!"
Weiss groans and crosses her arms.
Yang: "Yeah. And then she beat the Red King at a board game, met the Curious Cat, the Rusted Knight, and finally got out through..."
We then look at the giant tree.
Blake: "The Tree."
Weiss: "So what now? Do we go to the tree? Look for Alyx? Yang's arm? Ruby, you're still missing Crescent Rose."
Little: "I'll bet the Jinxy Peddler has it."
Weiss: (angry) "WHO?!"
Little yelped and ducked behind Ruby.
Little: "The Jinxy Peddler? That's the only talking raccoon I know."
Weiss angrily grumbles to herself.
Blake: "Do you know where he might be?"
Little: "Of course!" They scurry up to Ruby's head. "I'll lead the way right to where he is."
Sometime later, Little is once again snoring on top of Ruby's head as Team RWBY and AVR continue trekking through the jungle.
Blake: "So, the town is just ahead, right?"
Ruby pokes Little to wake them up. Little ignores it and keeps sleeping.
Azure: "They sure are sleepy, huh."
Blake: "I've been thinking. If we're going to this town, we need to be careful."
Vert: "Yeah. Alyx didn't know their customs and ended up starting a war among the townsfolk. Trouble followed her everywhere she went."
Yang: "Well, yeah. But she was kind of a mean person, right? She lied and cheated her way through most of the book."
Weiss: "She was just trying to survive. The morals of those old stories are so simplistic."
Rosa: "Either way, it sounds like we need to tread lightly."
Little almost falls as they quickly scurry back on top of Ruby's head. Little stretches.
Little: "The town is just up ahead. The Jinxy Peddler always stops by our village before he goes to town."
Yang: "Do they steal stuff from you guys too?"
Little: "Steal? Never. They just take the things we're not looking at. Fair is fair."
Rosa: (dumbfounded) "How is that "fair"?!" Vert then places a hand on her shoulder.
Vert: "Let it go, Rosa."
Little goes back to sleep.
Weiss: (sarcastically) "Sounds like a legitimate business person. How did they manage to steal your arm anyway?"
Yang: "I was knocked out from the fall. When I came to, that sneaky raccoon already grabbed my arm and ran off before I could stop them."
Blake: (giggles) "So would you say they caught you "unarmed"?"
Azure and Rosa give a light chuckle at the pun. Yang gives Blake a little playful nudge fight. Blake's and Yang's hands brush against each other, merely inches away. Weiss softly smiles at them.
Weiss: "About time."
Ruby: "For what?"
Weiss: "Nothing."
It was then silent for a bit, until...
Azure: "Don't worry, Weiss. We'll find a way out of here, and we'll go back home."
Weiss stops walking. Ruby and Azure also stop walking and look at her while Blake, Yang, Vert and Rosa continue walking ahead of the other three.
Ruby: "Weiss?"
Weiss: "It's... It's all gone... There's nothing left for me to go back to... Just like Beacon..."
Ruby moves Little off her head into her hands.
Ruby: "You did the best you could for Atlas, Weiss."
Azure: "Yeah. We did everything we could. Don't beat yourself up over it, Weiss."
Weiss: "But it wasn't enough! We hatched a crazy plan that put a whole kingdom at risk, and we don't even know if we saved the Relics from..." She sighs. "Maybe... Jaune and Winter were able to get them out, despite... everything... despite us..." She then looks at the other two.
Weiss: "I... I know that Penny... I know that was a lot to hear. Along with Nero."
Ruby remains silent, she simply turns around and walks away. Azure sadly watches her leave. He then places a comforting hand on Weiss' shoulder before leaving as well. Thunder sounds above, and Weiss proceeds to follow her teammates and friends.
The group then arrives at a rickety bridge.
Blake: "So, this is the entrance to the other... "acre" you called it?"
Little yawns as they wake up.
Little: "Yep! All we do is cross the bridge and we'll be... well, wherever over there is."
Rosa: "You don't know?"
Little: "Nope! Never been this far from home."
Ruby: "Oh, uh, maybe you should go back?"
Little: (smiling) "I wouldn't have any idea how to go back. Maybe I'll live by this bridge."
Upon hearing this, Team RWBY and AVR all have various shocked expressions for taking Little away far from their home. Weiss, fed up, goes forward.
Weiss: "I'll handle this..."
Little then builds a makeshift home from stick, stones, and leaves.
Weiss: "Would you like to come with us?"
Little's house then collapses behind them.
Little: "Yeah, that's probably for the best."
Entering the town, the group of eight look around at the different townsfolk, all of them resembling various toys. They continue walking by various vendors and stalls in the marketplace.
Blake: "Just... act like you belong, everybody."
Little: "I've always wanted to be long, but I'm still just small."
Yang and Rosa smile a bit at Little's comment.
*1st Person POV*
In the center of town, the townsfolk gathered around a purple wagon.
Yang: (gasps) "There it is! So what's the strategy? Just start roughin' him up or what?"
Blake and Vert notice some toy soldiers watching the crowd, likely to keep order.
Vert: "In the book, Alyx had to barter with Jinxy for her dagger."
Yang: "Yeeeaah, I think I'd rather hit him."
Rosa: "I would do the same if my axe was stolen."
The wagon opened up with purple smoke. The trash panda named Jinxy was seen walking out onto the stage waving to the crowd.
Jinxy: "Welcome, one and all!"
Weiss: (gasps) "He's adorable!" She said, teasing Yang.
Blake: "And a lot older than I remember from the book..."
Jinxy: "I am Jinxy, and these... are the finest treasures of the acre!" He taps the shelf behind him with his walking stick. A yellow scepter appears first, next was a silver cube, then a pink rabbit statue, and a green marionette-like doll shows up last. The crowd cheered while we looked on perceptively. For some reason, the silver cube felt very familiar to me. I stared at it for quite some time.
Yang: "I... don't see my arm."
Blake: "All of Jinxy's treasures... are just other items in disguise, so that people think they're buying something extremely valuable."
Weiss: "Okay... so, which one is Yang's arm?"
Blake: "What does your heart tell you? That's how Alyx knew."
Yang: "I mean..." She looked at the scepter. "That one looks roughly arm-sized... ish."
Blake sighs at this.
Rosa: "It is yellow and black, just like her arm, so it has to be that."
Vert: "Probably..."
I then felt a tap on my shoulder as I look away from the cube to see Vert looking at me.
Vert: "Azure? How come you were fixated on the silver cube?"
Azure: "I'm not sure why, but I feel like it's something special to me..."
Blake and I noticed Ruby staring at something.
Blake: "Ruby?"
Ruby: "There's... something about that one." She looked at the green doll. I also looked at it and also felt something familiar about it.
Jinxy spun around the stage, showing off the pink rabbit statue in his hand.
Jinxy: "First item! The diamond-studded rabbit! You!" He pointed to a yellow toy-like townsperson. The townsperson chuckled and joins Jinxy on stage.
Weiss: "How are we going to bid without any money?"
Vert: "I don't think there's any money in the Ever After. Jinxy just names whatever price he wants."
Rosa: "What did Jinxy want from Alyx?"
Blake: "Her saddest memory... and her happiest."
Jinxy: "Sold! For... a hug." He hugs the townsperson, and the crowd goes "aww" in response.
Little: (gasps) "Hugs are very valuable!"
Yang: (smiling) "Maybe this won't be so bad after all."
Jinxy: "Second item! A shiny silver cube--"
I raised my hand very quickly. The others looked at me in confusion just as Jinxy appeared next to me.
Jinxy: "You! Bidding starts now! I want to see... your determination!"
I was taken back by the request, but I closed my eyes and placed my left hand on my chest, thinking about the people dear to me and wanting to return back home. I opened my eyes and looked at Jinxy with resolve in my heart. He smiled cheekily at me.
Jinxy: "Oh! That's some fine determination you have there! Sold!"
The silver cube appeared in my left palm. Jinxy reappeared back on the stage.
Rosa: "Why did you do that, Azure?"
Weiss: "You don't even know what it truly is."
Azure: "No, I don't... but it felt like I needed to..." I said, clutching the cube tightly before lowering it.
Jinxy: "Third item! A golden scepter! You!" He pointed at both Yang and a Toy Soldier, who both raised their hands at the same time.
Yang: "Huh?!"
Jinxy: "The bidding starts at-"
Yang: "No! I was the first one to-"
Jinxy: "...knowing... what it is to feel loved."
Yang gasps upon hearing this.
Jinxy: "A fair price for some, I'd say."
While Yang ponders the words, the Toy Soldier has help from another Toy Soldier write something down on a parchment paper.
Toy Soldier 01: "Knowing what it's like to feel loved! By royal decree."
Jinxy: "Sold!"
Yang: "Wait! That's my arm!"
Toy Soldier 01: "Whatever it is, it's royal property now. No price is too high for His Majesty's birthday."
Yang huffs in anger and her eyes turn red.
Rosa: "Don't worry, Yang. I'll help you get your arm back." She said, raising her axe.
Jinxy: "Last item! The jade marionette!"
Yang: "We tried it your way, Blake."
Blake looked on nervously.
Jinxy: "You!"
Ruby raised her hand up high.
Ruby: "Me!"
Weiss: "Ruby, what are you doing?"
Jinxy: "Bidding starts at..." He pulls out an empty jar. "Enough hope to fill this jar!"
Ruby gasped after hearing this, and she hesitantly lowered her hand.
Jinxy: "Hm... You don't have enough, do ya?"
Unbeknownst to Jinxy, Little snuck up on stage next to the marionette. Jinxy heard something move next to him, noticing the marionette gone from its place. He then notices Little trying to drag it off the stage.
Little: "Huh?"
Jinxy: "Why you little...!" He lunged forward, and Little runs out of the way.
Jinxy: "Leave that alone! You can't touch it until the deal is done!"
Suddenly, the marionette disappears in a puff of purple smoke, and it turned into one of Penny's Maiden-powered Floating Array swords. Ruby gasped in shock as she recognizes it. I gasped and stared at it in shock. I then felt something familiar and looked down at my left hand to see something that shocked and made me tear up. It was Nero's broken Silver Ice Sword. I heard Vert and Rosa gasp next to me as I held the sword up to my face.
While that happened, the Townsperson looked down on the diamond-studded bunny in their hands. A white mouse eating some cheese magically appeared in the diamond-studded bunny's place. The townsfolk booed and shouted in outrage at Jinxy.
The lead toy soldier holds their chin in suspicion, looking over to their fellow soldier holding the scepter that has now changed back to Yang's prosthetic arm. The soldier screamed as they tossed the arm away.
Yang: "I'm going for it!"
Weiss and Vert look on as Blake looked to the crowd, holding her head between her hands, making a nervous noise. Yang and a Toy Soldier do a tug of war for the prosthetic arm, with Yang dodging out of the way of the soldier's sword swing. Rosa appeared next to Yang and launched a fire arc at the soldier, followed by Yang shooting them away with the gauntlet. After I was out of my shock, I sheathed the sword in my empty right sheath and followed Ruby as we run towards the stage.
Little: "Fair is fair!"
Ruby picked up Penny's sword, sobbing and clutching it tight. Yang then runs past Ruby and I holding her arm with the others not far behind.
Yang: "I got it!"
Rosa: "Let's get out of here!"
Blake: "Ruby, Azure, come on!" She runs off.
Weiss and Vert simply walk away with them. I picked up Little and we ran after the others.
Outside the town, Yang laughed as we entered the red forest. She was huffing between breaths.
Yang: "Those people... take auctions... very seriously." She holds up her prosthetic. "High five?"
Blake groans and walks past her. Vert calmly walked past her.
Yang: "High five?"
Weiss scoffs and walks past her. Rosa decided to humor her and high-fived the prosthetic. Blake held her head in distress.
Blake: "We're doing the same thing Alyx did! We're ruining everything!"
Weiss: "That's your biggest concern right now?"
Yang reattached her arm back.
Blake: "I've read so many stories. I never thought... I'd be the moral of one." She took a seat on a nearby log.
Ruby, still looking down at Penny's sword in her hands, takes a seat next to Blake. Her teammates looked at her in concern. I placed Little on my right shoulder and sat down next to Ruby, placing my left hand over hers. She noticed my hand and clutched it as she leaned on me.
Yang: "Ruby?"
Ruby remained silent for a moment.
Ruby: "I couldn't explain why, but I... I was drawn to it."
I took out Nero's sword using my right hand and looked at it and Penny's sword.
Azure: "Penny... Nero..."
Rosa and Vert looked at me with concern on their faces. Thunder sounded and the sky turned dark. It was raining again.
Weiss: "Great, now it's raining on just us. That's it! We're getting out of this nightmare! Alyx went to the tree, right? Let's go."
Vert: "I don't think it's gonna work like that. In the book--"
Weiss: "We are not in a book! And even if we were, we know how it ends: right over there!" She pointed to the tree.
Weiss walks off towards the tree, and we watched her. We looked to the opposite side of the clearing to see Weiss was walking in a loop. Weiss gasped and decides to quicken her pace. She goes in a loop one more time. Frustrated, she picked up a rock.
Weiss: "Stupid tree!" She throws the rock, but it just goes in a loop too and hits her head from behind, knocking her to the ground.
Little: "Yeah, already tried that earlier. You can't get any closer to the tree that way." They said while on my shoulder.
Yang: "Well then, what do we do now? We got my arm and Nero's sword, but we still don't have Crescent Rose or the slightest idea how to get out."
Weiss was in the background talking nonsense again. We then heard the soldiers nearby.
Toy Soldier 02: "This way! Somebody's sad!"
Toy Soldier 01: "I'd be sad too if I ruined the royal birthday!"
Weiss scoffs hearing them.
Rosa: "These guys again..."
Ruby and I were still looking down at Penny's sword.
Ruby: "Blake? What did Alyx do next?"
The rain started to clear and the sky brightens again.
Blake: "She... went to the Crimson Castle... and beat the Red King at his own game."
Azure: "Then that's what we're going to do." I placed Nero's sword back in the sheath and lifted my head up.
Suddenly, the Toy Soldiers hop out of the bushes, riding on horse sticks.
Toy Soldier 01: "Hands up! You treasonous birthday ruiners!"
Yang: "Okay." She cocked her gauntlets, smiling.
The Toy Soldiers reeled back in fear.
Ruby: (quietly) "We want to go to the birthday party..." She then raised her voice, lifting her head up. "We want to go to the birthday party!" She stood up, with me standing up as well.
Toy Soldier 01: "Well, too bad, because we're going to--" He blinks in realization. "Oh, yes... Ahem, that's where we're taking you! As prisoners! For stealing royal property!"
Ruby: "What if I offered you something better?"
The soldiers looked at her with intrigue.
Ruby: "The weapon of a powerful warrior..." She held out and presented Penny's sword. We looked at Ruby with shocked looks on our faces.
Azure: "Ruby..."
She turns her head to look at me, shaking her head. I stayed silent as she turned back to look at the soldiers, who got up close to Penny's sword and looked at it with awe.
Toy Soldier 01: "Go on..."
Ruby looked down at the sword.
Ruby: "Not just a powerful warrior, the most most powerful to ever lived. She was touched by magic, and she gave her life for thousands. She took a message of hope to the stars, and she saw the world through better eyes." She looked up. "Take us to the royal birthday, and allow us to present this most precious gift."
The Toy Soldiers were moved to tears, some reacting rather unorthodox and comically. I also had some tears in my eyes after hearing that and wiped them away.
Toy Soldier 01: "Yes... by royal decree!" He wiped away his tears and took the sword. "Come on, men! You heard her! We got a birthday to celebrate!"
The Toy Soldiers proceed to gallop on their horse sticks, saying "Hup, hup, hup" as they go.
Blake: "Ruby, are you sure about this?"
Ruby: "Look, we may not know exactly what's going on, but for whatever reason, this place is putting us on a similar path as a book we all read as kids. I say we follow it. And stop pretending we know what we're doing..." She started walking away.
I could hear the slight anger in her voice and became worried for her. Why wouldn't I be? I'm her boyfriend, and I promised her that I would be there to help her out, no matter what. And that's what I will do... even though I am also going through the same situation as her...
But she matters more than my own self.
Anyways, the others all exchanged confused glances with each other, before they and I joined Ruby and followed the Toy Soldiers to their next destination: The Crimson Castle.
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That's the end of that chapter right there. We got to the auction and recovered three things: Yang's arm, Penny's sword, and Nero's broken sword. This causes Azure and especially Ruby to become saddened by this. Next time, a chess game.