In a mountainous region, a lone, cloaked feminine figure with a skull mask concealing her face crosses a rickety bridge. Halfway across the bridge, she hears the screech of a Nevermore. She turns to her left to see the Nevermore appear from the fog, and she draws her weapons - a pair of sickles.

The young Maria backflips off the bridge just as the Nevermore rams through it, splitting the bridge in half. She throws one of her sickles at one of the Nevermore's wing and uses the gravity Dust imbued in it to pull herself back up, while also dragging the Nevermore down. She grabs her other sickle on her way back up, getting above the Nevermore, and uses the recoil of her weapon to spin and grapple onto the Nevermore. She then throws one of her sickles to a mountain, pulling the Nevermore with it. The Nevermore crashes into the mountainside, losing its balance, before crash landing to the ground. Maria's other sickle is called back and lands on the ground in front of it.

Maria takes out the sickle from the Nevermore's wing, catching her breath. She looks over to the Nevermore's head, whose eyes stare back at her, causing her to gasp. The Nevermore tries to snap its beak at Maria, forcing her off. It swipes at her, knocking Maria back and forcing her to drop her sickle. The Nevermore charges forward, but Maria's eyes glow brightly, engulfing the area around her. She stands back up and notices the Nevermore petrified in midair, before dropping down and crumbling. Maria walks over to her sickle to pick it up, using the gravity Dust to call her other sickle back to her.

Suddenly, Maria deflects a bullet aimed at her. She notices three men - one with a giant hammer, one carrying a rifle, and one with a machete - come out of hiding. Another woman, a crocodile Faunus named Tock, then walks up behind her, "Well, that's a fancy trick now, innit? 'Fraid it comes with a price though, love."
Maria turns around to face Tock, while the three men ready their weapons, "I don't think you realize who I am."

"Course I do." She takes out an alarm clock, setting the timer and placing it on her belt, "You're the Grimm Reaper, and these... are the last sixty seconds of your life."

Tock hits the button on her clock, starting the timer's countdown. She then draws a pair of saber swords and activates her Aura. The ticking clock can be heard in the background as the battle begins. Tock rushes forward and clashes blades with Maria. Maria attacks back, but Tock's Aura knocks her sickle out of her hand. Tock kicks Maria back, with the latter summoning her other sickle back to her hand. She then proceeds to fight the three men, deflecting their bullets. She cuts down the rifle-wielding man, knocks out the machete-wielder, and dodges out of the way of the hammer user before cutting him down. She then blocks another attack from Tock, who manages to push Maria back, causing her Aura to flicker.

Maria's sickles then circle around her due to the gravity Dust, before combining together to form a double-edged scythe. Tock and the machete-wielder rush forward to attack, but Maria blocks them. The Grimm Reaper then takes down the machete-wielder before proceeding to clash with Tock again. The two lock weapons with each other, before Tock uses her razor-sharp metal teeth to chomp through Maria's weapon. The crocodile Faunus headbutts the Grimm Reaper, shattering her skull mask in the process. Maria briefly opens up her silver eyes for a bit, when suddenly, Tock slashes at her eyes, permanently blinding Maria.

Silence for a moment, before Maria screams out in pain, her eyes bleeding. She continues to cry out as Tock's alarm clock rings. Tock presses the button on her clock as her Aura deactivates, "It was a close call, I'll give you that."

Tock walks over menacingly to Maria, who continues to cry out in pain as she holds her blinded eyes. Maria manages to grab one of her sickles and tries to fire at Tock, who nonchalantly dodges out of the way. A clicking sound can then be heard from Maria's sickle, indicating her weapon is out of ammo, "You know, the only reason my master wants you dead is 'cause of your eyes. But seein' as you ain't got 'em no more, you might be able to convince me to spare your life."

In response, Maria tries to throw her sickle at Tock, but she dodges that too "Well, I respect that, a fighter to the end."

Tock readies her saber to kill Maria, but Maria manages to find her other sickle. She clicks the switch on it, calling the other blade back over. Tock, in its path, gets the blade of the other sickle embedded into her back, causing her to fall forward. Maria then uses the sickle in her hand to slash at Tock as she falls forward.

"But I wasn't... I went into hiding soon after."

The now elderly Maria is finishing her story to everyone, who all have wide-eyed expressions.
"I can't believe it. You... You're the Grimm Reaper; you were a legend! And then you disappeared..."

"How exactly does a legend just disappear?"

"You never used your name, never showed your face. Lots of us thought you were just layin' low. Eventually, we just came to accept that you were probably dead. But the stories about you, I based my weapon off of yours. I wanted to be as good as the Grimm Reaper."

"Well, I'm nothing but a disappointment, so you're well on your way."
"How can you say that?"

"Child, a Huntress, is supposed to protect others to the bitter end. But after I lost my eyes, I only ever looked after myself. Even after my surgery, I was too afraid to fight. Afraid someone would find me again, finish what the others started. You shouldn't aspire to be like me, especially when some of you are clearly stronger already."

Upon hearing this, Yang looks down sadly as you lifted your head up, "It's... comforting, seeing that your generation seems up to the task of inheriting this world. I'm just sorry I didn't do more to leave it in better shape."

"Well, maybe you can do something now. Teach me to use my powers the way you did."

As Maria looks back at Ruby, a Scroll's ringtone is heard. Ruby pulls her Scroll out and gasps in excitement, "It's Jaune!"

Yang stops her bike, looking back in surprise. Everyone says, "Huh?" as they wonder how Jaune contacted them, "How?"
"Uh, hello?"

"Ruby! Oh, thank you! I've been checking my Scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!"

"The city? Wait..." She looks at the little signal symbol under Jaune's portrait, watching it get better as she points her Scroll toward the road ahead. The group sees a hill where the snow ends. Yang proceeds forward to drive them up the hill. At the top of the hill, the group sees a walled city in the distance along the ocean, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived in Argus."

At the entrance to the city of Argus, Yang inputs a code to lock Bumblebee and the trailer in a garage. Through the crowd, a certain bubbly ginger-haired girl in pink zooms in, "Cute! Boy! OZ!!!" Nora points her finger to the group.

Oscar looks over in confusion, only to get tackle hugged by Nora, "Oh, come here!"

Jaune and Lie Ren also arrive, "Are you all okay?"
"We were so worried!"
"It's been kind of a crazy trip."
"That's an understatement."

Nora noticing Maria, "Wait, who's the old lady?"
"I'm so glad you're all safe."
"Seriously..."
"Ah! You're gonna love this place!"

As everyone else engages in their own conversations, Ruby and Jaune walk up to each other and give each other a big hug. After parting from the hug, Jaune" looks down and frowns, "Hey. I promised, didn't I?

Jaune smiles while tears well up in his eyes, "Yeah, you did. It's good to see you guys." The two share a smile together.

Later on, the group is traveling through the city on a trolley, "It's a lot bigger than I thought it'd be."

"It's actually one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant."

"No way! But wait, wouldn't it be harder to settle something this big away from the main Kingdom?"

"Well, it was, until Mantle showed up. Early settlement attempts by Mistral didn't go well. But colonists from Mantle were able to help them brave the cold climate and return for goods that Solitas couldn't provide."

"The two nations worked together to create a hybrid city. While it falls under Mistral domain, Atlas keeps a military presence here to help keep the people safe and keep trade between the two nations steady."

"Well, until recently..."

The trolley makes a stop, and everyone hops off, "We should probably start looking for a ship."

"So, where have you guys been staying?"
"Uh..." Jaune chuckles nervously.

'There you are!" As the trolley leaves, a blonde woman, Saphron, with her baby son, Adrian, in her arm is seen on the other side of the street, waving to Jaune.
"Is that...?"
"Hey, Saph." Jaune smiles and waves back. Ruby then zooms in, all starry-eyed. She looks back and forth between Jaune and Saphron, and gasps upon realizing who the woman is.

The group later reconvenes in a living room at home, "I can't believe I'm meeting your sister! I have so many questions."

"Oh, I can give you the rundown later!"
"Will you guys knock it off?"
"What? I love telling stories about my baby brother." Saphron squeezes Jaune's cheek.

Jaune groans while also flailing his arms at his elder sister, "I am not a baby! That is a baby." He points at Adrian, who huffs back at him.

Yang and Weiss get all wide-eyed as they fuss over Adrian. Both of them make baby talk at him. Adrian then crawls towards you, tugging on your skirt. You crouch down, picking him up, "Adrian, right?" You smile at the baby.

"So, Saphron, you're the only Arc living here?"

"Yep! Moved the second I could. Jaune and I are the only two living away from home. I guess he just wanted to be like his big sis."
"I, uh..."

Saphron teases Jaune, "Aw, you didn't deny it!"

The two siblings play fight with each other by pulling each other's cheeks. Then, the door is opened. A dark-haired woman with glasses walks in with bags of groceries, "Everyone, this is my wife, Terra Cotta."

Everyone greets Terra, "Hello!"
"Hey there!"
"Nice to meet you."

"Why, hello there! Wow, quite a party, you weren't kidding. Hun, can I get some help please?"

Saphron quickly runs over to help Terra in the kitchen. Later on, Jaune, Ren, and Nora are preparing sandwiches for everyone, "And you're sure it's alright if we stay with you?" You ask, carrying Adrian, who was happily playing with your cape.

"Of course, we're happy to house Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"You all risk so much to keep people like us safe. It's the least we can do." Terra turns to and Qrow. "Especially for such an elite Huntsman like yourselves. Although, I will say I was surprised to learn you two had students helping you. Is that even... legal?"

Qrow wasn't paying attention to the question since he was looking at you holding Adrian, that's how you would have looked like if you were to have a child. He then remembers about you did have a child, still distracted, he gets his arm bumped by his niece, "Uh, of course. Think of it as an extended training mission. Trust me, I was a professor. Even went to the same academy as them. Let me tell ya; these kids are way better than we were at their age."

Jaune, Ren, and Nora walk back into the room with plates full of sandwiches. Ruby gasps happily upon seeing them, "Well, not better than me specifically, but a lot of students-"

"Shut up; there's food!"

Everyone heartily eats the sandwiches. Saphron and Terra share a look, before the latter's Scroll is buzzing, "Excuse me, I'll be right back." Terra answers her Scroll and walks out of the room.

"Is everything okay?" Your question, "Oh, yeah, it will be. Terra's a technician for the town's relay tower. Unfortunately, the military's radar system is also housed there." Saphron playfully pinches Adrian's cheeks, "Guess what's been on the fritz lately and who's getting falsely blamed."

Terra peeks back into the room, "Me."
"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?"

"Well... We're trying to make our way to Atlas. We'll probably start with the military base."

Nora and Ren share concerned looks, "So, we kind of already tried that, and... it didn't go... super great."
"Come on; it couldn't be that bad..."

"We'll try tomorrow; everyone should get rest, and whoever is in charge, I could be able to contact James at least."

"I'll show the rest of you to your rooms." Saphron leads all of you to rooms. Both you and Qrow didn't look at each other or had spoken to each other. The members of Team JNPR took notice yet didn't say anything. You thank Saphron, and everyone entered their respective rooms.

You stood in front of Qrow's room, hesitating if you should knock. Oscar watches from afar "(Y/n)? We should get some sleep." You nodded and followed Oscar, entering the room you were going to be sharing with him.
"(Y/n), you know you can talk to me?" You sat on your bed, burying your face in your hands, "I don't know what to do, Oscar. I feel sick that everything I was trying to hide was exposed, and I wasn't ready for any of it."
Oscar looks down as he sits on his side of the room. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about what would happen to you if they found out."
"It's fine; I know you didn't mean any harm."

"I'm sorry about... Qrow."
"Well, love is a very complicated topic. As of now, it's up to him if he would still want to be with me."
"No, it should also be your choice-"
"I love Qrow, but when I think about it, those who I love are taken away from me. I'm scared that whatever we had may not be what I deserve."
"You did nothing wrong."
"Neither did Ozpin. That includes you, Oscar."

"If anything happens to you, know that just how you stood next to Ozpin, I'll stand next to you. If you feel alone, I'll be there. We are dealing with the same issue; your students look up to you, I look up to you."

"You saw what happened, what Jinn showed of me was minimal to the bigger picture."

"That was in the past, none of that matters anymore. You are still a huntress; you are still the same person who helped them with their troubled lives."

"If we make it to Atlas and nothing is resolved, you will no longer have me as your burden; I'll take the relic and seal it with the one at Atlas with myself."

"No. No! We are a team; we'll get through this together." Oscar stands up, "You heard Ruby, we are all going to Atlas, and you are not going alone."

"I hope tomorrow is nothing too hectic; I'm really tired." You lay down on your bed; Oscar does the same on his bed, "Then get some sleep. We'll find a solution."

The next day, Team RWBY walks up to the Atlesian Military base on the island off the coast of Argus, only for the gates to abruptly close on them before they could even enter.

End of Vol. 6 Chapter 7
Sorry for the last update!
I hope you guys liked this chapter and the upcoming chapters!
Michaelis~