"This isn't a good idea."

"You think we don't know that?" Pyrrha snapped back at Ren. Team NPR plus Yang ran through the forest, Yang moving just a little slower since the breastplate was crushing her chest, making breathing difficult. "We're luring this monster onto us. Of course it's a bad idea."

"Worse to let her have Jaune," Nora said. "It's our job to protect the helpless. And Jaune is helpless when he's not asleep. And when his opponent isn't asleep either," she added awkwardly.

"It's ridiculous how his Semblance is single-handedly the most powerful I've ever heard of and yet also the most easily countered in existence," Pyrrha said. "But I suppose there have to be limits on everything. Grimm ahead."

Only a few. Yet more distractions.

"Can't—" Yang panted. Every breath was laboured. "Deal with."

"On it!"

Nora shot ahead and Ren followed after as best he could. It reminded Pyrrha of initiation, except that Nora's recklessness was tempered now. It didn't hurt that they were all of them more experienced as well, more ready to work with and around one another. Nora darted past the Grimm, shocking them into turning to follow her, which left their backs exposed to Ren's knives. As the first fell, Nora slammed her hammer down to halt her momentum, turned and swung back into the kneecaps of the Grimm ponderously reacting to her. It fell with a howl.

More came from the trees – two Beowolves and an Ursa. It certainly felt like Salem had taken the bait, because they couldn't go five hundred metres without something getting in their way.

Our plan is working, then, Pyrrha thought. But what do we do if she actually catches up to us?

What then?

Because if she was as strong as Jaune and Yang made her out to be – enough that even the teachers were afraid of her – then Pyrrha wasn't sure what a team of first years could do other than beg for their lives. They wouldn't, of course. They were proud huntsmen and huntresses, and so they would fight.

But a valiant last stand didn't sound great either.

"Pyrrha!" Nora yelled, smashing through an Ursa. "Head in the game!"

Pyrrha nodded, took aim with her rifle and fired.

The Grimm were no great challenge for them, especially not when she and Yang caught up, but the minute or so it took to deal with them was still sixty seconds of catching up for the one chasing them. The team rushed on ahead but the Grimm were endless. They could afford to die in droves to slow them down just one minute at a time. And it quickly became obvious that was their ploy, for they attacked in twos and threes, just hurling themselves in the team's path with no regard for success or survival.

"We're not going to make it to Vale at this rate," Ren said. "Maybe one of us should stay back to buy the rest time—"

"Don't you dare talk about throwing your life away, Ren," Nora hissed.

"We have to do something!"

Intellectually speaking, Pyrrha knew she should be the one left behind if that were the case. She was the strongest, and thus the most likely to be capable of holding her own. Nora and Ren couldn't keep going as long as she could.

"No one is sacrificing themselves," Yang said, "That's an order."

Selfishly, Pyrrha felt relieved by it, even if Yang was in no state to give orders to their team.

They could hear something behind them. It was a roar of noise, like the buzzing of an angry beehive. Pyrrha suspected it was actually the distant roaring and thundering feet of hundreds of Grimm. Thankfully, they weren't so close as to be on them, but the noise hadn't been audible when they split up from Team RWB and Jaune, so whatever it was had caught up to them in the intervening time.

But it would eventually.

Another ten minutes of running at full sprint and they began to flag. They were all of them fit beyond belief, but no one was made for long distance running like that. They relied on explosive action to kill Grimm; outrunning them wasn't a viable strategy normally since Grimm were tireless and wouldn't have cared if they were run to death or not. Nora was the best runner among them, but even she was only good for short sprints.

Pyrrha's breath came out ragged and hoarse, and she wasn't the only one. The sickening knowledge that running further would compromise their ability to fight ran through her head, and likely her teammates' too. It was now a difficult choice between conserving energy and holding their ground to fight an enemy they might not be able to or keep running and risk passing out to be killed by any Grimm that found them.

That plan for one of us to stay behind is sounding more and more tempting.

Could they hide? Probably not. Grimm sensed negativity and even if they were able to stay calm and still, they were the only humans out here. Ren's Semblance might help, but it would be a challenge for him to share it out among so many people. And if Salem had Grimm in such numbers, she'd simply have them fan out and scour for the forest clean the moment she lost track of them.

"Ditch Jaune's armour," Ren told Yang. "Maybe it'll throw them off."

Yang didn't argue and dragged Jaune's breastplate over her head. It wouldn't cost her anything to lose it when they were already being followed. His hoodie went next. Maybe the Grimm would stop and pause at that, maybe not, but at leas Yang wouldn't be constrained by it if – or when – it came to fight for their lives.

That time came a whole lot faster than any of them would have liked when they came skidding to a halt in front of a literal wall of Grimm. Literally. They were all Ursa, and they were stood side by side like ancient soldiers in a shieldwall formation. Even when the four of them came into sight, the Grimm didn't move to attack them like they normally would have. They simply stood and blocked the way – and it looked like they carried on for a long while left and right, too.

"I guess that ends any doubts of this person controlling the Grimm," Ren panted. "Can we break through?"

"There's a second rank behind," Pyrrha said. "And it goes on for a while so we can't go around. They must have set this net up in advance to catch anyone trying to reach the city."

Grimm that could plan ahead and strategize were truly terrifying. Pyrrha was sure they could punch through, but she wasn't at all convinced they would make it much further after doing that. Exhaustion was setting in fast.

The trees behind them rumbled and shook. Realising the Grimm in front weren't going to break formation, the four of them turned their backs and looked at last to what was following them. Trees were pushed apart, trunks cracking and breaking, as a strange four-legged Grimm that looked like a squat Goliath rumbled toward them. On its head, stood behind two curved spikes like horns, stood a woman in a black dress.

At least it had the shape of a woman. The skin was pure white – Yang had said so over the monster that attacked her and Jaune in the city, but Pyrrha had assumed that meant white as in a light shade of skin colour. Not literal white. The woman was so far gone beyond a sickly pallor that she could have passed for dead. Behind her and the malformed Goliath that had been turned into a vehicle, lumbered at least two hundred more Grimm. It was more than Team JNPR had ever seen in one place.

Well, Pyrrha thought, this is it...

"You have finally stopped," the woman – or Grimm – that called itself Salem called down from her mount. "Surrender yourself to me, Jaune Arc, and I shall be merciful toward your friends."

Yang took a step forward, held out her arms and called out; "Do I look like Jaune to you?" For emphasis, she cupped her breasts and bounced them up and down. "Do I look like a guy? You've got the wrong person. Sorry about that. Jaune cut north toward Atlas," she lied. "You might be able to catch him if you hurry."

It was a bold strategy. Cheap, too. It didn't cost Yang anything to try and convince the Grimm to abandon them. If it worked, they lived. If it didn't, well, it'd be a fight either way, so they might as well try this approach.

"Jaune never came with us!" Pyrrha shouted. "We got separated. You've been chasing the wrong people. Let us go. We're not who you want."

Salem stared down at them, leaning forward to make sure with her own eyes that it wasn't Jaune. Yang's hair was close now she'd cut it short, but nothing else was even close to similar. At a distance, and with her running alongside Team JNPR, anyone could have mistaken her for Jaune. All they'd have needed to see toa assume it was blonde hair and the other members of Team JNPR, but once she was this close the ruse fell apart.

And Salem knew it.

"No... No. Where—? Where is he!?"

"We got separated," Pyrrha repeated. "The Grimm attacked out of nowhere. We made plans to meet up on the north coast toward Atlas." She would offer an apology to Atlas later, but she had to give a believable excuse. "General Ironwood is preparing a ship to evacuate him. But when your Grimm attacked the school, we were outside it and—"

"Lies! You were together! You left Beacon together! I have seen the footage!"

Footage—? Then there had been a spy. Or the school's security had been compromised.

"And there is no ship from Atlas. We have made sure of it. Did you really think I wouldn't fill the waters with Grimm?"

They hadn't. Oh no, she thought. Jaune and Team RWBY are heading to the ferry to Patch. If that route is also blocked...

"Are you really going to waste time arguing with us while Jaune escapes?" Nora shouted out. "If you want him, you'd best chase after him."

It looked for a moment like she might do just that. If she took most of the Grimm away, they might be able to kill the rest, then recover their energy before moving on. It'd be the difference between life and death.

But Salem narrowed her eyes on Yang. "You. I recognise you. You're the boy's lover."

Yang tensed. It would have been even more obvious if her hair was still long, so it was a surprise Salem remembered it given the differences.

"What man is there who won't do anything to see their lover return? If I have you, I can make him come to me." Salem extended her hand. "The rest do not matter. Kill—"

The roar of an engine came barely a second before the whirr of a rotating gun, then the horrific buzzing cacophony of it unleashing. A Bullhead streaked over the canopy and unloaded on the Grimm line, decimating them. The Goliath that carried Salem rumbled and a fan of skin and bone shot up in front of Salem, blocking the shots. Other Grimm were not so lucky, cut down where they stood.

One Bullhead against all this, though? It wouldn't make a difference. Salem snarled when the fan of bone came down and made to order Nevermore to bring the aircraft down. Except that a figure jumped from it as it flew by and landed between them and Salem, hitting the grass in a crouch.

It was Jaune.

Except... how could it be? Never mind the fact he'd gone the other way. The fact he was wearing his hoodie and armour was the real giveaway, since Yang had left him in boxers and a t-shirt. There was simply no way Jaune was there in clothes Yang had discarded. He drew his sword and pointed it at Salem. Then, as if to mock the very idea of a fair fight, broke into a run to the left and vanished into the treeline.

"AFTER HIM!" Salem screamed, forgetting about them entirely. "Hunt him down!"

The Goliath barged its way toward the treeline and smashed through them, roaring along with all the Grimm in pursuit. The wall that had blocked their path went as well, Grimm running past their team so close that Pyrrha had to step out the way of some of them. Since Salem had ordered they all chase Jaune, the Grimm took that seriously and didn't waste time touching any of them.

It was surreal, but in the space of thirty seconds they were alone in the clearing.

Alive.

Nora hit the floor knees first. "My life flashed before my eyes. And it was like a fast-food commercial."

"Dating Jaune isn't worth this," Yang groaned.

"I'll trade," Pyrrha said.

"Seriously?" Yang asked. "Is this the time to bring your feelings up?"

It wasn't, but that was what made it so perfect. Pyrrha smiled, then Yang did, and then they were both laughing. Hysterical relief born from the sudden loss of tension had them both sagging to their knees. Something about being so close to death you could smell it and then coming out alive left them with nothing to do but laugh. That was how the Bullhead found them when it landed, all four of them giggling like idiots.

The laughter didn't even stop when the door opened and Roman Torchwick of all people stepped out.

"You!" Yang laughed. "Aren't you meant to be in prison?"

"Ah, but the Atlas flagship crashed. Atlas' fancy forcefield tech cells are cute and all, but the downside is they wink off if there's a power cut." Roman looked them over with an arched eyebrow. "Where's the kid? Neo dragged my ass out here to save her big brother. Where is he?"

"Neo? Trivia!?" Yang balked and looked back where Jaune had run. "That was Trivia?"

"Illusion Semblance. So, where is he?"

"We split up and used a disguise to lure Salem away." Ren explained. "Are you saying that small girl from Cinder's team that Jaune used to bounce on his lap is the sole reason we're alive right now?"

"Yeah, I'd love to say this is me returning the favour for freeing us from that bitch, Cinder, but I wouldn't be here risking my life if I had any say in it. But Neo – Trivia, as you know her – forced me into it. Get on in. I'll take you to Vale."

No one argued. He might be a criminal but he was human, and that was enough reason to trust him. Once they were in the Bullhead with the door dragged shut, Roman got into the cockpit and ignited the engines. He spoke back loudly to them.

"Neo will give her a chase before using illusions to vanish. What about the kid, though? Which way is he headed?"

Pyrrha considered lying before deciding against it. "Patch. But Salem says the waters are full of Grimm. Can you take us to the ferry instead of the city?"

"Sure thing. Neo would have my ass anyway if I didn't." The Bullhead took off. "City is in an uproar," he said. "No sign of Grimm there yet, but the crisis alarms had everyone in a panic. The gates have been sealed and air is the only way in or out. How bad are things at Beacon?"

"Bad. The school is under attack."

"Will it fall?"

"Salem left to chase us," Ren said. "So I expect Beacon will be fine. The same might not be true if she manages to get a hold of Jaune, though."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I've felt his Semblance before. You made the right choice, though. She caught up to you – which means she would have caught up to him if you'd stayed together. There wouldn't have been a thing Neo and I could have done to get him back if she had him, so good job on that."

Pyrrha leaned her head back and closed her eyes. To be complimented by a criminal of all people felt wrong. And yet it still made her smile. Reckless or not, they'd kept Salem away from Jaune and from Beacon.

It was a job well done.

/-/

"No signal," said Blake, checking her scroll. The team, including Jaune, had stopped to catch their breath. They were only about thirty minutes out from the ferry, but it made sense to be ready before they approached.

And they all wanted to make sure the others were safe.

"No signal? How? Patch and Vale have great CCT coverage. I've used the ferry a thousand times and never had bad signal," Ruby said. "And the CCT was fine when we left Beacon. The city wouldn't have cut that off in an emergency like this."

"Then it's been taken down by someone else because I don't have bad signal. I have no signal. Not even a scrap."

Jaune spoke up. "Salem still has someone working with her. His name is Watts." He eyed Cinder, worried the name might trigger memories. Her expression remained calm. "He was a scientist, but he also dabbled in computers and technology. If anyone could do it, it'd be him."

Because Jaune doubted someone born several thousand years ago and kept in isolation in the Grimmlands ever since would be tech-savvy.

"Cutting off the CCT is just a good move on their parts," Weiss said. "It doesn't mean we've been found. It could just be a measure to prevent Beacon for calling for help. A plan to sow chaos by making communications impossible."

It also meant they couldn't check the status of the ferry, but Jaune held to Weiss' point. There was no reason to assume this was targeted at them specifically. If Salem knew where they were, she'd be on them already. The very fact they could take this rest, and hadn't faced Grimm for the last two miles, was proof that Yang's plan had worked. Salem had taken the bait and gone after the wrong party.

He just hoped her and his team were okay.

"There's no point standing around waiting," Cinder pointed out. "At least one of us should approach the ferry. I'll go if you want."

"No. I'll go." Ruby volunteered herself. "I'm the fastest, so I can get out if there's trouble."

It was a decent plan. Anyone else would have to fight their way out of an ambush, but Ruby's speed would make her impossible to catch. Her Semblance was only useful for short distances – her body still requiring stamina to run for a long time – but this was the kind of situation it was made for.

The five of them made their way closer, traversing the last thirty minutes until they were within sight of it. The ferry was technically outside the city walls, not needing protection except when it had passengers to drop off. Given the alarms in the distance and the overall evacuation, it was understandable that the ferry was dark and deserted. The vessel was in harbour, though. It was a relatively small thing, at least compared to the one Jaune had seen when he visited his sister in Argus. The ship looked like it could carry maybe fifty vehicles and a few times that in passengers. The ramp for vehicles to drive onto it was up, which would hopefully make it even easier to commandeer.

Legally speaking, they had the right. Sort of. Professional huntsmen could commandeer vehicles to protect lives. Students could not, but it was considered on a case-by-case basis after the fact, and Jaune knew Ozpin would side with them on this one.

"I'll check it," Ruby whispered. "Cover me."

Ruby jogged out onto the pier and slowed to a walk close to the boat. There was no sign of movement, and that prompted her to check the ropes mooring it before scaling the pedestrian ramp the sailors had fled off. They'd left it down, fleeing to the city the moments the siren began. All instructions said to ignore all other matters and get to safety, and they'd done just that. When Ruby disappeared onto the ferry proper, Jaune tensed, as did Blake and Weiss. None of them liked her being out of sight. Cinder remained calm. Luckily, it didn't take long for her to appear back at the side and wave them forward. They broke cover and approached at a light jog, as Ruby came back down the ramp to meet them.

"It's clear as best as I can tell. The doors are unlocked too, so we can get to the... uh... whatever they call it. Cockpit? Captain's seat?"

"Helm, probably," Weiss said. "Or bridge. Do you know if it's operable?"

Ruby shrugged. "I've never used one, so no. How hard can it be?"

"Presumably it's—"

"I can." Blake said. "And I have." All eyes turned to her. "Not just my time in the White Fang," she grumbled, annoyed by their accusatory looks. "Menagerie is an island nation. I've been out on ships before and I know how to pilot them. Mooring it without scratching the paintwork won't be easy, especially with just the five of us, but getting it out into open water? That's easy. You just have to aim for the sea and miss the dock."

"And what, we crash on Patch?"

"I can dock us safely. Probably. It's bigger than anything I've worked on before. The real risk is I damage the dock there by mooring it too hard. It might need some repairs but that'd be it. Or we could sit off the coast and swim. We just need to be away from here."

Jaune cut in. "Blake has a point. It doesn't matter if we reach Patch or get out on the open water. As long as we're not here, we're fine."

"We've no other ideas," Ruby said. "Let's do it."

Jaune went with Cinder to pull the frankly massive ropes off the steel posts driven into the dock. They had proper names, but Jaune didn't know them. Once those were all free and wound back toward the ferry, they went back up the ramp. The three members of Team RWBY were on the bridge, with Blake looking over the controls. She flicked a few switches, powering on the dust generator and making the lights flicker on with a tinny, clinking noise.

"It's got fuel," she said. "It looks like we're good to go."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

It was hard to say who reacted first, but Ruby definitely completed her turn to aim her weapon at the man at the back of the bridge before anyone else. Arthur Watts stood with a handgun aimed at them, which wasn't nearly as concerning as he seemed to think it was given they all had aura. He wouldn't have enough rounds in that to put a single one of them down. Jaune looked for anyone with him, because surely he hadn't come alone.

There was no one.

So, did that mean he had something up his sleeve? A bomb, perhaps?

"Why not?" he asked, curious to see if Watts would answer.

"Oh, it's not a threat from me." Watts smiled in a cavalier fashion. "Tell me. How good if your throwing arm?" He picked up something off a nearby counter, a small wooden figuring. He showed it to them before gently tossing it underarm at Jaune, who caught it. "Throw that out into the water. As far as you can."

There were four people with weapons aimed at one man who wasn't even a huntsman, so Jaune decided to do as he said, stepping out the bridge onto the deck. He didn't have muscles like Cardin but he was able to launch it a good distance. The doll sailed toward the water.

And the water rose to meet it.

A huge black serpent burst from the ocean and caught the figure in its mouth. The thing, easily a hundred metres long, crashed back down into the water creating a wave big enough to rock the ship and soak the pier.

Everyone stared at it in horror.

"Salem was very worried you might escape by sea, though I'll admit her concern was toward Atlas rather than Patch. Still, the oceans all around the north coast of Vale are festering with Grimm right now, just waiting off the shallows for you to draw near."

Jaune reached for his sword. Ruby aimed her scythe.

"He wants something." Cinder spoke, shocking everyone to stillness. "If he wanted to capture you for Salem, father, then he would have told her this was where we were coming. He would have Grimm with him rather than risk himself."

"I see that shrewd mind of yours remains even if precious little else does, Cinder. I must admit I think you're better this way. Knowing your place." Cinder's eyes narrowed but she didn't rise to the bait. "I've come to talk," he continued.

"To make a deal for my Semblance?"

"I've seen how poorly that went for Cinder, so I shall pass on letting you exercise it on me. There are others I would have you use it on, but let us talk about that like adults, shall we?"

"Is everyone betraying Salem now?" Jaune had to ask.

"Is that a surprise to you? Can you blame me? It's a sinking ship she's on. A lot of potential, but she's throwing it all away in some desperate gamble to have you – and, unlike her, I don't have any convenient immortality to stop you from just killing me in my dream. Her reckless actions have already cost her Hazel and Tyrian. Among others."

Watts glanced to Cinder but didn't list her among them. He must not have liked the old Cinder to play along like this. If he'd wanted to, he could explain who she truly was, but he seemed content – happy, even – to leave her like this.

"I pride myself on being an intelligent man. And intelligent men do not throw themselves into lost causes."

"Then you're switching sides?" Weiss said. "I'm sure accommodations could be made, especially if you helped us here. You know who my father is. He could see you compensated and protected legally."

"Tempting. And we'll get to that. But you have other concerns. Salem has discovered you're not with the other party and is coming here as we speak. As is an old friend of Cinder's who made poor decisions in life."

It took Jaune a second to catch on, but only a second. "Em—ma," he fumbled the last, so as not to spark any memories. "Emma."

Watts rolled his eyes. "Yes. Her. Coming to claim Cinder back, I hear. And on your tail as well. Quite dangerous given her Semblance. More dangerous than you, since everyone here is in the waking world. Not to mention those Grimm. Just because they are out of the shallows now does not mean they cannot enter them. Let us all be off this floating deathtrap before they get curious."

"Okay." Ruby decided for them. Sure, they could have rushed him – and they'd definitely win – but then what? They couldn't take the ferry out. It might honestly be better to hear him out and see if he was serious. They could always beat him later if he wasn't. "We'll hear you out. On the pier? If she is coming then we might want to take this further away."

Watts checked his scroll. The fact he dared take his eyes off them at all spoke of either incredible confidence or, and more likely, an easy acceptance of the fact he couldn't beat them anyway. There was little point him having that gun other than for self-defence against wild animals.

"We still have time. I have them tracked. The pier will do. Let's make this quick. And, ah, call me paranoid but I'd like for you to disarm Cinder."

"Only her...?" Blake asked.

"I'm a scientist, my dear. Armed or unarmed, any one of you could break my body in half. But I have faith in you all to hear me out. Cinder...? Well, that's another matter."

Cinder tilted her head. "Do I know you?"

"That's what's up for debate, isn't it? Disarm her and off the ship. We are wasting time and you have precious little of it left."