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

Chapter 36 - Pain

Bold Font - Time/Location

Italic Font - Thoughts

Yang hesitated to open the box her father had excitedly put in front of her. The only sound in the room was coming from their old clock that swung back and forth. She gazed at the box and then at Taiyang with a curious yet unsure look. A moment passed before she reached down and slowly lifted the cover of the white box off. Glistening in the box from the sunlight was a silver, highly advanced robotic arm. Yang analyzed it thoroughly, her expression unchanged. Taiyang began to proudly narrate the story behind the arm.

Taiyang: "Brand new, state of the art Atlas tech. You know I thought I was gonna have to pull some strings, call in a few favors, but you earned this one all on your own, kiddo."

Yang looked back up at her father, only partially paying attention to the story while she was looking over the arm.

Yang: "Huh?"

Taiyang: "Before I could even talk to him, General Ironwood already had one of his top scientists working on this...for you. He wanted me to tell you that you fought admirably. You should be proud of yourself."

Yang remained silent, staring at Taiyang with a saddened and unsure composure.

Taiyang: "Well?"

Yang simply looked down at the ground, again choosing to remain silent.

Taiyang: "You gonna try it on?"

Yang hesitated before giving her response. Ever since Adam took her arm off of her person, things had never been the same. The Fall of Beacon didn't exactly add to good news either. That was another constant reminder that things would be different from here on out. The last thing she wanted was another reminder that she lost something she didn't think she could live without.

Yang: "I uh...I'm not feeling too great right now."

She diverted her eyes to look at Taiyang once more. He could see the uncertainty and sadness written all over her face. He felt disappointed and started rubbing the back of his neck with his right arm. With a sigh of hopelessness and a hint of annoyance, he accepted Yang's answer.

Taiyang: "Well, alright..."

Taiyang stood there in front of the couch with a saddened look as Yang got up, not even bothering to try on the prosthetic arm. As she was slowly walking up the brown wooden stairs and into her room, she stopped half way. Taiyang noticed and gave his attention to her, smiling a little bit to try and express his understanding of her situation. Slightly turning her head to face her dad, Yang answered in her now-usual saddened tone of voice. She didn't like making people feel upset, especially her dad. He had tried to do so much for his family. She couldn't help but think she was just being another burden. After Yang's mom walked out on them, Taiyang was broken. It took him so long to try and get over Raven, and even to this day he never fully could. Yang and Summer tried to help pick up the pieces, but then of course Summer died and it was back to square one. Having an equal understanding of each other's point of view, Yang continued up the stairs followed by Taiyang exhaling in defeat and exhaustion. What Yang didn't realize is that Taiyang was hurting just as much as she was.

Timeskip - Mistral Forest

Team JNPR, Ruby, and Crane's team were continuing their stroll to Haven Academy. They estimated they were about a couple of days away from reaching the academy and finding the culprits of the Fall of Beacon. Ruby was in charge of holding the map this time, and titled it right and left comedically while reading it. Crane's group was following not far behind.

Ruby: "Soooo the next town iisss....uh-huh! Uh huh...we're lost."

Gizmo: "Super."

Jaune: "We're not lost, the next town is Shion. My family used to visit all the time."

Ruby: "Oh yeah! Don't you have, like, four sisters?"

Jaune: "Uh, seven..."

Ruby giggled at Jaune's unenthusiastic response. Nora then commented as well with a big smile on her face.

Nora: "Ya know that actually explains a lot."

Jaune: "Wait, what do you mean--"
Ruby: "SOOOO, what did you guys do there?"

Jaune didn't particularly dislike this part of the conversation and he needed the map to show them where he did specific things, so he walked forward more and stationed himself alongside Ruby

Jaune: "Oh! All sorts of stuff! Over here is a great hiking trail, and over here is where we went camping all the time! I got my own tent because I was special! Also, so my sisters would stop braiding my hair..."

Ruby: "Didn't like the look?"

Jaune: "Yeah they just kept doing pigtails, but personally I think I'm more of a "Warrior's Wolf Tail" kind of guy."

Ruby snickered at Jaune's fancy way of saying ponytail.

Ruby: "That's just a ponytail."

Jaune proudly put his hands on his hips and gave his reply.

Jaune: "I stand by what I said."

Pyrrha: "I think you'd look great with one Jaune."

Crimson: "Don't encourage him."

While Jaune and Ruby were still looking at the map not paying attention to where they were walking, Nora and Ren suddenly stopped and looked in front of them in shock.

Crimson: "Woah..."

Nora: "Uh, guys?"

Jaune: "What?"

Ruby: "Huh?"

Both looking up from the map, they stopped and their eyes widened in horror from what they were seeing. The town was almost completely leveled. Smoke was rising from the remains of the buildings and the trees were covered in scorch marks. Reacting immediately, Ruby dropped the map and herself along with Team JNPR ran ahead to search for survivors. Crane took a moment to look at his surroundings before giving orders.

Crane: "Apollo, Shark, you two take the left and secure a perimeter. Scar, Star, you two do the same on the right. Crimson, Gizmo, you two are with me. Stick close to the kids and help anyone out who's still alive."

Apollo: "On it boss."

Scar: "Moving out."

The three teams split up and Crane's group caught up with Ruby's team, running atop the stone pathways of the now decimated village. Corpses of villagers were lying about. One member of Team JNPR occasionally stopped to check and see if they were alive. Jaune ran ahead but quickly stopped once he realized there was no hope in salvaging this village. Ren was pissed and stomped angrily head of them, throwing his satchel on the ground.

Ruby: "There could be survivors!"

On cue, Ren immediately found a downed man who was propped up against the remains of a building, and was badly injured.

Ren: "Over here!"

Pyrrha: "Let's go!"

They all rushed over to the man and hunched down over to speak with him. His armor was badly damaged and he had a massive hole in his lower left torso. His breathing was erratic and he had blood dripping down the corner of his mouth. He likely wouldn't survive much longer. Ren tried to assess the injuries to the man while the rest of his team talked to him.

Ruby: "A huntsman!"

Jaune: "What happened? Who killed all of these people?"

The huntsman coughed from the massive injuries and the pain, but managed to give his reply.

Huntsman: "...bandits..."