Konnichiwa, konnichiwa! Planeshunter desu!

How's everyone doing? I've felt a bit of a block last week, but nothing too serious.

Getting to the point, as promised, here comes the last chapter!

Everything will be ok (What if…?): 始まります!

Exhausted, Ruby tries to stand up. They have gotten away from the Nightmare, but the battle is not over yet, she needs to help out Jaune and the others. Still, she only manages to move her head sideways, and even that effort is enough to make her neck muscles cry in pain.

She feels herself… disconnected. As if her brain is wrapped in cotton. She frowns a bit, watching Nora getting blown away with only a slight worry, almost simple curiosity, forming in her mind. That's not right, she should feel… more. More worried, more frantic. Just she doesn't.

That's not good. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a small and frantic Ruby goes on about blood loss and staying awake, but she's soon muffled by the growing cotton wrapping...

Yang bleeds and burns while kicking uniformed men around, and is hard to know where the yellow turns into red and vice versa. She's angry, so very, very angry. She came to this place to find a friend, instead she found indifference and rejection and, when she pushed hard enough, hostility.

But she laughed at all that, in that unburdened way she always used to before the battle of Beacon. It was when Blake went down that she lost it.

Now there's a rat-like and pathetic man trying to cover behind a desk while her burning fury sends goon after goon flying in all directions.

Ruby's eyes get into the present again. A dream, a beautiful dream where her big sis was herself again. But now's not the time, she needs to focus on the present, to keep herself awake. Three griffin have surrounded Nora's unconscious body, but before they can do anything, Ren appears from nowhere.

It's hard to tell how long he'll be able to hold, he's never had too much stamina to begin with, and they are tired after the long fight.

With that nagging feeling that tells her she should be worrying more, Ruby watches as the dark-haired boy actually manages to take down the three beasts and drag her partner to safety before the Grimm can swarm them. He compensates his lack of stamina with quick and precise strikes.

Ruby's conscience drifts off again...

Blake slowly stands up, trying to make out why she has such a horrible headache. Her hair is sticky too. As she rises a hand towards it, the smell of blood, her own blood, fills her nostrils. Her sense of danger, sharpened since her youngest days, clears her mind. She was… shot.

She quickly remembers how the academy's security had entered the headmaster's office and shot at them without asking questions. Then everything went black…

Ruby wakes up again, a half smile in her lips. It's good to know Blake's alright, even if it's all a dream. Reality, on the other hand…

Two beowolves approach her, carefully sniffing as they advance with great care. This ones are no younglings. They know the smell of a silver eyed warrior, and are wary of them. This once, their wariness will play against them. WIthout strength to even stand up, Ruby would be defenceless against a simple rush, but they carefully make their way to her, checking every step. She painfully and slowly reaches for Crescent Rose and carefully sets it in it's sniper form.

As wary as they are, once she shoots they'll surely react, so she only has one try. She needs to wait until they line up perfectly for this…

A cold voice, filled with authority, makes everyone in the room stop what they're doing and search for it's source. There she is, imposing, powerful, beautiful, white, Schnee. It doesn't seem like this months have been kind on her. Her appearance is spotless, but her eyes are hard, and her expression severe. Even Yang's fire dies out

-"Very well, you are all stopping right now. RIght now!" -She repeats louder, to stop the blonde's reply- "My teammates will have tea with me, and everyone else will go back to their duties, is that clear?"

The way everyone just nods coily would make anyone smile in amusement. That includes the very Weiss. As her lips curl up, the illusion of severity fades. She might've become better at this authority game her father enjoys so much, but she's herself, not some mindless spare. If there's something funny going on in front of her, she'll smile and to hell with everything else.

When she opens her eyes again, Crescent Rose is still on the ready, but the beowolves are nowhere to be found. How long was she off?

They take a bullhead to Penny's home, now that they have the chance, they need to get as ready as possible.

Jaune steps in front of her, showing his back. He's grabbing his shield arm, and something red drips to the ground.

As they travel, Yang grows more and more restless. They shouldn't waste time. The feeling of urge has been growing inside her, and she's now jumpy and irritable.

Seems like the boy has been protecting her. She wants to thank him, but she's too weak to speak now. With Crescent Rose still on the ready, she feels her eyes closing. The dream is taking over.

Yang finally explodes, hitting the hull of the bullhead with her fist and standing up from her seat.

-"We don't have time for this, we need to go find Rubes!"

-"Yang, we need to be ready!" -Weiss tries to calm her down- "What about your arm?"

-"To hell with my arm! I'll kick any grimm who stands on my way!"

-"But… " -Weiss bits her lower lip- "What about Penny?

There Yang stops for a moment. But there's something in her eyes, in the way she's closing her fists, that hints at an answer she'll regret later on.

-"To…!"

Luckily, Blake's hand in her shoulder stops her for saying anything rash.

-"Now, Yang. Think about what you're going to say."

She turns to face her partner and give her a piece of her mind. But for once the amber eyes locked on her hold no gentleness. This shakes her more than she's willing to admit, so she looks away, biting her lip until it bleeds instead.

-"You don't understand."

-"Don't I? You have been getting more and more stressed out about something you try to deal with yourself, not saying a word to us! I'm worried, Weiss is worried, Penny is worried. Who the heck taught me to take proper rests and don't burden others with my recklessness?!"

Hearing Blake swearing would usually be enough to make her snicker. Today, she only groans, sitting again.

-"I got this… feeling, you know? That Rubes needs me, that she needs us. I can't explain, but I need to find her!"

Yang expects incredulity, maybe a pitiful look after those words. That''s why she hadn't said anything before. That's why she's regretting talking as soon as she finishes. But instead, she finds both her teammates in deep reflection. Them taking her words seriously is surprising enough to shut her up until they finally speak.

-"Well…" -Finally, Weiss breaks the silence- "I don't know what you think, Blake, but if it's something Ruby can't do..."

-"Yeah" -She answers with a nod- "No matter how you look at it, if we want to make a difference we'll need to be in perfect condition. She's a silver eyed warrior after all."

-"And let's not forget she has Nora and Ren with her."

-"And Jaune too."

Penny's add is met with Weiss risen brow

-"Yeah… him too."

Ruby opens her eyes again. How long has she been unconscious now? With a faint growl, she tries to move her head. Crescent Rose is no longer in front of her, and Nora lies beside her. They must've switched locations. Are they safe?

No… she can hear gunshots close by. She could recognise StormFlower's sound anywhere. At least Ren is still fighting.

-"Are we ready?" -Yang's voice is full of impatience, she's waited long enough- "Can we finally go find Rubes?"

-"Come on Yang!" -Weiss lashes, rightfully this time, to be honest- "Penny just got her new body!"

-"And I just got my new arm, your point?" -But it lacks the black sarcasm of the last days. The test on her prosthetic are finally over and they are ready to depart. Deep down, she's actually in a good mood- "How are you feeling, Penny?"

She has even thought up a great nickname for the robot girl. A shame it's M rated…

-"I am combat ready!"

The voice of the girl is full of cheerfulness. But now they know she can get angry too. The shouting match she had the night before with her father was memorable. And probably the only reason she's allowed to accompany them. Anyway, Yang sees the girl under a new light now.

-"See, Ice Queen? We are both combat ready!"

The Heiress turns to give Blake a look of incredulity. But the cat faunus simply rolls her eyes and turns towards the exit.

-"Whatever."

This time, Ruby doesn't want to open her eyes. She can feel heat both sides, that means at least two teammates lie unconscious around her. What now? She's still too weak to fight. Then there's a screech. A horrifying screech no living creature should be able to make. It's it. She opens her eyes, fighting to dispel the fog dulling her vision. She sees something white and red… Jaune and Pyrrha?

No… Only Jaune, again showing her his back as he faces no less than five grimm of different kinds. He's bleeding everywhere. How is he even holding his ground?

Then the threes in front of them get mowed down, and the horrible monster, the Nightmare appears. It's mere sight sends a shiver down her aching back. Still, she wants to stand up and fight. If only she wasn't so, so tired… She opens her mouth. Intending to at least wish the boy good luck before...

Too soon, her eyes close again. The dreams embraces her. The sweet, sweet dream where her true team is looking for her. It would be nice to see them coming to the rescue, even if it's not real...

-"We have been fighting the grimm for hours, still no clue of Ruby or her team" -Weiss complains in a second of respite- "I swear, if we have gone into a Dragon's Maw for nothing..."

But Yand doesn't react, she just uses the momentary peace to push forward, grim determination in her face.

-"You know," -Continues the Heiress, to no one in particular- "It feels weird to see her so serious..."

-"You missed her when she was an emotional wreck, some months ago…"

-"There!" -Yang points behind the next hill, for a reason completely unrelated with the blush that's appearing in her face- "What's that?"

-"Are you changing the subject, Yangie?" -Taunts the faunus- "I don't see… What's that?"

A column of white light surges behind the hill, interrupting her. And they all rush forward, ignoring the new wave of grimm that's appearing between the trees around them. Soon they reach the top of the hill. Before them, an armor of white light fights off countless monsters. The sight is shocking enough to stop them in their tracks.

The armor seems impregnable to any damage, and with each of it's powerful blows, they grimm get blown away like ants. But things are not as they seem. Soon, they notice there's someone inside the armor. Someone that gets wounded every time the armor is hit.

-"Jaune!"

The call makes Ruby open her eyes again. She doesn't want to, in her dream, her team was coming! She resists waking up but, as it happens when you try to grab hold of any dream, the effort only clears her mind faster. She groans in protest, all her body in pain, but she finally focuses her gaze.

There's an enormous knight in shining armor fighting off the Nightmare. It sheds pure white light everywhere, holding the bulk of the grimm back. She squints, all her aches forgotten by the breathtaking sight, and tries to see past the bright light. Her vision clears, the mists of dream dissipating.

There's four, smaller lights orbiting around the knight, white, yellow, green and black, they are the ones keeping the grimm at bay. And there's something… no, someone inside the light.

Jaune!

With recognition, comes realisation, and the last strips of dream vanish. Seeing his sorry state, the first thing crossing her mind is fear. Will he sacrifice himself to protect them? But no. Like her, Jaune knows of the pain forced into those left behind. He won't allow himself to die.

Also, the four lights are people, four persons she didn't dare hope she would see again. Weiss, Blake, Yang and… could that really be Penny? They all seem alive and well. She wants to stand up and run up to them, to hug them until they beg for mercy and to tell them how much they were missed.

But her body is too weak, and her eyelids grow heavy again. She softly sinks into the darkness. Neither fighting the drowsiness nor trying to hide into the dream. Team RWBY will be together again. She can take a small rest, right?

For the first time in months, she sleeps in peace. Funny, how a bloodied battlefield can feel warmer than any campfire. But somehow, she knows there's nothing to fear now. Everything will be OK

FIN

And here it ends, ladies and gentlemen! Did it really end with a bang? To be honest, I'm not sure if I should consider this chapter a success or a failure. It's different for sure, but that's I'm willing to comment on it. I'll leave the decision up to you.

Don't bother looking for that 'Nightmare' thing able to give the chills even to Ruby, I completely made it up. Stopping to describe it would've broken the rhythm of the narrative, so I didn't, but if you're curious, it's a giant worm-snake with an armored head and insect-like mandibles, long cockroach-like wings sprouting from it's neck and four front legs ended in mantis scythes.

Dear me, in my MAPL chapter from last week I mentioned how I was getting used to being busy, just… that wasn't busy, this week has been. And tomorrow I'll work again… I just want to burrow a hole and hide on it to cry.

A-NY-WAY! I'm not about to stop writing, and all this sh*t life is throwing my way is only making me more resolved. That's how us stubborn people work. Even if I have to hide in the toilet halfway my shifts to write some lines, the updates will continue!

-Planeshunter.