Chapter 1 - Counting Stars

"We've been told all our lives that death is the ultimate finality - that there are none who can escape the eternal sleep. Though you may believe yourself prepared, death has a way of catching us all by surprise. We all bleed red in the end. But what if I told you that death didn't have to be the end? What if I told you that there was a small chance to reverse the cycle? Many wouldn't hesitate to revive their loved ones, impatient at the opportunity to be reunited in the midst of grief. But what if I also told you that there was a steep price for such a bargain? What price would be too great to reverse time itself? The answer might surprise you even more than death…"

Those words echoed in Jaune's mind as he felt his back hit rough limestone behind him, his body sliding bonelessly down the wall of the dark hallway, as he plopped unceremoniously onto the floor in a clumsy heap. His ragged knees pressed to his armored chest, gloved hands hung limply at his sides, head tipping back to stare blankly at the flickering gas-lamp across the way. He would have cried again, but his tears were spent and he was utterly exhausted.

The words, while they made sense in context to the rest of the conversation...they just didn't seem to be adding up in the blonde's already hazy mind.

Reverse time? Revive loved ones? Not the end?

Jaune knew that he shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point...that some of the legends he had always believed were just that - stories and tales - were, in fact, at least marginally realistic.

Since the attack on Beacon nearly two months prior, he hadn't really had the time or energy to argue with himself about what was real or not. Team JNPR - or what was left of it - had spent much of its time debriefing with Glynda and Ironwood over the passing weeks - time that had only succeeded in confusing him and making him question everything he'd ever believed about the line between reality and make-believe.

He didn't want to believe it was all gone - the school, his friends, Pyrrha…

He clenched his eyes shut tightly, shaking his head erratically, before slamming it back against the stone. It jarred his brain and ached through his skull just enough to knock the suffocating anguish from his mind and set his thoughts back on track.

There's no time for dwelling on this right now...maybe...someday...when this is all over...perhaps then I might be able to rest.

For now, he was short on time, and even shorter on options.

He, Jaune Arc, had a choice to make...

Two weeks earlier…

When Jaune had answered the letter from Ruby to assemble what remained of his team and convene at her small cottage in Patch, he had believed that this was a call to arms - a war summons. Though he held a heavy heart, he had done as ordered and reached out to Nora and Ren, informing them of the dispatch, before booking expedient travel to the small island.

Upon arrival, they had rendezvoused at a small diner in the local market-area, meeting with a somber shell of the former Ruby Rose. But there had been hope in her eyes and a determination that made him wonder. She had relayed some valuable information regarding their next course of action, but what had surprised Jaune the most was that she seemed genuinely concerned that he and his remaining teammates would need to be convinced to join her. Sure, he understood that Ruby didn't like to get her friends involved in her schemes, but this seemed like an obvious exception - she could never do this alone. Hell, this was a long-shot for all four of them, much less any one of them, individually.

The meal had been brief, making plans to congregate outside her home the following morning at 8am sharp. Then the teens had parted ways, retiring to the pair of rooms they had booked in the local inn.

As Jaune had prepared for bed that night, rechecking his pack and seeming to walk around in the haze that had encompassed him for the past several weeks, there had been a knock at his door. Thinking it might have been Ren or Nora, he had merely sighed softly before opening it without a second thought.

Only to find someone who was decidedly not Ren or Nora.

The late-night visitor was a man he had only seen a couple of times prior, and with which he had never really been given the opportunity to engage in conversation. Tall, intimidating, and moderately scraggly, yet objectively handsome, the seasoned huntsman cocked a narrow hip against the doorway, arms lazily crossed over his chest. The man carried himself with an air of nonchalance and self-assuredness, but there was unmistakably an undertone of apprehension and concern in his countenance.

Jaune knew this was Qrow Branwen - Ruby's uncle, and the acting Headmaster of Beacon in light of Ozpin's extended disappearance.

The man had wasted little time to usher himself in, perching himself on the trunk at the foot of Jaune's bed, and staring intensely at the faded painting of a crimson forest, framed and mounted on the wall across from him.

Feeling more than a little bit taken aback, Jaune blinked slowly a few times to process the intrusion. After a few moments, he shut the door quietly behind the man, before clicking the lock and turning to press his rigid back against the pinewood frame. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, frowning deeply at the figure before him.

"Professor Branwe-"

"Just call me Qrow. You're not one of those little rugrats I taught back at Signal."

Jaune flinched slightly at the gravel and grit in the man's voice. He sounded like the worst combination of fatigued, dejected, and irritable. The blonde teen took a quiet breath, steeling himself for the worst.

"Alright...Qrow. What brings you here at this hour?"

Suspicion and concern began to churn in Jaune's gut, and he found himself swaying his weight almost imperceptibly back-and-forth between his feet. Could the 30-something, battle-worn huntsman have found out about their plans to leave? Was he here to forbid their quest? To punish their insolence and arrogance at thinking they could actually do something about their situation?

Qrow was a veteran huntsman - one who had probably seen things Jaune couldn't even imagine. He had, most likely, killed more Grimm than all of the blonde's teammates combined, and was surely no stranger to war, death, and loss.

"I'll cut right to the chase here, since there isn't much time to get into the nitty gritty details. I'm aware of your plans to travel to Haven with my troublesome little niece."

Jaune caught his breath quietly, hoping the man couldn't hear him. He was sure he would have felt his heart sink in his chest, if it weren't already at the bottom, where it had recently taken up residence. There was just nowhere else for it to fall. Instead he frowned only slightly, before giving a curt nod of confirmation to the man's words.

No point in lying now…

He was ready for the tongue-lashing, the destruction of his meager expectations, and the assassination of what little character he had left.

What he got instead, was like a kick to the gut.

"Ruby never was very good at keeping plans to herself, and Yang's always had a big mouth, even though she seems to have lost her voice lately…"

There was a deep sadness and regret in his words...to which Jaune felt he might relate the tiniest bit.

"As a teacher and uncle, I can't condone this reckless venture. But as a fellow huntsman and one who understands the way this cruel, unforgiving world operates...I am also aware that there is precious little time to waste on overprotectiveness and insecurity. It would be irresponsible not to follow every lead to its end."

Jaune could feel something bubble in his chest, something he thought felt an awful lot like hope…

Is he…?

"It would normally take you at least three days to reach Haven by airship, with no layovers. However, since there aren't too many of those available for travel in the current state of chaos, you're lookin' at far more extended travel plans."

Jaune's eyes widened slightly, realizing what was happening.

"It's a day's walk to the nearest port here on Patch that will hire out a barge or boat to Vale. From there, you're looking at an 18-24-hour voyage by sea to the nearest port on the mainland - which is probably the industrial district of Vale. If you're lucky, you'll be able to catch a private air-captain or wealthy businessman willing to fly your rag-tag team to the heart of the commercial district where most of our military and huntsman are stationed at the present. If not, you're lookin' at another three-to-five days of trekkin' through the wilderness of Forever Fall and fightin' your way there on foot, or horseback, if you can afford it. You'll have to go around Beacon...possibly through Mountain Glenn."

Qrow took a labored breath, releasing it in a heavy sigh and running a long-fingered hand through his shaggy locks. He continued to stare at the painting before him.

"If you manage to reach the safe-zone, you're gonna need to procure a means of travel to the eastern coast, then maybe hire a barge or ship to take you to one of the outlyin' villages north of Mistral's Capital city. No airships are flyin' out of Vale to Mistral at the present. If you're resourceful, you might hop on a military ship headed north to Mantle. It'll be simple to book travel to Mistral from Atlas HQ. They're the only city currently deployin' airships across the kingdom."

Atlas? Weiss...

Qrow leaned forward, resting his elbows on the tops of his thighs, and dropping his gaze to the hardwood floors. He seemed to swallow thickly, before finally turning his head to lock eyes with the blonde.

"Once in Haven, you'll wanna seek out lodging near the Academy. Your best bet is to enlist the help of as many of your friends there as possible. They'll know the area, where to look for suspicious activity, where to go for public records. You'll also want to set up a private meeting with the headmaster there, but you'll still wanna keep this as quiet as possible."

Those crimson eyes narrowed slightly in warning, and Jaune could feel them probing him for a reaction.

"There are eyes everywhere, and not all of them belong to us."

Nearly eighteen hours into the ship-ride from the stockyards on Patch, found the blonde huntsman in solitude at the stern of the passenger ferry. The air about Jaune's shadowy form was dense with salt, a brackish gale whipping through flaxen hair and striking it against pale cheeks, and it reminded him of the twigs that had snapped back and whacked him in the face...back in the Emerald Forest during his freshman initiation. He could feel his heart sinking once more.

That had been the day he had met her…

The ferocious breeze caught the tattered ends of his black and orange hoodie, sweeping it in a contrariwise lazy manner against his narrow hips and overlapped arms, as they lay heavily along the top of an icy, copper bar – corroded from the briny exposure. Utilizing the harsh surface to support his weary upper-body, as his denim-clad knees rested against the matching bar below, the young huntsman drew in a tight breath. His sapphire eyes peered despondently skyward at the soft cries of the wild gulls – as if searching the hazy heavens for something that would turn time in the opposite direction – granting him a lifetime of starting over and trying again.

As he gazed out across the seemingly endless ocean, the clouds so bleached and dim that the landscape appeared to be but a single dreary backdrop of dark grey before him, Jaune felt that the warmth of his hoodie and bracers was not nearly sufficient to halt the chill in his blood. It was a cold that permeated downward into the very bones that ached beneath his trembling flesh. The surf was full of life beneath his feet, separated by several tons of solid steel and copper, as it frothed against the bilge of the passenger ferry. It didn't help him to feel any less lifeless as he counted down the hours until they would reach the other side of that unfathomable distance – across that choppy sea to the industrial district of Vale.

He was so focused on his thoughts that he nearly missed the approaching figure until it had taken its place beside him. He startled slightly as the shorter huntress sidled up to his left, the black sleeves of her combat dress coming to rest on the bar, as she gazed out at the setting sun. He didn't miss the soft sigh that escaped her parted lips, the foggy air condensing around her face in a cool mist at the exhalation.

"Jaune, are you alright?"

Ruby's words were soft and breathy against the cool evening air, caressing his ears with her concern and apprehension. He knew he'd need to talk about things eventually, but the wounds were still too fresh, and he didn't think discussing it was going to aid any parties involved. If anything, it would only succeed in dampening their spirits further, and potentially become a major hindrance on this journey - a quest that required they keep clear heads at all times.

"I appreciate your concern, Ruby. Really, I do. I just...I'm not ready to talk about this yet. I don't think it's a good idea."

He caught slight movement out of the corner of his eye, and canted his head briefly to take in the younger huntress' profile. Her pale skin stood out in stark contrast to the darkening sky, the amber hues of sunset fading slowly into the lavenders and indigos of dusk. The breeze whipped carelessly through her layered, burgundy hair, the strands whipping around the vibrant scarlet of her hooded cloak, drawn up to shroud her crown against the growing chill. Her words were softer, a lingering sadness penetrating Jaune's silence with each syllable.

"But she'd want you to talk about it…"

Jaune couldn't fend off the deep ache that settled behind his ribs at the statement. She wasn't wrong - Pyrrha would never want him to bottle up his emotions like he was doing at the present. She would want him to talk it out, to unburden himself to her and cast off his worries in a healthy way. But Pyrrha wasn't there anymore - she was gone…

That was something that Jaune was still having a hard time coming to grips with - something that he still, for the life of him, couldn't accept. Talking about it would mean that he was acknowledging the fact that he would never see her again. It would mean that he had chosen to give up on that futile hope that something could be done to bring her back.

He wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

So, when he finally did speak, after several long, heavy moments, his words were laced with a brevity meant to end the discussion before it could turn the mood completely black, "I can't...not yet..."

He noticed the dip of that pale chin, as silver eyes averted to the obsidian sea below, pale fingers worrying at the threads encircling her wrists, "When will you be ready, Jaune?"

His golden brows creased in a brief frown, before smoothing out as he blinked against the salty spray that pitched up from below them, "I don't now...maybe someday. Maybe never…"

If Ruby didn't agree with his answer, she chose not to argue. For that Jaune was immeasurably grateful.

The silence stretched between the two, settling over them like a dense cowl of thorns. Jaune could feel the tension in the air as the slighter girl sighed deeply. She turned over her shoulder, pressing her back against the copper bars and crossing her arms over the gentle swell of her chest.

"Well, for what it's worth, Jaune...when and if that day ever comes, you know I'm here to listen. We all are. We're all in this together. You don't have to walk through this by yourself. You're still a leader, Jaune...even if you're down a man. Don't forget what that means…"

And on those dismal, bleak words, Ruby took her leave, heading for the small bunk rooms below the deck.

Glancing back up at the darkening sky, Jaune noted the clearness of the atmosphere, the world above blanketed in a weaving of bright, vibrant stars. Picking out each constellation by memory - his oldest sister had always loved astronomy - he blinked away the moisture that threatened to cloud his vision.

Pyrrha had loved the stars, too, always ending their training sessions on the roof with a brief bout of stargazing, when the nights had been clear enough to permit it. They had lain on their backs on that cold, unforgiving concrete, mere inches between their crowns as they studied the heavens from opposite directions. Their gloved hands would pillow their heads, and they would talk of their dreams, wishes, and goals - the stars merely a golden ambience above their still forms.

As the memory faded at the edges, Jaune, left with only his thoughts and the cool breeze of the sea, couldn't help but wonder if there really was something that could be done to right this otherwise hopeless situation. And, if so, would they discover it in time to do so?