Lie Ren:

Everything was black. The world was nothing but a endless void of night and dark, and had been for hours. However, there were still sounds echoing all around him. A forlorn sigh drifting through the night; a small whisper of hope, shared from one weary heart to another; a fire growing brighter and brighter as the darkness grew beside it; a familiar chaos, milling in the area around his tent.

Nothing could be felt except for earth and air. The soft ground below pressed upwards beneath him while the chilly winter air, ever so slightly warmed by the campfire, rested on him from above.

The world was at peace. It was not perfect, but the tranquility of the darkness around him was somewhat soothing. And for hours and hours, Lie Ren rested contently.

Suddenly, heralded by the sound of an opening tent flap, the lack of feeling was gone. He began to stir from his sleep as a small, smooth object placed itself upon the tip of his nose. Ren slowly opened his eyes as the weight on his nose slowly pushed down even further before finally releasing.

"Boop", a female voice said. Lie Ren opened his eyes to see a smiling Nora kneeling on the ground next to him, having somehow managed to sneak into his tent without waking Jaune or himself.

"Nora," Ren began to whisper as he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes, "couldn't you just have knocked on the tent frame like we talked about?" By the time he had fully awoken, Nora was already gone. As quietly as he could manage, Ren pulled himself out of his own sleeping bag and dusted off his green jacket and white slacks while being careful not to disturb Jaune, who was sleeping in the bag beside his. Nora was waiting outside of the tent, only visible due to the light of the campfire. The sun will be rising soon, Ren thought as he looked up at the sky.

"Goooood morning!" Nora called out in a quiet sing song voice as she gave a salute to Ren. Even though her voice was slightly diminished, her usual enthusiasm was as present as ever. "Nothing to report from my watch, so I'm off to get a few more hours of shut-eye. See you then!" With a smile on her face, she turned around and skipped over to the bright orange tent she shared with Ruby.

Some things never change, do they? Ren thought with a soft smile on his face as he headed back to his navy blue tent and pulled out his backpack. All these years, Nora had always been the one with a smile on her face, almost unbearably optimistic even in the most dire circumstances. Always willing to charge into battle to protect him. What would I trade that for? Ren half seriously considered for a moment as he started heading back over towards the campfire.

Nothing. The alternative to Nora's current personality was disheartening, and he had no desire to ever witness it again.

Ren sat down on the log next to the campfire as he looked around him. The moon had long since set, the only warmth and light he felt and saw came from the campfire before him. Even the smallest of lights functions as a beacon when surrounded by nothing but darkness. This fire will be more than adequate to detect any incoming grimm before the sun rises, and I shouldn't have to add much dust to it in order to make breakfast. Ren had volunteered to take the last watch, suggesting that he might as well combine the roll of breakfast maker with whomever would be up the earliest anyways. Much more efficient that way.

Ren got up from the log with a stretch before setting an alarm on his scroll for 6:45 AM. Fifteen minutes should be more than enough time to make breakfast for everyone. With this final duty taken care of Ren began to make his rounds.

It was almost impossible to see anything at first. Ren had always hated that about nighttime, how difficult it was to see things clearly. But slowly and surely, the sun began to rise and everything became clearer. After an nice and tranquil hour and forty-five minutes of walking in circles around the camp, the sun was completely over the horizon, and his alarm was beeping softly in his pocket.

Time for breakfast. As Ren walked back to his bag resting near the fire, he was surprised to hear the telltale sound of the default scroll alarm go off again. I know I didn't set two alarms... Even as Ren checked his own scroll, the alarm stopped on its own. Maybe someone else decided to wake up early. I'll find out soon enough. Ren pulled the well packed tube of red dust out of his backpack while sitting back down on the log.

Now... just a tiny sprinkling... Ren thought to himself as he opened the dispenser at the top of the tube and carefully sprinkled some dust over the fire. With a wave of his hand, whatever brilliance the fire had lost over the course of his watch restored itself. Ren resealed the tube and placed it back into his backpack. Pulling the large, fold-able pan out from his bag, Ren noticed a figure dressed in black emerge from the bright orange tent across from where he sat.

"Good morning Ren." Ren looked up and saw Ruby Rose standing on the other side of the fire from him with a smile on her face.

"And to you as well." Ren said with a nod as he placed the pan on the fire. "What brings you up at this hour?"

"Oh, nothing much," Ruby said as she tried to force her words through a yawn. When the yawn had finally ended, she continued. "Just wanted to have more time to come up with our plan for today."

Right... Ren remembered. Ruby is our leader now. Jaune was adamant about that. Ren merely nodded at Ruby's words as he pulled the bottle of pancake batter out of his pack.

"Soooo..." Ruby trailed off as she awkwardly stood on the other side of the fire. "Do you have a map I could borrow? I assume you used one to get to my house once you got to Patch."

Ren placed the bottle on the ground next to his bag as he rifled through his pack, finally pulling out the folded up map of the island. By the time he looked up, Ruby was standing next to him. "Here you are." He said.

"Thank you." Ruby replied as she took the map and walked over towards the nearest log, sitting down on it and beginning to look over the map.

Ren watched the girl in red and black look over the map for a few moments. Ren did not doubt that Ruby had the capacity to be a good leader- quite the opposite in fact. Her actions during the first grimm invasion proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. With all of that said, Ren couldn't say he was happy about the change. There is something to be said to sticking with the original way of doing things. Jaune might have had his faults, but he was an effective commander. And most importantly, Nora and I are used to him. Is this really the time to change leaders? When so much is at stake?

Ren kept his concerns to himself as he watched the pan heat up in the fire. At this point the sun was positioned just behind Ruby, allowing her shadow to stretch over the entire campsite.

"Alright", Ruby spoke into the map, "assuming the main pathway is clear and nothing goes wrong, we should be able to reach Stitch by nightfall." Ren knew that Ruby was referencing the coastal town on patch, the same town that he had arrived in with Nora and Jaune after they had gotten off the boat from Vale.

"And if something does go wrong?" Ren found himself wondering aloud, his voice carrying a somewhat harsh tone to it. Ruby, however, didn't even seem to notice the outburst- or if she did, Ren couldn't discern her reaction from behind the map.

"Working on it." Ruby replied. Satisfied with the response, Ren began poring the pancake mix into the tray, causing the smell of pancakes to drift throughout the campsite. Ren continued working on the pancakes for several minutes until Ruby finally put the map down. "Hey Ren, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Well, you know I can fight really well with Crescent Rose, but I'm not exactly great without it. In fact, it's really embarrassing. I'm complete garbage with my fists." Ruby nervously laughed at her own comment as Ren watched her. "But you know how to fight with your hands really well! I've seen you do it. So, since we'll be spending a bunch of time together, I was wondering if you could take some time to teach me a thing or two." Ruby sat on the log with a gentle smile on her face, waiting for the response.

"That seems logical." Ren replied. Well, at least she's open to admitting that she isn't perfect. That's good. I didn't expect anything else, but it's still good to know for sure.

The campsite was quiet for several more moments before Ruby spoke again. "Could we start now? 'A watched cookie never bakes', as my mother used to say. I guess the same principle applies to pancakes, right?" She asked, sounding rather unsure of herself.

After considering the prospect for a moment, Ren nodded. "Very well then." I can leave the pancakes alone for a few moments. While Ren flipped each pancake one last time, Ruby stood up from her log and waited for him to do the same. Standing up with a nod of his head, he gestured for Ruby to follow him.

Ren lead the girl away from the campfire and the other two tents, finding a place where each of them had enough room to maneuver. "The first thing that you need to know", Ren began to instruct, "is that you aren't going to be able to take very many hits. Secondly, if you are without your scythe, it is highly probable that you are in a disadvantageous situation already, and likely that you are low on Aura, if not out completely."

"Yeah. That makes sense." Ruby replied. The two of them now faced each other, standing about ten paces apart. The rising sun was on his right side and Ruby's left, their shadows stretching into places he couldn't even see.

"With this in mind, it would only be prudent for you to focus on avoiding attacks first, as an aggressive strategy in this scenario could likely backfire with catastrophic results."

"Well, I always have my speed. That should help keep me away from attacks, right?"

Ren nodded at Ruby's reply. "Yes. That leads me to my second point. Your primary goal in hand to hand combat is to tire out your opponent until they make a mistake. Until then, remain passive and patient. An opportunity to strike will eventually present itself. Now once you finally have the opportunity to attack, you... Ruby?"

Ren realized that Ruby's attention had begun to be focused elsewhere, and heard her nostrils sniffing. "Oh no, the pancakes!", the young girl cried out as she activated her semblance in a flurry of rose petals and zoomed over to the campfire. Ren followed her back to his cooking station only to hear her disappointment. "Aw... some of them are burnt. I guess those ones are mine since I'm the one that gave you the bad advice to not watch them."

Ren pulled the spatula out of his pack and began flipping the pancakes again. "Seems fair. Although I was the one who took up your offer. The responsibility is at least shared."

"Yeah, but I'm the one that made the offer. My fault, my burnt pancakes," his leader insisted.

Ren heard some noise over from the bright orange tent on the other side of the clearing. "Did someone say pancakes?" Nora's voice cut through the peaceful morning like a knife through butter. A few moments later, Nora emerged from the tent wide awake.

"Morning Nora!" Ruby said happily. Nora's only response was to rush over to Ren's backpack and pull out a plate.

"Alright Ren. You know the drill. Stop when I say 'when'."

"Unless you want burned pancakes, you'll have to wait. I haven't put yours on yet." Nora, as usual, was distracted, seeming to stare up at the tree branches. "Nora?"

"Oh! Yeah, I'll wait." She responded with a nod, even though she was still looking up at the sky.

Ren began lifting off the burned pancakes and placing them on the plate Ruby had readied. "Thanks Ren. I hope these are as good as Nora says they are."

"Oh, no need to worry about that!" Nora said with a huge grin on her face. as Ren poured more pancake batter on to the pan.

Ruby sat down on one of the logs, her shadow once again stretching over the campsite. A few moments later Jaune emerged out of the tent, looking more well rested than Ren had seen him be in quite some time. "Morning everyone!"

"Morning Jaune! Did you get a good night's sleep?" Ruby said enthusiastically.

Jaune nodded as he yawned. "Yep." he finally managed to say once he finished his yawn. "I am starving though. Thanks for making breakfast Ren."

"No problem." Ren said as he continued flipping pancakes. "Yours are ready now." He told the girl he had known for years. Nora held out her plate as Ren dropped pancake after pancake on it, waiting for Nora to indicate for him to stop. After the fifth pancake, Ren stopped. "When."

"But Ren..." Nora started to plead with him.

"Nora, that's plenty of pancakes. You'll be fine."

Nora let out a slightly dejected, "Okay", before heading over to the log on the other side of the campfire and eating.

Before long, all four of them were enjoying breakfast while sitting around the campfire, it's light fading as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Once all of them had finished and packed up their equipment, Ruby addressed them, "Alright, if everything goes according to plan, we should be able to reach Stitch by the evening. Tonight, we'll sleep under a roof. The next morning, we begin our search for a boat. Stitch is the largest port town on the island, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to find one heading towards Mistral. Everyone ready?"

Ren merely nodded his head in assent as his teammates verbally agreed. With that, the four of them set out.

By this point, the sun was up, giving them more than enough visibility to make out whatever could bee seen in the forest. Beyond the occasional bird, the forest was largely barren and still. Ren would have preferred it if the landscape had a bit more color to it, but it was peaceful enough.

Ruby lead the three of them, her hood was up and she carried her weapon in its sniper rifle form. Ren walked beside Nora, while Jaune walked just behind their leader. The forest was far enough away from the path that the sun clearly shined down on them- at least for now. There were some dark clouds in the sky that Ren could only assume would lead to a blizzard. If only we had a way of getting forecasts outside of the CTT network. We're on our own out here.

"Who wants to hear a story?" Nora said seemingly at random, her voice full of energy. "We might as well do something to pass the time, right?"

"I guess it would be nice." Jaune chimed in.

Ruby turned her head back for a moment to face Nora, "What story did you have in mind?"

"Well let's see. There's..." Nora began to trail off before giving up. "Oh I don't know. What do you guys wanna hear?"

The silence was nice. But, if a story must be told... "Well, we are heading to Mistral. It could be beneficial for us to go over some of their history and culture".

"What about the legend about how Mistral was founded?" Ruby said, continuing to lead the group. "I always liked that one as a kid."

Nora seemed to like that suggestion."Ohhhh! I know that one!" Ren didn't even have to look over to his closest friend to tell she had a grin on her face. Nora coughed to clear her voice purely for dramatic effect before starting her epic tale. "Ages and ages ago, every man, woman, and child on Remnant lived in an eternity of war. Not only did the fearsome grimm prey upon us, but mankind was scattered into small tribes that did nothing but fight among each other for the tiniest scraps of food and land. "

"That's a bit of an exaggeration. " Ren chimed in. "Conditions were terrible, but not quite that terrible. And mostly in the area around present-day Mistral. The rest of the globe was generally better off."

Nora continued in her typically bombastic tone of voice. "But not all hope was lost! One day, thousands of years ago, Trajan single highhandedly united the 76 tribes of the eastern continent under his control!"

What? "Nora, there weren't even that many tribes-"

Ren was cut off as Nora continued. "All that opposed him and his rightful reign were struck down by beams of light that he could shoot out of his eyes!"

Ren heard a soft chuckle come out of Jaune. She isn't getting anything right. "Nora."

"Yes Ren?" Nora turned to face Ren with wide, enthusiastic eyes.

"Would you mind letting me tell the story?"

At his suggestion, Nora's mouth slowly turned upwards into a large smile. "That sounds great!", she said enthusiastically. " I love the way you tell stories! You'll love this guys. Take it away Ren!" With an elaborate gesture towards Ren, Nora finished speaking and patiently waited for him to begin.

Really? When was the last time I told a story? Why would she- Ren's eyes widened as his mind stumbled upon some unbidden memories, upon a story he never wanted to tell. A story of memories best left forgotten.

"Alright." He said simply, forcing himself to maintain a calm demeanor. "No problem." Ren inhaled slowly, followed by an exhale to settle his nerves before beginning the tale.

"Thousands of years ago, the lands around modern day Mistral were populated by several nomadic tribes of various size. These tribes mostly survived by following herds of animals and hunting them, along with gathering edible plants. It is speculated that some settlements existed before Mistral, but they suffered frequent grimm attacks and never lasted for long. People thought that this nomadic way of life kept them safer. However, modern analysis has concluded that the settlements founded before Mistral largely failed because they lacked dust, and the only reasons the tribes survived for as long as they did was because of it. These tribes fought against each other vigorously; the stronger tribes used force to take whatever they needed - or wanted- including, food, weapons, and even slaves."

"It was in one of these tribes- the tribe of Empyrius- that Trajan was born. The tribe thought that he was destined to lead the tribe to great victories over the other tribes in the region, to take and steal whatever he desired. For among this tribe, individuals born with silver eyes were considered destined to become the greatest of warriors."

Ruby turned her head to the side before interrupting Ren, "Wait, huh? I don't remember that part. I was told that Trajan was just a skilled warrior who took control over the tribe when the previous leader died."

Ren shrugged before giving a response, "I'm only going with the version I was told when I was young. It's likely your version is more historically accurate- in as much as this tale is accurate at all." Ruby turned back around as Ren continued the story, "In any case, Trajan was trained to lead the tribe from a young age- both in battle and in keeping order among the tribe."

"Not that there was much of a difference between those two things." Jaune chimed in.

"True. But Trajan didn't like how the tribe was being run. People, even family members viewed each other as nothing more than tools to exploit and use until they were no longer useful, lying, stealing, and cheating everyone else for personal gain. Trajan came to the realization that even if the Empyrians conquered every other tribe on the continent, it would only be a matter of time before they tore themselves apart.

"So, Trajan made some changes. Once he started ruling, he didn't use his power to take whatever he wanted from the tribe. Instead, he used it to ensure that everyone had what they deserved. He instructed the troops under his command to prevent theft and swindling among the tribe, which had been fairly commonplace until that point. While he had tried to steer the tribe away from battles, other tribes began growing envious of the prosperity of the Empyrians. On the eve of an inevitable battle he came to a rather simple realization: why not work with the other tribes? If they stopped trying to rob and harm each other for their own benefit, and worked together, they'd all become stronger. Although it was a daunting task, he eventually managed to unite several of the surrounding tribes."

Jaune interjected once again. "I've always wondered how he managed to do that. That always seemed like the least believable part of the story."

"Well, in as much as the story is true, there is a good chance he forced some tribes into joining him early on- which to be fair was much better than the lot of most defeated tribes in those time. It's also possible some people were scared of him, thinking that his silver eyes meant he could defeat their entire tribe single highhandedly. Some of the stories about those people border on the absurd- maybe those people actually believed them."

"Hmm. I guess that makes sense." Jaune replied. Ren looked around to see if their would be any more comments. Ruby was still walking forward, although her head seemed to be tilted towards the ground as if she was lost in thought, not really paying attention to her own surroundings.

Nora, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. One look at her face made it clear that she was clinging on to every word he spoke. "Go on." She encouraged him, her eyes wide with anticipation and a smile on her face.

Ren obliged her. "Over time, the Empyrans, the Arteans, the Hectrites, and the Tianti were gathered into one large tribe. Considering how large the tribe had become, Trajan selected someone from each of the tribes that he had assimilated that both shared his ideals and had a talent for ruling. In the end, he selected Sofros, Genna, and Metrath from the Arteans, Hectrites, and Tianti tribes respectively. These four humans worked together for many years, and eventually led their people to the land upon which modern day Mistral sits."

Nora interrupted him. "What I don't understand is why they decided to call it Mistral. The name should have been something that meshed their tribes' names together. Emarthecti? Tihecartem?"

Ren shrugged at her before continuing the story. "Even though Trajan had managed to unite several tribes and showed them a better way of living, there were still many tribes that stuck to the old way of doing things. The Frantacs had been the largest tribe in the area for some time, and eventually decided to take the newly made city of Mistral for themselves."

"While the walls of Mistral were poorly made by modern standards, they were an incredible feat of engineering at the time. The leader of the Frantacs, Mengeni, hoped to use the walls designed to keep out Grimm to starve the people inside the city. However, Sofros had foreseen the probability of war years before it began. And so, with Sofros's help, Trajan managed to build up a stockpile of food and supplies in the event that the Frantacs or some other tribe tried to lay siege to Mistral. Once the siege began, Metrath was put in charge of making sure that everyone got the amount of food they needed to survive. On top of that, he devised some methods of producing limited amounts of food within the walls of the city itself. Not enough to permanently sustain them, but enough to ensure that everyone had enough food- and no more than enough food- throughout the siege. "

Ren was about to continue before a snowflake landed on his face. Looking up at the sky, Ren noticed that the clouds had now covered up the sun. Maybe this journey will be a little more perilous than we thought. Ren ignored the cold as he continued retelling the story. "Before long, the Frantacs began to fall into disarray. While they intended to starve out their foes inside the city, they never even planned for the possibility that Mistral would last longer then they would. When the Fantac's order began to crumble due to infighting, Genna led most of the city's army out of the city in the dead of night, with the intent on capturing the leader of the enemy tribe and forcing him to surrender. The most exaggerated legends say that the people of Mistral were outnumbered five to one, but in reality they were likely only out numbered three to one. Either way, the soldiers of Mistral knew how dangerous the fight could be, but also knew that the survival of their city depended on it. After all, the food they grew inside their walls wouldn't sustain them forever. "

"Luckily for them- and all of us, actually- the battle was decisive, and lead to the victory of Mistral over the Frantacs. Sadly, Trajan's brother, Hadrian, was killed in the fight, sacrificing himself to save the lives of his fellow soldiers. Genna brought the news of his brother's death to Trajan, along with Mengeni, now in chains, to Trajan. Everyone expected that Trajan would kill Mengeni on the spot out of retribution for his brother's death. And by all accounts, Trajan wanted to."

Ren paused for a moment, wondering the best way to phrase what happened next. Sometimes, the simplest option is the most optimal.

"But he didn't."

Ren watched as Ruby lifted up her head, as if that latest bit of information had broken her chain of thought. "In one of the few details about the story that is consistent in every variation, Trajan lifted up his sword to strike Mengeni down- then cast it to his side. Afterwards, most translations agree that he said the following-, 'Killing you and your people will not bring my brother back. Make no mistake, you will be punished for your assault of my kingdom, but I will not spill any more blood needlessly today.' "

"Trajan's mercy stunned everyone at the time, Mistralian and Frantacish alike. Nobody had ever witnessed anything like it. Even from Trajan himself. The action was so shocking that most accounts agree that Mengeni swore allegiance to Trajan on the spot, and instructed his entire tribe to do the same. Not everyone took the offer, but enough did. Mistral nearly doubled in size overnight. Tensions between the two groups were high for quite some time, even through the end of Trajan's life. But eventually, the feuds died down, and people came to some sort of forgiveness."

"And they lived in joy forever!" Nora concluded with enthusiasm. Everything around the four heroes was slowly becoming grayer, with the snow falling faster and faster and the clouds blotting out the blue sky.

With the tale finished, the four heroes remained silent for a time. The four leaders seem to parallel the four of us in some ways. Interesting. Ren looked down at Nora, in time to see the broad smile on her face.

"I don't think I have it in me to do that. What Trajan did, I mean." Jaune said. By this point, Jaune had drifted beside Ren, while Nora had been all but glued to his side throughout the duration of the story.

"Well that's why we have leaders who do!" Nora chimed in.

Ruby leader walked in front of them, her head held high as she walked through the snow, her red cape billowing in the wind behind her.

I suppose Jaune knew what he was talking about when he said Ruby should lead us.

If anyone else had an opinion on the matter, they were silent. The only noise came from the sounds of their boots on the slowly accumulating snow.

And everything around them grew colder.

AN: Alright, I've got some things to clear up and acknowledgements to make.

First of all, I'm sorry this chapter took longer than usual. Schoolwork has to be my priority, and it's not going to get much lighter as the semester continues. The good news is that by mid May, I'll have a whole lot of time on my hands to devote to this fic. The upshot, of course, is that this chapter itself is on the long side!

That being said... I've got over 30 pages of essays to write before the end of my current semester. Sadly, I will not be able to update this fanfiction until then.

The other news is that the first chapter is going to be revised. I'm not going to be changing anything that happened, just some of my narration and some bit's of Ruby's dialogue, so you don't have to re-read it if you don't want to (although I recommend that you do.) This WILL come out before then, so you can look out for that in the next few weeks.

More on the good side of things- I am working on an entry for /r/RWBY's moncon. Hopefully, I will be finished with it by Wednesday. That will likely be the last full chapter of something for a while though.

Now, for acknowledgments. I got the idea of Ruby learning to fight from Ren from a piece of fan art called "Time Skip Ruby" by Gallrith on Deviantart. Thanks for giving me permission to use that concept (which I will definitely expand upon in future chapters)! Furthermore, I'd like to thank my official editor Mewtwo15026, TheH8fulM8s (who you can thank for giving me the idea to use a cliff hanger (in as much as this can count as a cliff hanger)), and Texan Red Rose, along with everyone else who's helped me along the way for helping to bring me to this point.

Also, I have to give a shout out to The Layman for giving me a shout out in his fanfiction. His own story, "Distorted Mirror Images" is pretty good, and you should check it out.

On that note, the overarching character themes I've been trying to go for over the course of this story should be a little clearer now. Feel free to take guesses in the reviews section or PM about that! I'm always happy to discuss my writing!

Finally, I was want to thank everyone who bothered to follow or favorite so far. I never expected this fic to get so popular so quickly. Thank you for your ongoing support!

As always, feedback is welcomed and encouraged! Thanks for taking the time to read!