"Why did we stop? Private, sitrep!"

"Captain, there are children playing on the street."

"Just go through them. We've got civies in the vehicle behind us. They're our main priority. We can't risk any firefights."

"But sir. They're children."

"Private, you've seen what they do. They will use children to get to you. Go."

The Humvee started to move once more, children playing on the street continued to play, glancing looks at the Humvee expecting for it to stop.

Bump.

Bump.

Bump.

The humvee slowly trudged on in the narrow alleyways and roads of the slums.

"Ja- I mean, Captain…"

"Sergeant...not. Not now. I know...but right now we need to remain vigilant."

"...Right…"

"We've still got a ways to go before we get in the main streets of the city. It'll be safer once we can pick up some speed."

The captain looked away from his comrade. She stared at the back of his head, worried about his mental health as he kept his eyes on the abandoned buildings around the squad. He looked into the darkness of the alleyway. His eyes wide at what he spotted.

"Everyone, get down!" He shouted.

Gunfire erupted as the squad in the Humvee ducked, bullets hitting the sides of the vehicle. The gunner on top of the vehicle was lit up as he was trying to fire back at the different angles the convoy was being shot at. The sergeant cracked a peek towards the transport behind the humvee. Getting completely lit up by gunfire, there was gunfire on all sides. The captain's voice could be heard in the moment.

"Private, pedal to the metal, let's go, go, g- SHIT!" The captain was cut short with his driver being shot in the chest from hostiles from the front of the humvee. "Help me move him, let's go!" The sergeant and the other soldiers in the humvee began moving the Private towards the back of the Humvee. The dead gunner was then brought back into the back seat of the truck. The captain quickly moved over to the driver's seat and tried to get the vehicle moving, the intensity of small arms fire all around the Humvee completely halted the engine. The Captain and Sergeant both decided they were going to bolt for the nearest line of cover.

"Echo-2, 3, and 4, this is Echo-1, we are pinned down, and our vehicle is stuck! We don't have the time to move it! Backing out is going to be too damn slow! We're going to have to fight our way out and go on foot."

The captain decided that the best way to carry on would be to fireman's carry the shot private. The captain and sergeant looked at each other, rifles ready, soldier on the captain's back. The two waited for an opening as the gunfire hailed on.

"Now!" They both shouted, the two swung open their respective doors and bolted towards the nearest piece of cover. Jumping into the closest abandoned building and making their way to a wall while returning fire from any tracers or bullets that would whizz by them. Hugging the wall they were finally able to get a bearing on the situation. Hopefully the rest of the convoy was able to get out safely. The two heard returning fire in the midst of the gunfire, and thankfully the others soldiers in the convoy were fighting back.

The Sergeant shot two hostiles entering the room and the two began moving into the next room, trying to get into a safer position. Hugging the wall, the sergeant raised a flashbang grenade and looked at the captain. He nodded.

"Flashing!" The sergeant shouted, throwing the grenade and then having the captain breach the room. The captain fired his rifle at the hostiles in the room. The sergeant following behind and the two getting ready to lead an assault into the building.

"We've still got a ways to go." The Captain sighed while looking at the Sergeant. "Come on."

The Sergeant took point, rifle raised as she was nearing a doorway into the next building. She crept in, only to be greeted by two insurgents, one of them was reloading his weapon, only to be shot by the captain as he supported his fellow comrade. The other hostile charged the sergeant, pushing the firearm out of her hand and attacking her with a knife. The captain attempted to fire away and support his comrade, but his weapon clicked. Rather than switching to his sidearm, he decided that the quickest movement to help the Sergeant was to throw the Private's body onto the insurgent, effectively tackling his enemy from a range and knocking him out. Moving the Private's body off to a corner of the room, the two looked at each other and dug themselves into the room. The captain inspected the ejection port, removing the jammed bullet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. What happened?"

"Rifle jammed."

"That's surprising."

The two heard several footsteps on the other side of the wall of the room they were in. The two quickly reloaded their weapons and then readied themselves for a firefight. They were greeted by four gunmen and another man with a vest strapped to his chest. The two opened fire fighting for their lives ducking in and out of cover, trying to focus fire on the man with the vest, only for him to come charging, detonator in hand. Charging the Sergeant, the Captain immediately sprinted towards the Sergeant as the detonator was pressed. He jumped towards the Sergeant, tackling her to the ground as the explosion began, holding her and trying to take the explosion for her.

"RUBY!"

"Ruby! Oh god, please. No, no stop please…"

A blonde man kneeled over a smaller woman in a black dress and red cape. She seemed lifeless as another woman with a deathly pale complexion with clear veins spread around her face walked towards the two.

"Like I had broken your comrades before, and your family and friends. Ozpin sent you to the grave to face me."

"You bitch!"

"And you, Jaune Arc, will be joining her soon as I take away everything you love. Just as I did her."

She approached the blonde man, as he stood up, sword and shield in hand, his armor torn and battered, he charged the pale woman. What could only be described as an absolute black, an almost shapeless mist took a bladed shape in front of the pale woman. Jaune pressed forward, only to be impaled through the ankles, collapsing on the floor.

Screaming out in pain he tried to get back up, on to fall back over. He stood up on his knees, trying to fight to the bitter end.

The pale woman bent over to be face to face with the knight, her voice motherly and assertive. And in a threatening tone she said to Jaune.

"Do you, Jaune Arc, believe in destiny?"

Captain Jaune Arc woke up in a forest. He rubbed the back of his head...what a strange dream…

He looked around and had no idea where he was. Moments ago he was in Afghanistan, escorting a truck full of civilians to get them to an established safe zone. He remembered….

He remembered a firefight that erupted. Shot driver. Dead gunner. He remembered he and his sergeant made a break for it after their humvee broke down. He remembered fighting through a building. He remembered bringing the shot driver with them, trying to get him medical attention as soon as possible. He remembered setting him down in a room that was cleared out, digging in because he and his comrades heard a squad of men coming for them. He remembered four or five guys breaching the room. He remembered a vest….

He remembered a detonator.

He remembered an explosion…

And now he was here. He tried communicating on radio. "Echo-2, 3, 4, this is Captain Jaune Arc. If anyone can hear me, please respond. I repeat, if anyone is out there, please respond."

Radio silence.

He tried changing frequencies.

"Ranger squad. Ranger squad, if you're out there please respond. I repeat, please respond. Anyone?"

Radio silence.

"Shit."

He looked over to his side to see his sergeant on the ground motionless. Jaune checked her pulse. She was still alive.

"Ruby. Hey. Wake up." He tapped her face a few times. She was out cold. Jaune sighed.

He stood up and tried to check what equipment he had. At this rate, it would be smart to see what he could do to adapt to the forest. He was still wearing his scarf, battledress, and kevlar. He strangely had all the ammunition he originally deployed with. He still had his rifle, M320, pistol, 12 Gauge Shorty, and knife. He had grenades, utility, equipment, and so on.

The only thing he was missing was his helmet and goggles.

He looked around and breathed in the air. The forest was dense and felt clean compared to the dusty deserts he was used too. Wherever he was, it was beautiful. The light beaming through any cracks in the trees. And all the trees have a wonderful shade of light green above. The captain smiled at the refreshing scenery.

The knocked out sergeant more or less had the same amount of equipment as well. Jaune sighed and picked her up in a fireman's carry.

"She's going to bitch when I call her heavy…"

He picked a direction and started moving. Several dozen meters went quickly as Jaune slowed down. He felt like he was being watched. Using one hand to support Ruby, he placed his free hand on his holster.

There was movement in the bushes. Lots of it. He slowly unholstered his sidearm and raised it at the source of the noise.

…

…

Black creatures jumped out of the bushes, wolf-like creatures with all black fur. Their eyes red and their faces covered in a pure white mask covered with red veins. Similar to the face of that woman in Jaune's dream. He stood his ground and stared at the animals. They didn't seem normal, standing tall in their hindlegs, all the creatures began surrounding the two soldiers.

"So...who here wants a doggy treat?" Jaune joked.

The first wolf to attack was the one right behind Jaune. He quickly turn around and shot it in the aped of its jump, killing it instantly with a bullet to the head. Jaune turned to the one to its right and began firing at it. After firing 4 bullets and making it drop he sprinted forward and shoved the beast out of his way. He turned back to see the dead monsters disintegrating. He also saw about 5 creatures chasing him. With all the added weight, it was clear the wolves were faster than him.

He fired blindly hoping that by killing of the pack, he could intimidate the other creatures they shouldn't attack. They continued to chase the soldiers. Holstering his weapon, Jaune reached for a high explosive grenade. Priming the grenade, he dropped it and scrambled to move as fast as he could. The monsters ran above it, and Jaune timed it perfectly for the grenade to go off. A bit of shrapnel grazed his shoulder but whatever. He could live with it.

A single monster remained, and it stared at Jaune. He raised his handgun and fired away, dropping the foul beast.

"Y'know, I always thought putting down dogs would be just a bit harder." he cracked.

Releasing the magazine, Jaune placed another one into his handgun.

Looking off into the distance, there seemed to be what looked like a castle looming in the distance.

Sergeant Ruby Rose woke up with water splashing on her face.

"Come on Rose, how much sleep do you need?"

Captain Jaune Arc sat by a beautifully clear stream and refilled his canteen. He splashed water on the Sergeant again to wake her up.

"Seriously, you're super heavy. And carrying you for like, 8 klicks is exhausting." he said. The girl sat up, and took in her surroundings.

"Where...are we?"

"We're in a forest if you couldn't tell. Exactly where, I don't know. But keep your guard up."

"Wait why?"

"There are these monster things. Something out of one of those Japanese animes you watch, or a fairy tail. I fought a pack of giant werewolf creatures. I think I wrestled these raptor things or whatever."

"Wait seriously?"

"Yeah. So safeties off, keep your guard up."

"Captain, I'm…not following, you're not the kind to believe supernatural things."

"Just. Take my word, okay? I refilled your canteen. And we're in a bit of a clearing. Just keep your guard up."

"Okay…So where are we headed?"

"There's a castle-like building overlooking the forest, just beyond a few klicks on the other side of the river. "

"...alright."

The girl awkwardly got up and stretched, trying her best to get used to the forest around her.

Jaune looked her over head to toe. The small girl he knew looked okay. She was just over 5'4", with black hair that would have gone to her shoulders in a bun. Her hazel eyes checked over her weapons and her equipment. Her fatigues were slightly different than Jaune, sporting a red hood with a urban digital camouflage pattern. On her right arm was an orange scarf outfitted into an armband. She wore a dusty and red scarf over her neck to protect against the desert conditions from her area of operations.

For such a small girl, Ruby was armed with the same M416 rifle that Jaune had. However instead of an attached M320 grenade launcher, she had attached a M26 MASS underslung shotgun. She was further armed with a Mk.11 Mod. 0 DMR, giving her the better range between the two soldiers. To top it all off with several grenades was her HK45 Compact handgun.

"Y'know, for such a small girl, I really do wonder how you managed to get into the military anyway. Top of your class no less." Jaune joked. Ruby looked back and pouted.

"Hey, on paper, I'm a better soldier than you!"

"And I'm still one the best captains around." He grinned. "Besides, you're cute, you've got guns, nothing wrong with cute girls with guns!"

He found it comical knowing that this girl was almost a full foot shorter than him and yet she carried almost the same weight in terms of equipment as him. Jaune's expression changed immediately when the thought arrived.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Why?" Ruby asked confused.

"Do you remember the last thing that happened before you passed out?"

"I...remember an explosion. To be honest. I remember you tackling me."

"Anything else?"

"Not really no. I think I had a dream…"

Jaune's brow raised at that statement.

"What kind of dream?"

"It was you. And I was...dead I think. You were fighting some lady out of a Japanese horror movie."

"Ah. I...see."

"Why?"

"I think I had the same dream as you. Deathly pale lady, and finished the dream by saying 'Do you believe in destiny?'"

"Yeah that was it!"

"This...this is weird."

The two were pointing at each other and had a questionable look on each others faces. The two decided to stop questioning it for now.

"Anyway Captain. I'm good to go."

"You can just call me Jaune, Ruby. We're...we're not with our unit. There's honestly no real point. And I'll get what you mean."

"Alright…"

"Besides, y'know. Outside of the army we're…"

Ruby smiled.

"Alright!"

As the two stood up and prepared to move, a bear like creature jumped out of the bush around them. The two readied their rifles, and stood next to each other.

"He's a big guy." Ruby said.

"For you." Jaune responded, smirking. Ruby glared at him.

The ursa charged.