Forest of Forever Fall

It had been a few days since Ryder revealed the truth to his friends. He noticed how Kairos is less distant. Not necessarily drastically different, just a slight difference. The two of them found a common appreciation for tactics as since Ryder revealed the truth, they've been coming up with strategies to use in battle. Ryder is happy that their bond is improving. Well, forming a bond at least since it never existed in the first place. Right now, Ryder was with Kairos and the others in the Forever Fall Forest with Glynda Goodwitch. It was a sort of field trip kind of thing. Why was it called Forever Fall? Well, the entire forest is red. No, I'm not kidding. The leaves were red, and the trunks were grey. Even the grass beneath them was red. Ryder didn't understand how that was possible but didn't bother to ask questions. The others that were with him and Kairos besides Glynda were Teams RWBY, JNPR and CRDL. 

"Yes, students. The Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach has asked you all to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Glynda explains. 

Glynda stops and turns around. The group stops walking and Jaune tries to catch up. He was carrying a large case with six empty glass jars on top. As he catches up, he accidentally bumps into Cardin who scowls at him. Jaune innocently whistles tunelessly. Ryder looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes. He then turned his head back to Glynda. Glynda then holds up a jar full of red-ish, tree sap. Kind of like maple syrup but red. Imagine a strawberry syrup type of situation and that's what they're looking at. 

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay with your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!" Glynda said before walking off. 

Yang and Ruby smile at one another while Jaune tried to sneak away from Cardin and his team. But Cardin saw this and grabbed Jaune by the back of his armor. 

"Come on buddy. Let's go." Cardin said as he and his team walks off. 

Jaune looked miserable as he gazed up at his team. Nora and Ren were walking into the depths of the red forest while Pyrrha looks at him with a somber look. Dropping his gaze and looking at the floor in shame, he follows Team CRDL. Pyrrha lets out a disappointed sigh before she follows Ren and Nora. Ryder watched this with suspicion. Kairos notices. 

"Something the matter?" Kairos asks. 

"Keep an eye out for Team CRDL." Ryder said before walking into the depths of the forest. 

Kairos looked in the direction of CRDL and Jaune before following Ryder into the forest. Ryder and Kairos reach the rest of the group and begun collecting sap. Kairos used his violet energy to conjure a knife and stabbed his tree before he tossed his knife to Ryder who caught it. Ryder looked at it before nodding to Kairos and then stabbing his tree. He tossed the knife back and Kairos caught it before he de-summoned it. As Ryder collected sap, he noticed Weiss was having some trouble. So after he finished with his jar, he set it down and walked over to Weiss. Weiss grabbed her weapon and was about to pierce the tree but she heard a voice. 

"Need some help?" Ryder asks. 

"I'm more than capable." Weiss said, not sounding rude despite how rude the words were. 

Ryder wasn't really fazed. Weiss pierced the tree and began collecting sap. Ryder looked over and saw Ren and Nora. Ren handed Nora one jar which she ended up eating the sap before Ren turned back around and saw the now empty jar. He sighed. Ryder chuckles a little. As Weiss puts the cap on her jar she looked at Ryder and then thought back to the truth bomb he told. 

"Are you okay?" Weiss asks. 

"Hm?" Ryder asks, looking at her. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Why?" 

"Well, you're in a new world and things aren't like they are back home." Weiss said. "Don't you feel alienated?" 

Ryder crosses his arms and leans on the tree Weiss collected sap from. 

"At first I did." Ryder looked over to Yang and Ruby. "But they made me feel welcome and I'm grateful. I'm sure there's going to be others who will alienate me when they figure out the truth. But knowing that there's people who will stand by me makes me feel safe. Like I have a line of defense. It's good having people to rely on." Ryder explains. "Now don't get me wrong, I still feel out of place. I miss my home world. Despite its problems it's still my home." 

Weiss looked over at Yang and Ruby while holding the jar of sap and her weapon. 

"Do you want to go home?" Weiss asks. 

"Of course. My family is still on Earth. Now that i think about it, they're probably worried sick. They probably even think I might be dead." Ryder said sounding sad towards the end. 

Weiss picked up on that sad tone and decided to try to cheer him up. 

"Well, when you return home. I'm sure you'll not only be a great warrior, but your family would be proud." Weiss said. 

Ryder smiles. 

"Thanks, Weiss." Ryder said. 

Suddenly, everyone hears a loud roar from something big. Ryder stops leaning on the tree as he chambers fire dust into his gloves/gauntlets. 

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asks. 

Kairos walks over to Ryder as he recognized that roar. 

"Warden." Kairos said. 

"Another one?" Ryder asks. 

Ryder hadn't told his friends about the Warden. He never found the need. Soon three out of four members of Team CRDL came running through. One of them runs into Yang who was unfazed by the collision. 

"What's going on?" yang asks. 

"A Knight looking Grimm. It's got Cardin!" Russel said. 

"Jaune!" Pyrrha said in alert. 

"Yang! You and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby said. 

Yang and Blake nod before they run off to find Glynda. 

"You two, go with them! There could be more than one Grimm." Pyrrha said to Ren and Nora. 

Both members of Team JNPR head off in Yang and Blake's direction. Pyrrha, Weiss and Ruby activate their weapons as Ryder and Kairos rush towards the fight where Cardin and Jaune were. When they arrived, they saw the Warden holding Cardin in the air by the neck. It growled a little before throwing Cardin aside. It then noticed the others and roars at them. Ruby, Weiss and Pyrrha are in shock seeing this thing. 

"What is that thing!?" Ruby asks. 

"A Grimm Warden. It's the thing i fought in initiation." Ryder said. 

"I thought you killed it?" Weiss asks. 

"I did. This is another one." Ryder said. 

Jaune charges in to attack but the Warden's armor protects it from Jaune's blade which just bounces off since Jaune didn't hit it in the Grimm's weak spot. The Warden turned around and glared at Jaune who whimpered a little. Ryder then activates his Semblance, the green aura flaring up as his eyes turn green. Ryder dashes towards the Warden as his fists are engulfed in flames thanks to the Fire Dust chambered in his gloves. He punches the Warden in the back and causes an explosion of flames to erupt. The Warden screeches out in pain before it turns around and tries to swat Ryder away. Ryder ducked under it and then sent an uppercut into the beast's jaw before he spartan kicked it back. Thanks to his Amplified power it dealt some damage to the Grimm. Light cracks appeared on the Warden's armor. Kairos conjures up three energy javelins with his violet energy and throws them at the Warden. The Warden lets out a sonic wave from its mouth that destroys the javelins. Ryder didn't cover his ears as his aura flared up. He then chambered Lightning and Wind Dust into his gauntlets before clapping hard. The clap sent out a shockwave known as the Thunderclap. 

The Warden resists against the shockwave and roars at Ryder. Weiss, Ruby and Pyrrha prepare for battle. The Warden scowls. Ryder then charged the Warden and lunged at it but as he did, he suddenly accelerated and flew into the air. As he floated midair, Ryder struggled to stay afloat and fell down onto the ground. Ryder hit the ground and the Warden watched on with curiosity. The Warden was about to press its advance, but it heard a voice in its head. 

"Retreat." the voice said. 

The Warden growled before it spread its wings and flew off. Ryder gets up off the ground and looked at his hands in confusion. Did he just fly? Glynda had arrived earlier and witnessed this flight take place. She thought it was interesting and took a mental note about it to tell Ozpin about this. Little did she know, a drone was watching the whole thing. Ozpin was watching. 

In his office, Ozpin grabbed his chin in thought as he sensed something spike in Ryder. 

"Interesting." Ozpin said. 

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Author's Note: So, next chapter is gonna add something. but trust me, I have a plan!