Amplify (A RWBY Story)

Within the Inn of the Village he had saved, Ryder sits in silence. He sat on the bed in the room with his satchel lying beside him. Inside the satchel was the Dragon Balls he had collected thus far. Three down, four to go. It's a lot harder than he thought. He has multiple freaking continents to search! Covering that much ground isn't easy but thankfully he can fly so there's that. It's been some time since the Fall of Beacon and Ryder still hasn't gotten over Pyrrha's death and all the suffering that occurred on that day.

It does affect him deeply as he was never prepared for this kind of stuff. Ever since it happened, he's been trying to dodge the topic to avoid his anxiety spiking but it's now impossible to dodge it. That's why he wanted to rest for a bit so he could try to calm his anxiety down. He also just wants to try and remove him from the problems around him for a few moments. 

Does it work? Not really. Ryder's mind is stuck on the Fall of Beacon and all the pain that came with it. It serves as the strongest source of motivation to find the Dragon Balls. But this village isn't the only one he's helped so far. He did help two others who suffered from similar problems. Bandits capitalizing on the chaos generated by the Fall of Beacon. He hates how this world is now.

He was so naïve for thinking Remnant was any different from Earth. As he sits there, he clenches his fists as his gaze hardens. He needs to find the Dragon Balls to prevent further tragedy quickly. He hears a knocking at the door which snaps him out of his thoughts rather quickly. He gets up from the bed and walks over to the door and opens it to see the Elder of the village. 

"I apologize if I interrupted anything." The Elder apologized. 

"I was just in my thoughts so you're fine." Ryder Informs. "Did you need something?" 

"Yes. Me and my people were planning to move ourselves to the Capital for our safety. Shade Academy's Huntsmen would prove better protection then our old walls." The Elder explains. "While Vacuo itself isn't known for its willingness to listen to laws, the umbrella of Shade would put a lot of my people at ease." 

"Getting to Vacuo won't be easy. How far is it from this village?" Ryder asked, concern showing. 

"Not far. We should get there by days end if we leave in the morning." the Elder said. "I was deeply hoping that you could act as our escort detail." 

Ryder briefly looked at the ground in thought. He needs to find the Dragon Balls, but he can't just ignore the plea for help from these people. If he leaves them, they'll probably die. 

"I do not wish to force you into this task. If you'd like, my people could compensate you for your services." the Elder said in a calm yet pleading tone. 

It was clear the elder cares about his people. Ryder then thought about it, if he could get in contact with Professor Theodore, he could potentially establish some kind of base of operations in Vacuo. He figured he'll be in Vacuo for a while so establishing a main base to return to is vital for him. The elder also offers money which he will need for future necessities. 

"Alright. I'll do it. I'll act as an escort detail for your village to Vacuo." Ryder said. 

The Elder smiled, infinitely grateful. 

"Thank you! You don't know how much this means to us!" The Elder said, clearly overjoyed. 

The Elder then calms himself down before he continues. 

"We'll leave first thing tomorrow, it's best if we walk during the day and not the night." The Elder informed. 

"Agreed." Ryder said, agreeing with the day and night thing. "But just a fair warning, I am just one man." 

"I'm aware." The Elder acknowledged. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow morning, thank you again for being willing to help us." 

Ryder nods with a smile before the elder leaves. Once he leaves, Ryder's smile fades away. He closed the door and looked at the satchel containing the Dragon Balls. He needs to find them before any more lives are lost. He walks over to the bed and sits down before he thinks about his friends. Team RWBY and what remains of JNPR.

He knows Ruby and Yang will be fine in Patch alongside the others like Jaune, Nora and Ren. But Weiss and Blake have him worried. He has no idea where Blake is right now. She could be anywhere. While he knows where Weiss potentially is, which is in Atlas, he is still worried about her. He just now discovered that he's more worried about Weiss than anyone else for some reason. She's the Heiress of a massive Company and was pulled back to Atlas. 

Now that he thinks about Atlas, he thinks about Ironwood. When he eventually gets to Atlas to search for the Dragon Balls, he'll team up with Ironwood to find them a lot faster. But that's when he gets there. After he clears Vacuo, he'll head to Mistral. He reckons Mistral will take a while due to its larger territory.

But before he goes to Mistral, he'll double check in Vale just to be sure. He can't exactly leave any stone unturned. Then he thinks about the Dragon Continent. Oh boy another continent he needs to check. He changes his path up a little in his head. After Vacuo and Vale, he'll go to the Dragon Continent and THEN go to Mistral. He sighed. 

"This is not going to be easy." Ryder mumbled, realizing just how daunting the task is.