RWBY: Team SWRZ

The battle against the Huntsmen was over. During his return to the caravan, Schwartz cleaned his clothes the best that he could. The mixture of blood and mud always proved challenging to wash off. It crossed his mind to ditch his clothes in the forest and find new ones. Perhaps the caravan would bring him such salvation from the filth he found himself covered in.

Upon his return, he spotted his partner in crime rested against the same tree she collided against earlier. He rushed over and checked on her condition.

"Bruna? Bruna! You alright?" Schwartz gently shook her.

The wasn't a response.

Schwartz removed the Grimm mask from the woman's face and slapped her cheek, hoping to get a reaction out of her. And in a matter of moments, he did. Bruna's eyes snapped open, and in a fit of rage, she punched Schwartz across his face in retaliation.

"God damn idiot! Who told you to remove my mask?!" Bruna scolded. It was one of her main rules while out in the field. Never remove the mask. Their identities as bandits must always remain concealed.

"No one else is around to see your pretty face, boss," Schwartz flirted, even though blood ran down his nose from the hit. He tore off small pieces of fabric from the bandages on his arms and stuck the pieces into his nostrils.

"Cut the shit," Bruna demanded and stood to her feet, albeit with difficulty. She wandered over to her mask and returned it to its rightful place over her face. "I take it; you took care of that, Pewter fellow?"

"Put one right between his eyes," Schwartz casually reported. "If you want we can take his body back and try to--"

"That won't be necessary," Bruna interrupted, having already predicted what her subordinate planned to suggest. The two bandits moved to the caravan and searched through its contents. Besides the necessities of food, clothes, and medicine, nothing else of real value caught their attention. "This isn't good. This kind of haul won't last as long."

"Especially not with all the mouths we gotta feed," Schwartz brought up, which earned him a glance from his superior. "Speaking of which, have you heard back from the others? They should've raided the other caravans by now."

"Well, what did you expect? We went against four of them with only two of us. Sure, we're the strongest in the tribe, but we were already exhausted." Schwartz complained and took a seat on a nearby briefcase. It was perhaps the only moment of rest he'd had in a long while. For months bounty hunters and huntsmen had chased him and his tribe down. He'd lost count how many times the tribe was forced to relocate.

Throughout each move, they'd, unfortunately, lose some members here and there. Now, they were down to less than a dozen — the entire group held together by a thread. If they didn't gather enough money to escape from Anima, they'd soon find themselves captured or executed.

"I know, I know that it was foolish to split up and raid these caravans, but..." Bruna paused, struggling to find the right words to describe her desperation. As the leader of the Bruna Tribe, it was her responsibility to look after her members and keep them safe. The first few years of the tribe's creation saw nothing but infamy and fortune. However, with the constant blood feuds between other clans and battles against Huntsmen dwindled their numbers to a severe degree.

The fear of the potential collapse of her tribe never showed on her face, but rather in her erratic and desperate actions. Her time at the top had long passed. Or rather, it never began in the first place.

"Look, I'm not judging you too much, boss," Schwartz got up and placed a comforting hand on Bruna's shoulder. He never liked it when his leader showed weakness in front of him or anyone for that matter. He envisioned Bruna as the dominant, unstoppable force of nature that toppled anyone and anything that dared to stand in her way. "I can't imagine the pressure you must feel, trying to lead all of us the best you can, despite all that's happened. You're stronger than me. I would've given up a long time ago."

Bruna smirked from behind her mask. If there was anyone she could always trust to have her back, it was her right-hand man. The three years they worked together were perhaps one of the best times of their lives. However, her smile soon faded when reality hit her.

"Perhaps it's time that you did give up, Schwartz," She suddenly suggested, earning an exclamation of shock mixed with confusion from her partner.

"What are you talking about, boss?" Schwartz asked.

"Look at us, Schwartz, is this where you planned to be when you first joined the tribe? Scavenging out in some muddy and murky forest? Attacking and killing Huntsmen for the bȧrė necessities?" Bruna indicated to the caravan.

"Keep following me like this, and you'll die sooner or later. We killed Huntsmen today, Schwartz. Soon enough, the council will fund a subjugation force and have us wiped out." Bruna figured although it was a bit of an exaggeration on her part. The tribe wasn't nearly as infamous as it was in the past. The main reason they stayed under the radar for so long was the fact that most people considered the tribe disbanded.

"Oh? All for little ol' us?" Schwartz laughed off the woman's warning, seeing the possibility as more of an opportunity than a threat. The Huntsman from earlier wasn't much of a challenge. If the council considered guys like him full-fledged Huntsmen, then the people of Mistral had to get their shit together.

"This isn't a game, Schwartz. I'm serious," Bruna removed her mask, breaking her own rule. That action alone knocked the smirk from Schwartz's face. "We survived today, and maybe we'll survive tomorrow. But, if we keep going like this, we won't live much longer."

"That's why we should hurry and get to Vacuo or Vale. We can hide out there and make new lives for ourselves. That's the plan, isn't it?" Schwartz questioned his leader, wondering what brought on the sudden burst of rejection from her. He'd never seen her like that before, and it scared him deep down.

"The only one that needs to run is me," Bruna admitted it. She knew for a long time that she was the only target the authorities were after. "I've wasted enough of your lives. You can all make honest livings for yourselves if I disappear."

"Quit talking like that, Bruna. C'mon, let's get the supplies and return to camp. We need to get you some rest." Schwartz offered.

Bruna shook her head and pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. It was a poster that featured information to Haven Academy, the top Huntsmen school on the continent. The Faunus handed it over to Schwartz.

"What's this for?" He asked.

"I want you to have a better life, Schwartz. Attend Haven Academy and become a Huntsman." She ordered.

"You're the second strongest member of the tribe, Schwartz. You already outclass most Huntsmen, I know. Imagine how much stronger you'd become if you received a formal education."

"Start making some God damn sense, Bruna! Why spring this on me now?" Schwartz demanded answers. Nothing about the situation made sense to him. Sure, the tribe had gone through rough patches here and there, but they still had a chance to make it out. He believed that. He wanted his leader to understand that.

"Because we're at the end of our rope. We're bȧrėly clinging on to a hopeless idea of freedom. Like I said, most of you can still make honest livings for yourselves. I'm the one that's the known criminal." Bruna placed her hand on her ċhėst. "Please, go to school and become a Huntsmen. You'll thank me for this one day."

"How the hell do you plan to get me in the school in the first place? I don't exactly have any records or anything like that," Schwartz mentioned. Hell, he didn't plan to go through with the ridiculous plan in the first place. It was a stupid plan. One that he foresaw backfiring on the first day.

"Don't underestimate my connections, Schwartz." Bruna smiled. "I know of a few spiders that would be more than willing to help."

"This is crazy." Schwartz shook his head. "What are you going to do?"

"Pay an old friend a visit and see what happens from there," Bruna answered. And without another word, the two collected the supplies from the caravan and wandered off in silence, mulling over the decisions the two made that would alter the course of their lives forever.