'Pregnant?' Yang exclaimed, her face contorted in shock, before turning to look at Ruby, her sister soon realising what she was gesturing.

'No! I haven't had any of those symptoms, Yang. I think it's just Velvet...'

The timid rabbit continued fretting over the situation, scared and nervous, like any girl would have been.

'I-it must have happened back there... when that man... when he...'

'Shh,' Yang cooed, noticing she was growing more and more agitated with every passing second, 'you don't have to think about it, alright? We're going to help you through this. You're going to be fine, Velvet.'

'Fine...?' Velvet replied, almost with a look of disbelief, 'I've never had a baby before! I've never even seen one being born, or anything like that! I... I don't know what to do...'

Scratching her head, Yang thought hard on the subject.

'Well, first things first. You have to decide whether you want to keep the child or not,' Yang straightforwardly told her, the look of shock on Velvet's face being completely unprepared for such a brash statement.

'What are you talking about!? Get rid of it...? I couldn't do that... even if it is that man's... no, it's not his baby. It's my baby. Even if it grows up without a father, I'd never abandon my child...'

The three of them admired that motherly strength that Velvet possessed. Even throughout their travels she had shown that she had plenty of it. When in captivity, she wished to take the punishment so the others wouldn't have to endure any cruelty. When Pyrrha was killed, she was furious - not at the Grimm, but at herself, even more so than the others. She cared deeply about Pyrrha and wanted to protect her and the others more than anything, so to her letting Pyrrha die was proof of Velvet's failure. It was her proof that she couldn't protect that which she held dear, and deep down she worried that this trend would continue until she had nothing left to protect. Even now, harbouring another man's child – the child of the man who raped her and her friend, over and over – even now, she couldn't bring herself to hate this child, the fragile soul that grew lovingly inside her. And the others appreciated her decision, knowing that she would make a fantastic mother.

'When we get to that safe zone we're going to get you proper treatment, Velvet,' Ruby happily chimed in. 'We'll make sure nothing bad happens to you or your child. You can count on us.'

Velvet felt a strange feeling of nostalgia inside, as though the world was normal just for one fleeting moment. As though they were still back at Beacon, happily laughing about non-important things. As though everyone was happy.

'Yeah,' she said, a new wave of courage flowing through her thanks to her friends words. 'Let's go.'

She decreed to herself at that moment. Never again would she let her friends die as long as she was around. As long as she was there she would give everything, even her life to ensure their safety. Because her friends were the world to her. They were all she had left.

Continuing their trek, they eventually came across a marsh that seemed to be littered with bones.

'This place doesn't look too good,' Ruby commented, pinching her nose due to the stench.

'Yeah,' Yang agreed, searching around for anything that could be hiding in the muddy waters. Seeing that it was all clear, she plunged her left leg into the water, her foot sinking around a foot deep.

'No good,' Fox said, disappointed. 'We'll never get through all that. The exhaustion would drop us before we made it halfway,' he said, trying to think of another way through.

'Couldn't we just go around?' Velvet suggested, before Fox shrugged it off.

'Nah, this marsh stretches for miles. It'd be longer than trying to wade our way through the water.

'We could build a raft,' Ruby put forward. 'I mean, it can't be that difficult, right?'

'We could, but I don't know what we'd use to bind the logs together. We'd need something like a rope to keep the wood in one piece.'

Thinking for a second, Ruby had an idea.

'Would vines work?'

'Vines? I guess so, as long as they're thick enough,' he said thoughtfully, looking out towards the trees in the marsh.

'Go get some wood while I get the vines,' she told the group. 'Actually, Velvet, you just sit this one out, OK?'

Velvet silently thanked her for the consideration. None of them knew how to deal with a child, so they didn't want to take any unnecessary risks like pushing her too hard. Heavily trudging through the sludgy water, Crescent Rose in hand, she cut down as many vines as she could find, making sure to make them as long as possible. In the end, the amount she had turned out to be quite heavy, but she managed to carry them back to the others somehow. Plopping them on the ground, she took a well deserved break.

'Manual labour is hard,' Ruby joked, Velvet enjoying the pleasant atmosphere. 'I can't imagine what you must have to go through later on. I don't know much about pregnancy other than it's hard and painful.'

'It's not that bad at the moment,' Velvet informed her. 'I'm a little nauseous now and then, and it's definitely tiring me already but it's not like I'm coughing up blood.'

'Can pregnant women do that?' Ruby asked, her tone telling Velvet she was serious.

'I don't think so,' she said with a giggle. 'I hope not, at least.'

Why was Velvet getting all worried? Ruby's lack of information on the subject was even managing to make her question what she did know about childbirth.

Soon after, Fox and Yang returned with several trees worth of wood, Ruby deciding it was probably best she didn't ask how they acquired it. It took them a few hours, but they finally managed to make a makeshift raft, holding the wood together with the vines and after testing that it would indeed hold the four of them, they began to make their way through the sludgy marsh, Ruby begrudgingly using Crescent Rose as an oar. About halfway through the marsh however, the raft began to show signs of wear, occasional bits of wood chipping off every now and then. Finally, around three quarters of the way, the raft broke completely, leaving them to trudge through the remainder of the swamp on foot. It wasn't too far compared to how far they had come, but that wasn't their concern. They were more worried about the strange movements they saw out of the corner of their eyes, as if something was watching them, always just out of view.

'This is like something out of a cliché horror flick,' Yang commented, a frown crossing her lips as she held her arms up, Ember Celica ready to fire at a moment's notice. As they carried on, the movements only grew more and more frequent, to which Ruby was becoming increasingly paranoid. They soon saw land, however, and it seemed that was the time the creature chose to strike. Darting through the marsh at blinding speed, a strange creature leapt at Ruby, her good reflexes allowing her to nimbly dodge the attack before swinging Crescent Rose at it, but it was already completely out of sight.

'That was a Grimefish,' Fox observed, having paid close attention to it the instant it revealed itself.

'They're dangerous creatures, so be careful. Continuing towards their destination, the Grimefish didn't let up with its assaults. Leaping countless times toward the group, its attacks were dodged easily enough, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they all knew there were far more than a single Grimefish, judging from the frequency of its attacks. They were creatures known for being patient, so to suddenly attack in a frenzy wouldn't make any sense whatsoever. They soon began to feel the effects of the mud underneath their feet, their movements growing more sluggish with each passing second. They had to get out of there, and fast. Ruby frantically swung at the air, and Yang fired several shots toward them but the fish were too agile to be hit by them, instead narrowly avoiding each one while still nearly taking one of their faces off. The threat was soon over though, and the group reached the other side of the marsh safe and sound.

'That,' Yang began, panting as she spoke, 'was extremely annoying.'

'Tell me about it,' Ruby agreed, exhausted from battling the muddy water for such a long time.

They opted to take a break to regain their strength, to which they took short naps, one person staying on guard at all times. After they were all rested, they began moving again, only a short distance away from the harbour. There were several exotic plants on the way that they had never seen before even in botanist guides, which Velvet stared at in adoration. The beautiful colours they made calmed her somewhat, reminding her of all the good times she shared with her friends.

Soon enough, they came across the harbour that Fox had mentioned, but it was not the shining beacon of hope they had hoped for. It was littered with blood and evidence of large-scale battles, the likes of which they hadn't seen before, even after the destructive carnage that took place at Beacon Academy. There wasn't an inch of ground that was left its original colour, all of it taking on a crimson red colour. They could hear the howls of Beowolves nearby, so it was clear to the group which side had come out the victor of this bloody onslaught. Cautiously proceeding, they searched the docks for any boats that were still in a condition to even move, let alone take them across the water. No such luck. Any boats remaining were all either in several pieces or completely busted up inside, much to their dismay.

'Now what?' Yang said hopelessly, 'we can't swim across that. We'd never make it even a quarter of the way, never mind reaching the other side.'

Sighing, the group decided to take another look around the harbour to see if they could find anything. For a while, they didn't find anything other than debris and the occasional Grimm which they quickly dispatched, but after a while Yang alerted the others to a prized find.

'Is that what I think it is?' Ruby asked, her eyes lighting up in delight at what she'd found.

'Yup,' Yang answered gleefully, 'it's a row boat.'

'Are you sure that'll carry us all?' Fox questioned uncertainly, looking at the small wooden frame that didn't look to be in perfect shape.

'It's the only option we've got,' she reminded him. 'We either take this thing, or we stay here and starve to death. Your call.'

Reluctantly agreeing, they carried the boat out to the shoreline, seeing the faint light in the distance over the vast ocean.

'Is that it?' Yang asked Fox, pointing to the light.

'Well it's definitely the other side of the island,' he answered quietly.

Pushing the boat out, the group quickly hopped into the boat, Ruby pushing it again with Crescent Rose. She was all too happy to get the marsh water off her pride and joy as they calmly drifted through the moonlit ocean, the waves gently brushing against the boat, creating a soothing rocking sensation that soon sent Velvet to a peaceful slumber. It was serene, and if it wasn't for all the horror they had imprinted into their memories they would have thought that maybe it was all just one big nightmare. The calming atmosphere made them lower their guard, however, and because of that they didn't realise that they were being watched. The glowing red eyes, the amphibious fins, the graceful movement through the water... they were completely oblivious to it. The Grimm, however, already had the group in its sights.

'Dinner time,' it said to itself, licking its lips in a hungered frenzy. 'I hope you taste nice.'