Which one is yours?

The story of the girl who fell through the world is well known. It is a tale as old as the Kingdoms themselves. It is told to every child faunas and human alike and there isn't anyone who doesn't know the four heroes who helped Alyx make it home.

First: The ever Protective Rusted Knight who stood guard every night while Alyx slept. Unwilling to leave her unprotected. So great was his devotion to her protection, that he willingly drank the poison that was made for her.

Second: The ever Kind Tarnished Spartan who taught young Alyx how to hold her head high and to stand strong against the dangers of the lands. So great was her kindness that when faced with the Hateful Red King she alone was able to sway his heart and free Alyx from his grasp.

Third: The ever Jovial Weeping Valkyrie who taught the young Alyx to laugh at her fears and worries until the tears of failure turned into tears of triumph. So great was her joy that she alone managed to show Alyx the way to the tree and bypass the Jabberwocky.

Fourth: The ever Wise Mournful Monk who taught our young hero that no matter the loss, one can only ever truly die as long as their memory remained true. So wise was he that when Alyx crossed the doorway home, he remained so that nothing could chase after her, standing guard until the end of time.

There is no one alive who doesn't have a favorite. Which one is yours?

Alternate Ever After AU

So this AU is pretty rough so stay with me.

Everything is the same up until the Rusted Knight takes off his helmet only to show red hair and piercing green eyes. That's right its Pyrrha Nikos.

How you ask? She doesn't know. She just woke up here and is confused on everything except for the fact that she knew her friends were coming and that she needed to stay to help them.

RWBY makes some guesses and Ruby, seeing the second person she failed to save, now alive again. starts to visibly crack. Her team and Pyrrha see it happen but in the end they don't have time to talk because the Jabberclones are still out there.

Thus they begin walking to Pyrrha's village where she has lived for the past few years.

Over the course of the journey, holes in how Pyrrha acts start to take shape. How she's constantly perfect, how she says the right thing all the time, how good of a fighter she is despite RWBY having more real world combat experience than her. Weird things continue to build up when she looks at her reflection and sees Jaune looking back at her on the cloud bridge.

And when they come to the fork in the bridge they meet the cat again and Pyrrha instantly treats him like an enemy but states she has never met him. The CC on the other hand treats her like an old friend and says some cryptic stuff and uses they/them to talk about Pyrrha.

RWBY in the end decides to trust Pyrrha and continue on their journey.

Fast Forward to a few episodes as those stay the same, They finally reach Pyrrha's village where she presents Crecent Rose to Ruby. Ruby's confused on why she has it and Pyrrha admits that she doesn't know and that it was the one thing she had when she woke up in the Tree.

The events of the village happen the same as in canon and Ruby ends up still teaing herself due to Neo's actions and Neo ends up getting Catnapped.

Fast forward a few more episodes while WBY_P are fighting NeoCatt we see Ruby at the Blacksmith's workshop walking through the weapon vault and she sees Crocea Mors in its shattered form. The Blacksmith remarks that it was a good weapon and the owner of it knew what he wanted to be which made it one of the more easier molds to make.

Ruby goes wide eyed and asks what happened and the Blacksmith shows Ruby Crocea Mors's actual journey.

At the same time Pyrrha wearing her helmet gets hit by Weiss's attack and ends up getting tossed into the smoke of the tree and enters the hallucination dimension and she sees Alyx standing there holding Jaune's shield.

Back with Ruby, she watches horror struck as Jaune lands on the beach with Corcea Mors bloodied and broken, watches as he grabs the clock fruit, watches him as he waits years and ages until he finds Alyx and her brother, watches as he attempts to travel the fairy tail path only to get more and more unhinged until... She watches him die via poison, alone, reaching for Crescent Rose.

Back with Pyrrha we watch as Alyx steps forward and tells her what happened to her with the CC and tells her of her final wish being for Jaune to be given the chance she took from him before the two of them are engulfed by light

Ruby glances at Crocea Mors and grabs it before turning to the Blacksmith and starts to speak only for the Blacksmith to hold her hand and say that the debt for that blade is already paid for and the owner is waiting for it.

And then offers Ruby Crescent Rose with a smile.

Ruby takes it, looks into her reflection on the blade and nods.

Back at the Tree _WBY are fighting a losing battle and are struggling to fend of NeoCatt and her many clones until Ruby breaks free of her tree cocoon and attacks her from behind sending her flying only for her journey to be stopped by a shield bearing golden twin arcs sending her flying back into the middle of the two warriors.

Ruby and helmeted knight than go ape on NeoCatt beating the ever loving shit out of them but strangely the knight is only using Jaune's shield and his fists while Ruby is using a broken sword and Crescent Rose.

The fight ends with NeoCatt being killed by the newly freed Jabberwoky while _WBY watch on stern faced.

Ruby walks up to the knight and hands him Crocea Mors and smiles before reaching up and pulling off the helmet to show a bearded and tired looking Jaune with white streaks in his hair.

_WBY end up freaking out with Weiss grabbing Jaune's face and fretting about him because he's looking haggard and old and Mature.

Jaune than tells his story and they all look to Ruby as she doesn't really react and she shrugs and says that she already got the story from the Blacksmith and hugs herself before asking what really happened to Penny.

Jaune goes quiet and Weiss places her hand on his shoulder and nods to him which gives Jaune the strength to tell them what happened and how he was still amping her when he stabbed her which caused him to feel what she felt.

Ruby nods and then truly breaks down which causes Jaune to break down which ends with them all hugging and kneeling.

After that Little shows up ready for battle and Jaune gifts him Juniper and says thank you to her before watching the two walk off to fight the Jabberwoker.

RWBY and Older Jaune then step through the portal back to Remnant.

Alyx's wish

So Alyx's wish was for him to gain what was lost from him right? We see it as his youth. But what if its more than that? What is something that Jaune has that represents his broken spirit? What ancestral blade that represents everything he ever wanted to do and be lays shattered with pieces of it missing in the void? What if, the next time Jaune draws Crocea Mors's broken form, it is made whole. What if next time when he is forced once again in a position to save someone he loves, his sword is whole and he finally is able to move past the eleventh hour? That all his doubt and anger and self hatred is washed away like rust on armor and his blade and shield become one once more?