Amplify (A RWBY Story)

A lot of time has passed since Ryder left Vale once again. Ryder gave a sweep of the Dragon Continent and didn't find any Dragon Balls. Which sucks but it narrows down his search space. But he did encounter all kinds of Grimm which were good for sparring against and to test out his Magic. He's also used his time to practice his techniques and develop a new fighting style that better incorporates his magical abilities.

Ryder did return to Vacuo and Vale to give them one final sweep search in case he missed any spots. But he never went back to Patch. But while Ryder was searching for the Dragon Balls, he failed to notice something crucial. He's changing, and not in a good way. All this pressure from the Fall of Beacon, Pyrrha's death, the Dragon Balls and Salem are weighing on him heavily and he has no idea how bad it's affecting him. Sure, he knows it's weighing on him, but he has no idea how bad. 

With The Dragon Continent, Vacuo and Vale down all that's left is Mistral, Atlas and Menagerie. But he realizes that the ocean could hold some Dragon Balls, so he spent some time going over the waters of Remnant in search of Dragon Balls. Eventually though he made his way to Mistral. He remembered that Ruby and what's left of JNPR should be in Mistral so he's keeping an eye out for them as well.

As he flew over the lands of Mistral, he held the Dragon Radar. He looked at the radar device as he knew he would not be able to see the Dragon Balls considering how high up he is. He remembered when he used to have a fear of heights, guess with everything that's happened. His fear went away. Eventually the radar begins to beep, and he snaps himself out of his thoughts. He sees that it isn't too far from him, so he dives down toward the ground. He slowed down before he hit the ground and hovered a little before he stopped flying and drops down onto his feet. 

Ryder looked around before looking at the radar screen. He turns to his right and sees a shimmering object in a bush. He smiles and walks over to it. He put the Dragon Radar in his satchel and knelt down to search for the Dragon Ball. He pushes the bushes leaves aside and sees the orb inside the bush. He reached forward and grabbed the orb before he moved back and stood up. Five down, two to do.

He opens his satchel once more and places the orb inside. Once he did that, he heard gunfire which beckoned his attention. He turned to its direction and debated whether he should investigate. It could be Ruby and the others. That aspect alone is more than enough to convince him to investigate it. So, he begins to run towards the gunfire. Yes, he could've flown, but he needs a break from flying. 

At the source of the gunfire Ruby, Nora, Jaune and Ren were fighting a Geist that had taken numerous rocks as it's body. However, while they did sever one of its limbs, it replaced it with a tree and Jaune had a comment for it. 

"His arm is a Tree! His arm is a tree!" Jaune said in a panic as he ran from the Geist. 

"Big mistake!" Ruby said, confident in her next move. 

Ruby loads a magazine of Fire Dust bullets into her weapon and takes aim before firing. the round hits the tree arm of the Geist and Jaune silently celebrates the shot but quickly regrets it as now the tree arm is on fire. 

"Big mistake!" Jaune said, repeating Ruby's previous words but this time in a different way. 

Jaune starts running once more as the Geist swings its now flaming tree arm at Jaune. Jaune trips and falls to the ground and looked up at the Geist. Ren was about to throw his weapon to help save Jaune, but someone beat him to it. Ryder flew in at high speeds and punched the Geist's body sending it flying backwards into the trees. As the Geist hits and breaks multiple trees, Ryder lands on the ground. His green dragon ball styled aura surrounding his body as he was using 10X. The Geist's body broke apart from the impact of the punch and its real form emerged from the crumbled remains of its former body. The Geist was staggered and stunned a little. 

"Ryder!?" Jaune said in shock, surprised to see Ryder of all people. 

Ruby acted and quickly aimed her weapon and shot the Geist in the head, preventing any attempts at escape. As the Geist turned to mist, Ryder disables his Semblance. The green aura vanishing as his eyes return to normal. Ren and Nora walk over to Jaune while Ruby, who was excited, used her semblance to charge Ryder. She nearly tackled him to the ground, but Ryder managed to catch her before that happened. Ruby hugged her friend whom she hasn't seen in months tightly. Ruby then let go as she had a big smile on her face. 

"It's so good to see you!" Ruby said, excitedly. "Where have you been!? No one's seen you in months!" 

"I've been very busy with a quest of my own." Ryder said. 

"Must be some quest." Jaune said, while getting off the ground. 

Ren gets a good look at Ryder's face and notices something. 

"Are you okay?" Ren asked. 

"Yeah. Why?" Ryder asked back. 

"You look tired." Ren points out. 

Ruby and the others notice this after Ren pointed it out. Ryder sighed and rubbed his eyes. 

"I know. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep these past few days." Ryder admits. "Besides that, it's good to see you guys again." 

The group smiles, just happy to see someone they haven't seen in Months again. But they all were curious if Ryder was going to join them on their journey. Ruby was the one to ask the question. 

"So, will you be willing to join us? It would be a lot easier if we had a fifth member." Ruby asked. 

"A Fifth member who is a powerhouse!" Nora said excitedly. 

As much as he wanted to join them to keep them safe, he needs to keep looking for the Dragon Balls. With them he can guarantee their safety. Besides, if he joined them who knows what could happen. Salem could currently be targeting him and that would lead to Ruby and Co being targeted as well. He cannot have that. He cannot lose them like he lost Pyrrha. 

"No." is all Ryder said. 

This surprised the group as they then saw Ryder's facial expression change and they grew concerned. 

"Your safer Without me." Ryder said. 

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked as she stepped closer to her best friend. 

"it's best if you don't know." Ryder states. 

"Best if we don't know what?" Jaune asked. 

"I'm not getting you all roped into this." Ryder said. 

"Ryder-" 

"Drop it." Ryder said sternly to Ruby. 

This shocked the group once more. Just what has happened to Ryder in the months he's been gone? Ryder then turns his back to Team RNJR, and he prepared to leave but before he did, he looked over his shoulder. 

"Whatever you do, do not do anything reckless." Ryder said. 

With that, Ryder activated his magic and blasts off into the skies. Team RNJR watched him off. Ruby held the most concern for her friend than the others. Something was wrong, very wrong. 

"Something's wrong. Ryder's never acted like that." Jaune stated. 

"Maybe the Fall of Beacon impacted him more than we realized." Ren suggested. 

Ruby kept looking at the sky. She was now worried for her friend. Something was wrong and she didn't like it.