Hey guys. I really need to get my computer looked at. It was glitching so bad I had to write most of this chapter on my phone. Anyway, I hope you guys like the new chapter. As always, please favorite, follow and comment if you'd like. I enjoy hearing what you guys have to say.

P.S. If you guys have been waiting for another action scene, there will be one at the beginning of the next chapter. I now waiting is terrible, but trust me, it's gonna be worth the wait ;)

"So," said Weiss, "your mother's name is Summer. Not that you have to tell me or anything!" Ruby actually laughed a bit upon seeing her teammate raise her hands in front of her with a worried expression. It was almost noon and Team RWBY was making their way down to the cafeteria for some lunch.

"It's fine, Weiss," said Ruby with a smile. "Yes, her name was Summer Rose and she was the best mom a girl could ask for." Ruby was surprised at her own good mood. For almost 13 years, she had completely avoided speaking about her mother to anyone, even Yang, but now she felt a strange sense of relief whenever she thought about her.

"Are you sure you're okay," asked her older sister.

"To be honest," said Ruby, I've never felt better. I guess I've just got a good feeling."

The girls made their way into the cafeteria. The large room was mostly empty on the weekends, but they did spy Team JNPR sitting at one of the long tables. They made their way over and sat next to their sister team.

"Hey guys," said Jaune. "How'd the hospital visit go?"

"Yee," piped in Nora, her mouth full of food. "Dwd da esplody guy wik op?" Everyone turned to Ren, hoping to get some translation.

"Did the explody guy wake up?"

"We heard someone was riding through the halls on a stolen stretcher," added Pyrrha. "We thought that was probably who you were going to see."

"What makes you say that," asked Weiss with a little spoiled offense in her voice. "The weird stuff doesn't always happen to us."

"Yes he was and yes it does," said Blake, who continued to eat her tuna sandwich, unfazed by the white haired girl's scowl.

"So," Jaune continued, "what happened?"

Weiss and Blake exchanged a worried glance at each other while Yang crossed her arms and looked down at the table with a serious expression. They stayed like that for a moment before turning to their leader. Ruby knew they were leaving the choice of what to say up to her and expected her to not say any of the strange things Aero had told them; however, she honestly did feel some strange comfort in her chest when she thought about what the boy said. Even though she didn't know where her mother was, she had something she had given up on years ago: hope. She looked at her team with a determined smile and nodded.

"Ok guys," she said as she turned to Team JNPR, "listen to this."

As Ruby recounted what had happened with Aero, while leaving out the scene between her and Yang, as well as when she nearly fell on him, she could see differing expressions on her friend's faces. Jaune looked like a kid reading a comic book, Pyrrha and Ren had intent expressions on and Nora looked… well, like Nora.

"And that's the last thing he said," Ruby said as she finished her story. They all sat there for a moment when Nora couldn't contain her excitement any longer.

"That was awesome," said the hyperactive hammer wielder, "A mysterious stranger in the night. Monsters! Sword fights! EXPLOSIONS! I mean, personally, I would've added some some kind of gun in there to give it that action movie feel and the zombies would have been like "Rarr, I'll eat your brains! Rarr!" and then the… Ooooohhhh! We should go see him right now and get more stories!" the girl tried to run toward the exit, only to be stopped by Ren grabbing the back of her shirt.

"Stories," asked Ruby. She was a little surprised at her orange haired friends lighthearted response, even if that was what Nora was known for.

"Yee. Stowies." Nora swallowed before speaking again. "I mean, you don't actually believe that right." Ruby felt a little pain in her chest when she heard Nora's words. She knew her friend meant well, but something about hearing Aero might have been making it up hurt. Especially the parts about her mother.

"That it isn't to say some of it isn't true," said Pyrrha, who could she Ruby's expression lower. "If he really did have your mother's hood then he must have some connection to her. It's just the whole... everything else that seems a bit, uh..." Ruby could tell the redhead was having a hard time coming up with the right words. She was grateful at Pyrrha's attempt at cheering her up though.

"The whole thing does seem a bit illogical. Even by our standards." Ruby knew Ren had a point, but she still thought that...

"Yeah," said Nora. "He sounds craaaAAAZZZzzzzzzyyy."

"He is not crazy!" Ruby stood up and slammed her fists onto the table, causing their plates of food to rattle. Her face was slight angry for moment before she saw the shocked faces of her friends. She sat down and looked at her feet.

"I'm sorry, guys."

"Ruby," said Jaune. "Do you believe him?"

Ruby thought about her answer before speaking.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think Aero's lying. He just seemed so... genuine when he talked. Even when he was starting to fall asleep, he tried his best to give as much info as he could. I never thought once that he was making it up"

Ruby looked around at the others and saw the worry on their faces. She understood why they were concerned. The whole situation he described wasn't possible. She knew that, but, if she was being honest with herself, a part of her wanted it to be true. They all say there for a moment, until Blake broke the silence, surprising everyone.

"I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. I never got a threatening feeling from him. We'll just have to wait for him to wake up to learn any more."

"We should go now!" Nora tried to escape, again, only to get caught by Ren. Again.

"Oh, right," said Nora. "Asleep. Sorry." There was a bit of an awkward silence in the group. No one really knew what to say next, even though the hot topic of the time traveling boy was still on their minds.

"So," said Weiss, "what's everyone doing after this week." Some faces turned to smiles at the thought of their plans. Next week was the last full week of school before the Summer Holiday. Only 5 more school days until sweet, sweet freedom.

"I'm heading to our vacation house," said Jaune. "We've got a nice place north of Vale. I'm ready to show everyone how much better I've become." Ruby thought back to how Jaune was when they met compared to how he was now. While he still had a long way to go, the swordsman had made leaps and bounds in his training with Pyrrha. He's even managed to make it past a few rounds in the Vytal Festival tournament a few weeks prior.

"I'm going to head home to Mistral for a while," said Pyrrha. "After that, I'll be traveling with my family around Remnant."

"We're heading home too! They've got this candy store back home that would blow. Your. Mind." Nora seemed extremely happy to head home, especially if it meant some alone time with Ren. Ruby knew she could be a little childish, but even she wasn't oblivious to the "they-should-just-kiss-already" couples in Team JNPR.

"Well," said Weiss, "I don't really have any plans for the summer. I'll probably head home for a bit, but I don't know what after that."

"What about you, Blake?" The blonde brawler turned to her Faunus partner, whose eyes shrank a bit.

"I...," she said, "I was actually going to ask Professor Ozpin if it was okay for me to stay here at the Academy."

"What?!" The whole group, even Ren, spoke up in shock at what Blake had said.

"It's not like I have anywhere else to go," she continued in a soft voice. "This is my first summer without being... you know." Ruby then realized the position her friend was in. Without the White Fang, Blake was effectively homeless. She was about to speak up when Yang spoke for her.

"Don't worry, Blake. You can come stay with us on Patch. I'm sure dad won't mind and I know Zwei would miss you." Blake winced a bit at the mention of the Rose-Xiao Long family pet. She really did act like a cat sometimes.

"I don't know."

"Come on, Blake," said Ruby, "it'll be fun." Blake still didn't look convinced it was a good idea.

"You know," said Yang, "if you come with us, we'll be able to keep up our investigation." Blake's bow moved a bit, a sign that her kitty ears perked up.

"It's just a quick trip from Patch to Vale," added Ruby. "We could be frequent visitors." Blake thought about it for a moment.

"Will I get my own room?"

"We've got a few guest bedrooms and Dad keeps a lot his books in the one of them." Blake allowed herself a small smile at the mention of her precious books. Ruby knew she was sold on the idea.

"I guess I could," said the Faunus girl, "if it's not too much trouble."

"Alright," said Yang with a fist pump. "How about you Weiss? Think your folks would mind a little Team RWBY Summer Sleepover?"

"I can probably make some arrangments," Weiss said with a barely hidden smile. Ruby knew that, beneath the ice cold exterior, her teammate really did enjoy spending time with them. That, or she just didn't want to leave Zwei.

"Looks like you guys are gonna have one heck of a Summer," said Jaune. "We were actually talking about trying to meet up at some point too."

"You guys are welcome to come by our place if you get the chance," said Ruby.

"Sounds like a plan."

The two teams continued to eat there lunch, passing the time with small talk until let Yang let out a huge yawn and stood up. Her eyes were drooping almost as badly as Aero's were as she stretched her arms upward.

"Welp, I don't know about the rest of you, but I plan on taking myself a little nap."

"It's 12:30," said Weiss.

"It's been a long day." The blonde brawler left the room, almost knocking over another student's food in her sleepy daze.

"We were actually planning on heading to Vale this afternoon," said Pyrrha. "Do you guys want to come with us?"

"I would love to," said Weiss. "One of the clothing stores destroyed in the breach a few weeks ago just reopened. I was hoping to buy some summer-wear before Coco gets her hands on the place." Ruby didn't the leader of Team CFVY very well, but there wasn't a student in Beacon who didn't know it was suicide to stand between her and the latest fashion.

"I'll come too," said Blake. "The next novel in a series I'm reading came out recently and I haven't been able to go buy it."

"What's it called," asked Nora. Blakes eyes shrunk a bit at the question.

"It's called, uh, Pirates... of... War. Yeah. That.

"That's not a book I've ever..." said Jaune before Blake interrupted.

"So, Ruby, what are you going to do?"

"Actually," said the hooded girl as she looked at her friends, "I was planning on staying here in case Aero wakes up again."

"Oh," said Weiss with an evil grin that Ruby had seen earlier that day, "I see. You just want to spend some "alone time" with the new guy."

"Hey," said Ruby in a whine sounding voice. "It's not like that."

"She did act very defensive of him earlier," said Ren in a nonchalant tone.

"I don't even know him!" Ruby felt a blush creep into her cheeks.

"Looks like her cheeks are starting to match her name," said Jaune with a laugh.

"Whatever. See you guys later." Ruby then made her way toward the exit, still flustered from what had happened. She knew they were only teasing her and they knew she didn't actually think about Aero like that. The girl just wasn't used to being teased about something she had basically avoided her whole life. When you spend all your time fighting monsters, who has time for a boyfriend?

Ruby finally made it to the hospital wing and opened the door to Aero's room. The boy was still asleep, but now he was he laying his side with the bed sheets tossed and turned all over him. Before, he was basically forced unconscious and laid on his back, straight as a tree. Now, after they removed his IV, he looked like he was actually getting some comfortable rest.

The girl took a seat next to the bed and thought about everything that had happened since last night. It was hard for her to believe it hadn't even been a day since Aero appeared in the forest. With everything that happened, the whole thing felt like an eternity.

The blonde newcomer stirred in his sleep a bit, causing some alarm for Ruby, who had seen the panic he woke up in before. Instinctively, she reached out and put her hand on his head. When she had nightmares as a kid, Yang always used to do that to calm her down. The technique seemed to be working and Aero quickly calmed and fell deeper into his sleep. Ruby felt a little embarrassed at the whole situation, particularly when Aero nudged his head into her palm a bit, but she was just glad the boy was sleeping soundly.

Ruby looked down to see the crystal necklace he wore. According to him, it was called Beta and was something called a Shard. He didn't say exactly what they were, or even what they were shards of, but they sounded powerful. Together, they could even somehow send people...

No, she thought, that still sounds impossible. Ruby was torn between what made sense and what was in front of her. Nothing about him implied he was some liar. Even Blake said they shouldn't assume he was making the whole thing up. Either way, whether she believed the time travel part or not, Ruby was certain Aero knew her mother somehow. Between the hood and the way he described her in his story, Ruby had no doubts about it. The question was: what were they supposed to do with that information? He seemed like he would help them if he could and they still had some time before school let out for the summer, but she feel like it wouldn't be enough. One week didn't seem like enough time to solve a decade old MIA case.

Aero nudged a bit more into Ruby's hand, causing her to blush a slight bit. Looking down at the boy, Ruby suddenly got an idea in her head. She knew what to do next. She just hoped Yang wouldn't be mad.

Or worse, her father.

-x-

Ozpin took a sip from his precious coffee mug as he watched the recording for what seemed like the hundredth time. He had played it regular speed, double speed, halved and every other variant multiples times already, hoping to catch something he had missed. He should have been preparing for the 4th Year's upcoming graduation event, but he couldn't shake the boy off of his mind.

In his years as a Huntsman, he had learned many things, the kinds of knowledge you don't get without staring into the eyes of death more times than you can count. The most important things he learned were nothing was truly impossible and if it could go wrong, it would go wrong. That is why, if no one else was going to, he was taking the possibility of the young man's story being true very seriously.

He swiped the monitor in front of him and a screen showing Aero's hospital room was enlarged. The image showed the boy asleep in his bed with a certain scythe wielder putting her hand on his head when he started to stir. Ozpin let out a small chuckle as he looked at the scene and turned off the video to give the two some privacy.

"You really are Summer's daughter, Ruby."

Ozpin stood up and walked toward his window. In his youth, he never imagined he'd be standing in such a position. Some people believed he was some sort of "Super Huntsman," someone with the ability to command others, as well as himself, at levels normal people could only dream of. In truth, Ozpin knew it was less his skill and more his ability to draw trouble to him that earned his slightly exaggerated reputation. This gave him a great deal of hope for his current students, as they seemed to be even greater magnets for mayhem than he was. If he was being honest, he may have even been a little jealous.

He turned around when he heard the elevator open and saw a glasses-wearing, green haired man walk toward him. Ozpin had prepared a cup of coffee for when his friend arrived, but, per the usual, he already had his own thermos.

"Good afternoon, Bartholomew."

"And a good afternoon to you as well, Oz," said the caffeine addicted history professor as the two took their seats. "So, what can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you may be able to answer some questions that have recently sprung up," said Ozpin. "I believe you may best suited to answer them."

"I'll be happy to help in anyway I can," said Oobleck as he downed another swig of the black lava.

"I'm sure you are aware that a young man was brought to the academy last night and immediately went to the infirmary."

"Oh yes," said the history professor. "It is certainly the buzz among the school today. Some students I was helping prepare for my final exam couldn't stop talking about the boy. I eventually convinced them of their immediate need for focus, but I'll admit the story of him riding though the halls has certainly become a popular one.

"That isn't the only story about him I've heard today," said Ozpin in a solemn tone. He clicked a button on his desk and a holographic image of Aero's necklace shimmered into existence. Before Ozpin had the chance to ask if Oobleck recognized the symbol, the green haired man spoke up.

"Where did you find this necklace?" The seriousness in his voice was all Ozpin need to know his friend was indeed familiar with the winged crest. Oz recounted the story Aero had told them and watched with a small amount of shock as Oobleck remained perfectly still the entire time, a sight rarer than finding an albino Beowolf.

"Hmm," hummed Oobleck once Ozpin was done with his story. "You are sure the boy said Totum and Halos?" Ozpin nodded in response and watched with a small amount of horror as the normally guzzling doctor put his thermos onto the desk.

"There are legends," he said in low tone, "of civilizations that predate our own. Actual evidence of such nations is incredibly scarce and widely scrutinized in the archaeological community, but one such society has repeatedly reared it's head through the history of the study: Totum." Ozpin leaned forward at the affirmation that Aero's supposed kingdom wasn't simply a figment of the boy's imagination.

"No one has made any discoveries pertaining to the legend in over a century," he continued. "The last known piece of evidence was discovered during an excavation in the mountains of Atlas. A small piece of stone had several writings edged into it. Though to this day the text remains largely undecipherable, a word and an image, the same image as this necklace," he said as he stared at the hologram, "and the same word the boy said, was found on it and several other carvings found throughout the world. Research puts the age of the relics anywhere between two and three thousand years old.

"But that would place them..."

"Exactly. This would make them several centuries older than any kingdom today."

"Bartholomew," said Ozpin. "Do you believe what this young man has told us could be true?"

"I don't know Oz," he said as he picked up his thermos and stood up. "I'll have to do more research and meet the boy myself before I can make any judgments. I'll let you know when I've found something." He turned and made his way to the door.

"Thank you, Bartholomew."

"You're very welcome, Headmaster." The doctor was almost at the door when he stopped and spoke again. "Ozpin."

"Yes," said the Headmaster.

"Our world is called Remnant," he said as he stepped into the elevator. "The question is: what are we the remnant of?" With that, the door closed and Ozpin was left alone in his office.

He sat in the silence, gripping his cane tightly, while looking at the glowing image in front of him and wondering what it meant for the future.