Almost didn't get this in on time; I started writing the day after the last Hollow Fragments went out. I then realized on Wednesday that I had been writing HF chapter 8, and it was Parallel Prisoner's turn for a chapter, oops. Still managed to get this out, thought it was a bit tough since I usually do these bit by bit. Forgive me if I make any grammatical or spelling mistakes, and point them out, as always.

This is mostly just cleaning up the events of the past two chapters, and setting up for the finale. I was considering an epilogue, but I think I'll just add it on to the end of the last chapter so I can move on to Family Gifts two weeks sooner (since the order would change from PP, HF, PP, HF, FG to PP, HF, FG).

I'm trying to remove unnecessary chapters, because I still have over 1 year of chapters to write and upload (provided I go 1 chapter a week) and I haven't planned out all the chapters to the end of any story except this one, so yeah. Most of my stories are planned to be pretty long, easily taking a year, maybe two for some at this rate.

Anyways, enjoy my story, in all it's... something.


Chapter seven: To those who wait

Waking up in the hospital is never fun. Either you were hurt badly enough that you were unconscious when you arrived, or the situation is serious enough you've had to spend at least one night there already. Even now that they had returned to the dorm, Neopolitan's pounding headache was a constant reminder of which one it was. Luckily, her aura had taken most of the blow delivered by Weiss's floating ice-ball of death. 'I don't want to think about what would have happened if I didn't have my aura up. Wait a moment, that reminds me…'

"Weiss, how did you know I had an aura to protect me when you started your one-sided snowball fight with me?"

"I didn't" She replied calmly.

In contrast to her reaction, Neo's eyes widened significantly. "Then why did you hit me hard enough that I broke part the wall where my body impacted it?" She emphasized this point by pointing at a hole in the drywall, through which the students could see beams of wood and electrical wiring.

"Simple you moron, there were two possibilities. Either you had your aura back somehow, or you did all that damage without one. If it was the first one, you'd survive… probably. If you managed to destroy our room, knock out Blake, and beat Yang without an aura, then there was no way we could keep you here. On top of that, despite what your track record may indicate, it's not exactly easy to take out two huntresses in training. If we started fighting, I don't think I could have beaten you alone."

Neo shook her head. "First off, I don't like that 'probably'. Next up, you were prepared to kill me rather than let me escape? That's cold, Ice Queen."

The assassin watched in amusement as her face turned bright red. "Which of you two told her that you call me that!?" Neo chuckled as the partners looked at each other in confusion.

The short girl said, "They didn't say anything, I just heard Roman call you it. He'll love it when I tell him your own team agrees with him." Now it was Yang's turn to laugh.

Trying to change the subject, Weiss turned the conversation toward Neo once more. "Why do you even work for that degenerate. I mean, he's stealing from people, is working with terrorists, and now he's a kidnapper too!"

"It's his positively shining personality. Why do you think? With all this work he's had recently, I make more than the entire council of Vale combined!"

"Bull, there's no way you earn that much!"

Neo smirked, "We have more of your company's dust in this city than all the shops together, if we started selling it, we'd be set for life."

"Why don't you" asked Blake. "I mean, if this is all about money, why not just sell it and get out?"

Rolling her eyes, the criminal explained. "One, if a bunch of random people start popping up with dust to sell, it'll look suspicious. Two, that's not part of the plan, and I wasn't hired to do what I want. Three, I could probably live off what I have now easily if I could pick up a normal job. But when you're wanted in every kingdom and you have no experience with anything employers want, there aren't a whole lot of job opportunities. Believe it or not, 'professional assassin/criminal bodyguard' is a fairly limiting career field, you kind of go all in when you start."

Yang looked over at Neo. "What if you could stop? I mean, Ozpin's pretty understanding, he's even being nice to you despite the circumstances. What if we convinced him to let you come here, or become a huntress, since you seem like you'd have already passed."

The short girl mulled it over for a bit, 'well, the White Fang beds are really uncomfortable. Wait, have I seriously gone so far that in a profession of killing people, my biggest issue is about being comfy when I sleep? Damn, maybe I should consider their offer'.

"Talk to him, it's kind of in his hands anyways. I'll think it over, but no promises."

The blonde flashed a smile. "You never stood a chance; we're just too nice to say no to, except Weiss, then it's fun to say no to her."

"Why does everyone want to ruin my day?"

Just then, there came a loud knocking at the door. It sounded as if the person responsible was trying to break it down with their fist; muffled complaints of "Nora!" could be heard on the other side. Yang casually strolled up to the door and waited. After a short time, the knocking became louder, and in slightly longer intervals.

Waiting for just the right moment, the blonde placed her hand on the knob and flung the door inwards. Nora Valkyrie's fist carried her forwards so that she fell to the ground, arms spread out wide. The orange-haired maniac looked up. "Hi Yang." Swiveling her head that she trained her sights on Neopolitan, Nora donned a much darker expression and jumped up off the ground. "You! You hurt my friends!"

Reaching behind her, the girl brought out Magnhild. Converting it to it's hammer form, she marched toward Neo.

"Uh, guys, I actually don't have an aura now! She'll kill me if she hits me with that thing! Stop her… please, guys?"

Blake stood in-between their 'guest' and Nora. "Nora, don't hurt her. She came back on her own, she decided to stay in order to help Ruby."

"But she kicked you in the head! She trapped Yang under her own bed! She made Weiss really grumpy, and when Weiss isn't happy, nobody's happy! Ooh, that first part rhymed!"

Yang laughed as the heiress once again glared at someone making fun of her attitude. "Down, Nora. Leave the nice lady alone."

"Fine." She said reluctantly, drawing out the 'i'. Compacting Magnhild into it's grenade launcher form, and reattaching it to her back, Nora flopped down on one of the beds. The rest of JNPR stood in the door awkwardly, watching the strange scenario unfold. "You guys can come in if you want."

With the two teams situated, they began to talk about what exactly had happened. "Tic-Tacs? She tricked you with Tic-Tacs?"

Yang rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "What can I say? Ruby does all the thinking around here, I just go with whatever she says." She said jokingly

"Speak for yourself." A disgruntled Weiss muttered.

"No, I'm with Yang on this one." Neo interjected. "I've been here for nearly a week, not once have I seen them use their brains." Nora reached behind her. "I'm kidding!"

Satisfied, Nora took her hand off her weapon. "So, what are you guys going to do with her last day here? Are you going to go somewhere?"

The three members of RWBY that were present looked at each other, and then towards Neo. "Well, we haven't really thought of anything to do." Said Blake. Maybe we could-"

"I know what we should do!" Yang suddenly exclaimed, "let's all go out for ice-cream!"

"Sure, did you have anywhere in mind" Neo said, before the warnings of "Neo, don't!" could reach her ears.

"Great! I know this place with great Neapolitan ice-cream!" She said in victory.

Neopolitan stared blankly at her. "That wasn't even remotely good! Yes, it sounds exactly like my name, but.… God you're horrible. You were about as subtle as a train crash; but when one of those happens, you can't tear your eyes away. But I don't want to see you ever again." Yang smiled smugly. "You're just mad because you didn't think of it first."

"But I did! Everyone did! That is the first thing anyone thinks of when they see me! You weird, delusional moron!"


All things considered, except the whole 'near death experience' thing at the hands of one of the more opinionated faunus, Ruby was fine. The encounter had left her with few injuries, the pain having faded entirely. But the incident had left her in a bad way in regards to her emotions.

The fact she nearly died, or at least was nearly scarred badly, was not lost on her. But it was more of what Torin had accused her of that left a mark. She hadn't really thought about the men thrown off the train, nor had she considered that many of them were still behind the wall when Glynda Goodwitch sealed the breach.

It showed her how easily someone who thought they were doing the right thing could make such huge mistakes. She, for the first time, really understood the White Fang, how Blake and her comrades could do (or had done) such things, and still believe they were delivering justice. It was the same thinking that drove her attacker, and that had sparked her interest in becoming a huntress.

The idea that one was fighting for the right cause could make them go to the ends of the world to accomplish their goals, and blind them to the flaws in it. It scared Ruby. If her life-long dream could bring such consequences on others, even if they were criminals, was she doing a good thing by going to Beacon?

Odd, how being attacked by someone could make her wonder if she was doing the right thing by stopping them. As she had her internal conflict, Ruby was pacing around the room. The one good thing this had brought her, was that she now had more room to walk around in.

To make sure she was never trapped again, in case of another attempt on her life, Roman had allowed her free reign of the whole room, rather than just her tight cell. There were always two guards on duty, and they were all very monitored by camera as an added precaution. Shortly after she'd calmed down the previous day, Roman had returned with the mouse faunus who had let Torin in.

They had decided that she should be able to hear what he had to say, since she was nearly killed because of him. She recalled the conversation well.

"Why… why did you do it? I trusted you…."

"Please, believe me Ruby, I didn't want to, but my wife is sick. We couldn't afford any medicine, and my daughter… I work in the White Fang, I wouldn't be able to take care of her alone, and that's assuming they didn't figure out what I do? I'd never be able to raise her, and I couldn't let Ellen die!"

She had wanted to hate him. A thought that, looking back, scared her. She had wanted to condemn him for what he did, for nearly getting her killed, helpless in some cold cell in the middle of nowhere. But she couldn't. She knew what losing a mother felt like. She saw how her father had changed when Summer had died. But Ruby had Yang, and as distant as he was at times, Taiyang was still there for her.

If Gus's daughter had neither, how would she get by? A dead mother, a father branded as a terrorist, and on top of it all, she had to deal with the anti-faunus prejudice the world still held. That disease was a death sentence for both mother and child, and Ruby had become a huntress to save lives, no matter who they were.

'If they were going to be slaughtered by Grimm, I would have given my life, if necessary, to save them; that's my job. The difference is that Gus still sent out a message for help, hoping it would arrive in time. I didn't die, and now neither will his family.'

No matter how angry she'd been, how close to her end she had come, Ruby could not bring herself to hate the faunus. It seemed as if everyone was motivated by saving lives, just different ones, and from different threats.

For her, it was everyone from the Grimm. For Gus, it had been his family from a disease. Torin committed his acts in the name of protecting all faunus from the 'evil' humans. She may not have agreed with the methods, but each one believed they were doing what had to be done. How could she fault them for that?

"Come on you, it's time to go."

"Wait, don't hurt him. He was just trying to help his family, and he did manage to save me still. I don't know what punishment you were planning, but he doesn't deserve it. What if you had to choose between your family and some stranger?"

Theodore had looked thoughtful when she said this. He nodded curtly, and led Gus out of the room.

Ruby didn't know what happened to the mouse faunus. She didn't know if he was let off, kicked out of the White Fang, or if he met the same fate as Torin. She didn't expect to see him as a guard, given what had happened, and she didn't feel comfortable asking. 'I would be asking them whether they took the advice of their prisoner on how to handle a guard who defied orders. This whole situation is just a mess.'

"Hello, Ruby." It was Torchwick. He used her real name, Ruby had realized. For the past few days, he seemed he used her 'nickname' only when he spoke sarcastically, or when making a joke. It was certainly interesting she was on a first name basis with a criminal. One who had taken her hostage, no less.

"Hey Roman, what's up?" She smiled as she thought about how she spoke to him like she would a friend. Objectively, he'd not killed her, not tortured her, agreed not to keep her prisoner forever, and had not allowed her to be hurt. All of things were things he didn't do, yet they made her think of a friend. Technically, Cardin Winchester fulfilled these requirements too, but he certainly wasn't a friend.

"I just thought I should let you know, tomorrows the big day. And we got you a going away present."

Looking up at the criminal, Ruby found him holding… her cloak!

She disappeared in a cloud of rose petals, the two guards shooting up in confusion. A second later, she reappeared with her cloak, and Roman looking surprised at his now empty hands. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

He laughed at her antics. "Very funny, try not to do that tomorrow. I set up several dust bombs at the exchange site, so please don't do anything that could make me jumpy."

"Why did you plant bombs there?"

Torchwick raised an eyebrow at the young huntress. "Are you seriously asking me that? Why would a notorious criminal, wanted by the General he just escaped from, want to set up some form of insurance at a hostage exchange between a terrorist organization and hunters, when the girl he's trading away has a speed semblance? I'm sorry, but I not walking into a trap unprepared."

The girl tilted her head. "Why do you think it's a trap, Roman?"

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. "Hello, Red… It's me! What possible reason could you have to think they aren't planning some kind of trap? They think they have a chance to re-capture me, and not have to give up Neo. They have an entire army at their backs, one which I recently embarrassed too, and I don't think they're all that forgiving right now."

Ruby looked at her feet, somewhat embarrassed. 'Of course they're going to try and catch him, why wouldn't they?'

"Umm, what happens if it is a trap?"

The orange-haired criminal shook his head. "Then hopefully, they'll just give back Neo, and both of us can fly off without anyone exploding. I know they want me off the street, but I doubt the general is willing to blow up a bunch of his own men, as well as a few hunters, just to catch little old me. Then again, he has surprised me in the past."

Roman looked at Ruby before finishing his thought, "let's just hope it doesn't come to that."


I'll give you three guesses what happens! No, too silly. Nope, I'm not putting unicorns in either. There ya go, now you got it right! I honestly didn't expect you to use all three guesses.

I think people more accurately predict this story's events than the weather, oh well, it's not exactly full of twists. So what to put here... nothing I guess, I'm just going to get back to trying to finish up the second teaser/chapter to Family Gifts (yes, my teasers are chapters. I don't want to remove them, and I don't want to have to write a small teaser, then make a full chapter later. So here we go, just write a chapter and release it early, boom, hooray for lazi- I mean efficiency!