Yolanda hums softly as she works, running the edge of the blade along the grinding wheel. Sparks fly off the grinding wheel and Yolanda holds the blade at eye level, smiling at the finely honed blade. She runs her finger along the edge and nods a little when it cuts her finger "Nice and sharp. I like it." She takes an oily cloth and begins to clean the blade, then her scroll rings. Yolanda pulls out her scroll and sees its her dad, so she puts him on speaker. "Hello dad."

James lets out a long sigh "Hello Yolanda. It's been a while since we properly spoke. I want to apologize for being too wrapped up in my work to realize what was happening."

Yolanda begins to take apart her handcannon, cleaning the parts "Dad, it's not your fault. I should of got help."

After a long pause, James speaks again "I'm just glad that things can start getting back to normal. Losing you in this way was actually worse than the prospect of you dying. It hurt me deeply to see the lengths you would go to in order to achieve any goal. Which leads me to the question: what was your end game?"

Yolanda sighs "To be honest dad, I wanted to be strong enough that no one could ever hurt me again. And I starting seeing everyone around me as too weak to help me and an obstacle in my way. I wanted Cinder to pay so badly, that I figured my friends and teammates would inevitably get in my way of my ultimate goal, and that going solo to obtain power would be my best bet."

James sighs deeply "Sweetheart… I…"

Yolanda groans "Dad, I know. Urania helped me see the error of my ways. But, I need a favor from you."

He seems to brighten a little "What is it dear?"

She pauses, considering it for a few seconds, then blurts out "I need Neo released from prison… please?"

His tone becomes angry "Absolutely not! Why would I even consider that?"

Yolanda sighs and she strums her fingers on the table. "Daddy. I need her. A lot more than you may think."

James growls a little "Absolutely not, that's a very huge favor. You need to earn back your trust before you make demands that large."

Yolanda chuckles a little "First of all, Neo could escape any time she wanted to, but she turned herself over to you willingly when I was beaten. Because I told her to. So, with her presuming me dead she will eventually get bored and escape. If she leaves she's going to spread chaos everywhere. But I can keep her on a leash… so to speak." And literally, she mutters to herself. "Second… I keep having these reoccurring nightmares. And Neo is the only one who can help me when I have these nightmares."

James sighs deeply, then lets out a groan. After a long pause he sighs "Fine. But under one condition."

Yolanda practically squeals with joy "Anything."

James chuckles "Alright, I'm sending an officer with her to monitor you both."

Yolanda giggles "That's all? Deal!" He sighs "I think I'm going to regret this. Love you dear."

She smiles wide "Love you daddy." She hands up her scroll.

Ruby accidently pushes open the door of the blacksmith's shop and stumbles inside, tripping over a tool on the floor and falling on the floor face first. She looks up at Yolanda "You. Saw. Nothing."

Yolanda folds her arms "That depends. How much did you hear?"

Ruby stands quickly "Oh, this and that." She looks down sheepishly.

Yolanda shrugs "I was going to need to address the group anyway."

Ruby calls the whole team and explains the false alarm, and they all meet up at the inn for breakfast. Yang sits next to Neros, Urania next to Yolanda and Ruby at the head of the table. All eyes turn towards Yolanda and she sets down her fork, sighing "Alright guys, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do."

Yang chews on a piece of bacon "Damn right you do!"

Yolanda sighs "Well, after my beating and subsequent torture at the hands of Cinder; by the way nice job on messing up her face Rubes."

Ruby smiles sheepishly, blushing and looking down "Thanks."

Yolanda turns back towards Yang "Anyway, after I returned to the school I had a horrible nightmare. I was in constant pain, and I… began to consider suicide. As I am a stubborn individual by nature, I kept it all to myself and kept smiling. Then the White Fang attacked, I lost my eye, and the recuperation process was soul draining. I became more and more aware of the fact that I was the only person I could rely on, and that in order to never suffer the same pain I had suffered, I was going to need to grow much stronger. I killed my father to disrupt the military, so that my search for the Spring Maiden would go uninterrupted."

Ruby nods a little "Now it makes sense. Wait why did you need Jaune?"

Yolanda giggles "Because I can't have the Spring Maiden's powers."

Ruby tilts her head "Well yeah I figured that. Ozpin says Maidens chose themselves."

Yolanda shakes her head "That's not why. It's because the Spring Maiden isn't a Maiden at all. It's a guy." (headcannon)

Ruby stares at her "Are you sure?" Yolanda gives Ruby her best 'are you serious' look and Ruby shrugs "I mean, it's just, this is a serious piece of info to take in."

Yolanda nods "I'm surprised it wasn't in my father's dossier, though I suppose that's understandable, the less info on file for the Maidens, the harder they are to locate if there is an information leak."

Ruby nods "So, what's our next step?"

Yolanda frowns "Well, I need to go find Ozpin once my father comes through with his promise to release Neo. Then, perhaps I can work on reuniting the team. After we take down Cinder, we will need to work on cleaning up the grimm."

Ruby looks down, as does the rest of the group. Yolanda frowns "What's wrong?"

Yang taps the table a little "Well, Ozpin died fighting Cinder."

Yolanda tilts her head "No he's not. Who told you that?"

Ruby sits up straighter "You know something we don't?"

Yolanda nods "Uh, yeah. Like the fact that Ozpin is not dead. I know that for a fact."

Urania raises her hand "Excuse me, but can I ask something?"

Yolanda giggles "We aren't in school anymore, you don't have to raise your hand."

Urania folds her arms "Explain to me how you hid from me earlier."

Yolanda frowns "Oh, yeah I turn my aura off when I'm working on my weapons."

Urania shakes her head "That's not possible. You can't shut off your aura. It's a natural mechanism." Yolanda folds her arms "You can if you are awesome like me. It's all about absolute control. Maybe I'll teach you one day."

Ruby stands "Can we get back to the 'Ozpin isn't actually dead' subject real quick?"

Yolanda shrugs "I have no idea where he is hiding, but I know he isn't dead, because I have sensed him tracking me a time or two. He was the reason I moved around a lot. The idea of facing Ozpin was a frightening idea."

Yolanda looks to the group "I've done horrible things to all of you since I became… not myself. So, I appreciate the second chance to make up for my past wrongdoings."

She stands from the table "I'll be upstairs in my room if anyone needs me. Oh, and sorry about the headboard, I had a nightmare."

The group sets out on the road together, Yolanda tailing the pack. She keeps her senses on high alert as they move out into unsettled territory. The level of grimm in these untamed areas was surprisingly low. After many hours of trekking, day soon begins to shift into night. Yolanda stops, making the group stop and turn to her, Yang stopping what she is saying mid-sentence. From the trees comes a maniacal laughter, sending a shiver down all of their spines. Everyone draws their weapons and prepares for a fight. There is a rustling in the trees, and Yolanda faintly makes out the figure as he darts between trees. He leaps from one side of the dirt road to the other, dropping a note as he leaped over their heads. He vanishes without a trace, laughing like a madman as he scurried away.

Yolanda catches the note and opens it. Ruby frowns "What does it say?" Yolanda sighs and looks up at her "An eye for an eye."