Blake was on a warpath.
And Yang Xiao Long was just along for the ride.
Blake had been managing some crazy driving maneuvers in an attempt to keep up, muttering under her breath about "Ozpin" and "child soldiers" the whole time. Despite the clear roads and Blake's impressive control of the sedan, they'd almost lost track of the group flying above them… at least, until they saw Ruby drop from the sky.
Blake was quieter the rest of the way.
Blake parked the car on the walkway leading up to Beacon Tower, ignoring that they were at least a mile from any traversable roads. She had hardly let the car stop before she ripped the door open and jumped out.
Yang shut the car off behind her, pocketing the keys and clambering out, following her.
She found Blake standing in the middle of the lobby, scanning the room.
"There are scuffs around that panel." Blake said, pointing towards the elevator.
Yang had to sprint to keep up as Blake ripped the elevator maintenance access panel from its hinges.
She used to have Yang do that sort of thing.
Before Yang could protest, she was falling down the shaft, Blake was bouncing off shadow clones, and Yang was doing her best to control her fall one-armed, since she hadn't brought Ember Celica. Fortunately, the shotgun in her arm did the trick.
Yang still hit the bottom first, and hard, since she only had half her normal ability to slow down. There was a platform, and a proper access door here, which was already open.
She stepped out to find a big, cavernous room that stretched deep into the darkness, with Jaune and Pyrrha standing around having a quiet conversation. That Oscar person, who Blake was convinced was Ozpin, was standing behind them shouting into a scroll.
On the floor, she saw Violet, standing over a pile of Blankets, tugging on a limp silver arm as if she were trying to get its owner to stand.
Ruby's arm.
Yang stopped in her tracks for just a second. How was she supposed to address Ruby right now? An apology would hardly suffice. It was entirely possible that nothing she could ever do would be enough. Yang wasn't ready to deal with that quite yet.
Blake however, tore right past her.
Pyrrha swore under her breath as she approached to cut Blake off.
"I don't think Ruby's ready to-" She began.
Blake simply shoved her over.
Blake shoved over Pyrrha freaking Nikos, like it wasn't a big deal.
Or was it Pyrrha Arc now?
The part of Yang that had never let go of the love she had for Blake was very excited by that aggressiveness and strength.
The rational part of Yang, the part that was in control right now, was terrified.
She followed and sheepishly helped Pyrrha up. Pyrrha accepted the help, but did so with a glare that made it clear that Yang was not off the hook.
"Ruby Rose!" Blake shouted in mom-voice. "Just what kind of stunt do you think you were trying to pull there!"
Ruby shot the briefest of glances Blake's way. Her silver eyes, usually so full of warmth and passion, were cold, and dead.
It was a look that belonged to someone who had completely and utterly given up.
It was the least-Ruby look imaginable.
It was a look Yang had never wanted to see on her sister.
The sister who had lead their team through thick and thin, who had been able to get others going when all else failed. The sister that never gave up, no matter how bad things got.
The legendary, indomitable Ruby Rose looked like she'd given up. On everything.
Yang felt a deadly chill fill the air.
Ruby's eyes returned to the ceiling. She was utterly unmoving, but not unconscious. Weiss, however, was, and lying curled up just a few feet away. She'd always been a heavy sleeper, but the shouting should definitely have woken her up. It was concerning that it did not.
Violet had turned to run towards Blake, but upon hearing the mom voice, redirected and shot over to cling to Yang's leg. Blake reached out for her daughter, but, upon missing, remembered her anger and turned back towards Ruby. Yang knelt down wipe Violet's tear-stained eyes, and picked her up.
"You think you can just pull that sh-garbage in front of our daughter!?" Blake continued to shout, the tears starting to run down her face doing nothing to cool her rage. "She needs you alive Ruby!"
Ruby continued to fail to react, staring unblinkingly towards the ceiling.
"Blake, I don't think you're helping." Pyrrha called out demandingly, looking between Ruby, Blake, and Violet.
"What do you think we'd have done if Pyrrha hadn't been able to catch you?" Blake continued unabated. "Do you have any idea what that would have done to us? To Violet? Cripes, Ruby! You probably already traumatized her with that!"
"Please make them stop fighting." Violet sobbed into Yang's neck.
"Blake!" Yang pointedly, angrily shouted, drawing the Faunus's attention, and finally snapping her out of it.
"Maybe then you'd feel half as bad as you made me feel." Ruby finally said after a few seconds of silence. Coldly. Emotionlessly. She still didn't move any of the muscles not required to say those words.
Blake covered her mouth with both hands, and, now that her rage had faltered, began to sob. She stepped over and lifted Violet out of Yang's arms.
"Mommy, please stop fighting with Momma." Violet sobbed.
"I-I'll try, baby." Blake choked out. "I'll try."
Blake held Violet close, and ran her fingers through her long purple hair with her free hand.
"How did you find this place?" Pyrrha asked, her eyebrow twitching in frustration.
"Scuffs around the panel." Yang shrugged as she meekly confirmed. "Is Weiss…?"
"Weiss will be fine. She's just sleeping." Pyrrha huffed. "She's better off than you left Ruby, at least. Do you mind telling me what on Remnant possessed you to to think that you could just-"
Oscar stepped in and cut Pyrrha off with a wave of his hand, apparently having finished his call.
"Hello Ozpin." Blake said coldly.
Oscar and Pyrrha shared a confused glance as Jaune moved over to check on Ruby..
"I didn't think she would have been able to tell you, given the state she found you in." Oscar said, directing the group away from the blanket pile.
"She didn't." Blake confirmed, glaring at him as they followed.
"Well, then, I suppose it can't be helped." Oscar said with a solemn nod. "We had intended to initiate you tonight, anyway, and after what you saw… after what you all saw," he shot a glance at Violet, and a glare a Pyrrha, "I do not see any value in hiding it, provided I can trust you to be sworn to secrecy."
"We might want to rethink their trustworthiness." Pyrrha said coldly, before withering under a glare from Oscar. Apparently even the invincible Pyrrha Nikos, or Arc, or whatever her last name was now, still had some fear of Ozpin.
Blake and Yang exchanged a glance.
"Violet's not even five." Yang said. "You can't expect her to swear to anything."
"Almost five." Violet grumbled between sobs.
"I also can't expect anyone to believe the word of a five year old." Oscar said. "She was going to be dragged into this anyway, eventually. It's why I made sure she was born. Why I demanded Ruby have a child."
"W-what are you saying?" Blake gasped. "I am not going to let you just-"
"Oh come now." Oscar continued. "You didn't really think there'd be a contest for fancy new reproductive technologies, did you? We needed to continue the line of silver-eyed warriors, and the Roses, the last line I know of, have all been notoriously gay. Summer was at least willing to pretend, but this was the only way I could get Ruby to agree."
Yang stood there with her mouth agape, as Oscar continued as though he hadn't just made the claim that the woman who raised her, whose death broke her father, was just "pretending" the whole time.
Blake clutched Violet tighter.
"You are not taking my baby from me." She said. "How important could it possibly be that you would mess with our lives like that?"
"She'll make the choice herself when she's old enough, as Ruby did." Oscar continued, nodding. "I wouldn't presume to… anyway, it's so important because Silver-Eyed Warriors are one of our last lines of defense against Salem. Salem the… monstrous being who leads and controls the creatures of Grimm. The same monster that destroyed Haven, and that almost destroyed Beacon. Those with silver eyes have an ability which allows them to simply destroy Grimm where they stand. Even the large, old, and powerful ones. That is not an ability we should simply allow to disappear."
"So you would force people into creating child soldiers for you." Blake said flatly, her ears pinned back as she glared at Oscar.
"If it came down to the survival of humanity, and the Faunus, I would." Oscar said with an edge of agitation. "But please understand that it has not. Everything I have had Ruby do, she has done with knowledge and consent. Yes, that includes having a child who, just like her, may have to grow up to fight monsters, if she so chooses."
The two glared at each other for a long second.
"So... why is this secret?" Yang asked, attempting to diffuse the situation by moving the conversation along. "Why not tell everyone? Unite the world and destroy this Salem, and the Grimm, once and for all."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Oscar said, returning to a calmer, more professorly tone. "Salem does not control all of the Grimm, or humanity would have fallen long ago. If we were to spread the word, it would cause a panic, and we would find ourselves fighting the Grimm she does not as well as the ones she does."
"So you want us all to just fight your secret shadow war for you?" Yang scoffed. "Telling no one as we become part of a small, exclusive, easily targeted group and throw our lives away?"
"I am not asking you to participate." He said. "I am simply offering you the choice. There is no shame or disgrace in abstaining. Only in retreat."
"But you haven't told us everything yet." Blake said, narrowing her eyes.
"You haven't sworn yourselves to secrecy yet." Oscar said. "And if you do, after I tell you more, you can decide then if you want to participate."
"Alright. Fine." Blake said. "I won't tell. But I'm tired of being lied to."
Yang couldn't help but notice Blake made no mention of the ease with which she lied herself.
"I guess I aught to know, too." Yang shrugged. "I won't share either."
Oscar gave each of them a nod before shooting a preemptive glare at Pyrrha, which cut her protest off before she could voice it.
"Well, then." He said. "To continue with what I left out… Salem and I are both, in a sense… immortal. If you kill us through normal means, we reincarnate, though I'm afraid her version is a bit swifter, as I'm sure Pyrrha can attest. We were both cursed by the gods, eons ago, she for destroying the world, and I, for failing to stop her."
"That's hardly fair." Yang said. "Are you saying the gods are real?"
"Yes." Oscar confirmed. "The Brothers Grimm. I met them... once or twice. They used to live here. This world wasn't called Remnant until they left."
Yang nodded slowly.
"So what about glowy eyes over here?" She jabbed a thumb towards Pyrrha. "How do you learn to fly, and shoot lightning, and turn into a bird."
"I... can't turn into a bird." Pyrrha said, confused.
"Those are special powers that can't be learned, Miss Xiao Long." Oscar said. "I don't know where you got the idea that they could turn into birds, but for the rest, it's a power that is… inherited. There are four Maidens: Spring. Summer. Winter. Fall. Pyrrha is our Fall Maiden. When a Maiden dies, her power is… transferred. Into the person who was last in her thoughts. Or to a random person, if said person isn't a young woman."
"So Weiss…" Blake began. "Pyrrha said something about her sister, does that mean…"
"Yes. Winter was our Winter Maiden." He said.
"Was." Yang repeated, crestfallen.
Winter had been one of the few constants in Yang's life during her "Rampage Round the World". Weiss's sister was constantly checking in on them, and was the only real family Weiss seemed to have. Yang had grown to love her like a sister of her own over the years.
And now she was being told, in a roundabout way, that she was dead.
"Winter…" Blake said, lip quivering.
"Is Auntie Winter okay?" Violet asked.
"I'm sorry, sweetie." Blake said to her daughter and held her close.
Auntie Winter. Apparently, she and Weiss weren't the only members of the once great team RWBY that Winter had been keeping an eye on.
Oscar decided to press on, despite the emotional moment in front of him.
"There was an attack on Atlas tonight." He said. "I was just on a call with General Ironwood. They managed to keep the city floating, and to turn away Salem's forces, but… it was devastating. The academy is a mess. Worse than the Battle of Beacon, but not as bad as the Fall of Haven."
"Oh my gods." Yang said, covering her mouth with both hands.
"Weiss having the power is a good sign." Oscar continued. "It means Salem didn't get her hands on the powers of the Winter Maiden, but if she made her move, I worry she might have already found the new Spring Maiden. The last one, Vernal, died at the Fall of Haven, and we haven't been able to determine who inherited the power."
Yang pondered for second.
"The Summer Maiden, would I know her?" She asked quietly.
"No. She's in Vacuo, and you certainly haven't met her." Oscar said, raising an eyebrow.
"Then I think I know who the Spring Maiden is."
"What are you trying to say, Miss Xiao Long?" Oscar inquired.
Yang steeled herself. This was never easy to talk about, but this was important. People were dying over this.
"A-at the Fall of Haven." Yang stuttered. "After I was… my Mom's portal opened up to me, and she came flying out of it. Literally flying. She had a mask on, so I couldn't see her eyes, but, she blasted a Beringel with lightning, made sure nothing else really dangerous was around me, took off into the sky, and, uh… turned into a bird."
"She should have been too old to…" Oscar began. "Nevermind that. Raven has turned on Salem before, so I doubt she'd be alive if Salem knew she was the Maiden. I'll need to make sure that Qrow checks on his sister…"
"It's okay," Yang said, "She's alive. She… visits me from time to time. Usually in bird form. Same Raven's been following me my whole life. And I saw it earlier today."
Oscar breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was some very valuable news, Miss Xiao Long. Thank you."
"Why does she keep attacking the schools?" Blake asked quietly, cradling Violet who seemed to have cried herself to sleep. Almost-five-year-olds weren't exactly known for pulling all-nighters.
"There are… powerful relics. Hidden under each school." He said. "They're safest there, surrounded by trained and training Huntsmen and Huntresses, and deep inside each Kingdom. It might be a risk to the students, but what might happen if Salem gets her hands on any of these relics is far, far worse."
Yang nodded.
"So that's why you hire professors like Ruby, or Pyrrha, or Goodwitch." She said. "They're there to be the defense."
"Precisely." Oscar said. "Now that you're more or less caught up, you both have a choice."
"I… will need to get back to you on that." Yang said. "Before anything else, my first priority is to patch things up with Ruby. After that… we'll see."
"And you, Mrs. Rose?"
Blake flinched upon hearing her own last name.
"I… Violet is my priority." Blake said. "I'm sorry, but… there's no way I'll risk her losing both her moms, and you already have Ruby. So no. But don't think I won't find ways to stay informed. Don't you dare try to keep things from me."
"Very well." Oscar said. "I should return to the damage reports, and plan my next course of action. I suggest you both go rest. Ruby will be safe here. We will have people to watch over and care for her, but for right now, I don't think the two of you will be very effective caretakers. I'm sure you'll be able to reconnect with her in time."
"Is Violet really your priority, Blake?" Pyrrha said coldly as they began to walk back. "Did you even think about what you were doing to her tonight?"
Blake didn't seem to have a response for this. She turned her head away and shuddered as a fresh round of tears assaulted her.
"You kept talking about us not talking Violet away from you." Pyrrha continued. "What makes you think you have the right to take her away from Ruby?"
"I-I'm not!" Blake choked. "I don't! I…"
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at Blake, reaching a hand forward as though she were about to demand the child be turned over to her.
Yang stepped forward, and placed her hands over Pyrrha's. Left first, as the soft skin would be less threatening than the hard metal.
"When Ruby recovers," she began, "I will do everything in my power to make sure that Ruby gets her daughter. Even if I have to fight Blake. But right now, Ruby's not in any state to take care of her. Don't try to tear Violet away from her whole family."
Pyrrha's glare found Yang.
"Oh, like you're any better!" She hissed. "This is as much your fault as it is hers!"
Pyrrha's eyes began to spout flame, and her hand grew very, very hot.
Yang did not budge. Nor did she activate her Aura. This was penance.
But Ruby came before her penance.
"Yes. It is." Yang said through gritted teeth. "If you think you need to kill me over it, go ahead. But if I thought killing me would actually help Ruby, I would have done it myself."
Pyrrha continued to glare at Yang, brow furrowed as though she were trying to decide what to do. Her hand did not cool down.
Jaune shoved the two of them apart. Yang hadn't even noticed him approaching.
"Enough of that." Jaune said. "You're not helping, any of you."
Pyrrha's anger gave way to distress. Jaune started to try to heal the burns on Yang's hand with his semblance, but Yang pulled it back, and pushed him away with the metal arm. She had her full Aura left, she could manage that herself if she chose to.
"If this happened to anyone else," Jaune continued as if he hadn't just been shoved, "Ruby would be here, calming everyone down, and trying to find a way to keep moving forward. We owe her that much."
Yang wasn't sure if that was true. A little over a week ago, she would have believed that unquestioningly, but after surviving what happened when that mask came off…
Still, it was better for Ruby, and Violet, that Pyrrha not murder her here.
"We will take care of Ruby. Keep an eye on her. Talk to her when… when she's ready. Figure out what she want to do about the two of you." Jaune said, pressing forward. "Yang, I'm going to hold you to your word on Violet. It should help that she gets some sense of familiarity, but the moment Ruby is up and moving, she gets to see her. Even if she's not ready to see you."
Jaune directed that last bit towards Blake.
"O-Okay." Blake swallowed, fully understanding the implication.
"We're all supposed to be on the same side here." Jaune sighed. "It's too late to take back what you've done, but we should still try to fix what we can. So I'm going to tentatively welcome you to the Ozluminati, but you better not mess anything else up."