Summary: Yang decides the better place to punch things is actually the dojo. Thankfully. Ruby doesn't know how to address Blake's parents and freaks out about it. Ruby and Jaune have homework. One succeeds better at this then the other. Oscar can't deal with Ruby. Stars are a thing. There's a loaded question. Butterflies are a thing, too. Qrow returns and neither Ruby, Yang or Oscar can deal. Nora eats all the cereal. Packing up feat Ruby starting to realise that Oscar carries most of her stuff. They all hate walking. More stars! More missions to get them home.

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A/N: I know I said I'd do something for Rose Garden week, but this story isn't done, and it's taking over my life, so just take this chapter for my contribution to the Rose Garden week. I did die. I was right on that part, at least.

This was meant to be up loast week, but this site wouldn't let me post!

Also, if you're not new to this story, BloomingLight101, featured on her Tumblr, has created awesome designs for both Oscar and Ruby's new outfits, as well as the weapon design for Oscar's Ventus Silvis for you all to enjoy! Still dying from the background Blooming. But yeah, give her all the love because I can't give enough!

On that note, hey! Blooming! It's your next favourite chapter! XD (You're welcome)

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Do you remember when we fell under? Did you expect me to reason with thunder? I still remember when time was frozen: What seemed forever, was just a moment. Hurry up, hurry up — There's no more waiting, we're still worth saving! Feel the light shining in the dark of night: Remember what we forgot, I know it's a long shot but we're bringing it all back! Feel the light shining like the stars tonight. I still remember when things were broken but put together the cracks are closin'. You and I can have it all tonight, so let's bring it back it to light. Now we have another chance to fly. Another chance to make it right.
— Jennifer Lopez

Other music:
Kiesza — Cannonball
Vindsvept — The Journey Home

Part 4 - Chapter 20

Qrow had already left by the time they woke up.
Yang was the one who tore up the post-it he left when he mentioned that Ghira and Kali were in charge.
"I'm not a damn baby." Yang had muttered and stalked out.
Nora was too busy inhaling her cereal to have noticed the note in the first place.
"How does he mean in charge?" Ren asked, but quickly backed down when Yang glared at him and offered his hands up in surrender.
Oscar and Ruby came in to see Yang stalk out.
"Uh, okay…?" Oscar asked curiously.
"Yang?" Ruby called nervously.
"I need to punch a wall!" Yang told her as she disappeared downstairs.
At least she was heading for the downstairs dojo, and not an actual wall.

"What's up with Yang?" Ruby questioned as Oscar went over to the kettle.
"Something about Blake's parents being in charge?" Nora asked, shrugging.
Both Oscar and Ruby looked at each other in confusion.
"Why wouldn't they? It's not as if we're of age. And there's a lot of us." Oscar said.
The rest shrugged. They already guessed it was something best to leave alone, at least until Yang told them more anyway.

"So, are we up for going back to work, or are we having one more day off?" Oscar asked, standing next to Ruby giving her a mug.
Ren and Nora looked at each other. "What do we need to do?" Ren asked.
Oscar gave out a half shrug. "I can't say for sure how long Qrow is going to be away, but it may be awhile, so unless you all want to get bored…" Oscar trailed off suggestively.
Having either Ruby or Nora bored, wasn't exactly in anyone's best interest.
Ruby looked at him. "You think we'd be allowed on team or paired missions?" She asked.
Oscar cocked his head. "Probably not paired, but maybe in teams, we'd need to ask Miss Blake's parents." Oscar told them.

Ruby, by then was looking around. "Where are they anyway?" She asked.
Ren and Nora shrugged. "We haven't seen them since yesterday." Ren told her.
Oscar looked contemplative. "I'm sure they have a lot to deal with, adding us all to their list probably heavies that load." Oscar said thoughtfully.
Ruby looked too him. "What do you mean?" She asked.
Oscar gave a shrug. "I don't pretend to know exactly what's going on, but the Faunus are mostly divided with their ideals." Oscar told her.
That, they could understand, since what happened with the White Fang, and its double abandonment.
"Do you think there is anything we can do?" Ruby asked curiously.
"You might need to ask Miss Blake that." Oscar told her.
Ruby nodded. "I'll go find her!" She said, then raced out of the room.
Ren looked at Oscar. "Does…she even know where Blake is?" He questioned.
Oscar just sighed and held his hands up in defeat.
Her not knowing wasn't about to stop her though.

./.

It did take Ruby awhile, but she ended up finding all of her teammates plus Blake's parents. Since it was morning they had all gathered in the kitchen, where several people could eat their breakfast, or like Nora, who was on her fifth, could hear and put their input as well.
Most of the children were nervous about speaking to either Ghira and Kali because they weren't exactly sure of their boundaries, and they didn't want to cross them unknowingly. Yang had come back when Ruby asked her, she did a good job of not sulking or pouting when Ruby mentioned it wasn't their fault Qrow asked them to look after them all. Ruby did understand her sister, since aside from herself and Oscar they were all eighteen, but even Yang conceded at the point Ruby made that Ghira and Kali had more experience than them all put together.

"Sorry to call you out for this…?" Ruby started, and really had no idea how to address either of Blake's parents, formal titles? Less formal titles? By their last name?
She felt Oscar pat her shoulder when he could sense she had just confused herself.
Ghira noted nervously that his wife was cooing at Ruby.
Just how many of these children was she about to adopt?

"You can call me Kali, dear," She told her.
Ruby gave out a nervous murmur but nodded. "Um…Yeah, uh, I want to ask, since Uncle Qrow left us to you, if it's alright for us to go in pairs or teams back out into the field and do missions. We haven't been able to do them for a while, and since there's more Huntsmen protecting the school and Mistral…" Ruby trailed off. "At least until Uncle Qrow gets back, because we really don't have anything to do, and we're kinda bored…" Ruby added on nervously.
"Never a good thing." Blake whispered, but her parents heard.

Kali and Ghira looked at each other. "You are capable teams?" Ghira asked, looking back to them.
There were nods of nine children.
"Well, as long as you rotate, one group on one group off, and set when each mission is supposed to end since you will most likely be out of Scroll contact, I don't see a problem." Kali answered.
There was a round of cheers, Nora being the loudest.

./.

Out of the nine, Ruby and Jaune were the ones who had the most homework out of the lot. Being the leaders of their two teams, they were taking what Oscar had said to heart. While protecting Haven Academy was a good start, they both knew their teams had a long way to go, if they were wanting to pose a threat to Salem's forces, or the witch herself.

"So!" Ruby started, launching herself at her bed, making Oscar near bounce off it, and yelp in fright when he became airborne.
"Ruby!" He shouted in alarm.
Ruby looked startled, then apologetic. "Sorry, Oscar!" She said, trying to help steady him from bouncing.
Oscar blinked at her wide-eyed, having not sensed her coming. "D—did you need something?" He asked, trying to figure out why she actually tried to send him out the window.
Ruby was rubbing her neck apologetically. "Sorry! I was just wondering how long you think Qrow could be away for?" She asked.

Oscar was able to recollect himself and sit cross-legged on the bed and then looked contemplative. "He's probably travelling as a bird, so the way there wouldn't take as long as returning…" Oscar started thoughtfully.
Both children could definitely see a crow sitting atop of the Pride & Joy because the man didn't want to pay for the trip back to Vale.
It caused them both to chuckle in amusement. "So, maybe a week, or two? Depending on how long he needs to talk to Ozpin, and how long it takes to find someone willing to come here for an uncountable amount of time." Oscar continued thoughtfully.
"Then it's our turn to go back to Beacon!" Ruby surmised.
Oscar nodded. "Pretty much!" He answered.

Because of teams SSSN and CFVY being able to take over the immediate roles they had been doing it left JNPR and RWBY to be able to go back to taking mission Hunts.
It brought back the Counting Game between the teams, though this time 'round it had fewer consequences for the one who ended up with the fewer kill points, aside from bragging rights from the winner: it became a good exercise to hone skill and work on pairing combos and introducing Semblances to them.

Ruby got a good kick outta randomly yelling out words or phrases and seeing if the pair it corresponded to, acted appropriately. Sometimes she got whacked for the name, sometimes she got a complete and utter confused look from all her teammates because they couldn't decipher who she actually meant, or what she actually wanted the pair to do.
Ruby normally left her teammates to come up with their own combos, once she had the rundown of their strengths, weakness, Semblance, and what was going on in the actual fight.
But that didn't mean she had fun seeing what worked and what didn't.

./.

Jaune normally had a little less fun with this, because half the time his teammates just stopped their fighting when they couldn't understand what he was saying, and he usually just amounted to telling whoever to do their specific skill.
"Why can't we come up with cool and awesome codenames?" Jaune pouted as Nora and Ren bickered what their pair should actually be called.
Pyrrha looked at him sympathetically. "Perhaps it might be best to sit us all down and explain what each code means, so they won't stop mid-battle and nearly get themselves killed." Pyrrha suggested.

Jaune just sighed. "Yeah. I know." He still pouted. "D—do you think they know they need names for us too?" He asked.
Pyrrha giggled. "I wouldn't exactly go that far." She told him.
Jaune nearly bent over in defeat. "Can you…just, you know, get rid of the Grimm?" He asked.
Pyrrha nodded and took care of the problem Jaune had tried making Ren and Nora go after.
"That was ours, damn it!" Nora yelled when she saw Pyrrha take their target down.
"Less bickering more fighting!" Jaune yelled.
Nora poked her tongue out defensively, while Ren held up his hands in surrender before they got back to helping Pyrrha.

./.

Oscar still couldn't get over that every time he saw Ruby sport the rose pins and corresponding green ribbons that his stomach would try and melt and revolt on him, it was an affliction he hadn't been able to control, nor could he get over what her cloak was hiding under it. No Sleeves. Normally when that thought resurfaced, it normally immediately sent his mind offline for a few seconds.
Not trying to recall the time he found that out didn't help because it made things so much worse.
Nothing really helped, but he hadn't resolved to smacking his head against a brick wall yet, so that might still help.

But the time that he was out after dark fetching in the report SSSN had left at the mailbox on their way to bed, he noticed the clear sky and stars coming out to shine. Seeing so, he smiled, and rushed back inside, leaving the report stuck to the fridge for Kali and Ghira, he rushed upstairs.

"Miss Ruby?" He called when he hadn't found her in her room.
Ruby's head poked out of Yang's room, and he deflated.
"Oh, if you're busy, don't mind me." Oscar told her.
"You don't mind?" Ruby called.
Oscar shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Nope! It wasn't urgent!" He told her encouragingly.
Ruby gave him a megawatt smile, that his stomach traitorously flipped at before she disappeared back into her sister's room.
Oscar's posture deflated dejectedly, now that she couldn't see his disappointment, but he turned back around and headed back outside, pausing to wave at Ghira, who had found the report by now as he went out the door.

Oscar knew where the ladder to the roof would be, in some distant part of his memory, but he didn't really want to find it that way.
He really had wanted to show her the stars. But he wasn't about to interrupt her time with her sister. Maybe he could tell her in the morning which constellations he could see.
Oscar found the ladder and headed up to the roof, minding where he put his feet, knowing that some shingles were looser than others, and such would reverberate into the compound.
He really didn't need all of RWBY and JNPR to think he was a spy.
They don't really talk about the racoon incident.

But, finding a stable set, he sat, and eventually lay down with his eyes heaven bound.
He really could see more here than back at the farm. Or at Vale.
…He really did want to share them with her. Oscar could see the Four Maidens, and the Twins as well.
Did she know about the stories behind them?
She would probably get a kick out of the Four Maidens constellation, if anything.
There were others: The Two All-Seeing Eyes, and the Beowulf one as well, with just a quick glance around.
Though, he did like the Twins one most out of the ones he could currently see. One was a bright wavering red and the other was a glittering silvery-green he had enjoyed when he was a child. He had always likened the red one to a flame, and he a moth, since he was drawn to it so much.

"There you are!" Ruby's voice shouted.
Oscar yelped in fright and sat up in alarm. What was it with her all of a sudden and trying to scare him into permanent injury!?
"Do you know how long I've been looking for you? I even had to ask Blake's dad!" Ruby asked, suddenly sitting next to him.
He blinked at her in surprise. "…I wasn't aware such a period of time had passed?" He questioned.
Ruby was frowning at him. "You're normally asleep by now." She told him.
Oscar's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Huh." He voiced in surprise.

Ruby regarded him. "So whatcha doing?" She questioned.
"Stargazing." He told her, with a smile.
Ruby cocked her head. "Star…gazing…?" She questioned.
Oscar suddenly beamed. "Yeah! I'll show you!" He waited for permission, which she nodded for. "Here! Lay down!" He told her enthusiastically that made her chuckle but comply.

He heard her gasp out in awe, making him turn to her and saw the stars reverberating back in her eyes prettily.
"Have…you not done this before?" He questioned, causing her to turn her head to him.
"Not since I was in Patch, and I was much younger." Ruby told him.
Oscar grinned at her. "There are different constellations to see here than in Patch!" He told her happily.
Ruby smiled and looked back up. "None of these looks familiar…" She whispered.

"Here," Oscar started to point to the first star, then dragged his finger down towards the horizon. "The four main stars in this line formation are called the Four Maidens." Oscar told her.
Oscar smiled when he heard her snicker in mirth.
"The one that is most at the horizon corresponds to which season it currently is!" Oscar told her.
Ruby gave out a vocalisation of her awed understanding.
"And we know the other reason as well," Oscar put forth, making her laugh out loud. Oscar then pointed to a set of two catchments of stars. "There is the All-Seeing Eyes," Oscar told her. "Ozpin quotes that one more then he has the Maidens, I think," Oscar voiced, making Ruby giggle.

Oscar stalled when he heard her gasp and point upwards. "That one looks like a Beowolf!" She cried, unknowingly finding its namesake.
Oscar then gave out a laugh. "Yeah, that's its name, ironically." He told her.
Ruby laughed along with him happily, turning to him, only to pause when he shivered with the breeze causing her to sit up and take off her cloak to use it as a blanket.
Oscar blinked when he could feel her heat coming off the material, as well as her megawatt smile, as she turned her eyes back up to the stars.

"Oh, that one is pretty!" Ruby said in gush, pointing upwards a little to the right.
Oscar followed her finger and found she was pointing to the Twins. "Ah, you've found one of my favourites!" He told her happily.
Her eyes snapped to his, rounded and wide. "Really!? It has a name?!" She nearly yelled.
Oscar nodded. "The Twins, that one," he pointed to the red flicking one. "I've always thought as a flame, sometimes it goes out, in winter, but it always comes back." Oscar told her.
Ruby's eye lit up. "Like that bird! The…the…" Ruby stalled when the actual name of the bird escaped her.

Oscar blinked. "A phoenix?" He asked.
Ruby snapped her fingers at him. "That one!" She near yelled.
Oscar gave a chuckle. "They're not named after birds," He told her in mirth, before pointing to its silvery-green counterpart. "And that one, makes up the Twins." He told her, looking back at her for her response.
"They're pretty." Ruby gushed out in awe that made Oscar beam.

They lapsed into friendly silence, every now and again pointing to a collection of stars and making up random names, and even more random stories to match them, always making the listener burst out laughter.
One such story Oscar made up, had Ruby sitting up in stitches and crying with laughter.
It had made Oscar feel like he could have touched the stars in the feeling of accomplishment he felt at her reaction.
"Do you think we could do this again?" Ruby asked once she calmed down enough.
Oscar nodded happily. "Whenever you want! And as long as it's a clear night, obviously." Oscar told her.

"But, I think it might be best to go to bed." Ruby muttered since her cloak had long ago stopped helping shield against the cold annoyingly.
Oscar sat up and sighed. "We better get some sleep as well." Oscar told her before he stalled catching her staring at him, and blinking in what looked like stunned amazement. "…What?" He questioned.
She went beet red before she turned away in a hurry. "We…better go get some sleep…" She muttered as she stood up.
Oscar followed her in confusion. What had that been about?

Ruby was frowning at her reaction as she kicked up a rock as she waited for Oscar to climb down.
…Since when had Oscar make her stall like that? He hadn't acted differently if anything, he was more exuberant then he had been in a while, but it wasn't anything she hadn't seen before.
So why did her stomach decide to feel like she had swallowed a bucket load of butterflies?
Oscar jumped down from the ladder and grinned at her happily.
Yeah, that wasn't helping her stomach settle in the slightest.
Ah well, at least it was Oscar. But it wasn't like she was about to stop and ask him why her stomach decided to catch butterflies, no matter what he said that she could tell him anything.
Even she could tell, this was for her own gain to figure out.
Until she could fully figure out what it meant, then she'd tell Oscar.
…If she was right. …Not because it was Oscar or anything.

/

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They woke up later than usual.
Ruby walked into the kitchen half asleep, and hungrier than anything, stalled when she rubbed her eyes to see if she could remove the mirage of Glynda Goodwitch standing in their kitchen when she couldn't, she shook her head and walked out.
"Hey, Oscar?" She heard him answer her. "I think I woke up in the wrong house." She muttered as Oscar came down the stairs.
"What do you mean?" He questioned in alarm, she pointed outright, then walked back upstairs still half asleep. He blinked at her, then walked into the kitchen, to see a very amused Glynda.
Oscar stalled in his tracks. "Huh. He actually sent you," He uttered blinking, he swore she was mentally laughing at him. He knew that look, damn it. "Great. Yeah. That's great," He backed up, suddenly nervous to be in her company. "Um, bye. What?" He questioned, then bolted in the same direction Ruby went in.

Yang, not too later, ran into their room, wide-eyed.
"WHY IS PROFESSOR GOODWITCH IN OUR KITCHEN DRINKING TEA?!" Yang yelled.
Ruby blinked. "Huh. That actually happened." She muttered.
Oscar blinked at her. "…She's allowed to drink tea, Miss Yang?" He questioned.
"Not the point. Why is she here?!" Yang burst out, after staring at the boy dumbfoundedly.
"Hey, guys?!" Qrow's voice yelled from somewhere below them.
Yang was the one who tripped on her way out, and she cursed her uncle for it.

By the time they got back down to the kitchen, they were greeted by the rest of their teammates, who had varying different emotional expressions, ranging from Jaune and Pyrrha's curious confusion, to Ren's calm face, to Nora's annoyance at the professor for being in her way of the pantry where her cereal was.
Qrow off to the side, seeing them come in, groaned. "So, you can probably guess you're looking at Haven's pseudo Headmistress for the time being." Qrow grumbled as if he hadn't enough sleep.
Oscar was the one to flinch, while the rest commented to themselves. "Wait, doesn't Ozpin need your help?" He asked, severely confused.
He watched the two exchange a knowing look. "I told you, you would owe me lien." Qrow told her.
Glynda grumbled, rolled her eyes as she threw money at the man.
Oscar got the feeling he had just been betted on.

"That is a fair point." Ruby stated as Oscar aside her grumbled in annoyance over his non-existent thought-to-mouth processor.
Qrow rolled his eyes. "Yes, Ozpin needs all the help he needs, but we needed someone here we knew, so Glynda's here until further notice." Qrow told them.
Oscar cocked his head, shrugged, then decided to get on with his day, and went over to the kettle to flip it on.
Ruby seeing him moving went about helping while tossing the cereal box at a now gleeful Nora who had grabby hands in her direction.

Oscar looked to Glynda. "You still take half white and no sugar in your tea, yes?" He questioned.
Glynda blinked at him in surprise but nodded.
Seeing so, he went and took her mug off her. "Qrow can get his own." He said.
Qrow grumbled, and just crossed arms.

"So," Qrow started once the majority of the children had settled down to eat breakfast. "You're still set on returning to Beacon?" He questioned.
All nine children nodded.
Nora attempted to say something with her mouth full but stopped when Ren glared at her.
"Fair enough, we'll leave tomorrow, then, use today to pack, and don't forget anything," Qrow told them. "I need to go find Ghira and Kali." He muttered.
Blake nearly choked. "—They're with Sun's team and Velvet's!" Blake said after nearly choking and having to have Yang and Weiss whack her back to help her breathe.
Both adults nodded and made their way out the compound.

./.

The entire compound was turned into a warzone by various team members trying to locate all of their stuff they had brought with them or bought while they were in Haven.
Half of them ended up snickering and pausing when Ruby shouted out she lost something.
"Where's my Scroll?!" She yelled.
"I have it," Oscar told her from another room.
Five minutes later.
"WHO TOOK MY AMMO!?" Ruby was yelling from the ammo store.
"That would be you when you gave it to me five minutes ago, then two days prior when you gave it to me the fourth time." Oscar retorted.
Another half hour.
"…Do you have my scythe?" She asked.
"That I do," Oscar told her.
By then they had all burst into laughter.

/

/

They only thing they hadn't missed from back-backing all over the continent was the constant dull walking.
But it was made easier by the train links to the waiting boat.
Even so, there were days the trains didn't link up, and they were left stranded on their way out of Mistral.
With that meant the group of ten needed to have one or two people keep night watch for the night they slept outdoors.
It was midnight by the time it came Oscar's turn, then with his turn, came Ruby waking up when he sat up taking notice of Blake waking him.
"Oscar…?" She asked tiredly.
Oscar caressed her hair softly. "It's just my turn for night watch, go back to sleep." He told her since she had first watch.
Ruby settled back down, while he made use of the tree his (and Ruby's) sleep rolls backed onto.

Oscar cast his senses out as his eyes were drawn up to the heavens again, and he pouted when he saw clouds marring most of his view of the constellations he knew were there.
But every now and then the clouds broke, and the stars shone through jubilantly back down at him, he wasn't able to see the Twins, thanks to where the clouds currently were, but he was able to see some of the clusters of stars that he hadn't been able to see back at Haven.
They brought a smile to his face when he finally caught eye of another of his favourites. The Summer Maiden star was shining just that little duller that night, that gave way to a brighter star near it. While Summer was golden in colour, even when dimmed, it allowed a bright silver star to shine.
"Are you able to see the stars?" Came an annoyed Ruby's voice, most likely because she hadn't been able to get back to sleep.
It caused him to chuckle. "That I can when the clouds break. I'm able to see some we didn't see at Haven." Oscar told her quietly.

Ruby looked at him, then up at the cloudy sky. "Which?" She asked.
He pointed to near the Summer Maiden star. "On nights when it's cloudy, there is a star that shines brighter, almost as if knowing we need guidance," Oscar started.
"The silver one?" Ruby questioned. It was like a mini-moon or a mini Summer.
Oscar gave out a little vocal that she was correct. "It's called the Elder Sister, because, so they say, that you can draw lines straight to the Twins, and that she is always watching over them from afar." Oscar told her.
Oscar heard her give an awed sleepy noise but watched as she pointed upward and went from one Twin star to the Elder Sister. "You can…" She muttered tiredly.
"She'll still be there on other nights, Miss Ruby, you can sleep," Oscar told her. "She's not going anywhere," Oscar added when he heard her whine. "She'll always be there." He continued.
Oscar watched as she nodded and nuzzled back into her pillow and back to sleep.

Oscar continued to watch the stars, while using his other senses to keep the other nine around him safe, watching the Elder Sister shine bright, guiding them to where they needed to go, as she always did, and always would, quietly and without complaint of her job to protect.
Elder sisters were like that, he acknowledged, having seen Yang many times with Ruby. It wasn't a bond he wanted to disrupt, it was something he revered in seeing, each time he saw Yang gather her youngest sister up in a hug to congratulate her, or simply because she wanted to.
It was something he wanted to protect at all costs.

By the time he woke Nora up for her round, it was near daybreak and he settled back down next to Ruby, who immediately latched onto his nearest arm, as he smiled at her fondly, before looking back up to the guiding star, which would still sparkle in the sky until the sun came up, and her services were no longer needed in the coming daylight.

./.

They all grumbled at Qrow when they would need to earn their way across the water, with a sudden price rise per person, which the captain apologised for, but since they kept getting attacked, they needed more of an upkeep on the Pride & Joy.
It wasn't hard since they took several missions for the harbour as Huntsmen, the pub owner was ecstatic to see so many Huntsmen coming through his door, he threw all the missions he had at them, saying he'd give them enough lien for all of them to board and more for their troubles.

There were enough missions that they were able to equally split up, Yang got the short straw and she was put with Qrow. They made a time to be back at the pub by the time the ship was due to weigh anchor.
Most shrugged at that or laughed, because that was hours away, and further proceeded to bet who would return first and last.
Yang grumbled in annoyance at that, because she knew with her uncle's luck, they'd be last.

"Okay, so tell me again, what we're looking for?" Ruby grumbled, having gone to the spot on the mission poster they were given, and finding absolutely nothing.
Oscar eyed her. "Do you actually wish to find it, or do you wish for it to come across us first, Miss Ruby?" He questioned curiously.
Ruby groaned, but exploded into rose petals, rushed around to pick Oscar up, before racing up the tallest tree to find their target, ignoring Oscar laughing at her.
Up as high as they were the could see the seaside village, and the forest they had walked from, and as high as they were they were finally able to see their target a few miles away.
With that, Ruby launched herself in its direction and ignored Oscar's cursing when she flung him at the now startled Grimm's head.

"Did you have to launch me at its head?" Oscar asked as they walked into the pub and handed their mission poster back over to the manager, who took it gleefully and thankfully, and pointed them in the direction of where whoever had returned before them were sitting.
Ruby grinned. "It was begging was a good whacking." She insisted for the fifth time.
Oscar grumbled at her in annoyance.

With as much lien the pub owner gave them, it was able to pay their food and their entire passage into both of Vale's Safe Zones.
Seeing the familiar layout, several people sighed in recognition and relief of finally coming back home. Ruby looked at Oscar, and he nodded his agreement: wherever she was, was home for him too.

/

/

Up Next: Heading back to Beacon, only to meet Tai, things definitely get drastically worse from there.

Not to say I didn't warn you.