Several people have asked who exactly 'Kevin' is, and I did a really bad job at explaining that. For those who don't know, Kevin is the community given name for the Grimm dragon at the end of Volume 3.

Also, people have said that Ruby needs to turn back into a badass soon. I completely agree, but I have some loose ends to tie up in this chapter first. This chapter will have the last truly mopey Ruby session for a while.

Now, Vale's burning, time to do something about it.


Team RWBY backed up to a stage in the center of the park. It was the only raised ground inside the bowl shaped plaza. Aaron stared at the horde of Grimm that surrounded him and his team. He had Redemption and his shield raised, waiting for the creatures to make the first move. For the time being though, both sides were content to stare at each other.

Ruby stood just to the right of Aaron, and she was struggling to get back in a fighting mindset after what happened in the underground city. "Grimm. Grimm. I can handle Grimm. I can handle Grimm," she repeated over and over. Still, she kept her finger on her weapon's trigger.

The King Taijitu that first burst from the rubble roared, and all the Grimm in the courtyard charged. Aaron lowered his stance and prepared for the oncoming storm. Ruby jumped into the crowd and parted the sea of Grimm. Many of those that made it through moved straight at Aaron. There were a lot of them, but they were still outmatched.

As the first Beowolf entered Aaron's engagement range, it lost its head. After that, Aaron was a blur. Limbs flew and heads rolled. The few times a Grimm managed to land a hit, it immediately lost its offending limb. Aaron didn't even pause when an Ursa joined the fray. He jumped on the creature's back and drove Redemption into the base of its skull. The beast fell on top of a small Beowolf that was stupid enough to try and attack the Rider on the Ursa's back.

Across the plaza, Aaron saw Yang fly back, propelled by shotgun blasts from Ember Celica. Unfortunately her flight path took her right into a group of Nevermores. She was knocked out of the sky and tumbled uncontrollably toward the ground.

Before she could hit, Halcyon came out of nowhere and caught his Rider. He quickly turned around and attacked the group of small Nevermores. Three bird-shaped corpses fell out of the sky a few seconds later.

Soon after, Nalia and Cerise flew over the plaza, the green snarling and the red searching the ground frantically. Cerise dove onto the head of the King Taijitu that was threatening Ruby. The dragon ripped the creature's black head off, then jumped over her Rider and into a pack of Beowolves.

Aaron returned his attention to the Grimm in front of him. Even more Beowolves gathered around him. Mixed in were a few of the much shorter Creeps and Boarbatusks. The Rider just smirked and turned to face a much smaller group nearby. Behind him, Nalia landed on top of the large pack and began tearing them apart. Meanwhile, Aaron jumped at the group in front of him and swiftly removed the heads of three creeps with one swing.

The next time Aaron turned around, he saw Nalia trying to peel a Creep off one of her claws. He looked up and saw several large Nevermores in the sky. "Nalia!" The green dragon looked at her Rider. "Clear the skies." Nalia nodded and tore the Creep on her claw in half. She took to the sky and roared at the flying Grimm.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw a Beowolf lunge at him. He simply moved Redemption into the creature's path and held it still. The Beowolf's head split in half then fell to the ground. As Aaron turned around, he saw a large Deathstalker running at him. He dropped into a defensive position and focused on the large stinger. A familiar scream begged for his attention though.

Aaron looked up and saw Yang diving down right at the giant scorpion. She delivered a powerful punch straight to the creatures head, and traveled right on through. The massive stinger fell backward into a building, and Yang stood up from the wreckage with a smirk on her face. "Nice entrance," Aaron commented.

Yang shrugged. "Shotguns aren't the best form the air, otherwise I'd still be up there with Halcyon." Her head snapped to the side and fired a blast right over Aaron's shoulder. He calmly turned his head to see a Creep with a hole in its chest laying on the ground.

Team JNPR had joined in the battle by that point, as had the Vale police. The extra help was appreciated, but for every Grimm that fell, three more rose to take their place. The police were trying their hardest, but they were getting overwhelmed. A Deathstalker charged a line of police cruisers and burst right through. Several smaller Grimm charged through the gap.

Aaron charged for the area. He screamed to get the creatures' attention. A few looked over and braced for the charge. It didn't do them any good. Redemption cut through Grimm after Grimm until Aaron reached the Deathstalker. It swung it's stinger at the Rider, who stepped to the side. The golden point impaled itself in the ground, and got stuck. Aaron took advantage of this by charging forward some more and stabbed the scorpion right through the eye. The creature screamed and Aaron twisted his sword. The Grimm shook, then its legs gave way.

A terrified scream caught Aaron's attention. He tracked it to a building nearby. He ran in the destroyed entryway and saw an Ursa cornering a very familiar one-eared Faunus. "Hey you!" Aaron yelled. The Ursa turned around and roared. That turned out to be a mistake. Redemption was soon shoved down the open maw. The Grimm fell to the ground, never to rise again. Aaron looked up. "You okay, Claret?"

"I-I'm fine," Claret stuttered. "This is just…what's going on?"

"You might want to get upstairs. That's apparently a foreign concept to most of them." Claret nodded then ran to the back of the shop where the stairs most likely were.

Aaron turned around and ran back outside. He looked up to the sky and his jaw dropped. The Atlas Navy had arrived and had many fighters and transports in the sky over the city. Nalia flew near the rear of the swarm, most likely catching her breath. Several transports dropped the mechanical soldiers Atlas was so proud of. Hopefully they'd be able to help resecure the city.

The Rider returned his attention to the ground and saw the second head of the King Taijitu from before slither its way toward Jaune and Blake. Both had their swords drawn and pointed at the giant snake. The blonde of the two looked terrified. Aaron ran toward them and extended a hand. "Letta." The giant snake stopped in its tracks. Jaune and Blake exchanged a glance, then ran forward. Both of them swung their swords just behind the Taijitu's head and severed it from the rest of the body.

Aaron dropped to a knee to catch his breath. In hindsight, that wasn't the best idea. He heard a Beowolf running on his right. Aaron turned to face the charging Grimm, but Pyrrha jumped in from the side and stabbed the Grimm through the chest. She removed her spear from the dead Beowolf then offered a hand to Aaron. "A battlefield is not the best place to rest, you know."

The Rider took the offered hand. "I'll keep that in mind." Aaron looked up and saw Halcyon escorting a Bullhead into the plaza. He peeled off as the transport settled over the center and charged some more Nevermores in another part of the city. Team CFVY and Professor Port jumped out of the Bullhead and engaged the Grimm.

Aaron focused on Velvet when he wasn't fighting Grimm of his own. He had yet to see the newest Rider fight. Velvet initially attacked a few Beowolves using her legs to fight. It kind of made sense, she was a rabbit Faunus after all. After that though, she hung back and stayed between Yatsuhashi and Fox. There was a time where she ran over to Coco's side and reached for her box, but her team leader waved her off.

An Ursa Major took Aaron's eyes off the battle in the center of the plaza. The Rider blocked a strike with his shield, then slashed at one of the Grimm's arm. Instead of cutting through like normal though, the strike glanced off the bear's armor. Thrown off by the ineffective strike, the Ursa was able to actually hit Aaron. He flew into the side of a building and slumped to the ground.

Just as the Ursa was about to strike, it was hit in the side by a massive ball of fire. Aaron looked in the direction the fire came from and saw Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port standing on a pile of rubble. Aaron shook himself off and charged back into the battle.

During the charge, he ended up fighting alongside Ruby once again. Both Riders were sweating up a storm and killing Grimm left and right. Grimm fell in equal numbers to sword and scythe. With the two teammates essentially fighting back to back, neither of them were touched.

Aaron struck down one last Creep and looked around the plaza. The only Grimm in sight were decaying. He looked over at where the train crashed through to the city and saw the massive debris field cleared and the hole filled. The skies were filled with Atlas transports and one of their massive flying ships. Nalia, the Rider called out, do you see any more?

Only a few stragglers, Nalia responded, exhaustion creeping into her voice. Atlas and the police will have them taken care of by the time you can get far. We've won.

Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and leaned on his sword. "That was something."

"I'm exhausted, energized, tired, and wide awake at the same time," Ruby panted. "How does that work?"

"I think that's what happens after a battle." Aaron stood up and sheathed his sword and strapped his shield to his back.

The rest of the team slowly made their way over. "Well, that was interesting," Weiss said.

"At least it's over," Blake agreed.

Ruby looked up at her sister. "What happened to you on the train?"

Yang growled. "Little Miss Umbrella was back. She got in that hit before she ran away."

"She got through your Aura?" Blake asked.

"Don't know how, but yeah. I'm going to have to get her back for messing up my hair though." Yang grabbed some of her hair and brought it out in front of her. Aaron didn't need to be inside her head to know she was hiding something. Yang wouldn't allow someone to run if they messed up her hair.

"Did I see you flying on Halcyon for a bit?" Ruby changed the subject.

Yang smiled and released her hair. "You sure did, and it was awesome." Her smile turned into a grimace. "Until his scales started cutting my legs."

Aaron grimaced. He didn't even need to look down to know the kind of damage that occurred. "You should probably take care of that sooner rather than later."

"You fought the whole battle like that?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

Yang took a seat on a ledge and put a hand right by one of the cuts. "There wasn't time to heal. I couldn't stop fighting." The looked at her right leg. "Waíse heill." The cuts slowly healed, but the blood stayed put. Yang repeated the process for her other leg. "This'll take a while to wash off…"

Aaron heard a light roar overhead. He looked up to see Nalia and Halcyon coming in for a landing. As the green dragon circled, Aaron saw a small holes in Nalia's wings, and a few more on her side. The dragon landed hard, and her Rider rushed over. "What happened?" Aaron asked as he set to work on mending Nalia's wings.

I believe they call it 'friendly fire,' Nalia stated, not even sounding like she was in pain. The pilot was aiming at a Nevermore and missed with a few shots. It didn't hinder me too much though. Still, I don't like how easily those dust rounds cut through my scales.

The Rider quickly healed all the holes in his dragon's wings and side. "Well, he hit nothing important. Good fighting." Aaron patted Nalia's shoulder and she hummed in response. Right beside Nalia, Halcyon stood looking over every inch of his Rider. Yang eventually pushed his head to the side.

Across the square, Claret hesitantly walked out of the shop she was hiding in. Apparently Velvet saw her friend as well. "Claret?" she yelled, the she ran over to her friend. Aaron couldn't hear what exactly the two Faunus were talking about, but Claret did give a few motions to Velvet's right hand. Velvet then made a gesture toward Nalia and Claret's jaw hit the ground.

"So she got tied up in something else," Ruby said sadly.

"She got cornered by and Ursa in that shop," Aaron stated, walking to his team leader's side.

Ruby sighed, then her head snapped to the side. "Now?" she yelled, and took a few steps toward the edge of the plaza. "They're doing this now?" Ruby was now the central focus of the plaza.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked.

Ruby growled. "Cerise said the Nevermores were using this to kidnap more Faunus!" Nalia and Halcyon growled, and all the Huntsmen and Huntresses around gripped their weapons. Claret blanched and gripped onto Velvet's arm. Yang and Aaron locked eyes. Both of them were thinking the same thing; they could be there for Ruby. "She managed to drive them off though. As far as she knows, all kids are going back home today."

A strong wind entered the courtyard. Aaron looked up and saw an Atlas transport coming in for a landing on the central stage. At the same time, a squad of Atlas androids, along with Emerald and Mercury, escorted a man in a white suit out of a building near where the massive hole in the ground used to be. Aaron guessed the man was Roman Torchwick.

The three full Beacon teams met up near the transport and dragons. Soon after, Sun, Neptune, Port, Oobleck, and surprisingly Goodwitch entered the circle. Aaron didn't see the last professor enter. No one really said anything. Everyone just stood in the circle, some were scowling, others trying to catch their breath after the fight.

A gentle breeze blew through the courtyard and Nalia tensed up. No… She took a step forward and intently sniffed the air. Aaron turned to look at his dragon, trying to figure out what was going on. Her eyes grew wide, then her pupils shrank to slits. She got low to the ground and growled right at those on the stage by the transport.

"Nalia, what's-" Aaron started to say before Nalia took off in a hurry. Halcyon also growled, then took off after Nalia. What's wrong?

Emerald! Nalia mentally yelled. Aaron winced at the force. The other members of team RWBY did as well. She stole Vert's egg.

Aaron turned to the green haired girl as she escorted Torchwick onto the Atlas transport. The Rider scowled as did the other Riders on team RWBY. Let me guess, Yang said, joining in on the mental conversation, we can't touch her.

Nalia wanted me to get to know how the legal system here, Aaron thought. We never reported the egg missing, or a break in. Even then, our dragons would need to be 'certified' for tracking and identifying for scent evidence to be held up in court. He scowled even more.

Back in Alagaësia, Nalia added, we'd have the right to execute her on the spot…but this isn't Alagaësia. I doubt any of you would have done it anyway.

Aaron turned around and walked away from the Huntsmen circle. The rest of his team followed closely behind. "Why?" Ruby asked no one in particular after they were a good distance away from eavesdroppers

"What could anyone have to gain from stealing then ditching a dragon egg?" Weiss expanded.

"How'd she even know about it?" Yang shook her head.

"All good questions." Aaron sighed. "Another thing, was she working alone?" A tense silence fell over the group.

"Weiss, Blake," Ruby started, "you two can head back to Beacon whenever. I think the rest of us could still do some good here." The two nodded and slowly returned to the group they just left. Aaron looked back to the transport to see if Emerald was still around. Luckily, she was nowhere in sight.

"So what did you have in mind, sis?" Yang asked.

Ruby shrugged. "Search and rescue, first aid, finding lost kids. We do have a few advantages that other people don't."

Aaron nodded. "That is what Riders have done when a bad storm hits a city."

The three Riders started walking toward what looked like the hardest hit section of the city. They didn't get far though. Ruby suddenly stopped in her tracks. Aaron turned to her and saw she lifted her head and closed her eyes. "A-actually, could you guys give me a minute?" Ruby asked. She walked off toward another street at a brisk pace.

A calm roar filtered over the city, and Cerise came into view soon after. The red dragon angled toward her Rider, who had stopped in the center of a road. Aaron saw the dragon glide down toward the road. The problem was, she wasn't slowing down. Ruby tensed up, most likely expecting to be tackled. Aaron looked back to Cerise and looked right into her visible eye.

Aaron froze. He knew that look. Nalia forced him to see it for over a day.

Cerise landed, ran forward a few steps, and grabbed her Rider in one of her paws. She then jumped and flew away immediately afterward. Yang gasped by Aaron's side as she watched Ruby get carried away. "What's Cerise doing?" she asked Aaron. When he didn't respond, the blonde pushed the other Rider. "What's Cerise doing with my sister?"

"She needs to have a very important talk with her Rider." Aaron finally took his eyes off Cerise and looked at Yang. "Ruby's mind went to a very, very dark place when she was alone in the cave. Cerise needs to talk to her first."

Yang narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Aaron sighed. "I believe Ruby seriously considered killing herself in that cave."

Yang's entire body stiffened. "No." Yang's head eeked to either side. "No. She can't. She's my little sister. I'd know if she thought about that kind of thing.

"I don't think you would." Aaron shook his head. "Not even Nalia noticed my event until right before."

"But..." Yang's legs shook and she snapped her head to the sky. "HALCYON!" The golden dragon dove down from the sky and landed right in front of Yang.

"Wait." Aaron put a hand on Yang's shoulder.

Yang snapped her head around and grabbed Aaron's wrist. Her irises burned red and her hair ignited. She clamped down on Aaron's wrist, draining his Aura and wards. "Wait? You want me to wait? You just said my baby sister wanted to end it all. How the hell is me waiting going to pull her out of that?"

Because Cerise knows exactly what went through Ruby's head, Nalia said from where she hovered above the buildings. Ruby needs to hear what Cerise has to say, then she'll come to you. She paused and hummed sadly. I know from experience.

Yang glared up at Nalia, then at Aaron, then back again. She tossed Aaron's hand away and her hair extinguished itself. "Fine. But if so much as one hair is out of place on her head, you're dealing with me." She pointed a finger directly in Aaron's face. Yang faced Halcyon again and climbed onto his back. Halcyon pushed off the ground and angled back toward Beacon.

Aaron watched them go and he rubbed his wrist. He couldn't help but wonder if that's how Rafye and Irolon felt back on Vroengard. He shook his head, trying to get those memories out once more. Now was not the time to be thinking about the Fall.


Ruby watched as Cerise flew down to meet her. Her dragon wanted to see her right away, completely understandable after being cut off in the caves. Still, Cerise had part of her mind blocked. At the speed at which she flew in, she had to be extremely worried. Ruby tensed up and prepared for the tackle.

Cerise landed hard and ran forward a few steps. She extended a paw and grabbed Ruby. The dragon then jumped back into the air. In the air, Cerise spun her Rider around in her paw. She then brought Ruby up to her chest, with the Rider facing a scaly wall.

"Cerise! What are you doing?" Ruby shouted, looking 'up' toward her dragon's head. "I can still do something down there!" Cerise didn't answer, and her mind was still partially blocked. "Talk to me! What's going on?"

Instead of answering with words, Cerise started humming. It felt weird to be pressed against a dragon's chest while she hummed. It was more than just the sound, Ruby could actually feel the vibrations. Instead of the usual hum of happiness though, Ruby picked out the intro to one of her favorite songs. Cerise removed part of the wall around her mind and let some of her emotions roll through to her Rider.

The shear amount of love that poured off her dragon overwhelmed Ruby. She couldn't help but smile and wrap her arms as far around her dragon as she could. She closed her eyes and listened to Cerise' humming. When the first lyrics came up, she couldn't help but sing along.

Ruby closed her eyes and enjoyed the flight with her bondmate. During the flight, when Cerise and she weren't exchanging lyrics anyway, Ruby thought how inadequate 'bondmate' sounded. While it was true, it didn't encompass how they felt about each other. She thought it over quickly and actually came up with something that already existed. They were soulmates. It was sentimental, and about as literal as she could describe it.

Cerise flew toward the ground outside the Dragonhouse. She landed on three legs and let Ruby out of her fourth. The Rider brushed her hood off as the main door opened. When the door had risen halfway, Cerise nudged Ruby with her snout. Before the Rider could turn around though to look at her dragon, she was forcibly pushed into the building. Ruby turned her head, but still couldn't get a look at her dragon's eyes, and Cerise mind was now completely sealed.

The main door shut, and Cerise finally stopped pushing. Ruby sighed. "Okay Cerise, you've got me alone, now what's going-" Ruby gasped and doubled over. Not from pain, but the shear amount of emotion that poured off her dragon. If what Ruby felt in the air was a trickle of water, she was just hit with an entire ocean. It wasn't just love either, it was fear, concern, love, depression.

Ruby slowly looked back to her dragon and finally looked in her eyes. They held everything that Ruby felt in her head. If dragons had tear ducts, Cerise' face would be drenched.

The Rider's own eyes started leaking, and she ran to her dragon. Ruby threw her arms around Cerise' neck and squeezed as tightly as she could without choking her. Ruby started sobbing and Cerise hummed again. The dragon started to wrap her neck around her Rider.

Just then, Ruby's feet were knocked out from under her. Just on reflex, she tightened her grip on Cerise neck. Instead of falling to the ground though, something caught the Rider. Ruby looked to her side and saw one of Cerise' wings supporting her. She was gently lowered to the ground, and the wing retracted. Cerise' body then rested on top of Ruby's legs, pinning her.

Cerise lay her head down on the concrete floor, right next to Ruby's. Neither of them said anything for a while. They just stared into each other's eyes. Eventually, Ruby found her voice. "W-what did I do to you?" she choked out.

The now large dragon whimpered. I was above the hole when you were cornered on the roof. Cerise moved her head closer to Ruby's. I know what you thought before you were grabbed.

Ruby's eyes widened in realization. Suddenly their duet in the air made more sense. She sobbed once then turned her head away from Cerise. She couldn't bear to look her in the eye. "I-I'm sorry…I-I couldn't go back. I can't go back…Not again…"

I can't blame you for that, Cerise hummed and bumped her snout against the back of Ruby's head. I don't like the how far you would go to prevent it.

"I don't know why I thought it…It just happened…I wasn't in control." Ruby turned her head to look back into Cerise' eye. "I didn't want to hurt you."

Cerise hummed again and inched her head even closer to Ruby. And I don't want to lose you. Unable to stop herself, the Rider threw her arms around her dragon's snout. Again, Ruby sobbed for several minutes, soaking her dragon's snout with her tears.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" Ruby got out between sobs.

Don't blame yourself. You didn't choose this. Cerise blinked and her eyes hardened ever so slightly. I will never let you be taken again. She said that last part in the ancient language, sealing her in an unbreakable oath.

Ruby tightened her grip on her soulmate. Cerise could have said the same thing normally and it would have had a similar effect. The Rider looked deep into her dragon's eyes and dug into her own mind to find the right words. "I will never take my own life." Ruby blinked and couldn't help but chuckle, despite the seriousness of the topic. "Well, those were seven words I never thought I'd say in a sentence."

Cerise blinked and chuckled along with her Rider. She stood up, freeing Ruby's legs. When she raised her head, she took her Rider with her. Ruby ended up standing on her own feet with her arms still wrapped around her dragon's snout. "Not gonna keep me here for a full day?"

The dragon closed her eyes. I wish I could, but your friends need to see you too.

"I'll be back right afterward. I owe you that much for putting you through that." Ruby slowly pulled away from her dragon and turned toward the door out. As she walked across Beacon's campus, she looked around to see if there was any damage to the school. She didn't think any Grimm could get to the school, but there was always the possibility. Luckily, everything looked like it was intact. The only difference was there were a lot more students up and about than normal.

Ruby entered her residence hall and her shoulders slumped. She was not looking forward to telling her team what happened in the cave. What would they think? What would they say? Aaron would be the most understanding, having gone through the same situation himself. Yang, though, might have a heart attack.

The girl stopped right outside her door. She took a deep breath and opened the door. It wasn't even open a quarter of the way before it was yanked open from the inside. Ruby was quickly pulled inside and brought into a suffocating hug. Yang picked her little sister up off the floor and walked her across the room. She set Ruby down on Weiss' bed and immediately sat by her sister's side. "I wasn't gone for that long was I?" the team leader asked, trying to start the conversation on her own terms.

"That's not the problem here," Aaron said while leaning against Blake and Yang's bunk bed.

"What happened in that cave?" Weiss asked from Blake's bed. The Faunus sat right next to her. "I can only think of one other time when you were that scared."

Ruby looked down to her lap. Cerise pulled all that information from her Rider's head. This was the first time Ruby had to say it. There was a huge difference. "When I fell through the road, I didn't know if I would survive the fall." Ruby looked up slightly to Weiss and Blake. They wore shocked expressions, but not to the extent she feared. Yang put an arm around her shoulders. "I nearly didn't. I landed on a roof in the city, and my Aura was pretty much gone, and so were my wards against impact.

"Two White Fang soldiers found me on the roof. I don't know why, but I froze up." Ruby leaned into her sister. "They weren't there to fight and kill me. They were going to take me. I-" Ruby choked on her words. "I couldn't let that happen. I was seconds away from jumping off the building, and that would have killed me."

Yang tensed up and pulled her little sister in closer. Weiss' and Blake's eyes and mouths were wide with horror. Aaron's shoulders drooped and his eyes turned watery. Ruby finally looked up at her sister and saw Yang's face had lost all its color. Her eyes dripped and her mouth hung open slightly. The younger sister looked back down at her lap, her own tears running again.

"Well, you're braver than I was," Aaron said. Ruby looked up, not understanding. "You at least told us right away. I never told any of my friends. That's not an easy thing to do."

"I know that you can take care of yourself," Yang said, "but this lone wolf stuff has to stop." She pulled Ruby in even closer.

"Trust me, I'm not going out on my own any time soon." Ruby dried her cheeks with an arm.

Weiss and Blake exchanged a glance. Blake looked over at Aaron and he nodded. "Ruby, we think you really need to go see one of the counselors here," the Faunus said.

Ruby looked up with a strange look on her face. "Why would I need to do that? I have you guys." Her words felt hollow as they left her mouth.

"Ruby, please," Yang whispered. "We aren't enough. You need professional help."

"We really don't want to do this, but," Weiss bit her lip, "but if you don't go, we'll have to go to Ozpin and say you aren't fit for missions."

Ruby's eyes widened at her partner. "What?" Her mind quickly flashed back to the first day of classes when Weiss wanted to be the team leader over anything else. "How could you say that?"

"Because you were terrified!" Yang practically yelled. Ruby looked back at her sister. "You even said you froze up. You were going to jump off a roof and..." Yang's throat visibly constricted. "What if that happens again and you don't break out of it?" Ruby wanted to be mad at her sister, but she couldn't muster the thoughts.

"Don't be mad at them," Aaron spoke up, not reading Ruby. "It was my idea." Ruby blinked and narrowed her eyes slightly. "You think I originally got out of my situation alone? Nalia tried her best to get me above water again, but she couldn't. I had to go see counselors myself, and I couldn't leave Vroengard at all for a few months. They helped me out of my hole, well mostly anyway. If you ask Nalia, she'll tell you how much of a wreck I was beforehand."

Ruby looked back down at her lap and sighed. "Alright. I'll set something up later…" she looked outside, "I guess today." There were sighs of relief from everyone else in the room. Ruby yawned deeply. "I'm going to get some sleep though first. I don't think the counseling department is open now anyway."

"I'll walk you back." Yang stood up and helped Ruby to her feet. The two sisters made their way out of the room and out of the dorm. "When you going to call dad?"

The younger sister hesitated. "I'm not."

Yang gasped. "Ruby!"

"I'm going to tell him in person. That's not something that can be said over a scroll. I'll fly home tonight." Yang sighed, then nodded. "You'll be staying, right?" Ruby asked sheepishly.

"Of course." Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "The counselors can take care of you while you're awake, Cerise and I will take care of you while you sleep."


Boss looked over the recent numbers after the recent 'shopping spree' in the city. The breach came as a complete surprise, but he had enough men in the city to capitalize on the confusion. The amount of stock his men secured would make up for the losses at the mountain base.

Or they would have, if that blasted red dragon hadn't attacked several groups in the affected area. That oversized lizard took out more than half of his men in the city, and likely more than half of the profit. Boss snarled. These dragons were getting out of hand. They would put him out of business if they weren't put down soon.

"Boss," one of his men said, "Queen has another message."

"Send it to my screen." Boss turned to look at the new message. Two messages in two days? Something was up. He blinked a few times and read over the new bounties. Two more targets, Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna. The prices on their heads were more than the others originally. They weren't even his main problem.

Then Boss looked at the updated prices for the existing bounties. They all doubled. It was almost worth launching an attack on Beacon for the cash in. If he had a little more firepower, he would level the place the dragons slept. Unfortunately, most of the heavy weaponry went up in smoke with the northern base, or was still being refurbished at his current base, not that the biggest guns could be moved.

Boss leaned back in his chair. With the amount placed on all those people's heads, he considered going out to take a few shots at the targets himself. He hadn't been out in the field since the last Rose. Still, he barely came out of that one alive, and he had the bionics to prove it. He doubted he'd fare any better this time around. Better to leave it to his Bullhead strike teams. They were always replaceable.


So, yeah. All that happened. Again, I try to base as much of this as I can off similar things in reality. Ruby's reaction last chapter corresponds with PTSD, and her team's reactions this chapter are typical of what friends would/should do. I will admit, I did extensive research to make sure I didn't say anything wrong. I don't want to give people bad advice if they were ever in a similar situation. If I seemed a little preachy at the end of Ruby's POV, good. Some people could really need it.

Going back in the chapter, I think that was the best fight scene I've written so far. Yes, I know people would rather see fight scenes with the rest of the team, and that is coming up. And yes, true to the show, Sun and Neptune did absolutely nothing.