Chapter 39 – Aftermath

The courtyard is silent in the wake of Raven departure, Hazel, Adam, and the rest of the White Fang having left on the Bulkhead already.

"Do we uh, take off our masks too?" One of the former White Fang members breaks the silence before covering her mouth as she sees the student hunters and huntresses glaring at her.

"Yes, take off your masks, and once you get a change of clothes discard the uniforms too" Blake says.

Arslan stomps angrily "What? Are we just supposed to trust these terrorists now?"

Sun steps in the middle "Whoa, whoa, let's not start another fight."

"Like they did by attacking our school?" She retorts.

The monkey faunus holds up his hands "Ok, fair point, but counterpoints – they were forced to do so by a psycho who would kill anyone who tried to leave, and now they're here to help. And we could use all the help we can get." Those somber words settle in on everyone as they realize what's coming next. The Grimm. Already the students are casting their eyes to the horizon, as if they already expected a tide of darkness to be gathering.

The former White Fang members drop their masks and the girl who asked before, speaks up again (mostly at the prodding of the others to make her their spokesperson) "What- What can we do to help?"

"Great question" Sun says with more enthusiasm than he must be feeling. "Answer: Everything" he moves his hands out in a large crescent like a rainbow as he says the word. "We have uh, prisoners that need detaining, like that guy" he points at Dr. Watts, still encased in ice. Ren and Nora aren't standing nearby him. Nora actually seems to be standing away from Ren, with her arms crossed, pointedly looking away from him, which Blake would find incredibly disturbing if today didn't seem to be bizzaro day where everything worked the opposite of how she expected it.

"We can get started on setting up communications from Lionheart's office, and working with the Rangers to set up a defensive perimeter for any threats coming our way!" Neptune offers and people perk up at defined action plans, or at least goals, on what to do next.

Blake moves over to Ilia's side "Sorry Ilia, this wasn't quite the rousing success I had hoped it would be." The chameleon faunus shrugs as best she can.

"We defeated Adam and weakened the White Fang (even if they ran away), we'll be doing something good hear. I don't think anyone could have predicted… whatever that was." She pauses for a moment, a brief flash of blue on the spots on her cheeks the only indication as to something troubling her.

"What's wrong?"

"Are they right about me? About us? I want to change how I'm doing things but- I'm not like you."

Blake snorts a bit at that. "Sorry, but how can that be true?" She grabs Ilia's hand "I've done just as many wrong things as you have. I decided to turn things around, to find a better way to help. No matter the circumstances, you're doing that too."

"I guess" she says, but a small smile appears on her face as she does so, so Blake's glad. "What now? Follow Sun and his blue haired friend?"

"Maybe in a bit. I get the feeling I really need to catch up, and hey, I can introduce you to my friends."

"Yay." Ilia says flatly, not looking super enthused, but she let's herself get dragged over to Ren and Nora, so she probably doesn't hate it too much. Behind them she can see some hunters moving to chip off the ice encasing the older mustached man and drag him away (any sympathy Blake might feel for him vanishes when he tries to bribe the huntsmen taking him away with 'a spot in Salem's world' – she may have seen far less of Salem than Ozpin in those visions but what she did see creeped her out, plus she had Adam working for her so that wasn't a good sign).

"Hey Ren, hey Nora. Been a while?" Blake tentatively offers to them. They look at her awkwardly for a moment before both begin to speak up

"Hello Blake-" "Nice save with the cavalry Blake-" They both cut off their words as the other one talks.

"Am I… interrupting something?" More silence, glares from Nora at Ren, and the Mistrallian boy looking away, not guilty, but not comfortable either (it's hard for her to get a read on him. The cat faunus clears her throat. "Well, I'm glad I could help. We meant to get more aid from Menagerie, but we had to move quickly when we heard about the attack. Oh, and this is my friend, Ilia." She pushed the girl forward, getting a quick look of 'betrayal' from her before Ilia put on a smile to greet the two of them.

"Hi, I'm Blake's friend from, well, it's been quite a while. I, uh, met with her and Sun in Menagerie and now we're here, and honestly I'm a little lost."

"It has been, hasn't it?" Ren says, holding his hand out. "I'm Ren, nice to meet you." He shakes her hand. "Are you a huntress as well? I didn't know that Menagerie had an academy." At the look on her face he adds "Sorry if I'm assuming, I just saw your weapon and it looks very advanced."

"Oh, thanks. And no, Menagerie doesn't have a huntsman Academy. I actually grew up in Mantle." Blake can see her friend freeze up, as if just considering leaving it there, letting them make their own assumptions about her training before she forces out "But that's not where I trained, I used to be a member of the White Fang! Blake helped show me that- That what we were doing wasn't right. It didn't matter the results we got, the measures we were taking…"

"Hmmm" Nora says, closely inspecting Ilia, prodding her slightly (even poking the air above her head, like where Blake's cat ears are) and looking at her clothing. "You don't look like a White Fang member" she says suspiciously.

"That's because I infiltrate- I used to infiltrate places" she says, demonstrating her faunus traits by causing her skin to go all black, matching her stealth outfit. "It's stealthier at night" she adds when she realizes how much more noticeable it makes her in the sunset's light.

"I can see how that would be useful" Ren says, with an eye for stealth himself. "It's good to have you on our side.

"Ohhh, so cool, can you make yourself all pink? I guess not because if you could why wouldn't you be pink right now after all you agree that pink is the best color right-"

Ilia shares a brief chuckle with Blake before she spots the young farm-ish looking boy stumbling out of the school, seeming dazed. "Another one of you're friends?"

"No, I've never met him before." Blake looks questioningly at Nora and Ren, surprised by the amount of vitrol that appeared on their faces at her bringing him up. "Is he a… bad guy… then." Her voice falters as she catches the sight of his cane.

"That, is Ozpin" Ren practically growls out.

That boy is Ozpin? Even seeing the cane and being told that, Blake finds it hard to believe. He wanders over to them. "Um, hello everyone, I-"

"What was that about 'no more secrets' Ozjerk?!" Nora angrily demands.

He holds up his hands placatingly (and possibly a bit scared of an angry Nora) "Look, I get that Ozpin kept a lot of secrets, even I didn't know any of this stuff."

Ren sighs "I'm sympathetic with your position Oscar, but right now we need to have some words with Ozpin, can you bring him out?"

"No" he refuses, then hastily adds "It's not that I don't want to, I do want to learn more, but it's like he retreated within me. After the vision, I couldn't reach him."

"Wait, aren't you Ozpin?" Ilia asks, confused.

"Oscar is the boy who Ozpin's soul joined with after the Battle of Beacon."

At Ren's words, Blake's eyes light up "Like the man with Two Souls!" She blurts out before she can stop herself. To her shock, Oscar perks up at that.

"Yeah, actually Ozpin, or uh, Ozma I guess, wrote that book several lifetimes ago. It was both of them at the time trying to explain their feelings, the process in which they came to live with each other…" At the questioning looks of Ren and Nora he explains "He told me about it last night, he had mentioned it when talking with Pyrrha."

"Oscar, you seem to be the only one left who saw what went on in there. Can you fill us in?" Ren asks, just sounding tired by this point.

"Uh, yeah, I remember most of that." He explains how the fight went on, Ruby coming through the portal and needing the knowledge to use the Relic in exchange for saving Pyrrha's life… and how Oscar wrested the knowledge from Ozpin (something that he can't seem to do anymore with how much Ozpin has retreated, or possibly the wizard is just more prepared for it now) and gave it to Ruby. The red cloaked girl went back through the portal which disappeared for a bit, then reappeared with Raven, Vernal, and Jinn (the name of the glowing blue woman Blake caught a brief glimpse of through the wrecked walls that disappeared, turning back into the lantern apparently). "… I haven't seen Ruby or Pyrrha yet, but Raven said Ruby was running to get her medical help. I don't- I don't think she'd be lying about that, if only because that might alienate Qrow and Yang."

"Oscar" Nora says quite intently.

"Uh, yes?" He asks before the sound that can only be a Nora hug (bones creaking mixed with a few tears) reaches Blake's ears.

"Thank you. I- I don't know what I'd do if we lost another teammate. After Jaune- well you saved her, so thank you so much" Nora says with a heavy voice

Ren places a hand on both of their shoulders "You couldn't have known what could happen from revealing that knowledge, but there's no putting it back-" Nora glares at him but he continues undaunted. "-And it might be selfish, but I wouldn't want that either. I'm so glad that Pyrrha's alive." Nora's glare softens and she turns her head away from him, still obviously not pleased with him, but not making any motions to remove his hand.

"Thank you, both of you. You might be the only people in the kingdom to appreciate me right now though. Also, if you could, let me get a bit of air, now." Nora lets him go and gives the boy a sheepish grin. He returns it and they start walking towards where the Mistrallian students are.

Blake's heart lifts a bit at the mention of the young red clad huntress being alright. She hasn't seen the girl since she got here, so hearing that her team leader (if team RWBY can even be called a thing still) is alright is good. Her feelings drop back down when Oscar mentions Yang, and she remembers how her partner left. "Yang…"

A nudge to her shoulder snaps her out of her thoughts. "We'll get her back. You helped show me the right path afterall, I'm sure you'll reach Yang too" Ilia reassures her.

"Yeah, thanks." She squeezes Ilia's hand before they move to the other hunters and get started in helping out efforts to defend the kingdom, arrange council meetings, and try to handle panic. Night is coming on fast, something that Blake feels is an apt metaphor for their situation, but looking out all of her friends, Nora, Ren & Oscar, Sun & Neptune, Ilia by her side, and Ruby & Pyrrha just waiting to meet them again… she can have hope in the bright dawn that she knows will follow this darkest hour.

"I can't." The words are simple, almost off to the side of her mouth, as Raven addresses the question Yang raised when she was enthusing the tribe, but they hit the golden-haired young woman like a sledgehammer to the guts.

"What do you mean you-"

"Qrow, I need a moment" The bandit leader hurriedly says, not letting the discomfort in her low tone show on her face. She turns back to the crowd, continuing her speech and giving them orders. "Good! You'll need that enthusiasm as we push back Salem's and Ozpin's minions, as we claim what's ours. Lives free of magical overlords!" Another cheer goes up. "Alright, now we need to get on the move – Liquorice, River, you two go and show some of our new family members where our food stores are and gather up as much as we can. Vernal, you're on pulling up camp or what's left of it…" Raven's voice trailed off in Yang's ears as her uncle dragged her away.

"C'mon firecracker, your eyes are getting red and I think you need to calm down there." He takes her off the edge of camp, where the trees are still burnt black and smouldering before she shakes off his hand on her shoulder.

"Why?" She asks, still angry and irritated, but she can see her eyes flash back to purple as she gets a grip on her anger. "Don't you care about Ruby?"

Qrow crosses his arms, unimpressed. "Of course I do. I just know how to look at the bigger picture; right now we can't reach Ruby."

"What are you taking about? We just go over and-"

"How? How will we just 'get over there' without any airships?"

"Or any supplies" Raven adds in smoothly, done with giving orders to the camp. "Thank you brother, I can explain things from here."

"Gotcha. I suppose we can see how rusty my skills have gotten at moving camp about" he says, claping her shoulder as he walks by.

"Think of it like riding a bicycle." Yang sees Raven's lip turn upwards at the jab, and her uncle flip her off as he continues to walk away (a fact that only makes Raven's smile widen, even though she should have no way of seeing behind her to notice that).

"When will you lay off on that? It was over thirty years ago" he grouses, but Yang's been around her uncle long enough to tell when his grumbles are real or not, and this one definitely doesn't have any heart in it.

"Not in a million years, brother" she says before turning to face Yang. "So, you're worried about Ruby."

"Yeah. Are we going after her – I get it might take a few days to get to Mistral, but…"

"We're going to Quan Shen first. Then Tellandrin, then-"

"That's going the opposite way, away from Mistral!"

"No, we're looping around to Mistral. The route is longer, but we will eventually arrive at Mistral's doorstep – once we are armed, prepared, fed." She pauses for a moment and lets out a long sigh "There's a reason why I left you with your father when I left to take over the camp." The Spring Maiden turns around to look out at her tribe members, moving through taking down the camp, the older members showing the former White Fang members and Hunter Students how to move the camp.

"Life out in the wilds can be dangerous, to say nothing of uncomfortable. Disease, famine, Grimm attacks, there can be many dangers. I love my tribe, but it isn't the best place to raise a child – Qrow and I can attest to that."

"Really selling that 'bandit life'. So that's why you're so screwed up? Blame it on a bad childhood?" Yang is… less than satisfied with that answer to say the least, considering what her childhood had been like when Raven left.

"No, that's not what I- forget it." She casts a critical eye back on Yang. "You'll need to show more respect, at least in public" she adds, holding up a hand to stop the predictable tirade from her daughter. "You're to be my heir, so the camp will need to accepting my decisions, to keep order even if you have different thoughts you must air later."

The bandit leader turns back fully to Yang while she's still trying to digest that statement. "Your attack wiped out most of our camp, including our supplies. I'll be surprised if more than a tenth of what we had before it. To say nothing of our numbers tripling or perhaps quadrupling in size."

Any retort dies on the blonde's lips. Those are some good points as to why they can't just go straight to Ruby. "And you're Semblance couldn't…?"

Raven shakes her head, killing that faint, hopeful idea. "No, I've been stretched thin Aura-wise from the repeated battles and evacuating everyone here. And even if I did, I'd need a close bond to someone in the city, and everyone I'm close to is right here. I'm fond of Summer's daughter, but that's not enough to make a connection for my Semblance."

The yellow brawler let's out a sigh and her shoulders slump until a hand is placed on them. "Yang." She turns her head up to look into her mother's eyes. "I don't have the same connection you have to your sister, so when it comes time to convince her to join our side, you'll need to be the one to convince her."

Yang turns her head quizzically to the side. "Huh?"

"Ruby didn't see what we saw. Even if she's told about it after the fact, Ozpin will have free reign to manipulate her, to sway her to his side as he 'presents the facts'-" Raven says with actual air quotes, her eyes rolling in disbelief in that statement ever being used to describe what he does (a sentiment Yang can agree with). "To convince Ruby to stay with him. She'll just see me as an enemy, so when we march on Mistral, you'll need to be the one to convince her to walk away."

The reality of the situation hits Yang; Ruby will still be caught up in Ozpin's games unless she can save her! Her mother gently squeezes her shoulder. "I know how frustrating it must be to wait, but you can use this time to prepare. Find the perfect words to sway her, I know you can do this, my daughter."

The bandit heir nods her head slowly "Yeah. Thanks."

Raven smiles "You're welcome. Now, I need to oversee the rest of the tribe and your Schnee girlfriend seems to be waving at you."

Yang splutters for a moment before looking over at Weiss, waving her over in a wary stance, opposite from a grey figure- "Mercury" she growls out as she runs over to them.

"Oh, hey Blondie, good to see you here too" Mercury says as he sees her stalking over to them. He sounds unconcerned but considering he subtly shifted his stance to face both of them and backed up a bit, Yang thinks he's more nervous than he lets on. As he should be.

"What are you doing here? Think you can spy on us for Salem-"

Mercury raises his hands up, palms open. "Hold on, I quit Salem's side just like those White Fang guys did, something I've been trying to tell your teammate here" he says, jerking his head towards Weiss.

"A likely story" the girl in white scoffs, her hand on her rapier at her side. "Why should we ever trust you again, after what you pulled at Beacon?"

"And even if we could, how can we trust anyone who could switch sides so easily? Those ex-White Fang goons didn't know anything about Salem, they were hardly inner circle members."

"Ugh, that was just a job, and it isn't like you'll be caught off guard now. Also, I am well and done with pretending to be a goody two shoes, no more of that thanks." He sticks out his tongue, as if the thought of the effort he had to put in to betray them (not the act of stabbing them and the school in the back or anything like that) put a bad taste in his mouth. He drops his hands and takes on a more serious expression for Yang's question.

"Look, me and Ems were hardly 'inner circle', we just got to tag along when Cinder sat at the big table. Which doesn't mean I don't know a few… useful tidbits to help the tribe, cause I might have a thing or two stored up here" the silver haired bastard says, tapping the side of his head with a smirk on his face. The smirk drops as he continues "So I was Cinder's man, not Salem's (though I suspect she'd have some harsh words for us after our failure at Haven, which is why is part of why I decided to get out while the going's good). I owed Cinder, she saved my life, and hey, the pay was good. So I fought for her, up till the end, you saw that, but there's no point in me wasting my time trying to help a corpse. Cinder's gone and Raven's stronger, so I'm part of the tribe now. That good enough for you two?"

Yang and Weiss glare at him in silence, sharing the feeling that it isn't enough, but not sure what else to demand from him. He takes that moment of silence as acceptance "Well, if that will be all, I've got some tents to move." He places his hands behind the back of his head as he slowly backsteps away.

"We'll be keeping an eye on you" Weiss says, stilling glaring daggers at him.

Mercury laughs and glances down at himself. "With a body like mine? Who wouldn't?" He says before spinning around and swaggering off.

Yang rolls her eyes "Urgh." She sends a smile Weiss' way before placing her arm over her shoulder. "I guess we better help the others move. The faster this goes, the sooner we can get to Ruby."

"Right…" the smaller girl says, obviously worried.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We just have to focus on convincing her to join us when the time comes and then everything will be… golden" she whips her hair forward a bit, the locks cascading down on the ex-Schnee heiress, causing her to sputter a bit and mock glare at Yang (something the blonde considers to be far better than the distressed look she had on her face a moment ago).

"You've been saving that pun up for some time, haven't you?"

Yang just laughs in response, and Weiss sighs, flipping the long hair out of her face, but also putting her arm around Yang's side as well. Her touch is cool, but it feels good, like this. The start of something new.

The battleworn woman stopped in the middle of the alleyway, only a few blocks before the faunus district that held her apartment (technically just a 'poorer' district of Mistral, but this one 'just happened' to house most of the faunus nearby – they may not be enslaved any more, but that didn't mean those with power couldn't still make the lives of most faunus… uncomfortable through subtle means). She hadn't noticed it when she had moved through the busier sections of Mistral as she raced to her family, but here, where it was quiet, she hears steps that she realizes have been dogging her for some time.

Whirling around Mary flexes out her claws and says "Show yourself!" There's silence for a moment before Umber steps forward from the entrance to the alleyway.

"Whoa, calm down Mary" he says with his hands held placatingly in front of him as he stepped closer to her. "I was worried when you rushed out from Haven, I just followed to make sure you were alright." His worried expression is perfect, he has the right tone, there isn't a hint of any deception in his eyes… Mary's almost convinced, but she knows better than to trust him.

"Not another step!" Umber halts, looking as if he's confused. "I'm just going to check on my family, and I don't need any help from you."

"Are you sure? With all the craziness-" he takes another step forward and Mary shifts into a battle ready stance.

"All the craziness, yet I don't doubt for a second that you heard my words to Raven. Back off Umber, just let me take my family and go. This doesn't have to be a fight."

Umber shrugs "I'd say 'you caught me', but really it's the other way around, isn't it? And I disagree about us not needing to fight." His spear and net appear in his hands in a blur that Mary almost misses, and she shifts back a step involuntarily at the demonstration of his speed. "We will need to fight, if you go, take your family and join the Branwen tribe. Sooner or later you will be Pyrrha and mine's enemy, and while we may have never clashed in the ring, I've seen your skills today, and respect you too much to let an enemy like you slip away."

"You're so worried I'd be a threat to your 'precious Pyrrha'?" Mary said mockingly, fluttering her eyelashes at him. She hoped to draw out his anger, to get him to make a mistake in anger, but all the comment gets is him drawing his lips in a hard line. "She's way too strong for me to ever manage it – hell after that light show, I don't think even you'd slow her down. So why bother with this?"

"Because, while today was a good example of how powerful some people are, foes and allies on every side, it also showed us that fighters like you and I can make a difference. Even if it's holding off a few enemies in the middle of a brawl, that can make the difference between life and death."

"And you think that's going to make her fall for you?" Mary mocked swooning "Oh, my saviour, you took out a few minions on my left side, now let's get married! Is that how you think it goes?"

He chuckled softly, a sound that unnerved the wolverine faunus greatly. "Who knows what the future may hold? Even if my feelings are never reciprocated, I shall forever serve her, as she deserves to be held up. Pyrrha is our light, the hope of Mistral-"

"You're disgusting" Mary spits out. Before the spittle has hit the ground, Umber is rushing her, blasting down the alley in the blink of an eye.

"Unlike a mongrel like you! Your future is known" he shouts out as his spear jabs in a flurry of blows, barely deflected by her arms, several more created with her Semblance. "And it will be your death!" Umber continues as he breaks apart some her soul made arms, the blows just slipping past her defence as she tries to back up.

The tournament fighter strikes up at her head, which Mary slips her head to the side from and tries to pummel him, only for her many arms to be met and caught by his dust net. Umber flicks his hand, using the bottom of his spear to hook through and pull his net up, freeing his net hand to punch her twice in the gut, almost causing her to bowl over. All of that done smoothly, in the span of a second.

Mary lets go of her Semblance made arms to call upon a new one to catch his hook to her chin in the nick of time, but before she can congratulate herself on that, Umber's right leg sweeps out, taking out her feet. His cold eyes glare down at her as she falls, tumbling backwards.

She makes a mad scramble upward, using the limbs to get herself up and running fast, hoping to make some distance between her and this maniac when she sees him poised to throw his spear at her. She turns, ready to block it as he looses it from his grip, arms forming to shield herself and catch it out of the air- only for Umber to snag it, catching it with his net and whipping it up and downward, triggering a fire mechanism that rockets the spear down even faster. It bypasses her guard and pierces her heart before she can stop it.

As everything fades in her eyes, Mary realizes that that move must have been made by copying Pyrrha – copying the Semblance that no one else knew she had today before she started flinging her weapons around. Umber had already decoded it from who knows how much research and built his fighting style to copy the Mistrallian champion's. Mary might have been about to turn her back on the girl and join up with bandits, but she worries for her, and what Pyrrha's life will be like with people like Umber at her side.

More than that though, she worries about her family, about who will take care of them… how will they… without… her…

Umber yanks his spear out from her. "When I said you were 'a mongrel' that was because you were turning your back on Mistral, not because- I didn't mean it because you were a faunus! I just- I should really stop talking to a corpse" he says, cleaning his weapon off on her clothes. The teenager sighs before looking up, at the side of the mountain, his gaze sliding all the way to the peak.

'Mistral represents our past glories and our hopes for the future.' It's a line he's studied often and something he couldn't agree more with Pyrrha on. Umber suspects that she doesn't see herself as the saviour she's meant to be of Mistral, but he knows in time that she will. And he'll help her, and in doing so they will lift up all of Mistral from these dark times. Umber glances over at Mary's corpse before turning back to the way out of the alleyway. No matter what needs to be done, Umber vows to see to Pyrrha's protection. With that thought in mind he steps out of the shadowy alleyway, and back into the bright city streets.

He crawls out the wreckage of the Bullhead, gasping for breath from the exertion and the pain the crash had caused him. But he was alive! Lionheart triumphantly thought as he pulled himself up.

Let others call him a coward, he was just smart – his Dust Dueling Disk cost him little Aura and kept him safe and away from angry heiresses and their pointy swords, to say nothing of the rest of the brawl that had gone on. His Aura took a heavy hit from the crash, but because no one else had hit him before that, he was able to make it through.

Lionheart shakes his head as he steps out of the wreckage, clearing his mind and focusing. The case! He realizes and begins trying to shift apart the wreckage, a difficult task for a regular person, but his decades of experience as a huntsmen plus the modicum of Aura he has left allow him to sift through the metal airship scraps and find it. The case is busted, the scroll inside it is cracked, and most of the files and money he packed are ruined, or at least damaged in some way.

Before he gives into despair, he checks the side pouch and sees that the flash drive, while dirtied, is still there and whole. He lets out a sigh of relief as he realizes he'll have some money from his accounts. Lionheart stretches his old shoulders out as he begins to make his way down the mountain, finding a safehouse.

The safehouse was made for many of his hunters, a general purpose restplace almost, not like the facility that Qrow was using (even he didn't know where all of the Ozpin safehouses were in even Mistral, let alone the rest of the world). Hacking security systems wasn't something Leonard had ever focused on, but seeing as he set this site up himself, taking it down was easy… just like he had taken down the Hunters of Mistral, he thought to himself as the empty and dusty house opened up to him.

Leo regretted it, he did, truly! But with Salem's hold, how could he have done otherwise? He shakes away those doubts and regrets, no matter what, it was all over now. The hunters had seen his 'death' and he could slip away. Where to go though? He has some options, a bit of cash, but not everything he'd need. His fake IDs and the like had been ruined so he'd need some new ones made fast, which would eat into his already lessened funds. Those were problems for future Lionheart, however, so Leo went inside, locked and alarmed the building and crashed on one of the beds, ready for a bright new (free! Free of Ozpin and Salem's bullshit!) life in the morning.

Come the next day, Leonard Lionheart got up, dressed himself in many layers, a scarf, hiding his tail, and sunglasses to disguise himself (he wasn't the most famous person around Mistral by any stretch of the imagination, but Headmasters of hunter schools did tend to gather some renown), and went out to Mistral. The city – it alternated between incredibly noisy and deathly quiet. One person is standing on a bow, proclaiming how these are 'the end times' – not altogether uncommon but what is, is how many people are chanting alongside him and listening.

Thoroughly confused, Lionheart ventures to ask one of the people gathered at the side "What is this all about?"

The man he asked is in a mechanist outfit, looking to be in his mid thirties with dark blue hair. "Have you been under a rock old timer? The word is there's a 'mistress of evil', Salemi? And she's controlling all the Grimm and we're all doomed."

"Salem?!" Leo gasps, unable to help himself. How could everyone know?

"Ah yeah you have heard. There's other stuff about a wizard and magic, I don't really know about that, but everything seems pretty doom and gloomy, with bandits gathering outside the city and everyone upset here" the man gestures to the fearful crowd. "I'd imagine the Grimm will be coming here soon."

It takes Lionheart a moment to respond, trying to process all of that "I, I must be going now, thank you for your time." He rushed off, trying to find a bank that would take his flashdrive and be willing to cash out the account information he had stored on there, but finds all of the banks to be full up from other people trying to get their Lien and leave. A councilwoman trying to maintain the order of the place almost catches him, so Leo quickly retreats.

He needs money, but he's out of options to get it from… from Mistral. These accounts have funds that could be taken in other places. If he gets to Argus fast enough, and from there to Mantle… A plan forms in his head, and a quick meeting with a displeased and scared Bullhead driver has him up and in the air, offering his services guarding the vessel as he gets a ride out of the city.

As he looks back on the mountain, fading out of sight, he wonders briefly what will happen to the city he once protected. Is it doomed to fall to Salem and her minions? Would Oz have protected him if…? The thoughts plague him for a moment before he locks them away within a box in his mind. He's alive, and while Atlas may not be the sunny, well guarded, beach he had hoped to retire on, he knows he'll be safe there, and that matters more than any friendship, or accolades of duty, or even how history will remember him.

Oscar gently nudges the young girl in red. She's half sitting in a chair, half lying on the bed the taller girl is lying in and breathing shallowly on (too shallowly – Oscar almost thought that Pyrrha had passed when he first entered the room, wondering if wresting the knowledge of Jinn's name from Ozpin was all for naught at first, before he realized she was alive, if just barely). "Hey Ruby" he says as the little red reaper blearily opens her eyes.

"Oscar" she says with a smile as she hazily recognizes him, before her silver eyes snap into focus on her partner, still lying there, still… alive. Ruby lets out a quiet breath and Oscar recognizes the relief in it.

They wait in silence for a moment before Ruby asks "How did it go?"

"We, uh, well, no one died." Ruby beams at that, before seeing the look on his face.

"Then… what did happen? Did Raven get away with the Relic?"

Oscar thought for a moment, leaning on the cane as he stood beside them. He double checked to make sure the room was empty save for them. "She got away, yeah. Raven – Raven used the Relic and asked a question, and we all got the answer to it, thanks to Jinn. She asked about all of Oz's mistakes." Ruby's face falls at that, recognition sparking. "Did you- know?" It's impossible, and yet, given her reaction…

Ruby shakes her head "I don't know the details, but I remember Ozpin giving me advice one time, when I felt like I wasn't a good team leader. I wondered… if he had made a mistake making me team leader, and he said that 'he had made more mistakes then any man, woman, or child alive', but he didn't think making me team leader was one of those. With the fact that he's a reincarnated wizard, what he said then makes a lot more sense."

"He… made a lot of mistakes, that's true. Possibly the only true thing about him. Jinn didn't just answer the question, she showed it all to us, how Ozpin- no, 'Ozma' in the beginning was given a mission by the God of Light to protect the Relics until such time as the world was united. Ozma decided to marry Salem instead and stayed with her, at least for long enough to have some kids. When he tried to leave…" Oscar begins explaining the whole thing to her, covering the 'highlights' of what mistakes Ozma had made over his many lives.

"And then the visions stopped. It wasn't just myself, Qrow, and Yang that were shown the vision as well- everyone saw it, all the White Fang and hunter students too-"

"Wait a minute! When did the White Fang get involved?!"

"Oh, right, I guess you left before that. After Lionheart was taken down by Weiss-"

"What?" Ruby interrupts again.

"Ok, so you missed a fair bit. To recap, just as we were convincing the students to stop attacking us, Lionheart tricked them, then tried to flee. Weiss stopped him and took down his ship, sending it crashing away. Then – actually I think you came back and gave Ozpin your Uncle, then the White Fang showed up, along with a large human, called Hazel. I think Ozpin has some sort of history with him? Oz didn't tell me a bunch when we were fighting beyond the fact that he thinks Oz caused the death of his sister (I think I saw a bit of it in a vision, he was on a team in Beacon and Oz received word that someone called Gretle had died). He was working with the White Fang, probably because they're working with Salem-"

"What." This time Ruby's voice is flat, slightly exasperated with all these new details. Oscar scratches the back of his head.

"Okay, that point hadn't been revealed yet, I'll get to it. Anyways, Hazel was really tough, he stabbed these huge Dust Crystals into his arms to boost himself, apparently he has a Semblance to shut out the pain. We fought him off while the students were fighting off the White Fang. Then your friend Blake arrived with a couple of her friends to help us." Ruby does her best not to interrupt again, to hear everything first, but her whole face brightens up at the mention of Blake's name.

"Blake, Ilia, and Sun fought Adam, the leader of the White Fang, they beat him while we were fighting Hazel. I got drawn to where Qrow was and Raven arrived, talked to us for a bit before asking her question. Then the fighting stopped as everyone freaked out and tried to figure out what was going on."

"Ok, I think I get all that now. So that- that isn't good. Everyone's going to know about Salem, who is apparently immortal, but no one died right?" Her face is so hopeful that Oscar's heart feels like breaking when he continues.

"Nobody died, but… Adam, Hazel and some of his White Fang ran away, going back to Salem, though not all the White Fang agreed with him. Raven made a speech about how she was going to make her tribe safe from Salem and Ozma, and a lot of people joined her. White Fang, some students,… and Qrow, Weiss, and Yang."

"Why? Why would she do that? Yang knows her mother is a bandit, she- actions like Raven's are what cause villages to be destroyed by the Grimm, I've seen it!"

"I guess that family means more than that to her." As soon as Oscar says that he realizes that he's said something wrong, looking at those hurt Silver Eyes as she thinks about how Yang left her. "Uh, and she was really hurt by finding out Ozpin was still hiding stuff from everyone" Oscar quickly adds on. "She mi- she's probably just acting out in the moment from how hurt she was."

"I have to save her" Ruby says, standing up suddenly. "I'll show her that Raven is wrong and-" Ruby takes two steps away from her chair and to the door before faltering, and Oscar rushes over to help keep her upright.

"Easy there, you're in no condition to go chasing after her. Also, we might have bigger problems heading our way. The Grimm."

"With all the chaos and negative emotions in Haven…"

"… the Grimm are gathering around Mistral, yeah" Oscar finishes. "The knowledge is seeping into the public too, and we're trying to control it, slow down everything, but the people are really worried too, which only draws in more Grimm."

"Do you guys need a hand setting up defences or fighting them off-" The farmboy holds up a hand, cutting off Ruby's offer.

"I appreciate it, but you still need to rest." His gaze trails over to Pyrrha "And I think we'd all be happier to know you were watching over Pyrrha right now. She's… incredible, and I'm not- I don't regret what I did, giving Jinn's name over to Raven, but I want to make sure that it meant actually saving her."

Ruby grabs his hand "We both made that choice, don't blame yourself. This is a lot to take in, but so long as we stick together we can make it through this."

"Thanks" Oscar says, and he feels his spirits rise. The words are simple, and everything still seems bleak, but he feels just a bit more inspired than before. Like they're true, and they can overcome all these disasters.

"Thank you, Ruby. And you're right, together we can stop the Grimm and from there- well I don't know, but we'll take things one step at a time. Blake convinced a lot of her former White Fang friends to turn a new leaf and help us- oh no, I forgot to mention, Blake was a member of the White Fang, and used to pretend to be a human, not a cat faunus!"

Ruby giggles a bit "Yeah, I already knew that." She says, as if it was obvious. Oscar crosses his arms and mock pouts.

"Well excuse me for not knowing you'd already had those revelations." They laugh for a moment, mostly just to ease the tensions they feel pressing all around them. "Don't worry, we've got help and we're organizing things up at Haven. You rest up, keep an eye on Pyrrha, and if we need you, we'll let you know." Oscar takes out a spare Scroll and passes it to her.

The young girl (whose still older than him, but just feels 'young' compared to her compatriats) hugs him "Stay safe. And call me when you need me, I'm serious."

"I will, don't worry" Oscar says, before walking out the door, heading back to the others. They've got a long night ahead of them.

Pyrrha opens her eyes and takes in a deep gasp of air as she tries to focus her thoughts on what happened. The last thing she remembered was Vernal hitting her and- the Fall Maiden takes in where she is and the teary girl standing beside her. "Ruby." Pyrrha finds herself enveloped in the younger girl's hug, something she wouldn't usually mind at all, but even with her partner being gentle, Pyrrha feels the pain, and fatigue, of their last battle suddenly come washing over her, and Ruby's soft embrace vanishes as she feels Pyrrha stiffen beneath her.

"Ruby, what happened?"

A/N: And here we are! The end of what I had planned out when I first started sketching out this fic. I have many more ideas planned for the future, how things might play out from here, but for now I'm going to take a bit of a break. There are the holidays coming up and a lot of other projects that I've pushed to the side that I really need to work on, but I want to thank everyone for reading this and coming with me thus far on this journey. I know that this was a bit of a twist towards the end, but I hope you've enjoyed it, all of it.

I'd also like to hear your thoughts on my story thus far, and what you're hoping for the future. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I try to improve myself as a writer. Finally, if there are any questions you have about everything that's gone on, any loose ends I've failed to tie up, please ask me about them now.