Together Again

Ruby could only stare, as one Pyrrha Nikos stood before, with a smile that could light up the universe.

"I know this is rather sudden," Pyrrha said, "But…" She couldn't finish, as Ruby's arms were suddenly around her waist.

"I missed you Pyrrha," she said.

"Hey Ruby!" Jaune called, as he came into the room, "Who.." That was when he stopped, and saw just who had come through the door.

"How…" This time, he was the one who got hugged.

"I missed you both so much, too," Pyrrha said, tightening her hold on Jaune. Jaune took a moment, but he did eventually return the hug.

"Welcome back, Ms. Nikos," Darkness said as he suddenly materialized in front of the group. Pyrrha smiled broadly to see her teacher appearing before him.

Thank you she said You gave me a kick I really needed.

"All I did was remind you of what you already knew," Darkness answered. Pyrrha's smile just broadened at that.

"How'd you get here?" Ruby asked.

"I flew," Pyrrha answered.

"You flew? How'd you do that?"

"With my wings, of course," Pyrrha said, her grin widening, spreading her arms in display. It took Ruby and Jaune a second, but they realized what she was taking about.

"Wait!" Jaune said, "You flew all the way to Mistral as a dragon."

"Indeed I did," Pyrrha answered.

"You spent that long as a dragon?" Ruby asked.

"It actually wasn't as tiring as you'd think. If anything, it was kind of fun, seeing Anima from so high up. I even managed to help some people and kill some Grimm along the way."

"Well, I guess that's good," Ruby said, "I mean when you're a dragon, you don't have to worry about not hav…" Ruby trailed off slightly at that, remembering a certain detail about Pyrrha, as she briefly flushed red in embarrassment, but the champion just laughed it off.

"Well, if it's worth anything, I got a new one," she said, holding up her prosthetic, allowing her teammates to stare at it for a time. Jaune looked surprised and even a bit impressed, but as for Ruby…

"OH MY GODS!" Ruby cried.

"Yes?"

"This is so cool!" Ruby said, as she crouched down to study Pyrrha's prosthetic, "Is it really made out of bronze? Are there any weapons built into it? Is there a rocket attached?" Pyrrha just chuckled lightly at that. Gods, she had missed that sort of behavior.

"What's going on here?" Nora asked, as she came out with Ren, "Are we getting robbed or some…" Both of them stopped, however, when they saw Pyrrha.

"Holy gods," she said.

"Yes, I am still here."

"Well, well, Pyrrha Nikos, as I live and breath," a young yet somehow familiar voice said. Pyrrha glanced over, to see a young boy, even younger than Ruby, approaching with a smile, in a tone that sounded far older than he was.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but have we met?" she asked.

"That we have, my girl," the boy said, the smile widening.

"It's… a bit of a long story," Nora said.

"I noticed that's been coming up a lot in our lives lately," Pyrrha said.

(somewhere else on Anima)

If someone had told either Yang Xiao Long or Weiss Schnee that they would be exposed to some of the oldest and darkest secrets of the world in the course of slightly less than a year, they'd have been very skeptical. But if they were being honest, what Raven was telling them, didn't seem as shaking considering what else they knew about the world. It was certainly surprising, but it wasn't shaking them as much as much as Raven might've expected. This "Salem" seemed dangerous, but there was no way she was powerful as they knew the God of Darkness to be.

"And Ozpin knows about all of this?" Yang asked.

"Know's about it? He's hiding it all from everyone, a secret this big," Raven grumbled, swirling her tea slightly, "Qrow's a fool for trusting him." Yang and Weiss would've agreed with her, as they thought about Jaune keeping the secret about Darkness from them. But they considered also how big a secret that was; maybe they couldn't fault someone for hiding some especially dark secrets from others.

"Well, it's not about trusting Ozpin," Yang said, "It never has been. We've got another teacher, one I think is even better than him."

"The one who gave you that power, I presume?" Raven inquired.

"None of your business, that's who," Yang said, to both Raven, and even Weiss' surprise.

You're not going to tell her? she asked.

Would you trust her with that kind of information? Yang asked.

Good point.

"You know most people who want something from someone else don't refuse to talk to them," Raven said, "Doesn't make me feel like helping you."

"Well, we don't feel like telling you," Yang answered, "I suggest making nice with that." Raven glared at Yang and her friend.

"I take it you get that stubbornness from me?" she asked.

"I got it from my mom," Yang answered, though this time Raven knew who she was really referring to. She did remember Summer having an unflinching stubbornness to her at times as well; she pondered if her own biological kid got it too. Though as she thought about Summer, again, a tremor went down her spine, and her hand shook ever so slightly, but not slight enough that Yang wasn't unable to catch it.

"Well, that stubbornness may very easily might get you killed one day," Raven said, "That's what happened to Summer…." The bandit leader barely had a millisecond to avoid a ball of yellow fire that proceeded to burn a hole in the fabric behind her.

"Don't you ever talk about my mother like that!" Yang hissed, steam leaking from her mouth, and her reptilian eyes red. Though she'd never admit it, Raven was deeply intimidated by that; the power, it felt deeply primal, like something from a really old time. Yang's attention was suddenly draw to the sound of a weapon cocking, glancing back to see Raven's second (who they learned was named Vernal) standing right behind Yang, her weapon pointed at her head.

"You really think that's going to do anything against me?" Yang asked. Vernal didn't answer, but her grip tightened.

"Yang," Weiss said sternly, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder, "this isn't helping."

"It's fine, Vernal," Raven said, holding up her hand. The woman glared at the girls, but was't about to second guess her leader, as she backed off. Yang managed to do the same.

"Don't you act like you have any better a track record when it comes to being stubborn, lady," Yang then said, "You walked away the moment you pushed me out." Raven's eyes narrowed at that.

"The difference is, I've seen more than you might think," she said, "Experienced more than what you might think,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raven glanced at her tea again, before she set it aside.

"Follow me," she eventually said, as she stood up.

"Why should we?" Yang answered.

"Because it's time you saw just what Ozpin does to his obstensible allies," Raven answered, as she left the room. The girls exchanged looks, before Weiss shrugged briefly. With that, they followed the bandit. But when they got out, they didn't see Raven anywhere.

"Where'd she go?" Weiss asked out loud.

"I can smell her," Yang said, "But that's about it."

"Smell her?" Weiss said, her facing pinching slightly.

"Well, yeah, don't you have a super dragon nose too?" Yang asked. Weiss did, and htough she didn't want think about her enhanced senses, she did have to admit she could smell something in the air.

"You think she could be telling the truth?" she asked, "I mean, we got our magic straight from the source. Could she have really gotten it from Ozpin?" That was when they heard a caw, and there's eyes turned to the sky to see a raven flying past.

"Where'd that raven come from?" Weiss asked as it perched on a tree.

"I've… seen that bird before," Yang said softly, narrowing her eyes. The bird looked at the girls for a time, before it took wing, and flew down in their direction. And before they knew it, in a flash, Raven was in the bird's place. Taking a breath, the bandit glanced at the two, where both staring at her, but it wasn't with shock or potential horror, as most people generally reacted. It was only surprise, and they didn't even look that impressed.

"I know it's not as awe inspiring as being able to become a dragon," Raven said, glaring at the girls, "but you could at least pretend a little."

"We've seen better," Yang eventually said, narrowing her eyes.

"At any rate, this is what Ozpin did to me, and to Qrow," Raven said, looking at her hand, before she drew Omen, and let loose a single slash, creating a swirling red void, "But if you want anything more, I'd suggest asking your uncle yourself."

"So you're letting us go then?" Yang asked.

"It's not like I could stop you," Raven said, as she sheathed her blade, "And I'd rather not have to root though the ashes of my camp. Though I will make this one final offer: stay with me, and we can start over, or…."

"Screw you, Raven." Those words hit Raven like a bag of cement, as she stared at Yang, who said nothing more, just glared right through her. With that, Yang retrieved her mortocycle, and loaded Weiss on the back, as they rolled towards the portal.

"One last warning," Raven said, "You put your faith in Ozpin, you will regret it."

"Maybe," Weiss said, finally speaking, "But it's not Ozpin we're putting our faith in."

"Then who is?" Raven inquired.

"Someone whose been there for us since this whole thing started," was all Yang answered with, and on that note, she rolled her bike into the portal. Neither she nor Weiss spared a second-glance at Raven.

"You did good, Summer," the bandit leader said as she watched the portal closed. Again, at the mention of the silver-eyed woman, she felt her hand shaking slightly.

"Damn it," she muttered, as she moved away from the spot the portal appeared as if it were radioactive. She needed something stronger than tea.

(in Mistral)

Qrow ending having a bad day. Despite Leo's claims he was trying his best, he was still no closer to meeting with the Chancellor. He was this close from just trying to storm the palace himself. Qrow resisted the urge to bang his head on the railing of the balcony he was standing on. That was when he felt the air shift, as he glanced over to see a red void appearing.

"Raven, I'm really not…" That was when someone came out of the portal.

Meanwhile, on the inside of the house, Ruby glanced around the corner at Jaune, who was sitting on the couch, chatting with Pyrrha. Ruby flushed red, as she stared at the young man she now knew for certain she had feelings for. She had no idea what would happen to their friendship if she took this any further, but she was worried that this was going to drive her crazy if she didn't do something.

"Jaune," she called softly, as she stepped around the corner.

"Yeah?" Jaune asked, as he glanced up. Ruby took a deep breath. Here goes nothing she thought.

"I just…"

"Hey kid!" Ruby's breath hitched, not happy about the interruption.

"Yes?" she asked her uncle, trying not to grit her teeth, as she looked in his direction, "What…" Her voice stopped dead in her tracks, as she saw who Qrow was accompanying.

Yang wasn't sure what she was going to say to her sister when she met her again. To that end, she could only find it in her to stare at her sister. It wasn't helped that Ruby's silver eyes were staring so hard Yang almost thought she was going to be set on fire.

"Ruby, I…." She was silenced as Ruby practically phased over to her, her arms around her big sister's waist.

"I missed you so much," Ruby said through her tears. Yang could only smile as she returned the hug.

"I missed you too, little sister," Yang said, as she tightened her hold on Ruby. Once she eventually got let go, she noticed Jaune standing there as well, but her gaze was quickly drawn to Pyrrha, who was standing a little further away. The champion took a breath, as she stepped closer to her partner.

"Yang, I…" Pyrrha didn't finish, as she was suddenly embraced by Yang.

"Good to see ya again bronzie," she said, as she tightened her embrace on her partner. Pyrrha slowly returned the hug, though she still looked unsure. Though it didn't matter much, as Ruby promptly slid into the hug as well. Jaune just smiled, wiping a way something in his eye.

"Get over here, Vomit Boy," Yang said, gesturing to Jaune, who had been standing over to the side.

"Really?" Jaune asked, "But…"

"It is impolite to refuse such a request," Shade commented, as he materialized beside him. Suddenly Jaune was telekinetically pushed towards his team, where Yang and Ruby were able to grab him, and bring him into the group hug. Shade just smiled at the sight of his students finally reunited. Weiss, despite herself, found herself tearing up ever so slightly at the sight as well. That was when a very familiar voice spoke up.

"Can't a girl have a moment with her man without some kind of disturbance?" Nora complained as she kicked down the door, glaring, "Seriously, what's…" That was when she saw the former heiress, and her eyes nearly shot out of her head.

"Hey Nora," Weiss said slowly, upon seeing her partner. Nora just stared straight at Weiss for that, her jaw hanging open.

"Now, I know some explanation may be in order…" As was becoming a theme across the day, though, Weiss was silenced as she was body slammed to the ground. Said body belonged to Nora, wrapping her arms around her partner's waist.

"I missed you, Weissicle," she said softly. It took a couple moments for her to process what was really happening, but Weiss slowly wrapped her arms around the ginger haired girl in turn.

"I missed you too, Nora," she said softly. Shade's smile just broadened. Now they were only down one person…

Note: Bare in mind, while Ruby may have feelings for Jaune, that doesn't mean Jaune absolutely feels the same way she does. I'm going to seek to give Weiss a fair chance in the game too, so expect some more scenes with her.

I considered having Yang tell Raven about the God of Darkness, but that would've opened a can of worms that would've made the upcoming conflict a lot more complicated.

Most of this chapter was dedicated to Yang and Weiss talking with Raven, and the reunion of RYPJ. I wanted this chapter to be longer, but found that I preferred keeping it to the desired scenes: I considered including a scene with Blake, but that would've shifted the focus of the chapter to her, when I wanted to keep it the way it was. Next chapter will likely be devoted to her.

Be sure to review.