A/N: So... the latest Volume of RWBY has continued to be amazing! I mean, holy crap, I've already said that Volume 7 had the potential to be the best in the series, and man did it follow through on that! I honestly can't wait to gush about it! But, that's for later down the line. In the meantime, here's today's Chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or My Hero Academia. They belong to Monty Oum, Kohei Horikoshi, and their respective publishing companies. Please support the official releases.

I do not own the cover image

Chapter 63: Airborne Inquiries

Weiss snapped awake when her head sagged forward, causing her to react instinctually. She felt groggy, as one would with their head against a window for a few hours. It had just been so cool and pleasing, and... wow, she really needed to get some proper sleep once they got to Mistral. Her REM cycle was probably destroyed by now.

Tenya was still in the same place he'd been when she'd fallen asleep. There was still tension there, in his eyes. She couldn't exactly blame him, though. She needed to be realistic with him, even if it hurt. Still, he looked calmer now, and he could read the question on her face before she even had the chance to voice it.

"It's been a few hours. Don't worry, it's been mostly quiet, so you haven't missed anything," Tenya said.

"Oh. Well, thanks for the heads up," Weiss said as she moved from her position on the crate she'd used as a seat, stretching her arms above her head. As she breathed out the stress they'd accumulated, she then said, "I'm going to go check on Leiten."

"I'll join you," Tenya said, though he was noticeably less polite in his tone once their pilot had been brought up.

Weiss ignored it as they went up to the bridge. Leiten appeared to be fumbling around with the photo he'd had on his dash before the door opened, causing him to quickly put it back where it came from before looking back to their route, letting the autopilot take over for the moment.

"Good to see you're awake, Ms. Schnee," Leiten said. "It's pretty dark right now, but it's probably already night in Mistral. We'll be there in about thirty more minutes."

Then, noticing something in the distance, he took back control of the ship. As a myriad of tree species intermingled below them as the landscape zipped by, Weiss looked up to see what had caused him to take control again. Floating islands, with dark violet crystals jutting out at almost every angle imaginable. To say it was jarring would be an understatement. She'd heard of the Gravity Sea before, but she had never seen it up close. It was... an experience.

Carefully, Leiten maneuvered them in and out of the masses of rock, his hands deft from the years of experience and training. This route wasn't often used by official channels because of the instability of the gravity dust in the area. It was also one of the least inhabited by airborne Grimm, due to the natural protection by the unstable gravity. She'd heard smugglers, with enough experience and training, liked to use this route in order to get things into Mistral. Drugs, dust, illegal weapons and the like. Seeing Leiten get them through with almost no trouble at all... well, she could certainly believe the rumors, now.

A signal suddenly crackled to life on their radio. Leiten adjusted it until they could pick it up, and a voice came crackling through.

"Mayday, mayday! Code 2, we are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack!"

"That one's close," Weiss said, noting the trajectory between them and the distressed ship, visible on the radar to the side of the dash.

"Much closer than I'd like them to be," Leiten said. "You can't be serious about-"

"ISLAND, DEAD AHEAD!" Tenya suddenly shouted, giving Leiten barely enough time to maneuver the ship around the silently floating island they would've crashed into. This was probably another one of the reasons that smugglers preferred to use this route. There probably wasn't a single consistent map of this place in existence. Which left them with only one route forward.

"I swear, some cosmic force is behind this," Leiten muttered under his breath. "But let's be clear: we're not engaging unless we absolutely have to, alright?"

The silence from his two passengers was enough of an answer.

Flying over to the downed ship as their distress signal continued to flare and wail was a tense thing. The caller grew more and more desperate as the signal continued on. Tenya's grip on his pistols was tight, and Weiss was tempted to do something similar with Myrtenaster, in order to give herself some comfort.

By the time they were in sight of the ship itself, boxed in by both the island and the swarm of Grimm, it was too late to do anything. The queen of the swarm raised itself high, staying hovering for a long, tense five seconds before allowing herself to drop, stinger-first, into the ship.

It blew into splinters not long after, with the resulting explosion leaving no room for doubt that the ship had been carrying a dust shipment. And ten seconds hadn't passed before the swarm suddenly set their sights on their ship.

Weiss had never seen anyone pilot a ship so quickly. And she hoped that she would never have to see that kind of desperation again.

(meanwhile, the residence, Oscar's POV)

This was not how Oscar had imagined the night going. He thought he could be all cool and mysterious, play it off like it wasn't just Ozpin that could be awesome. In his head, at least. But, of course, this fantasy (that's all it really was, he never expected to actually do that) had fallen apart the second he'd seen Jaune answer the front door. Seriously, the guy had been armed to the teeth, in his living room! That set a rather tense tone as the others asked him why he was asking about Ruby, only to be saved by a rather drunk and stumbling Qrow, who somehow managed to make it to the couch. Seriously, the guy had practically drunk a river's worth of alcohol; he was honestly surprised that the man was even standing, let alone moving.

Of course, Izuku had come in and dissolved the remaining tension rather easily. Then he got dogpiled. It was simultaneously hilarious, heartwarming, and a bit concerning, considering how fast everyone reacted after they got their bearings.

Somehow, that then lead to Oscar sitting in one of the chairs while the others examined him. Well, Ren and Jaune looked to be a bit more analytical while Nora and Ruby seemed to be staring at him like a lost puppy. He tried not to squirm under the gaze of the latter of the two girls.

"Guys. I get that there're questions, but I think we can all agree that this is overwhelming for all of us," Shoto said, trying to mediate his friend's attention on the hazel-eyed boy.

Suddenly realizing just how close they actually were, they quickly backed off, Jaune snapping to attention while Ren gave a look of apology. Nora was still smiling like a kid in a candy store while Ruby gave a sheepish smile, closing her eyes as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

By the Brothers, she's cute. Seriously, being that cute should be illegal or something, Oscar thought to himself as he barely managed to keep the red out of his cheeks. When he'd entered the room, he had become immediately infatuated with the silver-eyed girl. He wasn't dumb enough to assume what he felt was love (unlike some other people his age), but the feeling was there nonetheless.

Still, he followed up to Shoto's response, saying, "Well, it was pretty overwhelming. Especially when it first started. To be entirely honest, I thought I was going crazy for a while. Though I suppose that might happen when someone realizes they have another voice in their head."

"To be entirely honest, I actually forgot what it was like to ease someone through the process. I guess I had been with that particular body for a long time."

I know, Oz. Now be quiet, you're distracting me!

Then, Ruby spoke up with a question obvious in her eyes. "So... how did you meet Izuku? I honestly doubt that it was just a coincidence that he found you."

"You're not wrong," Oscar began. "We kinda met when he saved my life from a Grimm attack."

The story evolved from there, the others quickly becoming engrossed within it, even though Oscar was of the opinion that he wasn't really the best at storytelling. Or talking to people in general. They seemed especially interested in the parts that involved Yang. He'd heard the blonde brawler mention in passing that she had a half-sister, and at the moment that sister appeared to be Ruby. The way her eyes lit up at Yang's antics could only be something shared between siblings. At least, that was the impression he had of it.

"... and that's when we decided that Yang wasn't going to go anywhere near the kitchen," Oscar finished as Ruby tried her best to hold in her laughter. Nora was doing the same, while Ren simply smiled wistfully and Jaune's tension eased into a small smile.

They'd already explained where Yang had gone, and why she had to leave on a separate journey. Ruby took it a bit hard, but she'd quickly put up her smile again, saying that her sister was gonna get it from her when she got back!

But, as the story finished, Izuku stood from his seat and stretched. "Those were good times."

"It sounds like it," Shoto said, a small smile on his face as well. Turning to Oscar, the half and half leader asked, "Not that I don't enjoy your company, but you mentioned a way for us to speak to Ozpin earlier. Sorry to cut the reverie short, but I know that we have some pertinent questions for him."

Oscar nodded, preparing to switch places with Ozpin once again. However, before he did so, he made sure to voice something rather important. "Just so you're aware, I'll still be here. I just... won't be talking."

It was a weird experience, as though he was being pushed into the back of his thoughts, and yet he could still perceive everything happening around him. It was almost like existing as a ghost, tethered to haunt someone until you were banished or exorcised or something like that. But he could still feel, smell, hear, and taste everything that Ozpin did with his body. That was the closest that Oscar would ever get to putting the feeling into words.

It also helped that his eyes glowed to signal the change of 'the helmsman.'

Instead of listening to something that he and Ozpin had already been through multiple times, he instead looked around the room (through eyes he wasn't in control of, it was really weird), examining the others and gauging their reaction to their headmaster. Izuku simply smiled as he looked onwards, and Shoto did something similar, though his smile was smaller than his partner's. Jaune, Ren, and Nora all had more serious expressions on their faces (the latter was surprising, considering that she was near the bottom of Izuku's dogpiling), while Ruby's lips were left in a thin line, those beautiful silver eyes catching the light in just such a way that-

You know, I don't think her uncle or her sister would be too happy about you having those thoughts, Oscar. Now, please try to be quiet, you're distracting me.

"Sorry."

*Sigh* Don't apologize Oscar. You can't help what, or who, you're attracted to. But please, before you even think of some elaborate plan to woo her, at least try to get to know her first.

"I know that, Oz. I'm fifteen, not stupid."

And yet the two often seem to go hand in hand. Like a cup of coffee and sweet cream.

"... wow, you really do have a coffee addiction."

I do not.

"Yes, you do. You've passed it on to me. Not that I mind. It's actually pretty good, now that I'm used to it."

I don't have an addiction to coffee.

"Then what was with the unnecessary metaphor that involved said concoction?

It was what was close at hand. I can't just think those up on the fly, you know.

"Stop denying it, Oz."

I'm not denying anything. Because I don't have a coffee addiction.

"Don't you have a cryptic speech to finish?"

… very well. You win this time, Oz said as he continued his speech to the kids while Oscar mentally congratulated himself for getting the leg-up on his guest.

(meanwhile, somewhere in the Gravity Islands, Tenya's POV)

Chaotic was one word that could be used to describe Tenya's situation at the moment. One of many that ran through his mind as Leiten managed to dodge Grimm after Grimm hurling themselves at the hull of their ship. This had been going on for a full two minutes, and he wasn't all that sure how long the pilot could keep this up. He was good, there was no denying that, but even the most skilled pilot couldn't dodge forever.

So, Tenya stood from his wobbling wheelchair, breathing in as he did so, and headed for the nearest hatch.

"The hell are you doing?!" Leiten yelled, swerving to avoid yet another Grimm Wasp. "In case you haven't noticed-"

"If we don't start shooting back, they're going to take this thing down eventually!" Tenya snapped back as he began to climb one of the ladders, knowing that Leiten couldn't deny it. "I'm going to at least try to take as many of them as I can!"

"And how the hell are you going to stay anchored to the ship?!" Leiten asked as he steadied the craft.

"Don't worry. I didn't get these things without thinking to make certain upgrades," Tenya said, opening the hatch and stepping out into the wind-swept skies that would be his battlefield. He wasn't entirely sure why the wind hadn't ripped the glasses right off of his nose, but he was thankful that they weren't being carried away by the current.

His legs clamped onto the roof as he activated the selective gravity function. It ate through power like fire through oil, but he would, hopefully, still have enough power to at least hobble back to his wheelchair and recharge. The swarm was large, almost encircling Leiten's ship even as they continued to weave and dodge past them. There were so many out here that Tenya was almost overwhelmed.

Almost.

A single Grimm Wasp, taking note of him, began to dive towards him with its stinger outstretched. It quickly scattered into ash when Tenya pulled a pistol from his back and fired directly into its small head, taking out the other to quickly put two shots into another that decided to follow suit. After the foolish ones, it was time for the main event.

He began to fire on the lot of them, the crack of his gunshots cracking like thunder through the air. He never missed a single shot, his accuracy only increasing due to the sheer amount of training he had done with both Weiss and Momo. The thinning was slow going, seeing as there were dozens upon dozens of enemies to attack in a nearly never-ending hail of bullets, but it was starting to take effect.

So focused was Tenya on this task that he hadn't noticed the lone Wasp Youngling creeping up behind him, ready to strike him in the back and heavily damage his Aura. The tip of its stinger was practically at his skin when the Arma Gigas' hand clutched and crushed it in a single, swift motion, forming together fully as it's sword sliced through three more that had decided to take Tenya's momentary shock and dive for them.

Smiling to himself, he and the Arma Gigas worked in tandem to cut through the horde of Grimm coming after them. For roughly thirty seconds, it actually seemed to be working. The more they fought, the thinner the herd became. And the easier it got.

That was until the saw the Queen.

It was larger than the other Grimm Wasps, obviously, with far more developed and toughened armor that had likely seen its wear over the years. Its eyes, narrow slits of burning coal, were something to be quite, quite afraid of.

So, of course, Tenya shot it in the eye. It roared in such a manner that would never escape the maw of a regular bug, much less any of the others that they had fought against. It was loud, deafening, and more importantly than anything else, it was angry. Very, very, very angry.

Tenya was suddenly quite happy that he'd had so much experience in dealing with anger from Bakugo. It meant that, if nothing else, he could probably predict what it was going to do next, on a primal level. Probably.

As if on cue, the Queen only tightened its pursuit, causing Tenya to fire more bullets in various potential vital spots. It had learned to guard those ones well, and started to ever so slowly gain the ground it had lost when the spectacled boy had shot its eye. Then, defying everything they'd known about the Grimm Wasps so far, the Queen's stinger shot out from its place, aiming to skewer Tenya through the stomach, only missing him by inches, and still grazing his Aura besides.

He was only saved from the retraction strike by the Arma Gigas, which managed to grab onto the stinger and tighten its grip. Tenya heard the bone plating on it begin to crack ever so slightly, as the Arma Gigas turned its helmet to Tenya and gestured downwards. Weiss needed help with something she had planned, it seemed.

Without any hesitation, Tenya quickly found they hatch, and, as soon as he had the top rung, deactivated the selective gravity function in his legs, and closed it behind him. The spectacled boy found her in the cargo bay, wrestling with a few crates of Dust.

"What's the plan?" Tenya asked as he helped to force one of the crates open.

"I'll use the Arma Gigas to keep it in place near the cargo door. We're going to need to combine these Dust types into a massive sticky bomb. Unfortunately, I didn't find enough fire or lightning Dust to make a trigger, so you're going to have to shoot it!" Weiss said as she began to combine the pertinent dust types.

"... just so you know, this plan is incredibly dangerous!"

"I know!"

"You won't have time to measure the safest amounts!" Tenya said as he opened another crate.

"I know!" Weiss repeated as she caught another vial of powdered Dust.

"This has a very high chance of killing us," Tenya said, closing the last crate as he tossed a final vial of Dust to his platinum-haired companion.

"It wouldn't be 'incredibly dangerous' if there wasn't at least a small chance or us either being horribly maimed or killed!" Weiss responded in kind.

"... well, you know my policy on explosions," Tenya said as he began to open the cargo bay door.

"Make Bakugo proud?" Weiss said as she added the finishing touches to the bomb, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Make Bakugo proud," Tenya confirmed with a solid grin, his pistols at the ready.

As the cargo bay door opened fully; Tenya swore he could hear Leiten saying something about 'insane hunters with a deathwish' in the corner of his hearing; the Arma Gigas suddenly dropped onto the open door, pulling the Queen with it as it struggled to break free of the ghostly giant's grip. It swerved and swayed like a wild bull, hitting the Arma Gigas over and over and over, until, suddenly, something stuck to it's chest.

Weiss' throwing arm outstretched, Tenya didn't have to be told to fire. As the Arma Gigas launched itself from the door, the Queen still in its grasp as it desperately struggled to cling to life, Tenya leveled his pistols, and took aim. A single breath taken, and time slowed. The world faded out. The wind died down. Weiss faded from sight. As did the Arma Gigas. In that single, hairsbreadth of a moment, all that existed was Tenya, his guns, the Queen, and the single target stuck to its chest.

Then, a crack, louder than any that he had ever heard before, erupted from his Desert Eagles simultaneously, ripping through the air and striking true. Even the explosion that came afterwards had nothing on that single, solitary moment. And Tenya smirked. He still had it.

However, before he could help Weiss up, the backlash of the Arma Gigas dissipating evident through her breathing and her posture, a lurch ran throughout the ship, and they suddenly began to drop.

Bakugo would've been proud of the explosion, that was for sure. He probably would've punched both him and Weiss across the face for being stupid enough to use an explosion of that high a yield right next to their own ship.

(meanwhile, the residence, Izuku's POV)

"How're you holding up, kid?" Qrow asked as he emerged onto the balcony with his student, a cup of water in each hand.

"Well enough. Honestly, I've been away from everyone for so long that I kinda felt the need for a break," Izuku admitted, accepting the glass of water and draining the contents; he was actually quite thirsty after the events of the day. Say what you will about riding on motorcycles, it seemed to give him a serious case of cottonmouth. He hadn't stopped drinking water all day. Maybe he should stop talking so much while moving so fast. That would probably help.

"Yeah, they're definitely an acquired taste. You're probably gonna miss the chaos again pretty soon," Qrow jested as he too drank his entire glass in a single, rather impressive, swig.

The silence that followed was comfortable as they got used to eath other's presence once again. It was a proper reintroduction. Sure, Izuku had seen him and Raven at the bar, and he was glad that he had, but these circumstances were simply... calmer. He could finally appreciate having one of his mentors by his side again. A good thing too, since he really needed some stability.

He was still worried sick about Yang. Not in the fighting aspect; that girl likely could go five rounds with All Might and still get back up without a scratch in her stamina (to say nothing of the condition her Aura might be in at that point), but he still worried for her. She was visiting her mother. The mother who had basically abandoned her before she was even a toddler. Izuku didn't often have critical opinions of people, but he knew one thing for sure. If Raven so much as laid a scratch on Yang mentally, intentionally or otherwise, there might be no telling what he would do to that woman.

It scared him, honestly. He wasn't sure where those feelings were coming from, but he knew that they'd been exponentially amplified when he'd met her in the bar, and immediately resurfaced when Yang said that she was going to see her. Izuku wanted to say that she'd be fine, assure himself that she would come back, no matter what her mother said or did.

But what perpetual questions of 'what if' plagued the edges of those thoughts, always.

Qrow could see that his student was thinking of something... less than pleasant, so he decided to shift his focus.

"So... you plan on telling them? About One for All?"

It managed to snap Izuku out of his train of thought. Which was a good thing. The green-haired inheritor readjusted his posture, relaxing his tensed muscles and leaning back. He already knew the answer to that question, there was no doubt about that.

"I... if it's all the same to you, I'd like to wait until we can tell everyone properly. When Yang's back... I'll be ready. Honestly, I don't think I'd be standing here right now if it wasn't for her. She helped me more than I can put into words."

"... did something happen between you two?" Qrow said, a bit of a protective edge tinging his voice.

Red crept up Izuku's cheeks as he remembered his first kiss with the blonde brawler, as well as the time after they'd defeated Muscular. They hadn't gone 'all the way,' it was far too early in their relationship for that, but they'd definitely gotten... intimate. Very intimate. He could still feel her pressing herself into his bare back, all concept of modesty forgotten as she squeezed him closer, her voice low and husky as she said quietly into his ear with a tone used only for lovers-

He suddenly shook his head violently, even though the memory itself was rather pleasant. It wouldn't exactly be called polite to be thinking of that right next to the girl's uncle, even if it had only been for half a second.

"I... suppose you could say that," Izuku said, suddenly fascinated with the remaining contents of his glass.

"... holy shit, you two finally bit the bullet."

"... huh?"

Izuku hadn't been expecting that. Death threats, something about castration, and a blood curse that would last on his line for a thousand years, sure; but not that.

"Kid, do you really think I'm going to criticize you for falling for my niece and finally telling her about your feelings? Or that I'd do the same thing because she returned those feelings? Seriously, she lit up like a Hearth Tree every time she talked about you; it was kinda obvious that something would happen eventually."

"B-b-but how did you-"

"An uncle knows, Izuku. An uncle knows," he said, cryptically, chuckling to himself as he finished off his glass. "That being said... I don't think I need to tell you what'll happen f you break her heart. Right?"

And just like that, the edge was back, and sharper than ever before. Izuku nodded with such speed it was a miracle that his head didn't snap from his shoulders and fly over the rather impressive cliff that backyard balcony stood over.

"Then we have an understanding," Qrow said, his voice turning back to normal as he chuckled.

…

"... hey, Qrow?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you... Tell me about my dad?"

Qrow sighed as he prepared to elaborate on Hisashi combat skills once again. Izuku had never asked the tougher ones. Viewing his dad as a fighter instead of a person... made it easier to not miss him.

"Well, he-"

"N-no. Not those ones," Izuku said. "I mean... what was he like? What was he really like, outside of fighting?"

…

"... heh. If you think Peach could be eccentric, she's got nothing on Hisashi, that's for damn sure..."

(meanwhile, somewhere in Anima, the outskirts of Mistral, Weiss' POV)

Weiss had somehow, despite everything that she'd gone through, retained consciousness. It was more than could be said for Tenya, whose legs had promptly lost power before he was flung into a wall, breaking his Aura and knocking him out cold. Leiten, despite his lack of Aura and due partially to an airbag, survived as well, albeit with a rather large shard of glass embedded in his shoulder. Weiss knew enough about basic medical treatment that she knew it would be best to leave it in, despite the pain. If she didn't, he could die of blood loss.

She even managed to stay conscious long enough to get outside, dragging the two considerably heavier men out by their ankles. Once she was out, however, the last dregs of her strength suddenly vanished, and she fell over in a heap. The white-haired girl breathed deep. She couldn't let herself slip away. She needed to get them to Mistral. They were so close! Just... a little... farther...

Movement, in her peripheral vision. Relief washed over her, despite herself Someone had found them! They would be alright! Someone had come for them.

But before she could choke out her plea for help, the leader came into view. A leader with a strikingly large sheath, with crimson and black as her dominant colors, and a hairstyle that reminded her very much of her blonde loudmouth of a teammate.

One of the others asked her opinion about something. Then, the woman looked down at her, with those crimson eyes blazing something fierce. A smile danced across her lips, self-satisfied and confident.

"I think... we've just hit the jackpot, boys," Raven Brawnwen said as she raised her heel, preparing to bring it down on Weiss' face, to rob her of what consciousness she fought to retain.

The last thing the white-haired girl saw was a hail of arrows rain down upon the group of bandits. Then, she lost herself to the callings of the unconscious.

A/N: So... this took a little longer than I wanted to complete. But hey, at least it's out on time!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was a bit difficult to get here, but overall, I really like it! I enjoyed getting back in the driver's seat, and I hope the next one will be even better! And now:

Review Responses:

Shadow Joestar: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this one as well!

0zymandius: Yes, yes they will. I actually really like Bungo Stray Dogs, so I hope that I can do both it, and Mistral in general, some justice!

RHatch89: Thanks! I hope this one was just as awesome!

OceanLord2017: Indeed. I wanted to distinct this scene from the original (which was both intense and incredibly awesome), and I thought a good way to do that would be to show how much Tomura has grown, in a sense. Sure, he's still impulsive, but he is significantly calmer than his canon counterpart, especially at this point in the story. And yes, I am looking forward to the Mistral Arc. It'll definitely be a lot of fun!

For reference to my D&D classes: I've been a Half-Elf Rogue, a Tiefling Sorcerer, a Half-Elf Monk and a Human Fighter with a bow (aka the better Ranger). Just... putting that out there.

WriterForFun365: I agree! I honestly can't wait to gush about this Volume in a full review, but I'll need to gather my thoughts, let the ending set in, and maybe speculate on what could come next. Maybe.

Rio Skyron: And I'm glad to be back! I missed writing for this series!

Thunder Dragon: I mean... sorta? You might have to take a raincheck on that. And yes, the team is almost all back together. I regret nothing!

Ikki: Indeed they are!

Saiyans4Ever: Well, Qrow's already got first dibs, so...

Loki's Tongue: They will, eventually.

Kaiser Dragon: It'll be revealed to the rest eventually. At which point, they will be relentlessly teased. And I will regret nothing because that scene will be ridiculously funny to the point of bordering on insanity.

Odin's Eye: As am I! I haven't had a campaign in a while (finished one up a few months back), but man it was fun! Even though being a DM was insanely hard.

Madmagusmax: Once Yang (and, by coincidence, the majority of the group) come back. I am looking forward to writing that scene, so be on the lookout!

wyattbillings63: Glad you're enjoying it! I hope I can keep it up!

Next Chapter: Feb 28th

Seeya in the next one!