"Hello."

Naruto startled upwards, sitting up from the cold white floor. "What?!"

The voice, disentangled from any kind of physical body, spoke again. "I said hello. You appear to be rather confused."

Naruto looked around, checking over his shoulder. The room, or expanse, wherever he was, was completely white and boundless, as if it stretched to eternity and back.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"Good questions. I'm sorry I don't have the answers."

Naruto climbed to his feet, trying to bring up his menu.

There was no response.

"I felt that way too, once. That fear of losing it."

Naruto's head snapped upwards. "What?"

"Yours is different than mine was. Purer, yet changed."

Naruto opened his mouth, yet no words escaped.

"Mine, it gave me power. Sheer, raw, unfiltered power. Mine with which to do as I pleased."

Another voice spoke from the whitescape, deeper, more masculine. "Mine gave me the truth. No matter where I was, whoever I spoke to, I always had the truth."

Another voice. "Mine gave me flight."

More voices joined, chorusing together.

"You are all past wielders," Naruto said once they had fallen silent.

The original voice spoke again. "Yes. We once held what you call the System. The power of the Gods."

That was new.

"Gods? What are you talking about?"

Naruto wasn't sure how, but he could feel the original voice turn away. "You are needed elsewhere, as am I."

Naruto could see the white fading, chunks of it turning silver and darkening even further.

All that was white became black, and he was swallowed whole by the darkness.

How had everything gone so poorly?

Ruby ran one hand through her hair, the other clenched into a fist. She knew the answer to the question, she just didn't want to face the truth.

"You can't keep beating yourself up like this, kiddo. You saved his life."

Ruby looked up at her father, frustration written into her expression. "I turned my boyfriend into stone, Dad. That's not what I would call a good thing. We don't even know if he's alive or not."

Taiyang let out a short sigh. "Rubes, he is. Your mother could do what you just did, and I've seen what happens to people who've faced her down. They lived, once the petrification faded."

Ruby let out her own sigh. They'd had this argument a few times now over the past week. "And how long did that normally last?"

Taiyang shook his head. "Your mother had far more control over it, she had years of practice. You let out all of that power in a single, emotion-fueled blast, kiddo. It's to be expected it'd last a lot longer."

Ruby could feel tears building up on the edge of her eyes, but she resolutely refused to wipe them away. "If it doesn't, then I've killed two people I called friends."

At that, Tai gave his daughter a hug, wrapping his muscled arms around her small form. "You did what you had to, Ruby. Remember that you did it to save lives, and remember that that's all that matters. Besides, according to you, Naruto might be able to save Penny's life."

Ruby accepted the familiar, fatherly embrace. "And what if he doesn't come back?"

Tai kissed the top of her head. "He will, Ruby. From the stories I've heard, a little petrification doesn't sound like enough to put a damper on his stride."

Another week. Nothing. Naruto was still as, well, still as a statue. Ruby still barely left his side, wracked with grief, and it was almost worse that the position he'd been in when he'd been petrified was once of acceptance. The boy's face showed no sign of fear, no sign of pain.

Just an expression of acceptance.

Tai ran a hand through his hair, downing his coffee. Qrow, sat next to him and, expectantly, nursing a hangover, downed his in turn, a wince the only expression to cross his face the entire time since he'd arrived on the Xiao Long doorstep.

"It's not good, Tai."

Tai sighed. "No shit, Qrow. Ozpin's dead, the Maiden power stolen, and the culprit missing? What about that sounds good?"

Qrow shook his head. "It's not just that. Vale has no signal, we can't contact any of the other kingdoms. Half my contacts are dead, the other half want nothing to do with Vale, and the public are starting to view this as an Atlesian coup gone wrong. There's a chance we might have another Great War on our hands."

That, that was news to Tai. Another Great War would spell disaster from Remnant as a whole. Not that what had happened didn't already.

"Cleanup's started, Goodwitch is leading the charge, and the surviving teachers from Beacon are stepping in to help, but even still, the refugee center isn't equipped to handle the entirety of Vale for very long."

Tai nodded. "I've been trying to get extra supplies to it, but some of Vale's higher-ups aren't used to slumming it with the rest of the citizens. Fights are breaking out, and it's drawing in Grimm. Patch isn't exactly a hotspot, but at times like these, a single Beowolf could spell disaster."

Qrow poured himself another coffee, gesturing the pot to Tai, who accepted. "If I could just find Oz it'd be at least somewhat better, but I've had no luck on that end, and without communications it's going to be a real challenge."

Tai hummed in thought. "What's your next move?"

Qrow placed the empty pot back on the stand, pushing his hair out of his face. "Mistral. I need to talk with Lionheart about locating the Spring Maiden, and that's what Oz would expect. My bet, he's headed that way. It shouldn't take me all that long to get there."

Taiyang nodded, mostly to himself. "You met Naruto, right?"

The question caught Qrow off-guard, but he recovered quickly. "Yeah, briefly. Why?"

"I know he's a little busy at the moment, but he was dating Ruby. I dunno, I just wanna know what kind of kid he was."

Qrow shrugged. "Seemed like a good kid. Oz seemed a little wary of him, but Yang gave him the official Xiao Long seal of approval."

"Any idea if he'll break out of his situation anytime soon? It's tearing Ruby apart."

Qrow's expression dropped. "I don't know. You were always closer to Summer than I was, especially around the time she learned about what she had. Figured you'd be the expert."

Tai snorted at that. "We both know that isn't true. Raven was Summer's partner, in case you forgot. We were background at best for a lot of that first year."

Qrow smiled at the thought. "Great looking background, though. Best in the crowd."

"One of us was. You spent most of the time looking surly and tripping over anything you came near."

The smile turned into a frown as Qrow punched Tai on the shoulder. "At least I had a suave charm. You just hit on anything that moved. Or breathed. Or didn't breath."

Tai threw his hands in the air. "You hit on a mannequin one time and no one ever lets you live it down!"

A snort of laughter caught the attention of the two men. "All this time and I've never heard that story? That sounds like a crime."

A look of concern washed over Tai, but he pushed it down. "Yang, you feeling well enough to be out of bed?"

Yang nodded stiffly, taking a seat at the table. "Don't repeat what the doc said, Dad. I'm fine."

Tai couldn't help it. "He did say a month of bedrest, Yang. It's barely been two weeks."

"And I said I'm fine."

Tai knew his daughter well enough to recognize that tone, so he let it go. "Well, it's good to see you up. You should go see Ruby, if you're feeling up to it."

Yang snorted, though this was more disdain than humor. "Sure she isn't too busy with Naruto to see me?"

Tai looked to Qrow. "You handle that while I go out. I'm on guard duty for the evacuation center."

Qrow nodded, withdrawing his flask.

The moment Tai was out of the room he took two glasses from a cupboard and placed them on the counter, pouring a measure in each. "You're gonna need this, kiddo. More than me, anyway."

Yang looked at it with an expression of surprise. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but if you're going to tell me that Ruby and Naruto have eloped I'm probably going to need something stronger for that to come as a surprise."

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Just… go see your sister."

Yang stood up and downed the glass, wincing as it burned at the back of her throat, before making her way back down the hallway.

Ruby's room was a place she was intimately familiar with, somewhere she'd been a thousand times before.

She had never expected it to catch her off-guard like it did.

She swung the door open slowly, and the glass hit the floor, shards splintering the wood.

"What.. how… what happened?" Yang asked, stepping into her younger sister's room.

Everything was untouched, just like what she remembered, except for the pillows and blankets that had been stripped from her bed and scattered in a pile in the middle of the floor, just next to the statue of one of her friends that was laid on the ground, one stone hand reaching up at nothing.

Ruby seemed surprised to even see Yang, and her gaze went from her sister to her fellow leader. "I didn't mean to…"

That caught Yang off-guard even further. "Wait, what? You did this?"

Evidently, that was the wrong thing to say, and Ruby turned her head, no longer looking at her sister.

"I didn't mean to. Cinder, she was going to shoot him, and I just, I don't know. One moment I was reaching for Naruto, the next everything was white. Then I just woke up, and Dad and Uncle Qrow were halfway through placing him in the living room. I had them bring him in here."

Yang took a seat on the unused bed, pushing blonde hair out of her face with her one remaining arm. "And I thought I came out of there pretty beat up."

Ruby avoided looking at the scarred stump on the other side, keeping her gaze on the floor. "I'm sorry I didn't come see you. I'm just worried that if he does get free, he won't know where he is."

"When."

Ruby looked up at that. "What?"

Yang gave her sister a smile. "Come on, when has Naruto ever backed down from these kinds of odds? Breaking out of a statue sounds like just the kind of challenge he'd enjoy."

Ruby couldn't help the smile that crossed her face, though the sullen expression returned quickly. "I just wish that there was some kind of sign that he was getting better."

Yang slid off the bed and wrapped her one good arm around her sister's shoulder. "Mind if I sit here with you for a bit?"

Ruby nodded, making space. "Thanks, Yang."

It was early evening when Ruby woke, stirring from her sister's hug. She'd fallen asleep hours ago, and Yang must have turned in soon after, but something had brought her back.

She quickly checked, but Naruto was still as rock-solid as he had been before. Something else had disturbed her.

There it was again. Faint scratching. Zwei was out with Taiyang at the evacuation center, and most likely would be until later, so it couldn't be him.

A Grimm? It didn't sound like it, but it was trying to get inside. Maybe it was a small Grimm.

Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose off the hook near the front door, checking to see if it was loaded before opening the door and stepping out into the cold air.

The scratching stopped, and it was quickly replaced by approaching footfalls.

Ruby tensed, one finger laid against the trigger, her eyes watchful as she warily waited for whatever it was to appear.

Then, all of a sudden, it burst from the hedge.

"Cadejo?!" Ruby exclaimed, shock and surprise making her nearly drop Crescent Rose as the wolf summon happily placed his front paws against her, licking her face.

"Where did you come from, boy?" Ruby asked, and, unsurprisingly, the summon didn't respond, instead dropping back onto all fours and ducking past her, into the house.

Ruby followed quickly, shutting the door behind her and propping Crescent Rose back up on the rack.

Yang's yelp of surprise was enough to clue Ruby in on where Cadejo had gone, and she quickly stepped in.

What she saw nearly broke her heart once more.

Cadejo padded up to Naruto and laid down next to him, a whimper building up in the back of his throat. The keening whine was almost enough to bring Ruby to tears, and she quickly sat back down, hands scratching the poor wolf behind the ears.

"Wha… where did he come from?" Yang asked, confusion written into her face.

"I don't know," Ruby replied, equally confused. "I heard him scratching at the wall, so I went outside to check. He surprised me, too."

"Well, it's good news, right? You asked for a sign, and he comes sauntering up to the house? Hell of a coincidence."

Ruby nodded to herself, the wolf placing his head in her lap. "It is. Though I'm not sure if we can fit many more of Naruto's summons in here. Might be a little cramped."

Yang laughed at that, before standing up. "I'm gonna go try and make some dinner before Dad and the rest of the team get back. Keep them company, yeah?"

"You sure you-" Ruby began, only to be silenced as Yang shook her head.

"I said try, Rubes. I lost my arm. I'm covered in burn scars. I get that, more than anyone else I imagine. Doesn't mean I'm gonna roll over and give up. If making food is that big an obstacle, I think I've got a bit more to worry about."

Ruby accepted that. "Just let me know if you need some help. I'm team leader, there's no shame in accepting help."

Yang smiled. "Thanks, Rubes. I'll holler if I need you to burn the kitchen down."

Ruby frowned. "That was once! One time! You never let me live it down!"

Yang stepped out, headed for the kitchen. It was one thing to say she was going to try, and another to actually go about it. She had a massive learning curve coming, that was for sure.

Easy part was grabbing ingredients. She'd never found anything in cooking that she couldn't lift with one arm. The problem would come from some of the more technical maneuvers. Like, for example, cracking an egg. That was going to take a little finagling.

The first time she sent the bowl scattering across the countertop. The second she gave up on using the edge of the now partially-full bowl and instead decided to simply smack the egg against the side of the counter. Messy, but she could always clean up afterwards. The way it was going, she would definitely have to clean up afterwards.

Omelettes wasn't her greatest choice.

"Man, what I would give for one of those little cutting things that you just put the thing in and press down. That'd make this a hell of a lot easier," She remarked to herself as she struggled with the knife, trying to keep the ham steady as she sliced it into pieces. The fact that it kept sticking to the side of the knife was especially frustrating, and she eventually gave up, whacking it a number of times with the knife and taking what chunks she'd separated aside.

Finally, she placed a skillet atop the cooktop and turned on the flame, only wincing slightly as the fire sprouted from the burner. She ignored that, placing some butter in the rapidly heating skillet and giving it a quick tilt to coat the surface, before retrieving the egg-milk mixture.

Quickly pouring some into the pan, she retrieved her toppings. The ham had proved to be more difficult than the cheese, thankful her father preferred to buy it in rather solid blocks. It took a few moments, but she quickly dropped a handful of both into the pan and then realised that this was going to be the make-or-break moment.

Rubber spatula in hand, Yang quickly and deftly flipped half the omelette-in-progress atop itself, dropping it onto a pre-readied plate. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't going to win any competitions, but it was a damn-sight better than nothing, and she'd done it with one hand.

So, she was feeling pretty proud.

As she set about repeating the process, Ruby wandered out, Cadejo in tow. "Smells good, Yang. Can I have one? I'm kinda starving."

Yang smiled. It was almost like she was back in Signal. "Sure, Rubes, take it. Give Cadejo some of the leftover ham, Zwei will have the rest."

Ruby nodded and took a chunk of chop-marked ham off the cutting board, tossing it into the air where it landed in the wolf's awaiting jaws.

The wolf let out a satisfied sound as he ate it in the blink of an eye, sitting by the empty fireplace.

Ruby was quick to compliment Yang's cooking, which only made her nostalgia more intense as the younger girl quickly set about starting a fire, the wolf doing his best to help her, which mostly meant nudging her with his head in a request for head-scratches.

Not knowing how long the others would be, Yang finished the rest of the omelettes and carefully put them in a container, placing it on a shelf in the fridge and returning to her own plate.

"Want me to cut it up for you?" Ruby asked, and Yang paused. "It's fine if you don't-"

"Yeah, that'd be good. Thanks Rubes," Yang interrupted, and Ruby gave her sister a smile, quickly slicing the omelette into more bite-sized pieces and handing the plate back.

The two settled back, enjoying the warmth of the atmosphere and the well-cooked meal.

It wasn't all that long after they'd finished that heard approaching footsteps, accompanied by voices rapidly increasing in volume, voices that they recognized.

Ones that Cadejo recognized too, his tail picking up from where he lay in front of the fireplace, wagging back and forth.

"I'm just saying, if we went out and blew up a bunch of the Grimm in Vale, the clean-up would be, like, twice as fast!"

"Nora, once again, the clean-up is a lot more than just killing Grimm. There aren't actually all that many, it's mostly repairing ruined buildings and clearing rubble from streets."

Nora and Ren, embroiled once again in a discussion, two different stances on the same point.

"Yeah, but if we take all the Grimm, then everyone else can focus on the rest of the clean-up!" Nora continued, undeterred.

"Last I heard, the Grimm were gone from Vale anyway. Nothing left for them there. Beacon's another story, but that's mostly because the Wyvern is still attracting Grimm."

That voice was Tai, a voice that both Ruby and Yang were incredibly grateful to hear.

Tai opened the door, surprised and glad to see both his daughters up and out. "Oh, Ruby, Yang! Good to see you two doing stuff. How's it going?"

Ruby smiled. "Good. Yang cooked some dinner, it's in the fridge."

Tai quirked an eyebrow at his eldest daughter, who gave a shrug. "What, I can still make omelettes. Not that difficult, just a couple, uh, things to get used to, that's all."

Tai gave her a thankful nod, and immediately leveled both his fists, expression changing in a moment. "Grimm!"

Cadejo barked.

Tai lowered his fists slightly as a look of confusion crossed his face. "Uh…"

"Cadejo!" Nora cheered, wrapping the wolf in a hug. "Does this mean Naruto's back?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, he's still… but it means that we're a step closer."

"What's going on?" Tai asked, and Ren decided to fill him in.

"Naruto is… capable of a number of things. One such thing is summoning things which he calls 'Bound Souls'. Cadejo is a Bound Beowolf Soul, as far as Naruto informed us."

"And it's friendly?"

Yang glanced at the wolf, where Nora was still hugging it tightly. "I dunno, Dad. He looks real vicious right now."

Tai leveled a glare. "Uh-huh. Real funny."

"We're not sure if the rest of them will arrive, but they might. We're holding out hope," Ruby said, before peering over her father's shoulders. "Zwei still at the evacuation center?"

Tai nodded, closing the front door behind him and walking towards the fridge. "He helps keep the kids at ease, and with the kids at ease the adults are more likely to behave. Good all around, and that dog never fails at accept attention."

Yang laughed. "Sounds like someone we know. What's that thing about dogs always being like their owners?"

Tai rolled his eyes. "Ha ha. Ooh, cheese and ham."

"Yeah, Zwei's easily distracted by food too."

Tai didn't bother turning to glare at Ruby, he was too busy reheating the omelettes.

A loud thump sounded out from the door.

The assembled group shared a look, before Ruby got up, slowly opening the front door.

If she was being perfectly honest, a giant creature made of assorted metal crystals what not what she expected.

She also hadn't really expected the rest of Naruto's summons to arrive in tow, at least, all at once. She'd thought that maybe they would arrive one by one over the coming hours.

All at once was not quite what she'd had in mind.

What she did know was that they were not all going to fit in the house. Especially not Callisto or Alcmena, who was about the size of a Bullhead at the moment, seemingly unwilling to return to her smaller form.

"Uh… Dad? Can you help me move Naruto outside?"

Taiyang was definitely out of his depth. It looked like a bunch of repainted Grimm and a couple sentient crystals were conducting a ritual out the front of his house in an attempt to de-petrify his youngest daughter's boyfriend that she'd accidentally turned to stone whilst fighting a mass-murderer and a giant Grimm Wyvern.

When had his life gotten so strange?

Actually, he knew when. The day he'd met Summer, Raven and Qrow. That was the day his life had gotten so strange. You couldn't come into contact with any of them without changing a little.

That wasn't to say that this wasn't pretty high up on the strangeness scale.

Also, nothing was happening. They'd been sitting out there for nearly a minute, and absolutely nothing had happened. It was more like a funeral than a ritual, now that he thought about it. That was a depressing thought.

Ruby was nesting a mug of hot chocolate, his personal recipe, the steam wafting up into the evening air as she sat on the doorstep, watching the proceedings.

Her interest was far more vested than his, but even still he found himself unable to tear his gaze away from the creatures. Some of them made sense, but others were a little more confusing. The fact that this kid had managed to tame a bunch of Grimm wasn't the weirdest thing he'd experienced in his life, but the hulking crystalline golems were certainly up there.

They kind of gave him the creeps, now that he thought about it. Faceless, unmoving, almost mechanical. How did you know what something like that was thinking? Was something like that even capable of thinking?

Questions without answers, he supposed.

He was snapped out of his reverie as a crack sounded out over the yard, drawing all the attention.

The statue of Naruto had moved.

That was most definitely not what Tai had expected.

Another crack was quickly followed up by a staccato burst of snaps as stone ground against itself, flakes splintering off and landing in the grass.

Ruby was up on her feet, and all of the creatures were closing in, tightening the circle.

A chunk of stone fell off his face, and the sudden sound of air rapidly filling empty lungs filled the garden.

"Naruto?!" Ruby exclaimed, drink forgotten about as she dropped the mug to the dirt, kneeling next to the still partially-petrified teenager as he coughed and wheezed.

The first word Naruto had said in the past two weeks escaped his lips. "Ow."

Tai had a feeling he was going to like this kid.

Everything was foggy, out-of-focus. Like it was covered in a film of some kind, like he was looking through warped glass. It changed, bent, modulated until it was so distorted that he couldn't make anything out, and then it would snap back to place, and begin all over again.

It was one hell of a headache, that was for sure.

Ruby had helped him inside once he'd dismissed his summons, all of which seemed happy to see him back in the land of the living. He wasn't a hundred percent sure what had happened, but that could all wait.

First, food. He felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

The blond man had introduced himself quickly, already setting about making food, and Naruto had tried to bring his wilful mind under control, one hand on his head.

He was dealing with a cold sweat in addition to the headache, and the room was spinning, swimming around.

Words were shared, though not from Naruto, and as he sat, he felt the floor simply up and turn.

He was on the ground now. Funny, he didn't remember falling. He'd been sat up only a moment ago.

Why was his headache getting worse?

More words, he couldn't make them out. He was shivering, now. Something was seriously wrong, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

Actually, he couldn't really feel his fingers. He'd fallen on his arm, the angle awkward. How long had he been laid out on this couch?

When had he ended up on the couch? He'd been on the ground only a moment ago, and yet it felt like an age.

It was morning, now. He could've sworn it had been night a second ago. He'd closed his eyes for a second.

The headache was gone now, though, and in its place were questions, questions that desperately needed answers.

He lifted himself up, pushing blond hair out of his face as he took a deep breath, the pleasant feeling of clean countryside air brisk against his skin keeping him more refreshed than he could remember feeling in some time.

The first answer he received from the floating notification box that hovered just out of his periphery until he turned to face it.

Man, that was a long list of things to look at. He supposed he should just start at the top and work his way through it.

[Quest Complete!]

[40th Vytal Tournament: Round 3]

[Reward: Experienced Teamwork Perk]

A little distasteful, if he was being honest. He wasn't going to turn it down, but even still, those memories were fresh.

He shook his head to clear it, moving to the next item on the list.

[Quest Complete!]

[Huntsman: First Steps (Part 5)]

[Help defend Beacon from attack.]

[Rewards: +10 Reputation with Vale and Atlas, +5 Reputation with Vacuo and Mistral]

He didn't really know if what he'd done counted as helping to defend Beacon. He hoped it did, though.

[Quest Failed!]

[Combat Class: Yang Xiao Long]

[Defeat Yang Xiao Long in Combat Class and win the bet you made with her.]

Oh. Well, it wasn't the biggest loss. He had vague memories of the previous night, and he knew she was alive, at least. He'd seen lilac eyes amongst the concerned gazes, unless he'd imagined that.

[Encounter Complete!]

[You gained 3,532,767 XP and 64,150L!]

Naruto gaped at that.

[You have reached Level 45 and gained 20 Stat Points!]

[Skills have leveled!]

[For surviving an incredibly dangerous situation, gain +2 to all stats!]

Another thing Naruto couldn't bring himself to complain about. Twenty Stat Points would certainly come in handy, especially considering it had doubled his total Stat Points he'd been saving.

That wasn't even the last of the notifications, though. There was a particularly long screen detailing all the loot he'd acquired, and he was very interested to give that a read.

[Loot Acquired!]

[18 Inert Dust, 4 Beowolf Pelts, 4 Beowolf Claws, 1 Beowolf Skull, 4 Alpha Beowolf Claws, 2 Ursa Pelts, 10 Ursa Claws, 3 Ursa Skulls, 1 Ursa Major Pelt, 3 Ursa Major Spines, 1 Boarbatusk Tusk, 2 Creep Hides, 4 Creep Bones, 2 Griffon Pelts, 5 Griffon Claws, 12 Tough Scrap Metal, 21 Circuitry Components, 3 AK-200 Optical Units, 7 Grade II Energy Dust Crystals, 1 Paladin Optical Unit.]

That was a lot. Like, a legitimate amount of loot. A proper amount. And there was still a second page.

[Rare Loot Acquired!]

[2 Minor Potions of Healing, 2 Curin Seeds, 4 Thasgade Seeds, 1 Rinade Herb, 2 Grade III Gravity Dust Crystals.]

Gods, now Naruto had to sort his inventory. It was a cluttered mess. He needed tabs, or folders, or something. That would definitely be appreciated at this point.

Some of the things he'd acquired also hinted at future skills, seeds in particular. He wasn't a hundred percent sure he was going to enjoy a Farming skill, but then again, it could be a pleasant change of pace. It really depended on how the System affected it.

There was one final notification sitting there, and he dismissed the previous screen, reading the final notice.

[DLC Content Unlocked!]

[Frozen Wastes Unlocked! Bloodsport Unlocked! Bestiary Unlocked! Burning Sands Unlocked!]

DLC? Really?

Naruto shook his head to himself as he lifted himself off of the couch, quickly finding his way to the front door and stepping out, once again inhaling the fresh morning air.

DLC. Was that really what his life had come to? He supposed this was just like whenever the System updated, but with more things, which raised a few concerns. Was his semblance manipulating the world to such a degree that it was changing it at his whim? Or, even more concerning, someone else's whims?

Footsteps drew him out of his thoughts as he kept his view towards the sunrise.

"Feeling any better, kid?"

Taiyang, Ruby and Yang's father. A person he had no memory of sharing a conversation with. At least, no cohesive memory.

"Much better. Thanks for the help, sir."

"You don't remember much about last night, do you?" Tai asked, looking to the younger blond.

Naruto shook his head. "A lot of it's a blur. Last thing I have any concrete memory of is up on the tower. Right before…"

Tai nodded to himself. "Thought as much. You were barely able to focus last night, though that isn't exactly a big surprise. You were, well, unconscious for two weeks."

Naruto swiveled, looking at the older man in surprise. "Two weeks? It didn't feel that long."

Tai quirked an eyebrow at that. "That's probably because you were unconscious."

Naruto shook his head. "Not the entire time, I don't think. There was a voice. Voices."

"You sure you didn't get hit on the head back up on that tower?"

"Doesn't matter now, I guess. Must've been a dream of some sort, that's all."

Tai let out a small laugh at that. "Well, you had plenty of time to do that, I guess. Come back inside, I'll whip up some breakfast. You can wake the rest of 'em."

Naruto followed him back inside, closing the door behind him.

"Guest rooms are down the hall, Yang and Ruby have the upstairs rooms."

Naruto nodded, already heading down the hall, only to bump into Ren as he exited his small borrowed room.

They were quick to exchange pleasantries, Ren quickly assuring Naruto that he would wake Nora in his place, and Naruto was ever-so-grateful for that. He wasn't familiar with the routine that RRYN upheld, and frankly he felt a little bit like a stranger.

He took the stairs one at a time and quickly knocked on Yang's door, thankful that the girl was already awake, her response not even waiting for him to say anything.

Last but definitely not least, Ruby.

He knocked twice, the staccato resounding throughout the room on the other side of the door.

The door swung itself open under his fist, and he stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

What did he say? How did he even begin this conversation?

A greeting would have to suffice.

"Hey, Ruby."

She was toying with the scroll in her hand until he knocked, and she'd put it aside, but not looked towards the door. When he'd spoken, though, that was enough to get her full attention.

He was hit in the chest by a Ruby-shaped projectile as she wrapped her arms around his midsection, nearly knocking him to the floor.

She almost seemed surprised to see him, which came as a shock. He was quick to wrap his arms around her, coiling her into a tight hug.

"I- I thought I'd killed you!" She exclaimed tearfully, unable to meet his eyes.

Naruto shook his head. "C'mon, it couldn't have been that bad, right?"

That time Ruby did meet his eyes. "You- you don't remember?"

Another shake from the blond answered the question, but he delved deeper. "I've got a couple snippets from last night, but that's it."

Ruby disentangled herself from him, stepping back in mute shock. "I…"

Naruto gave her a small smile. "Come downstairs, we can have breakfast and you can get me up to speed on what I missed."

She looked to the side, and Naruto placed a hand on her arm, trailing it down to grasp her hand firmly. "Whatever happened, whatever you did, it saved my life, Ruby. Thank you for that."

Her half-hearted smile would have to be enough for now as he stepped back, opening the door. "We'll be waiting for you, but, uh, you might wanna be a little bit fast. I haven't eaten in two weeks, apparently."

Ruby let out a quiet laugh. "We tried to get you some food last night, but you passed out before it was ready."

Naruto grinned. "C'mon, your Dad's cooking can't be that bad."

A plate of freshly made waffles greeted him as he took one of the empty seats, and he nodded a thanks to the man who'd made them, hastily digging in.

Gods, it tasted good, too. He had to imagine that anything tasted better when you hadn't eaten in weeks.

Ruby had joined the assembled group moments later, her father handing her a plate, and she'd taken the empty seat next to Naruto, eating a lot slower than he was.

Naruto quickly resolved himself, and bit the bullet. "So, get me up to speed. What'd I miss? What happened?"

There was a pause as everyone else shared various glances, and Naruto put his fork down, interlacing his fingers. "I need to know. Don't hold anything back, just tell me."

"Where do we even start? So much happened in a short time," Yang started, before giving a shrug.

"At the beginning might help," Naruto said deadpan, as Ruby put down her own plate.

"I turned you to stone."

That, well, Naruto had definitely not been expecting that. "What?"

Realising that she should probably elaborate, Ruby continued. "When we were up on the tower, and Cinder was about to release that arrow, something in me… clicked. Everything went white, and I woke up here."

Tai took over for his daughter. "Qrow found her at the top of the tower with both the Wyvern and you turned to stone. Cinder was nowhere to be seen, but I suspect she didn't make it out of there in one piece. It took some effort, but he got you and Ruby to one of the evacuation craft, and got you here. That was two weeks ago."

Naruto was a little stunned. "Huh. Explains why I felt so weird, I guess. What about the rest of AWBN?"

That was met with more silence, until Ren spoke up. "Weiss and Blake were in Patch for a short time, until they left."

Naruto felt one hand clench into a fist on his knee, but he allowed himself to relax. "What happened?"

"Weiss's father arrived with a cavalcade of soldiers, and demanded her return to Atlas. She wasn't exactly in a position to refuse," Ren answered.

"Didn't help that the soldiers were nearly causing a civil war with their presence in the evacuation center," Tai muttered.

"And Blake?" Naruto asked.

Ruby answered him this time. "All she said was she had some things she needed to work out. She left a few days ago."

Naruto sighed. "What about Pyrrha?"

The following silence was even more disconcerting, until Yang broke it. "She's in Mistral."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "I know that all this is difficult, but can we stop dodging around every gods-damned thing about it? Just tell it to me straight, please. This is my team we're talking about."

Yang met his eyes. "Pyrrha's gone back to Mistral somewhere, to live with her family. She's comatose."

Naruto stood up and stepped outside, door shutting behind him loudly.

He kept walking, further and further out of the yard, boots plodding against the worn dirt road that laid out the front of the property.

His mind was running free, yet no coherent thought amassed itself into the forefront of his head. He was just angry.

He stopped walking and brought his hand to the ground, Terrakinesis carving a flat bench out of the ground, upon which he took a seat.

"Naruto…"

Ruby had followed him out, and he pushed his hair out of his face once more. "I know. I just needed some air."

She took a seat next to him, wrapping an arm around his midsection. "We'll get them back, Naruto."

Naruto shook his head. "No. Pyrrha's injured, Blake left, and Weiss did too, though that wasn't her first choice. Besides, they all most likely think I'm dead."

Ruby's eyes widened at that. "No, they just-"

Naruto met her eyes. "I don't blame you, Ruby. You saved my life. I won't let you forget that. But they still think I'm petrified."

He could see the sadness on Ruby's face. "Naruto-"

"It's fine, Ruby. We need to focus on the present, not the future."

Ruby wiped her eyes, nodding. "Okay. What's the plan?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know."