Note: Have a bit of a shorter chapter than the last few times for you. That's okay. With all of the biggest revelations out of the way, we can hurry off toward the finale without much delay. That being said, we do have a few loose ends we'd like to cover to set the stage for the ending. This chapter should close a few of them.

We're glad everyone seemed to enjoy the backstory from last time. Trying to tie every single element of this story together so that it would fit semi-nicely has been a doozy. We're glad that it paid off. It's very stressful writing a backstory. Even though we aren't a very big fan of RWBY's canon backstory, we never try to judge any mythology too harshly. These things are just brutal. And Weiss being the secret chosen one? Who knew! Now if only we would remember that this story had a WhiteRose tag. Anyway, we're picking up the pace, so let's get on with the story. Enjoy.

Okay, Ruby thought, let's take stock of what we have to work with.

The Grimm would be unleashed in Vale in exactly four days. "Noon," Blake specified. "Busiest time of the day."

"How are they getting it there? You said that it's underground."

"I don't think it matters how. We have to take it out before it even leaves."

"Do you know when that is?"

"No, but I'd assume that she's holding off on moving it for as long as possible. Something that big is going to attract a lot of attention. My best guess is that she's transporting it shortly before the attack begins."

"Okay. That means that the absolute latest we can strike should be the morning of."

"Can't we strike earlier?"

"Not possible," Weiss stated. "We both need as much time as possible to heal up. Me in particular. I don't have an Aura, but the meds they gave me can help supplement that. I should at least be able to somewhat move by then."

"Your primary focus should be on summoning," Ruby clarified. "If you can't summon anything, then all of this is doomed anyway."

"Right. We'll be for a tough fight either way."

"Now that you mention it," Blake interrupted. "There's another thing you need to know. On the morning of the attack, Adam is getting smuggled out of Vale."

"They are?" Ruby asked with surprise. "They aren't helping with the attack?"

"What are they supposed to do? Stand and watch?" Blake noted. "The rest of the Faunus are supposed to meet up with the two of us and sneak us out of the Kingdom. They've somehow managed to acquire an airship to get us back into Mistral. The Grimm attack is probably going to take up so much focus that they aren't even going to notice us leave."

"So does that mean the Grimm is going to be unguarded?"

"Not entirely," said Blake. "Glass is going to be there making her final preparations. She specifically asked for the time alone to herself. I guess she wanted to spend some final alone time with her 'baby' before it slaughters half the city."

"That's perfect," Ruby said eagerly. "On the morning of the attack, the three of us can make our way there, sneak beneath the city and find the Grimm. Blake and I can focus on disposing of Mrs. Glass, and Weiss can kill the Grimm before it can strike."

Blake frowned. "Actually…"

"What is it?"

She hesitated briefly. "You two are going after the Grimm. I have to stop Adam."

"Are you nuts?" said Weiss, stunned.

"Blake, we need to stick together."

"Weiss doesn't need my help summoning anything, and nothing Glass has ever done has given me the impression she's much of a fighter," Blake stated. "You two can handle that, but I…I can't let Adam get away. After everything we've done together, I couldn't…you know…"

"Blake, that's suicide," Weiss warned. "You can't run off fighting Adam on your own. We're supposed to stick together from now on."

"I know, but I have to do this," Blake said firmly. "I enabled Adam all these years. I can't just let him go somewhere else and try to hurt more people. He's my monster. I have to set this right."

"Then let's go after him together," Ruby suggested. "We can fight him as a team. If that's what you're worried about—"

"No way," Blake stated. "Weiss needs to focus on the Grimm above all else, and you need to be there to protect her in case anything happens. I know I can handle whatever Adam throws my way."

"But fighting him all alone?" Weiss asked. "He's going to have people helping him."

"I'm just going to try to talk to him," Blake claimed. "Hopefully, it won't dissolve into a fight—and even if it does, I won't be alone."

Ruby and Weiss looked at each other.

"What do you mean?" asked Ruby. "Who would help you? Who do we even know that could lend a hand?"

"JNPR and CFVY went back to their homes," said Weiss. "We couldn't bring them here in time, and even then, should we really be getting them involved in something this dangerous?"

Blake shook her head. "It's not either of them. I was thinking of someone different. It's more than a little risky, and…well, she probably hates me. But I think I might be able to convince her to lend me a hand one more time."

"Her?" Ruby said, confused. "Who are you talking about?"

The City of Vale was a cold place to be alone at night. Its nightlife was hardly impenetrable, and while many areas of the City were fully active, there were many sections that bore a similarity to a quiet down whose residents turned in when the sun fell beneath the horizon. It was in one of the tempered parts of the city that a bar named Lucky's stood, a century-old pub that never rose above its station into anything more than where the drunks gathered when they had nothing better to do with their lives. It wasn't a bad pub by any means. It was decently lit and the owners kept the counter clean of spills. Yet, its geography and its clientele prevented it from becoming anything special. There was still some charm to be had within; mostly due to the regulars who would show up to complain to the bartender about their problems. After so many years, he was fairly certain he was able to recognize and name all of them.

That was why it was so strange when a young woman showed up that he couldn't place a name to.

She definitely looked familiar to him, though if anything, her appearance indicated she had been recently dragged through the wringer. Her massive head of blonde curls were frayed and seemed to go off in every direction. Her red eyes were heavy and dark from a lack of sleep, and she had a slight hobble when she walked—possibly from a broken ankle that didn't fully heal right. She sat herself down at a back table at around seven, and for the past five hours, she had just sat there fiddling with herself, tapping her fingers against the wood, looking around nervously, adjusting her jacket ad shivering. All the while, the bartender swore that he had seen her around before, but his memory was fading in his aging years and he couldn't quite recall no matter how much he tried.

She didn't order anything. He wasn't sure that she could if she wanted to given her age. The only reason he didn't kick her out for loitering was that small familiarity and the nagging sense that if he let her out into the City, she'd have nowhere else to go. It was when the clock approached midnight and most of the other regulars were trickling out that he decided to finally get her attention.

"Hey, ma'am. We're closing up soon," he called to her from across the bar. "Is there something I can help you with?"

The blonde froze momentarily as if struck by his words, though she eventually managed to swallow her pride and hobble over to the counter. She took a seat at the far end despite there being no other customers, almost daring him to make the move to approach her first. He calmly walked over to greet her, placing his withered hands on the countertop and staring at her plainly.

"Are you in trouble, ma'am?"

"Don't call me ma'am," she said bluntly.

"What can I call you then?" he asked, unfazed.

She kept her gaze fixated on the countertop. For a brief moment, she scrunched her eyes and nose and cringed in pain, assaulted by some unseen force. When it subsided, she seemed even more bitter than before.

"Yin," she stated. "But it doesn't really matter."

"Is there something I can do for you, Yin?" the bartender asked politely. Yin cracked her knuckles, unable to fully sit still. Her eyes occasionally wandered out the front window, nervously waiting for someone to arrive that never came. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Huh? No, I'm not," she said quickly. "I've just been…I've been having a bad week if you feel me."

"Would you like to share?"

"With you?"

"Plenty of people have shared over this counter," he explained. "No reason why you can't join them."

She smiled faintly and picked at her lip. She had on two massive yellow bracelets over her wrists, and just beneath the hem of her jacket, he thought he could see the beginnings of scar tissue on her arm. He would have called her amused by his proposition, though he honestly wasn't sure if she was paying attention to anything he said.

"Well, let's see," she laughed emptily. "Uh…got kicked out of school for being a menace. Found out that my mom was a fucking terrorist. Found out my girlfriend was a terrorist. And, oh yeah, my sister tried to beat the shit out of me. It's been…it's been a fun week."

She tried to comb her fingers through her hair, but her fingers were shaking so bad that they couldn't weave through her knots. The bartender watched her very carefully. Her smile flickered on and off like a light switch, and he didn't believe a single word that came out of her mouth. But telling her that, he figured, wasn't going to do the poor thing any good, and the last thing he needed was her having a full-on mental breakdown in the middle of his bar. The other customers had gone home for the night. There was no reason not to humor her.

"So, your sister attacked you?"

"I attacked her, technically," Yin shrugged. "Well, we attacked each other."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because we hate each other," Yin sighed with a smirk. "Because, like…I don't know…"

"Lots of people fight each other. I have a brother that I used to fight with."

"Not like this, you haven't," Yin stated before suddenly groaning in pain again. She shut her eyes tight and pressed her forehead firmly against the table.

"Are you okay?" asked the bartender. Yin took a deep breath and sat up straight again, though she was notably woozier than before.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine," she said, almost like she was trying to assure herself more than the bartender. "I've just been dealing with some…some headaches."

"I see," he stated. In the blink of an eye, Yin's grin turned foul and her eyes narrowed. Her hand slowly clenched into a fist, grasping at thin nothingness within her palm. When she spoke again, it was with deadly seriousness.

"I need to get to Patch," she explained. He was slightly taken aback by her sudden change of tone, but he tried to remain friendly.

"There's a ferry that leaves to Patch in the morning," he told her. "You probably missed the last one for tonight."

"I can't afford a ferry," Yin said. "I don't have any money. No wallet. No Scroll. I need someone to take me."

The bartender carefully looked Yin over, and softly shook his head. Take her? In her condition? He thought she might pass out at any moment.

"Ma'am—"

"Don't fucking call me that," she warned him. He nervously cleared his throat.

"Yin, have you slept at all recently?"

She did not answer.

"Have you eaten?"

She did not answer.

"Yin, I think it might be best if I contacted the police. I'm sure they could help you if—"

"No," Yin said suddenly. "No cops. No Huntsmen. I need to get to Patch."

"What's in Patch?"

"My family," Yin claimed. "I…I have to get to them."

"Do you know their numbers? I could give them a call and have them pick you up."

"No. No, you shouldn't—" She cringed again, pressing her palm firmly against her temple. She growled in pain, and the bartender realized that he was going to have to make a snap judgment. The girl was definitively unstable. He could only figure she was a runaway, though what she was running away from was beyond him. Regardless of what it was, she needed help, more help than he could hope to provide. He was going to call the police. It was the only natural conclusion he could think of. But, when he tried to excuse himself and pivot away, she immediately threw herself over the counter and grabbed onto his wrist. "Wait!"

"Ma'am, let go of me," he said, aggravated and more than a little frightened. Yin, realizing her mistake, quickly released him and sat herself back into the barstool.

"S-Sorry. I'm sorry," she said desperately. "I just…I need to get to Patch. I really need to get there. They can't know I'm coming, though. It…it has to be a surprise, got it? A big… a big, fun, happy surprise. You don't have to take me anywhere. You don't have to drive me. Just…just give me enough for a ride and I can take care of the rest my—" She screamed and turned sharply to her right. "Shut the fuck up!"

The bartender took a nervous step backward, and Yin immediately tried to cover it up. She could see the fear in his eyes. She was losing him. Her chance. Goddammit. Not again.

"I mean…look, I…"

"Ma'am," the bartender said calmly. "You seem to have been through an ordeal. I think it'd be best if I call for help—"

The man could barely finish speaking before Yin slammed her fist against the table, breaking her knuckles through the countertop. The bartender stepped back as far as he could, reaching for something he could use as a weapon on the shelf behind him.

"I told you not to fucking do that!" she screamed. "Why won't you fucking—"

The door to the bar opened, and Yin watched the bartender's eyes divert toward the entrance. She froze, unwilling to turn around, fearful for whatever miserable thing stumbled upon them. Instead, however, she heard a heavy sigh and a strikingly familiar voice.

"Huh. I thought I might find you here."

Yin's heart skipped a beat. Them? Here? Now? Impossible. It had been days since her disappearance. She thought her wearied mind was playing tricks on her until she forced herself to gaze at the doorway—and true to her senses, there they were, tired and scraggly and looking just slightly better than she was. Her first, immediate instinct was to smile, only the edges of her mouth were forced to waver by the incredible sting of emotion that suddenly rushed through her. She squeezed her fist so tightly her nails threatened to break through her skin.

"Hey, Dad."

The bartender looked back at forth at the similarities between the two people, and then all at once, it seemed to jog his memory. That was who the girl was: that troublemaking brat from all those years ago who used to sneak out at night and cause endless trouble with his patrons. The father's tried face was the key—he recalled that same face apologizing profusely to him as he dragged his daughter out of the bar, promising to scold her so thoroughly that she'd never cause trouble again. Of course, she came back several times, and the apologies always came out the same way. One day, the bartender stopped seeing her, and he assumed that she had finally taken the message to heart. He could only see now that he was mistaken.

Taiyang cast one look at the bartender and gave him a passive wave. "Sorry to trouble you, sir. I'm afraid my daughter hasn't been feeling well. I hope she hasn't been bothering you."

Yin sneered, standing slightly off-balance as she shot daggers through her father's chest. "No. We've just been having a nice talk. That's all."

"R-Right," said the bartender. "Just a talk."

Taiyang scratched his chin and spoke calmly. "Well then, I'm sure you'd have no trouble taking this talk outside, would you?"

"You want me to come with you?" Yin asked. Tai noticed how she kept shifting the weight off of her foot as if preparing to lunge. Her eyes kept examining him for weaknesses. Red eyes. He chose his words carefully.

"I think it would be better for everyone if we talked outside," he noted. "Besides, I think this place is closing up. Let's leave this guy alone."

A guttural growl emanated from Yin's throat, but after one long look at the petrified bartender, she rolled her eyes and nodded. "Sure. Let's do this outside."

Taiyang remained calm as he saw Yin extend her gauntlets out onto her fists. He gave the bartender a final wave goodbye, and then politely held open the door behind him. Yin hesitated for a long while. Her father seemed unbothered by any of this. He managed to hunt her down after three—or she guessed, four full days, and this was how he reacted? Was there even a hint of worry or scolding in his voice?

"Yin, please."

God, not again.

"Don't hurt Dad. I'm begging you."

Yin cautiously approached Tai, keeping her eyes locked onto him as she stepped out into the cold winter air. She pulled on her jacket as she felt the snow falling onto her forehead, and the slush beneath her feet was so loose she had difficulty maintaining her balance. The city air was hazy at this time of night, lightly foggy as she looked up at the buildings and railways that littered the skyline. Tai followed her outside, closing the door behind him, and then, without uttering a single word to her, he began walking to the parking lot the next door over.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Yin asked.

"To the car," Tai said simply, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his brown winter coat. Yin watched him incredulously.

He…he was acting natural. What the hell…

"Hey. Hey!" Yin called out to him. "What d you mean? What are you doing here?"

Taiyang shrugged. "I'm taking you to the car."

To the car? To the car? Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Her skull was throbbing. She couldn't process this. He had been looking for her. That meant he knew she was missing, right? And if he knew she was missing, that meant he knew what happened to her, right? And that meant Ruby told him, and that meant—

"He's trying to be nice."

Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up.

"You…I don't get it," Yin said, shaking her head. "Do you…do you have any idea what happened? What's going on?"

"Oh, I know. Ruby told me," Tai said. He just kept walking to the car. He had his back turned to her. Like he was fucking daring her to strike first.

"Hey!"

He didn't stop walking.

"Hey!"

He didn't stop for a second.

"Dad!"

That got him. He paused halfway across the parking lot and casually glanced over his shoulder at her. She was…fuck...why couldn't she control her breathing? Why was she shaking so goddamn hard? Was it because of this cold? It felt like more, like something digging even deeper into her bones and her sinew. She gritted her teeth and snarled and god, her head wouldn't stop hurting, and he was so fucking calm and not angry or sad or anything that he should have been and it was fucking infuriating.

"This…" she said, seizing so hard the words came out hoarse. "This is how you're treating me. Even now, after everything I've done, you're just, what…taking me home? Acting like it's just another fucking night out that you have to drink away?"

"How would you like me to act, Yang?"

Yin scoffed, her staggered breaths freezing in front of her face. "How to act? How about you stay fucking mad at me? I…I tried to kill your daughter. You know that, right? Ruby told you what had happened between us."

Tai awkwardly scratched his jaw again, though he didn't seem any more upset than before. "Ruby told me you got in a fight, yeah. I know what's going on?"

"And this is how you're acting?" Yin shouted. "You should be furious at me, or horrified or…or something. You should feel something. For once in your fucking life, you could feel something toward me that wasn't just pure goddamn apathy."

"He's glad we're safe."

"Quiet! You don't know that!" Yin screamed over her shoulder, her words echoing through the hazy city streets.

Tai bowed his head. "Who are you talking to?"

"Like you deserve to know!" Yin shot back. She clutched her head. It felt like it was about to explode.

"Look, let's get in the car and we can talk about this where it's warm," he offered.

"No way! I am not going anywhere with you!" Yin shouted. She had so many different things she wanted to say to him. This wasn't at all how this moment was supposed to go between them. She had it all planned out so perfectly. She was going to arrive at their doorstep and break into their house. She would kill Ruby first and then she would corner him, and then she would unload all of his awfulness back unto him, an endless torment of hatred from the seventeen years he had helped ruin for her. And then, once he tried to apologize, once he finally tried to show any decent fucking humanity, she was going to crack his neck. She would be better than him. Emotionally drain him. Humiliate him. And that bitch in her head would have to watch. She'd watch that terrible fucking family die.

But this…he didn't give a shit. He didn't seem to care at all. If she told him that she was going to kill him right now, would he say anything to her? Could he really not be bothered to shed a tear even after being reunited with the daughter he thought was dead. It was like tearing down a statue only to find that it remained pristine and undamaged.

"And that drives you mad, doesn't it?"

Yin started to scream, but Tai just raised his hand and beckoned his daughter toward him more firmly.

"Yang, we need to go. It's important."

"I just said I'm not fucking going anywhere!" she shot back, pulling her fists back tight as if she would launch forward at any moment. "I…I'm not going back home with you. I'm not going back to that life. You don't get to force that on me!"

Tai sighed. "We're not going back home."

Yin stopped struggling. Her arms dropped back by their sides. "We're not? What do you mean?"

"There's somewhere else I want to take you," Tai explained. "Quite frankly, it's somewhere I should have taken you a long time ago. Come on already."

Tai turned back around, and without any further delay, he headed off toward the van that they had driven in seemingly all their lives. Yin didn't know what to do. She thought about killing him right then and there. Striking him down. Ending it. Ending all of that pain in her head. But dare she admit, even if it was that bitch in her mind manipulating her—she was curious. She had to know what he had in store.

What was the harm?

She could just kill him afterward.

He wouldn't fight it.

She took a deep breath.

She could do this.

No problem.

One more disappointment wouldn't be the end of her.

Yin retracted her weapons and followed her father to his car.