A/N: This would have been out sooner but it kept getting longer and also my workplace is currently engaged in figuring out what to call the staffing level below 'skeleton crew' because that has suddenly become pertinent. I did also straight-up take a week off before that happened. Camping. So that didn't help. I mean, it helped me, but y'know. No computer.

Chapter came out with less levity than I usually try for, but, well, it's SttS and I set everyone up for Maximum Sad at the end of the last arc, so that was probably inevitable. I swear things start lightening up again in the near future! Aside from the, uh...Cinder...thing... Meanwhile, have some anime protagonists trying to cope like normal people. I hope you enjoy!

Balance Is The Key

"I wasn't aware Signal Academy had a fencing club."

Weiss gasped and whirled around, clutching her sword to her chest. A wiser move than it might otherwise have been, since she'd already slid it into one of the hard blade covers she used to transport fencing foils.

Klein stood in the doorway of her bedroom, his hands clasped behind him. "In fact, I'm very much aware it does not. It was your chief complaint upon enrolment."

"…I can explain."

"You're taking up monster hunting." Klein raised an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, miss."

"How did you know?" she asked in a small voice.

"A case of Dust vials under your mattress, a sudden penchant for exotic fencing forms, and now you're readying the sword you've been hiding on the top shelf of your closet since August for transport on a day you're scheduled to visit a household of Huntsmen." In response to the alarmed look on her face, he added, "If you want to keep something private, I never look through your nightstand or your writing desk. I do make your bed and put away your laundry."

"Are you going to tell my father?"

"I don't see why Mr. Schnee should concern himself with anything he won't have to pay for. Which means you will have to be very careful, do you understand? If you're injured beyond what can be passed off as a sports injury and patched up at home, your father will have to concern himself. There are limits to my skills and supplies and I won't put your health at risk. Up to that point, well." He blushed faintly and tapped his temple. "Even the, ah, slow one understands the need for discretion," he confided in a near-whisper, smiling sheepishly.

A little surprised, Weiss asked, "You're not going to try to talk me out of it?"

"Oh!" Klein flapped a hand at her. "You're a Schnee, miss. I might as well try to talk a lemming off a cliff! Not that I think that's what you're doing. Oh dear." He cleared his throat and shook his head briskly. "I do wish you'd found a safer project with which to occupy your time, I admit."

"I…" Weiss exhaled slowly, lowering herself to sit on the edge of her bed, laying her sword across her knees. "I'm not sure I'm meant for safe things, Klein."

Klein hesitated in the doorway a moment longer. Then he walked forward, seating himself beside her, folding his hands in his lap. "No one's meant for anything, Weiss."

She looked over at him, not startled, exactly, but a little taken aback."

"That's the big secret," he went on. "Gems fought a whole war about it, but it's us flesh-and-blood people who never worked it out. Whatever we're made of, we pop out into the world and someone shoves us onto the path they think we should take and we start stumbling along. Some people never get the chance to take a different fork, some people find crossroads after crossroads."

Klein tapped her shoulder, hard and pointed; his voice took on a gruffer character as he continued. "Now, you and your siblings, you got shunted down a tunnel. Nice tunnel. Definitely better'n what most folks get. But before you came to Vale you had no more choice in where your life was goin' than the poorest of your daddy's workers. Don't mean you're meant for the manor any more'n it means they're meant for the mines."

Weiss flinched. Klein—she'd gotten the impression before that his politics sat closer to those of the protestors outside the manor than those of the people he served inside it. But he never voiced an opinion one way or the other to her, and she had found herself following suit without quite realising it. Weiss did not talk politics. Period, end of story, even when Coco brought the subject up and Velvet shot anxious, darting glances at Weiss the whole time like she expected her to say something. Coco, she was pretty sure, would break physics itself to teleport to Yang's side if the Ametrine ever made good on her threat to plant a fist in Jacques Schnee's face, whether to film the occasion, take a swing of her own, or both.

Actually, none of the people newly-entered into Weiss's life seemed all that fond of her father, and she no longer knew how to feel about that. Even Russe thought poorly of him, thought Weiss was scared of him, like that made any sense. So Weiss had sort of…stopped thinking about it. Other people talked about the Schnees, and it prickled and she knew what she was supposed to say and then she didn't say anything at all. And the world kept turning, and the people she liked kept liking her back.

The family Yule celebration in Atlas had been jarring, suddenly being back at the long white dining table, listening to her father's griping and crowing, noticing for the first time just how quiet Winter was at family meals, reading new meaning into her silences and the muffled noises of disdain and disgust that issued from the foot of the table where their mother sat. Noticing, too, how Whitley echoed their father's sentiments back and won approval in return, and Weiss couldn't remember if she used to do the same thing or if she had always been as quiet as Winter.

It was another life. One where Klein would never hint at what he was hinting at, and where Weiss would play dumb if he tried. One where Weiss wouldn't question what her father said or the path he'd laid out for her.

"Even if you've got a clear shot ahead of you, that don't mean the way your life goes is fate." Klein shrugged. "Don't mean the first chance you get to change your life is something you're meant to take, either. So I wanna know, missy, and I want you to think about this: do you wanna be a Huntress, or do you just want out the tunnel?"

"I'm not committing to a whole career," Weiss protested. "I just—all these crazy things keep happening, and I'm stuck on the outside where I can't do anything!" She swept her sword off her lap onto the mattress and stood, pacing, gesturing wildly. "It's like Winter joining the military all over again, except without the giant international peace treaty I can use to tell myself she'll never see real action! People I know keep getting into danger and all I can do is sit around and watch it happen. It's driving me crazy!"

Klein made an odd sort of huh noise in the back of his throat. Weiss wasn't sure who she was dealing with at this point. Not that it was a problem—they had all opted to use the same name and pronouns, so she didn't have to worry about that—but Weiss prided herself on the fact that she could distinguish between the Kleins with relative ease. And that all seven of them felt comfortable enough to behave normally around her; the other six could each mimic 'face' Klein to some extent, and often did so around other people. Especially guests…and Weiss's father.

"Do you know why your sister joined the ASC?" Klein asked.

"Well…duty, right? Defending Atlas."

"Against whom? There is, you may recall, a giant international peace treaty in place."

Weiss stopped short, processing that.

"She joined the military," Klein said gently, "because she discovered she enjoyed flying planes, and the Atlesian Sky Corps has the finest and fastest planes in the world. There's more to it, of course, but that was a great part of it. She took her own desires into account, and that's a good thing. People who consistently ignore what they want are rarely happy."

He stood and stepped in front of her, taking her hands. "Your reasons are good ones. I am so proud that you want to help others. So proud," he repeated, warm and fierce, and Weiss's eyes watered a little as he gave her hands a little squeeze. "But will this make you happy? This choice?"

"I don't think it's really a choice anymore," Weiss reflected. "If I change direction now, I think the only way to go is backwards."

"That's not what I asked," Klein reminded her.

Weiss looked down at their joined hands, breathing deeply. She thought about the helplessness she'd felt after Ruby had broken off contact. The fear from the second time she'd picked up her sword, before it had really been hers, and rushed through a portal into the middle of a battlefield. The way thought had vanished when she'd seen Ruby and the monster about to attack her and Weiss had just moved. The rush when suddenly the world was a little bit safer because she had.

Standing back-to-back with Ruby, Blake, and Yang at the cardinal points of a circle. Fighting side by side, working together to put Ruby's plan into action and watching it, making it unfold to perfection.

"I don't know if it'll make me happy," she admitted at last. "But some of the choices I've already made have. And even if it doesn't, I don't see how I could ever be happy if I don't at least try to do this. Turning back just feels…wrong."

Klein smiled, though it was a bit sad, and he squeezed her hands again before releasing them. Weiss thought he would say something, but instead he stepped around her and walked right out the door, leaving her staring after him, surprised and a little hurt.

"Klein?" she called quietly, her voice wavering.

He reappeared in the doorway almost immediately, holding what looked like a long white briefcase. "Here, make a bit of room, if you would, miss?"

Weiss glanced between him and the bed and darted over, picking up her sword and hovering anxiously in front of the nightstand as Klein laid the case down atop the duvet, thumbing the latch and popping it open to reveal a padded red velvet interior. It was empty. There was a tapered indentation along the bottom.

"What am I looking at?"

"This would be a Hunt-spec weaponry case. I expected I would have to modify something meant for rifles, but I had a suspicion there might be something like this lying around the manor. When we travelled north for Yule, I took the opportunity to conduct a search, and lo and behold, there it was, a tad scuffed but quite intact. It was easy enough to refurbish the exterior, and a bit of heat-moulded foam ensured the inside would provide a perfect fit." Klein patted the velvet, smile turning a bit smug. "A fine bit of work, if I do say so myself."

"You made me a sword case," Weiss said, dumbfounded.

"I retrofitted you a sword case. A much simpler task, though your reaction is most appreciated." Klein gestured towards it. "Well? Go on. Let's see how it looks."

Gently, almost reverently, Weiss drew the sword out of its makeshift scabbard and lowered it into the case. It fit snugly into the indentation provided. With a rather wry look on his face, Klein bent down and slid a hand under her mattress, fishing out the flat little case of Dust vials she'd filched for herself. "And this should fit nicely above it. You'll note there is space below for a standard-sized vial of each common Dust type plus Hard Light, for when you have a chance to replenish your stocks. The pockets on the inside of the lid are padded and sealable, for storing crystals, should you find a use for them. I also found what I am informed is an unused capture capsule tucked into the far right pocket; I've left it in place."

Weiss carefully lowered the lid, hearing the latch click. She noted the combination lock on the front and had already opened her mouth to ask if Klein had changed it when she saw the shape embossed on the top of the lid. A snowflake, of course—but…

"This isn't the SDC logo," she said, her hand poised over the pattern. "It's similar, but even without the lettering I know it's not the same."

"Given the case belonged to your grandfather Nicolas, I assumed that was his personal emblem. Research proved my assumption correct." Klein folded his hands behind his back, looking at her sidelong. She traced a finger gingerly over the snowflake's outline. "It would be a simple matter to send the case out for more extensive modification, should you wish to remove it. However, I understand there is a tradition of inheriting emblems, among certain Hunting families."

"A Hunting family…" That's exactly what the Schnees would be, if Weiss did eventually become a Huntress, wasn't it? More than just the crown jewels of Atlesian society, the dynasty of plutocrats everyone loved to hate and hated to envy. Something she and the people around her could all be proud of. No shadows. No stains.

"You would be the first Huntsman in the family since your grandfather," Klein said, nodding as if hearing her thoughts and agreeing with them. "And while I'm sorry to say I did not know Huntsman Schnee for very long, I have no doubt he would count you a worthy successor."

Blinking rapidly, Weiss wheeled on the spot and threw her arms around Klein, who let out a little oof! as she made impact.

"Ooh, I knew you'd like it!" she heard him coo as he hugged her back, his voice pitching up just slightly. "Yay!"

When she and Ozpin materialised on the Beacon Academy warp, Weiss was surprised to find Qrow waiting for them, his arms crossed. He raised an eyebrow at her as they descended the steps to the walkway. "What're you up to now, Oz?"

"As I told you, Weiss's training begins today." Ozpin gestured towards her. "Would you care to join us? I'm certain she could benefit from your perspective—if that's alright with you, Miss Schnee."

Weiss didn't even get a chance to reply before Qrow snorted, brushing past them to stand on the warp. "Y'know, for some reason, I'm busy today. There's some missing Gems someone should probably actually go look for. So, pass."

One could easily have assumed Ozpin had somehow failed to notice Qrow's rudeness, but Weiss thought there was something tight about his smile, and it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Of course. Another time, then."

Qrow didn't even respond. He just warped away in a muted flash of light.

"What's his problem?" Weiss asked, glancing at Ozpin. The last time she'd heard Qrow sound that snide, he'd been talking to Winter.

"An abundance of motivation and a mounting deficit of resources," Ozpin replied vaguely. "No need to fret. I'm sure he'll be back to his old self soon enough. Come along; I'll show you where we'll be working."

She hesitated a moment longer beside the warp before she moved to follow him, half-jogging the first few steps to catch up.

Ruby had been right; despite the heavy snowfall which had left the rest of the valley coated in white, the grounds of Beacon Academy were bare of anything but fallen leaves from the trees planted around campus. They must be watered by irrigation or something, if they've survived hundreds of years without anything but slow-moving air getting through the barrier. Weiss took one last look around at it all before following Ozpin into one of the many Academy buildings she hadn't visited before. Nothing about its exterior gave her an indication as to its function, but by the thin grey sunshine filtering through the skylights, she saw the all-too-familiar sight of lockers lining the walls.

"This was Beacon's primary combat training facility," Ozpin told her as they walked down the long, narrow room. The sound of her footsteps echoed off every surface. "Any one of the theatres should be well-equipped for our purposes."

"It's warm," Weiss noted, pulling her scarf away from her face.

"Of course. You may well have to fight in the cold someday, but that's no reason to freeze you out when you're just getting started, hm?"

"No, I just thought the Academy was in power-save mode, or whatever."

"The power setup is modular—a side effect of all the additions made over time. Most of the campus is still offline. Only this building and a few of its neighbours have been powered up, and this is the only building with active climate control."

Weiss nodded to herself as they passed through open double doors into a wide hallway. "Ruby's not mad that I didn't want her here for this, is she?" she asked suddenly, voicing an anxiety that had been gnawing at her since Ozpin had been the one to answer the door back on Patch.

Ozpin shook his head. "It hasn't been so long since she began her own training. If she could have forgone an audience, I believe she would have, but between her weapon's multiple forms and her aptitude for shields, it was best to have all of us on hand to teach our specialties. Here we are," he added, pushing open one side of another set of double doors.

Weiss eyed the cavernous blackness beyond. "You know humans don't see so great in the dark, right?"

"Neither do most Gems, actually," Ozpin said, but only then did her actual complaint seem to register. "Ah, of course. Hold this, would you?"

Weiss took the weight of the door onto her elbow and Ozpin walked into the darkness. Now that she was standing still, if she leaned a little way into the room she could just make out the soft sound of his own footfalls, soon swallowed by silence as he moved out of earshot. Then she hissed and flinched away, squeezing her eyes shut as a massive flare of warm off-white light assaulted them, almost making her tear up. She clapped her hand to her face reflexively, and without her arm in the way, the door banged into her heel, making her yelp.

"Are you alright?" she heard Ozpin call.

Great. I was really hoping someone saw all of that. "I'm fine!"

"The dimmer doesn't seem to be working at present," he explained, his voice getting closer. "There must be a short."

"Yeah," Weiss ground out, scrubbing at her eyes. "There must be."

She felt the door's weight lift away, and cracked her bleary eyes open to see Ozpin holding it open with his hand flat against the wood, standing back out of her way. There was a short tunnel formed by free-standing bleachers bracketing the doorway, leading out into an open area in the centre with a scuffed wooden floor. 'Training theatre' apparently meant 'a school gym, but like, round', which Weiss supposed she should have seen coming. Closed down or not, Beacon Academy was, well, an academy.

My new afterschool activity is more school. And I'm the one who put my foot down and insisted on starting during winter break…

"Thanks," she said, abruptly conscious of the fact that Ozpin had been silently holding the door open for her for the better part of a minute now, and she hurried past him, her steps slowing a little as she reached the central area. The stage, she supposed, if they were sticking with theatre terminology. She laid her sword case down along one of the benches and began disentangling herself from her outerwear.

"Give me a second to change my shoes," she said.

"Not keen to give wet boots a try on hardwood?"

"Somehow, no." Aaaand this was weird. Aside from barging into his workroom, Weiss had never actually been alone with Ozpin before today, and they hadn't established a dynamic that Weiss could fall back on. Even with Qrow, she had the beginnings of a rapport—it was hard to remain politely distant from someone who had technically, barely beaten you at video games a small handful of times—but she and Ozpin had always been exactly that. Politely distant. Cordial, especially with the lingering memory of Russe's fierce familial love for him echoing around in Weiss's head. But never more than that.

It's fine. It's just like every other tutor or coach you've ever had. Except he's also a close relative of your best friend and if it turns out you and he don't actually get along you'll have to deal with that literally forever because he'll outlive you. By an eternity. This was a terrible idea!

Unsure of how one dressed for combat training, Weiss had selected one of the outfits she typically wore under her fencing gear. The fitted leggings and sleeveless shirt were the plainest articles of clothing she owned, and her lightly-worn regulation-white running shoes were one of the few flat-soled pairs she had left. Something about picking up Summer's ornate Gemcrafted rapier while dressed like this felt wrong. Like a yoga instructor carting around one of those legendary swords that proved kingship.

Ozpin was waiting for her in the centre of the room, his hands clasped behind his back. "Your fencing career will have left you with many useful habits, but there will be at least a few which will only make this harder on you," he observed as she approached. "Guard position."

It took a moment to process that as an order, but Weiss did as she was told, planting her feet apart at a right angle, sword held carefully in her left hand, her right arm tucked behind the small of her back with her hand loosely clasped. Ozpin looked her over, circling slowly round her, and as Weiss began to feel strain in her back leg she brought her right foot forward slightly, mentally cursing herself but winning a slight nod from her instructor.

Ozpin came to a halt on her right—more behind her, really, but he'd come forward far enough she could see him. "May I?" he asked, holding out a hand towards her.

Weiss nodded. His hand closed around her right elbow, drawing her arm out from behind her back. He tapped it to let her know to straighten it out, pushing lightly on her shoulder until it was in line.

"Never tuck your arm like that," he said. "In fencing, you can reasonably expect to keep your footing at all times, so having your hand behind your back is fine. In live combat, you can't be sure of what to expect. If your arm is behind you, it can be trapped or seriously injured. Your shoulder and elbow are at particular risk of being sprained, dislocated, possibly even torn or fractured."

"Okay, arm loose. Got it."

"Don't hold it there and forget about it, either. Put it to use where you can. Block attacks, break falls. Throw things." Evidently satisfied with how Weiss now held her arm—slightly behind the rest of her body so her guard still included it—Ozpin moved on, continuing to circle until he was back in front of her. "The entire notion of fair play is something I want you to throw out of your head. As a Huntress, you have three goals: keep yourself alive, keep other people safe, and retrieve Corrupted Gemstones intact whenever possible. If you do not make your peace with fighting dirty now, you'll be doing so with the god of your choice sooner rather than later.

"Making peace or fighting dirty?" Weiss asked before she could stop herself.

Ozpin grinned, suddenly boyish in his delight despite being probably the oldest person she'd ever met. "Whichever seems most likely to work, of course. Overall, your guard is excellent," he went on. "And as expected, I won't have to teach you how to hold a sword. Although…can you reach the trigger like that?"

Trigger?

Iforgottherewasatrigger.

A little "eep!" noise escaped her as Weiss hastened to readjust, rotating the sword hilt in her grip until she could hook her index finger around the trigger. Ozpin's expression hardened instantly.

"No," he snapped, startling her and nearly making her drop the whole weapon on her foot. "Never put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to pull it. Lay it alongside and keep your thumb behind the hammer."

"Right! Right."

"I'm sorry," Ozpin said more gently. "There's less danger in handling your blade like that than a true firearm, but far too many accidents have been caused by that precise mistake."

"Got it," Weiss said, a little shaky. She'd never heard him raise his voice before—and it was as always mortifying to be corrected in such a sharp way. "It's not loaded, though. I knew I shouldn't store it like that."

He nodded, once again smiling in the small way Weiss thought of as his default expression. "Better not to build bad habits, all the same. Why don't you show me what you've already mastered?" he suggested, retrieving his cane from his jacket and extending it. "I'm sure Ruby's told you by now what my powers are."

"Some kind of super-speed and time manipulation combo, right?"

"It's less about manipulating time itself than my passage through it, but yes. I can use that to soften any blows I might land, and if I have to resort to any of my powers to prevent you from skewering me, you may safely count that as a touch."

"I thought you should never tuck your arm like that?" Weiss observed with an arched eyebrow as Ozpin's left arm folded behind himself.

"My musculoskeletal structure is a figment of my own imagination. Besides, we're fencing, not fighting."

"That feels like nitpicking."

"I would never," Ozpin said serenely. He swept his cane upright in a swift salute before twirling it to rap the tip sharply against the floor.

Oh, he's one of those,Weiss groaned internally. Then she smirked. And I know how to use that.

She saluted him in turn, and the second her sword was parallel to the ground again, she darted forward. This might literally be Ozpin's home turf, but Weiss knew where she stood on it. Now that she was back in her comfort zone, she almost wished Ruby had come to watch.

"Do I have to do this?" Ruby asked, nibbling at her thumbnail as she stared through the windshield at the building ahead of the parked truck.

"No," Tai said, sitting in the driver's seat with his hands folded. "I told you that before you got in the car, too."

Ruby nodded, and kept nodding, lowering her hand from her mouth and tapping it anxiously against her knee. She abruptly snatched at the door handle and yanked, flinging the door open and scrambling out.

"Okay," Taiyang breathed, disembarking from the truck in a more controlled fashion. Ruby's burst of motion had carried her more than halfway to the entrance, but now she was frozen in place on the pavement, waiting for him to catch up. When he did, he put a hand on her back, looking down at her.

"Remember, if you feel too uncomfortable, you can just walk out. I mean, try to be polite about it, she's just trying to help, but you can leave anytime."

"Why do I have to do this?"

"You don't," Taiyang reminded her, again. "The only one saying that is you."

"Okay," Ruby mumbled. She started moving forward again. Slowly. She was literally dragging her feet. Tai matched her pace instead of fighting it.

"You know, the reason I picked this doctor is because I know her," he said. He hadn't been going to tell Ruby, but maybe it would help. "Some therapists are cagey about treating members of the same family, but we talked it over and figured it might help that she already knows who you are and a little about your situation. And that we know she won't be thrown by weird Gem stuff."

Ruby finally looked over at him. "You did this, too?"

"Mmhm." He nodded. "She's even still in the same office and everything. Feels like going back in time."

Ruby frowned. Their glacial pace had finally moved them into the lobby, but someone else was talking to the receptionist. "Why did you need therapy?"

Because the best thing that's ever happened to me happened on the worst day of my life. He moved his hand to the top of her head, ruffling her hair gently. "Same as you. I needed to talk to someone who wasn't dealing with all the same stuff I was."

"I talked to Weiss," Ruby objected.

"That's good. But even without hiding stuff from her, I bet there's things you didn't talk about, right? And she's Yang's friend. Yours too. You can't really say she's not in this with you. Hey, listen, Ruby." He crouched a little to look her in the eyes. "Whether this works for you or not, I'm proud of you for trying, okay?"

She nodded, going a little pink.

"That's my girl." He stood and jerked his chin towards the reception desk. "Now come on. Let's get you checked in."

"If you call me 'Doctor' even once, I'll call you Miss Xiao Long for the rest of the session," was the first thing Ruby heard when she stepped into the therapist's office. "It's just plain Marilla if you know what's good for you."

"O…kay?" Gingerly, Ruby eased herself down into one of the armchairs across from Just Plain Marilla, a middle-aged woman whose light brown skin was sprinkled liberally with freckles and whose kinked brown hair was streaked with grey. She had a very pleasant voice, melodic and lively. "Um, I'm Ruby. Which…you know…"

Marilla scooted her wheeled desk chair a little closer, extending her hand. "But it's nice to meet you in person."

Ruby eyed her hand for a moment before reaching out and shaking it. Marilla nodded and rolled back the few inches she'd closed between them.

"So. Your dad started filling me in on why you're here, but I thought it'd be better if I heard it from you. The one thing he insisted on telling me is that I should take anything you say about alien abduction at face value." Marilla reached behind her and lifted a notebook from her desk, a pen jabbed through a fabric loop attached to the cover. "Which I have to tell you, is definitely in the top five strangest things I've ever been told before a session."

"But not the strangest?"

"Oh, I wish I could tell you the strangest thing, but patient confidentiality and all that. Do you know what that means?"

"Doctors aren't allowed to tell people things about their patients."

"Broadly, yes. Since you're a minor, there's a little leeway in how much information I can legally pass along to your dad. But this doesn't work unless you can trust me, so how's this: he doesn't need to know anything you tell me unless it's something that puts people at risk."

Ruby frowned. "Like what?"

Marilla shrugged. "If I have cause to believe you're going to hurt yourself or someone else, for example. Well, I say 'for example', but that's it, really."

Ruby bit her lip. "Monsters don't count, right? Just poofing them, I mean."

"'Poofing'?"

"You know, when a Gem's projection takes too much damage? They go 'poof!' and all that's left is their Gemstone. Uh, I've heard 'popping' too. I think that's more common. Or…discorporation?" Ruby nodded to herself. "Yeah, that's the technical term."

"Ah, right. And once a Huntsman has poofed a monster, their Gemstone gets locked away in the vault under Beacon Academy." Marilla nodded too. "I knew all that, I've just never heard someone use that term before. I think you're right, 'popping' is more common."

Ruby paused. "You didn't answer my question."

"And you noticed that very quickly. Do people dodge your questions a lot?"

"Does poofing monsters count?" Ruby challenged, crossing her arms.

"No," Marilla decided. "I'm not qualified to judge where a hunt ends and a problem begins. The people already in your life are. Unless you start turning up with injuries, I'm going to have to trust them to make sure you're engaging in an acceptable level of risk. Do you poof a lot of monsters that your dad doesn't know about?"

"Dad and the Gems talk. I figure if one of them knows all of them know, so no."

"So you aren't worried about me telling him about any monsters you might have poofed, you just wanted to know whether or not I would?"

"I guess?" Ruby frowned as Marilla scribbled something down. "Is that important?"

"Everything's important," Marilla said. "The more I know about you, the better I can help you."

"Do I need help?"

"If you don't, why are you talking to me?"

"Dad wanted me to."

"So you're here to keep your dad happy."

"How much is this really telling you about me?"

Marilla smiled. "You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't ask a question," Ruby pointed out. Marilla waved her protest away.

"Most people would take a prompting statement like that as a question. Did you not want to answer it?"

"I…I don't know how to answer it."

"And you admit that. Do you want a moment to think about it, or should we move on?"

"Does the therapy not work if you don't tell me what's going on?" Ruby asked, rather desperately. "Can't you just explain?"

"Would that make you feel more comfortable?"

"Yes!"

"Okay." Marilla clicked her pen closed and used it to point at bits of the page in front of her, referring to her notes as she spoke. "See, when people come to therapy voluntarily—did you, Ruby?"

"Yeah," she admitted, fidgeting.

"Well, that means you wanted, or at least were willing, to talk to someone about your troubles. But a lot of people, even when they want therapy, don't cooperate easily with their therapist. They dodge questions. They change subjects. They sniff out technicalities that let them clam up or give partial answers without really obstructing the process. And you just did all of those things within the last five minutes. The unusual part," she went on, "is that you kept trying to catch me playing the same tricks, and that when I called you out, you gave me a straight no-bull answer. So even though you're using all these guarding techniques, you don't get upset if I work my way past them. It's almost like you think I should have to get past if I want answers. And right from the jump, you were feeling around for loopholes. Like you wanted to know what the rules were before you started playing the game."

"Is this a game?" Ruby asked, confused. Marilla held out an open hand towards her as if she'd proven some sort of point.

"If that's what you need, Ruby, it can be. But if I'm being honest, I think it just means I took the wrong tactic with you. I think you're used to being on my side of the conversation, trying to coax answers out of people. At the very least, I think you've spent a decent amount of time talking to someone, maybe multiple someones, who tend to treat conversations like a contest. 'Who can learn the most while sharing the least?' Maybe you were always going to be a little evasive, a little defensive—it's a normal reaction when you're, well, a little bit scared to talk about something. But then I made it feel like tug-of-war, didn't I? And you did what any person on the other end of the rope would do."

Ruby deflated. "I wasn't trying to make this harder," she protested weakly.

"I know. You just thought this had to be more like an argument than it does." Marilla flipped to a new page in her notebook. "But we aren't here to fight each other, and we both know that. So why don't we stop acting like it? I'm willing to start fresh if you are."

"…Okay."

"So what's the verdict?" Taiyang asked as Ruby stepped back out into the lobby. "I see you didn't walk out before time was up."

Ruby breathed in deeply and let it out again before she replied. "I think I can do this again."

Taiyang scooped her up and hugged her tight. "Proud of you, rosebud."

She flushed again. "It's just talking…" she mumbled.

"Sure is," Tai said wryly as they headed for the doors. "Wanna go get lunch? We're only a few blocks north of that diner you like."

Ruby perked up immediately. "Can I get a milkshake?"

"You want a milkshake. In December."

"You. Are wearing. Sandals."

"Alright, shakes all around!" Tai declared, fishing out his keys.

Ruby waited just inside the back door of the house, watching Weiss's rather stiff approach across the lawn from one of Zwei's portals. "You got to fall a lot today, huh?" she asked sympathetically, handing the girl a freshly-warmed heating pad.

"Apparently there's a right way to do it," Weiss groaned, letting Ruby take her sword case. The hybrid trailed in her wake as she limped towards the living room.

"He remembered the mats, right? Yang didn't." Ruby winced. "Good thing I'm not full-human."

"Yeah, we used the mats." Weiss struggled out of her coat and let it drop to the floor, slumping onto the couch and draping the heating pad across her shoulders.

"Want me to get you something to drink?"

"No. I've been drinking water." Zwei jumped up onto the couch next to Weiss, laying his head across her thigh. She scritched him gently between his ears. "Are you here alone? Again?"

"Qrow's out with the search parties." Ruby lowered herself carefully to sit on Weiss's other side, not wanting to jostle her by plopping down. "I've barely seen him since Yule. Once you're okay with it, I think I'm going to ask Ozpin to let me join you guys for training. It's…been awhile since my last lesson."

"Oh, right—I guess Qrow would have to be your main teacher. Scythes."

"Yup. He's. You know." Ruby twisted her hands in her lap. "We all want Yang back. And Blake!" she added swiftly, looking guilty. "We really owe her a lot…"

"Have there been any new leads?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nothing. Not even rumours. How does a giant four-armed cat-eared woman on fire just vanish? Director Lionheart even got Kuo Kuana's council to agree to let him set up an outpost on Menagerie; that's ground zero for all the searches, and there's nothing!"

Weiss wanted to have something helpful or at least meaningful to say to that. But no matter how long they sat there in silence, there was nothing she could think of.

"They're coming home," she said at last. It had become a sort of mantra. The thing you said when there was nothing else to say.

"Yeah." Ruby took a deep breath. "Yeah, I know." Then she shook herself. "Do you mind if I tag along with you for training? After falling week's over, anyway."

Weiss froze. "Falling week?"

"Ohhh, he didn't…" Ruby shrank away from Weiss's wide-eyed stare. "The next phase is super-cool ninja-rolling! If that helps!"

Except the next phase was actually more falling.

"I think I've probably mastered not cracking my head open by now, thanks." Weiss could even get to her feet again without having to think about it half the time. Presumably the prelude to that 'super-cool ninja-rolling' Ruby kept reminding her about.

"Ah, but you haven't mastered doing so with a weapon in hand. May I?"

Hesitantly, Weiss handed over her sword. Ozpin held it so that its point was just above the floor. His other hand held his cane, and he depressed the lever just slightly. Weiss watched, mystified, as he adjusted the shaft until both weapons were equal in length.

"Safer to begin with something a little less sharp, don't you think?" he asked, tossing his cane in the air and flipping it so he held it by the wood, and suddenly Weiss found herself staring down at the handle of the Long Memory.

"Go on, then," Ozpin prompted when she didn't move to take it. "It's survived nearly ten thousand years of everything I've put it through; you won't break it in one afternoon."

Weiss closed her fingers around the metal, which was cool to the touch; of course, Ozpin's hand wouldn't be significantly warmer than the air around them, since hard light didn't produce much heat. "It's lighter than I expected," she noted.

"I was fortunate in the materials available to me when I set out to craft it. I've never found their like on Remnant." Ozpin was quite careful as he carried her weapon over to its case, laying it gently into place and easing the lid shut. There he paused for a moment, an odd sort of smile on his face, his hand hovering over the snowflake emblem much as Weiss's had.

"Alright," he said, turning back to face her. "Back to the mats. Let's continue."

"I heard something I shouldn't have. A couple nights ago."

Marilla paused in her writing, looking up at Ruby curiously. They hadn't had many of their weekly sessions yet, but Ruby had been getting more comfortable with talking to her. So that hesitant tone she couldn't keep out of her voice had probably caught the therapist's attention more than anything. "What do you mean, something you shouldn't have?"

Ruby shifted uncomfortably. "I wasn't eavesdropping!" she insisted "I just happened to be walking past Ozpin's workroom while he was on his scroll and I noticed he sounded weird. Like…tired."

"You can't keep doing this," he'd said.

"Really tired."

"Listen to yourself. This isn't helping anyone. Least of all Yang."

"And then I realised he was talking to Qrow, so…"

"I have been—Qrow, stop this. I need you to liste—"

"I kept listening," she admitted. "I know I should have just kept moving! But Qrow's been gone so much lately, I just wondered if I could find out what was going on with him."

"Have you tried asking your father or Ozpin about him?"

"They just say he's taking the lead in searching for Blake and Yang. But I already know that! And when I try calling Qrow, he doesn't answer his scroll. He'll text, a little, but that's not enough to know how he's doing."

"How do you think he's doing?" Marilla asked.

"About as well as the rest of us. We're all on edge."

"Don't you dare." The mounting urgency in Ozpin's voice had turned to anger. "I have been staying home precisely because you refuse to."

"Even Ozpin, turns out. They were arguing."

"Over what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Ruby, for example?"

"Me," she croaked, her fingers curling into loose, defensive fists in her lap. "Taking care of me, I think. It's really just been Dad and Ozpin for a while, and they're trying really hard but they both have so much other stuff to worry about…looking for the others, and tracking the escape pods, and Ozpin's training Weiss, and Dad's picking up a lot of the slack on local hunts with three whole Valean Huntsmen basically out of the game. They need help. I'm trying to get better at cooking for myself and taking care of the house, but sometimes that just makes things worse. Did you know you can't use regular dish soap in a dishwasher?"

Marilla raised her eyebrows, wincing. "That must've been a fun clean-up job."

"Y'know, for a hot second, I thought I was actually gonna see Oz cry when he caught me trying to clean up. Then he just kinda laughed it off and helped me, but…"

Whatever Qrow had said in reply to Ozpin's pointed reminder that Ruby existed had carved all the sharpness and tension out of the Garnet's voice. And then, sounding very small, he'd asked Qrow to come home.

"We need you, too."

"I don't know how to make him stop pretending he's fine. Or if I should. I think maybe some people need to pretend." Like Weiss did, sometimes. Or Pyrrha.

"It's not a great strategy long-term, but in some situations putting on a brave face can actually help people through a tough time. Everyone has a balance they need to find between holding on and letting go, and while it's important to be supportive and do your best not to make things harder for the people around you, you can't hold yourself responsible for anyone's mental health but yours." Marilla closed her notebook. "It's okay that you can't carry the whole world on your shoulders. No one can. No one should feel they have to even try."

"I think Qrow might be the one trying. I want to help, but no one will even let me try," Ruby added with a bitter tinge of old frustration. She knew she wasn't being coddled, that there'd been no sightings of the missing on land and she just wasn't able to help with an ocean search, but it still hurt.

"Ruby, you have to remember, okay? You've been through a lot, and it's made you very mature for your age, but you are a child, and you are allowed to be a child. I know you want to help your family, and I'm not saying you shouldn't try to do that, but it is their job to raise you, not the other way around."

She instinctively wanted to protest. But… "Yang said something like that once."

"Sounds like Yang's a little wiser than she lets on."

"I miss her," Ruby said before she had a chance to think about it. It was the first time she'd said it aloud.

"Of course you do," Marilla said quietly, and for some reason that was what made Ruby tear up, ducking her head to hide her face.

"They're coming home," she whispered. "They're coming home. They're coming home."

"People don't have to be gone forever for you to miss them. Maybe a month or two doesn't seem so long when you live for thousands of years, but that's a long time for people like us." A tissue box appeared at the edge of Ruby's field of vision. She peeked up through her bangs to see Marilla looking down at her sympathetically, holding the box out to her. "Pain is pain. It all hurts. It all counts."

"Want me to come in with you?" Taiyang asked as he shifted into park.

"Nah. The others should be back from Beacon soon." Ruby popped her seatbelt and grabbed her mostly-empty milkshake cup. "You're still coming to dinner tomorrow, right?"

"Hey, I'm cooking dinner tomorrow. I should be asking you if you're coming over."

"Dad…" That was how they'd used to do it, back before it meant leaving Ozpin alone in an empty house. Ruby had come to hatethat feeling of no one else being home; she wasn't about to inflict it on someone else if she could help it, even if the Fusion was probably the best-equipped out of all of them to handle solitude.

"I know, I know." And he did. She hadn't even had to explain. "Don't worry. I'll come bearing food."

"Thanks, Dad." She swung herself out of the truck, slamming the door behind her. "See ya!" she called, waving as he manoeuvred through a multi-point turn and rumbled back down the driveway.

Ruby let out the quiet sigh of someone finding themselves alone after a day around other people, equal parts relief and melancholy. She pulled out her seldom-used house key and walked up to the door, slush and rock salt crunching beneath her feet.

Zwei greeted her right inside the door, tail wiggling, a tennis ball in his mouth.

"Where'd you get that? You know those are for outside!" Ruby bent down and took it from him, and Zwei backed away, panting, bringing the front of his body low in a play bow.

"Okay. Just this once." Ruby judged the distance she wanted to throw; she didn't want to add replace TV to the family to-do list. If she'd guessed right, the ball should bounce off the couch and roll onto the floor. "Fetch!"

"Guh!" she heard from the other side of the couch, a dark figure springing upright, making her jump as Zwei tore off after the ball. For a moment, Ruby was speechless—first with shock, then with recognition.

"Goddamn, Ruby, watch where you throw shit," Qrow grumbled, rubbing at his jaw.

"Qrow!" Bursting into petals, Ruby soared over the back of the couch, tackling him. She held one arm at a high, awkward angle to protect her milkshake, and her unbalanced landing would have sent her tumbling onto the floor if Qrow hadn't reflexively caught her around the waist.

"Alright, alright, kid, watch where you throw you!" Qrow smacked her lightly on the side of the head, then plucked her milkshake right out of her hand and took a long pull off the straw.

"Hey!"

"Eugh. That ain't the good stuff. Food keeps gettin' worse every time I try it," the Pearl groused, plunking the now-empty cup down on the coffee table. They both stared at it for a moment. Then Qrow sighed and gently shoved Ruby off of him, towards the other side of the couch, and lifted the cup, nudging a coaster into place under it.

"There. That'll save us a lecture. Where is he, anyway?"

"Oz, you mean?" Because honestly, Tai was just as likely if not more so to tell Qrow off for leaving rings on the nice wooden furniture.

"Yeah. Figured I'd find him rattling around the house like a sad old widow or something, the way he was talking." Qrow crossed his arms, leaning back and scanning around the room like Ozpin was going to materialise in one of the darker corners. "Turns out he's not even here."

You weren't supposed to hear the scroll call. You only heard Ozpin's half of it, anyway. So Ruby swallowed her questions and just said, "He's up at Beacon. Training Weiss."

Qrow's eyebrows shot up. "Huh. Figured she'd have given up by now."

"Why?"

Qrow grunted and shook his head, waving her question off. "Whatever. Good for her, I guess. Guess that means Ozpin's been slacking on your training, if he's so busy with her."

"We thought you'd be back sooner." Ruby couldn't help the flatness of her tone. "We've done a couple refresher sessions to keep me in shape. Tried to work on hand-to-hand a little. He's not the scythe expert in the family," she added with a little more bite.

Then, "Sorry," very quietly, because it wasn't like Qrow had gone and abandoned them for fun. He'd been doing something important, and just kind of let the rest…slip a little.

"We could try a quick spar, if you wanted," Qrow suggested. "Build up to some more intensive training. Make up for lost time. 'Cause…you're right, I dropped the ball." His tense posture loosened. "It's my job to make sure you know how to protect yourself, and it's more important than ever for me to actually do that, now we know what we're up against."

"You wanna go right now?"

Qrow shrugged. "Why not? 'Less you're too full of syrup and soft-serve to put up a real fight."

At Qrow's taunting smirk, Ruby narrowed her eyes. "You're on, old man."

"Hey! Hey. Watch the 'old' thing. I'm in my prime."

"You're always going to be in your prime. You were born in your prime."

"Yeah, and don't you forget it. C'mon, get up. Vacation's over, let's do this."

It almost felt like old times again, as Ruby bounced off the couch to follow Qrow to the back door.

Weiss was just about to execute the modified lunge Ozpin had recommended as a finisher when the Long Memory came down on her blade, locking it into place through sheer pressure. The Garnet had dropped entirely out of his combat stance, his head turned towards the open door of the theatre, cocked slightly to one side like a curious hound.

"Someone else is here," he said softly, eyes unfocused as he processed whatever he was hearing. It wasn't long before Weiss noticed the sounds for herself; now that they'd stopped moving, every other noise in the building seemed magnified, bouncing around the huge, empty space.

"Sounds…metallic?" she guessed. And then a distinctive, explosive sound. "Ruby's rifle!"

Ozpin moved towards the door at a swift pace, not running but Weiss would hardly call it walking, either. She trotted along in his wake, keeping hold of her sword.

They followed the sound of combat through the halls, tracking it to its source—a large indoor arena, all-over stone instead of the wood and plaster of the training theatre, its bleachers carved, curved wooden benches like church pews vastly different from the more utilitarian seating Weiss was used to.

Ozpin stopped just inside the doorway, stepping to one side to allow Weiss entry. Even from behind, she could see him relax, and as she joined him he smiled at her. "Qrow's home," he said simply, nodding towards the centre of the arena.

"Oh…" Ruby wasn't even using her super-speed, and Weiss could still barely track her movements as she sparred with Qrow. The hybrid's insistence that she couldn't dance felt more laughable than ever as Weiss watched the two superhuman warriors clash, graceful, swift, and sure, scythes carving controlled and precise arcs through the air like gymnasts' ribbons. "Wow."

"She's come a long way in such a short time," Ozpin agreed. Though he couldn't seem to help tacking on a more critical, "Her footwork is still a touch too hesitant. She's not quite certain how to move herself in tandem with her weapon sometimes, and it shows."

Weiss would have to take his word on that. Maybe it was because Qrow was holding back—incredible as it was to think this display was essentially play for him—but she honestly couldn't see a difference between his technique and Ruby's. They appeared perfectly matched.

"She's really good at this, isn't she?" Weiss felt numb. This was what she was trying to catch up to?

"As one would expect from someone who's trained for this in one way or another her entire life." Ozpin didn't look directly at Weiss, but she knew his 'This is important even though I'm acting like it's not' tone by now, and he was using it. "And from someone who's never had to work to attain the human standard of physical excellence, but who has put in some of that work all the same. Ruby started at a point you've had to struggle to reach. It's only to be expected she's ahead of you."

Now he did finally glance at her. "That's not to say she'll always stay ahead of you. Or that the two of you will never end up in the same place."

"Ack! You win, you win!" Ruby's squawk carried clearly across the space between the pairs, and Weiss looked down to see her lying on the floor, hands at her sides, the tip of Harbinger's blade inches from her throat.

"And what have we learned?" Qrow asked, sounding almost mocking.

"Shall we?" Ozpin prompted quietly, gesturing down the stairs into the arena.

"Ducking under the haft only works the first time," Ruby recited, utterly without enthusiasm.

"And the second time you get knocked on your ass 'cause I know it's coming, uh-huh." Qrow spun his scythe in his grip, leaning it against his shoulder in the pose in which Weiss had first met him. "Can't be predictable, kiddo. Predictable's just another word for dead."

Ruby muttered something Weiss couldn't hear.

"Smartass."

"Language," Ozpin called mildly as they stepped out onto the arena floor, using his cane as a walking stick. "And yes, I'm talking to you, Ruby."

Ruby scrambled to her feet with an expression of alarm, but Qrow didn't seem surprised to see him, looking their way and jerking his chin in a curt sort of acknowledgement. "Oz."

"Qrow." The Garnet matched his guarded rising inflection pitch for pitch, arching an eyebrow just slightly as he drew to a halt a few feet away.

"Heya, Weiss!" Ruby said brightly, dusting off the back of her jeans. "How's training?"

"Pretty good," Weiss said, shooting a furtive glance at Ozpin like he might contradict her. She hadn't worked up the courage to ask what he thought of her progress, and he had yet to comment on her training as a whole as opposed to each individual lesson.

"She's adapting well. We're progressing consistently," he reported. "And you, young Rose?"—except he was once again looking at Qrow.

"Gettin' back in the swing of things," Qrow said gruffly. There was something defiant—almost surly—in the way he stood. Weiss couldn't quite put her finger on it, so she supposed she might be imagining things, but…

"Shaking off the rust," Ruby agreed, beaming, but her smile faltered just a little as she glanced between the Gems. So probably not Weiss's imagination, after all.

"I'm glad to hear it," said Ozpin, and as far as Weiss could tell, he was.

"Not gonna bother you if we keep working in here, will it? Ruby needs the room to do her—" Qrow twirled a hand around in the air. "Thing."

"Not at all. We simply weren't expecting to hear gunfire."

"Oops!" Ruby exclaimed, putting a hand to her mouth. "I shoulda texted you guys. I'm sorry…"

"Quite alright. Though, Qrow, would you mind telling me when the two of you are finished? I'd like to speak with you once you're home."

"Sorry. I'm heading back out after this."

"What?" It was Ruby who questioned him, looking up at him with her eyes wide. Qrow wouldn't meet them with his own.

"Told you, I'm tryin' to better at juggling all this. We'll go back to your old training schedule, meet up here, knock out some lessons, then I'll get back in the field."

"Oh…"

"I see," Ozpin said, face and voice both entirely neutral.

"Last I heard, CCT still works. You got anything useful for me, call me. I got work to do. Ruby, you too, your footwork was gettin' clumsy towards the end there." Qrow nodded to Ozpin, ignoring Weiss entirely, and started walking away like that was any way to end a conversation.

"Hey!" Weiss called after him, temper flaring. Sure, she knew Qrow wasn't Mr. Manners, but for some reason the way he was acting today left a bad taste in her mouth.

Qrow stopped. Turned. His eyes darted down towards the sword she held, lip curling unpleasantly before his expression smoothed out near-instantly as he looked at her expectantly. "Something you wanna say, kid?" he drawled. Kid sounded a lot less endearing directed at her instead of Ruby.

And what could she say? Qrow had been brusque, but he hadn't crossed any actual lines. Hadn't snapped at anyone or thrown accusations around. Just disappointed his family, but if she called him out for that it would sound like she thought finding Yang and Blake was less important than keeping Ruby and Ozpin happy. So, what—'I know we're all trying our best, but your best makes me angry'?

As she stood there, silent and fuming and fast losing steam, Qrow nodded. "Good talk. Ruby! Let's go!"

"It's okay," Ruby whispered, tucking a few loose strands of red hair behind her ear and giving Weiss an unsteady smile. "See you guys later!" And she turned on the spot to jog after Qrow.

Weiss didn't expect the hand that fell on her shoulder. She looked up to see Ozpin with a strange, sad smile of his own.

"Let me know if you work out the right way to say it."

"Say what?"

He gazed after Qrow and Ruby. "Exactly."

It was great, having Qrow back. Well, sort of back. Sure, Ruby only got to see him for six hours a week—eight, tops—but he spent that time with her, focused on her. He was taking her training more seriously than ever, which was great. And, yeah, it was a little rough jumping right from 'no training' to 'all the training', but hey, there was that whole 'no pain, no gain' thing, right? Qrow was back and she was making progress. It was great.

"I think we've established that the whole situation is 'great'," Marilla said dryly.

"It really is," Ruby said earnestly.

"Have you spent any time with Qrow outside of training lately?"

"Well, he doesn't have much time around looking for Blake and Yang."

"So that's a no."

"He can't help it!" Ruby protested. "It's just the way it is. Besides, we have a lot of ground to cover. I really fell behind while he was gone. He's just trying to make up for that."

And maybe something was a little off about him, but he was back, and that was great.

"You seem to be shifting around a lot," Marilla noted. "Everything alright?"

"Just a little sore. I'm fine. It's—"

"Great?"

"Yep."

Marilla sighed quietly, scribbling something down.

Weiss's training schedule didn't overlap perfectly with Ruby's, but there was overlap. Whenever her lessons finished up first, she'd head down to the arena where Ruby and Qrow were working. Sometimes Ozpin would join her. Sometimes he'd make what Weiss was pretty sure were flat-out excuses to head up to his office instead, and she'd have to either wait for Ruby to be done or call him when she was ready to leave. Although sometimes she lucked out and found Zwei trundling around the grounds. It rarely took much coaxing to get him to open a portal for her. Sometimes she could even get him to send her straight home.

She rarely could stick around for the end of Ruby's training sessions, because they were brutal. Ozpin was on par with the most exacting coaches Weiss had ever had, but Qrow was on a whole other level. Ruby got breaks when she asked for them, but most of the time she tried to tough it out, leaving her a sweaty, stumbling mess by the end of training.

"Seriously, you've got to ask to stop more often!" Weiss scolded her, watching as Ruby drained half her water bottle in one go. "And drink more slowly! It's just going to come back up if you gulp it like that!"

"We're on a tight schedule," Ruby panted, leaning back against the stone. "Ooh. Cold."

"If he's got time to train you, he's got time to do it right," Weiss snapped.

"He is doing it right! We just gotta make up for lost time, that's all. He wants me to be ready."

"For what? Everything I've been hearing says things are winding down again."

"Jaspilite's still out there. And Peridot. And Bloodstone, technically."

"Ruby, I know he's like your idol, but he's pushing you too hard. Trust me. I know what overtraining looks like."

"Ruby!" Qrow yelled, and Weiss fought the urge to grind her teeth. "Time's up!"

"He just wants me to be ready," Ruby repeated, getting to her feet. "Don't worry, Weiss. Qrow knows what he's doing."

I really, really hope he doesn't, Weiss thought as she watched Ruby limp back into the fray. If he's doing this on purpose, there's gonna be hell to pay.

Of course, then the obvious answer occurred to her. If a teacher's going too far…

…You go to the principal.

"You don't think it's a problem," Weiss said flatly.

"That is not what I said."

"Okay, then explain how I'm supposed to translate you saying Qrow's methods 'fall within acceptable parameters'!"

Ozpin banished the holographic display above his desk and leaned back in his chair. "You understand that Ruby isn't simply a human with a Gemstone in her chest, yes? Her biological physiology is reinforced by a hard light projection contained within her body."

"Yeah, I know." Well, actually she hadn't known that was how it worked. But whatever. "She's fast and strong and tough. But she is still human!"

"And she is also still a Gem."

"Which makes it okay for Qrow to put her through all of this?"

"It makes it difficult to lay down rules as to how to treat her in each area of her life. Sometimes, she needs to be treated more like a human. Sometimes, more like a Gem."

This felt like it was going to take a while. Brimming with nervous energy, Weiss began to pace. Seemingly unbothered, Ozpin continued, tracking her motion with his eyes as he spoke. "Gems train not to build strength and endurance, but to ingrain in ourselves the patterns and principles on which we'll need to rely in combat. So when we train, we do so intensively, with the goal of broadening our experience and establishing kinaesthetic memory. Muscle memory," he explained when she looked at him. "Though that more common term doesn't apply quite as well, in our case."

"Okay, but Ruby needs to eat and exercise and rest, so clearly training her like a Gem is a terrible idea!"

"Do you know the point in her training at which Ruby showed the most rapid improvement?" Ozpin asked, leaning forward again. "It was when she and Yang were gallivanting around the city playing vigilante. High-stress field experience. Ruby learns by doing. And her incredible physical resilience allows her to do so much more safely than a fully organic being."

"So this is normal?"

"I didn't say that, either. Weiss, please sit down. You're accelerating sharply and I'm very much afraid you're going to put yourself through a wall."

"There's no—" Chair. Except there was one. There'd never been a second chair in here before, had there? Had it been here when she arrived?

It must have. Right?

Hesitantly, Weiss lowered herself into the chair, lacing her fingers together atop Ozpin's desk, mirroring his posture. "Look, Professor, just tell me what I'm missing that makes this all okay."

He didn't reply at first. She got the impression he was weighing his answer.

"Qrow," he said finally. "I may not always agree with how he handles…certain situations. But I trust him with Ruby's wellbeing, as does her father, as would Yang if she were here, and Qrow has never betrayed that trust."

"I'm not saying he's trying to hurt her. I'm not even saying he doesn't care! He does listen when she puts her foot down. But she doesn't do it enough! He's pushing her harder than she can go and she's letting him because she doesn't want him to leave again!"

"I assume you've talked to her about this?"

"She brushed me off. You need to talk to him."

"Yes, for several reasons," Ozpin murmured. "Unfortunately, Qrow is not especially interested in listening to anything I have to say at the moment unless it involves hard data."

Weiss felt her jaw clenching involuntarily, and she squeezed her eyes shut, practically throwing her weight back in the chair. "Why," she gritted out, "are they so stubborn?"

"Stubbornness is merely what we call determination when it displeases us. Or maybe it's the other way 'round." Ozpin paused. "Please understand that I have only as much power over Qrow as he sees fit to give me. He is no longer my subordinate. I am no longer anyone's superior. It's his choice to hear me out or not…and lately, he's chosen not."

"So we just have to let this play out," Weiss said, torn between disbelief and resignation.

"Unless and until such time as Ruby seems close to a breaking point, yes. I believe that is the best course of action. Although…" He eyed her for a moment. "You have been making good progress. Perhaps you and Ruby would find some benefit in a joint training session."

"Train both of us together, you mean?"

He nodded. "Training entire classes wasn't merely efficient. It also gave students the opportunity to learn from each other. And it will give the two of you practice at working together." Ozpin seemed to be warming to the idea even as he spoke. "Qrow has no reasonable grounds on which to disagree. It will be a refreshing change of pace, and perhaps participating in Ruby's training will allay some of your concerns."

And give you a chance to talk to Qrow. But hey. Weiss had ulterior motives too. "I think that sounds like an excellent idea."

And if things go south, they go south with witnesses.

"This is a waste of time," Qrow muttered through gritted teeth, watching Weiss and Ruby square off. He and Ozpin were closer than was strictly safe, but since there weren't exactly any practice scythes lying around, the girls would be sparring with live weapons. This way, the Gems could intervene if one of them failed to pull an attack in time.

"I disagree."

"Ruby's leagues ahead of Weiss." He scoffed. "At this rate, she always will be, even with roadblocks like this gettin' thrown in the mix."

"You know I don't like repeating myself."

Qrow finally broke their mutual not-looking-at-each-other truce, feeling a twinge of spite at how he had to glare up at the other Gem. "No, seriously, how do you think this ends? Plucky newcomer Weiss somehow gets the upper hand thanks her unorthodox background? Upperclassman Ruby learns a valuable lesson about overconfidence and never underestimating her opponents?"

"It's Rule One for a reason," Ozpin reflected. "But no, and your taste in movies is showing. I think the more likely outcome is that Ruby will win at least the first round, Weiss will either learn to manage her frustration or else learn the importance of doing so, and they'll each gain valuable experience through combatting a fighting style they haven't faced before."

"Ruby doesn't need to learn to fight Weiss. She needs more practice fighting opponents stronger than her. You want her to learn how to handle this style of swordplay, you fight her. She needs to get better."

"She's already leaps and bounds beyond what we would reasonably expect from any student her age."

"Oh, well." Qrow snorted. "We'll just make sure Jaspilite knows to grade her performance on a curve, consider maybe not turning her into a shish kabob because, hey, she coulda kicked any other fourteen year old's ass."

"Qrow…"

"I'm gonna stand on the other side," Qrow said abruptly. "Probably safer."

"For whom?"

Qrow ignored the quiet question, briskly circling Ruby and Weiss, who were now the appropriate distance away from each other and waiting for the signal to start.

"Ruby! Left leg's too far out. Bring it in," he barked.

"Sorry!" floated towards him. More importantly, Ruby did as he said—though…was that a wince?

Nah. Couldn't've been. She was giving Weiss a bright, determined smile. If she was in pain, she was working harder than usual to hide it, and hell, that was her choice, wasn't it?

"Alright." Qrow drew to a halt. "Let's get this show on the road."

Weiss and Ruby looked at him. Then at each other.

"Uh, does that mean—?" Weiss started uncertainly.

The sound of Ozpin's cane striking the ground echoed dully through the arena like a judge's gavel. "Begin," he called.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Qrow grumbled as the trainees charged, and, yep, this was exactly what he'd been afraid of. The obvious play if Ruby wanted to win was to use her speed to zip right past Weiss, hooking her with her scythe. She'd have to be careful not to actually hurt the kid, but the fight should have been over in the first three seconds. He could see from how Weiss moved that she wasn't good enough yet to counter a move like that, if she'd ever be. And he could see how Weiss moved because Ruby hadn't taken the easy win. Instead, she was holding back.

Wow. She's really gonna learn so much from this. He shot an annoyed look at Ozpin over the girls' heads, gesturing pointedly at the amateur-hour spar going on between them. The Garnet barely glanced at him, focusing on the lopsided exchange of blows like there was actually something to see.

Fine. Okay. Qrow could do the teacher thing, too.

Ruby was being overly-cautious about keeping her scythe's blade from coming too close to Weiss—her reflexes meant she could afford to stop within inches, but she was allowing well over a foot of space. Surprisingly, even though she was still in the running, Weiss looked annoyed, more so every time Ruby missed her. Finally, she came to a halt entirely, just standing there while the scythe blade wavered through the air about fifteen inches away from her waist. Weiss let out a short sigh, then lunged, and suddenly the squared edge of Summer's sword was resting against Ruby's neck. Ruby froze in place, her eyes wide.

"Wanna try that again?" Weiss asked her, straightening up. "Maybe actually trythis time?"

Ozpin looked unbearably smug.

"Alright, starting positions. Ruby?" Qrow pointed at her, raising his eyebrows. "Kick her ass."

There were, Qrow had to begrudgingly concede, at least a few things he learned about Ruby's weaknesses through this whole thing. For one, she really wasn't used to opponents her own height. Peridot would be a tough matchup for her. For another, she had painfully little experience combatting mid-range weaponry like Summer's sword; Weiss always seemed to be either just inside or just outside the effective range of Ruby's scythe, and Ruby didn't seem to know how to fix that. It was exactly the kind of opening Jaspilite excelled at exploiting. He'd have to work on patching those gaps after this. Ruby was not going to be unprepared next time it got down to the wire.

And Weiss—okay, her form actually wasn't half-bad, and her reflexes were pretty sharp. But she was slower, weaker, prone to second-guessing, and the entire Z-axis was still clearly an afterthought for her. She seemed to still be getting the hang of knowing when to dodge and when to block instead. Maybe someday she'd be a Huntress worth knowing, if she stuck with it long enough, but Qrow wasn't training Ruby for someday. The Weiss of here and now might be able to cut down a minor monster if she really buckled down and gave it her all, but she'd be no help at all in a serious fight against an armed, trained Gem. She was dead weight, and he could already picture Ruby putting herself at risk to protect the kid.

The less Ruby held back, the higher Weiss's loss count climbed, and the worse the restless prickling under Qrow's skin got until finally, Ozpin called for a break. Qrow nearly protested—all this and he wasn't even going to let the girls put any real time in?—but then he noticed the open scroll in Ozpin's hand. If he'd answered a call in the middle of class, it had to be important, so Qrow just gave him a nod as Oz turned for the stairs, raising the scroll to his ear.

"You're getting way better, Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed, clearly delighted. A little self-satisfied smile worked its way onto Weiss's face, replacing the faint disgruntlement that had taken up residence there as her defeats mounted.

"Well, it's not like all that training was going to make me worse," she scoffed, tossing her head. The kids had moved over to the edge of the arena, reaching over the boundary wall to grab towels and water bottles as they chatted. Qrow watched as Weiss set Summer's sword down along the top of the wall, propped up by the prongs on the Dust cylinder.

It was strange to see that weapon handled again. Especially by an organic. Especially by this organic, a slip of a girl who clearly thought of a sword as a tool and not an extension of her arm.

A minute passed. Two. Five. Ozpin still didn't return, and Qrow's restlessness grew.

Screw it.

"Hey," he said, walking up to the girls. "No clue what's keeping Oz, but we should get back to work. You got drills or something you can run, right?" he asked Weiss before turning to Ruby. "You, I wanna see tackle some of the problems you ran up against with her. Pretty sure I got a sword kicking around in here somewhere, I ain't great with it but you can get used to the range…"

Ruby dutifully got to her feet, stumbling a little, but Weiss was faster, walking straight up to him and crossing her arms as he reached behind himself for his Gemstone. "We just sparred for a half-hour straight," she said flatly.

"Yeah? So we got just under an hour and a half left to work with before I gotta head out again. You wanna sit around and waste time, that's fine, but me'n Ruby got work to do."

"We're not wasting time," Weiss insisted. "We're resting. Give us five more minutes. We can do light stretches, if it makes you feel better."

"Weiss, it's okay," Ruby objected.

"Oh, it's okay? Great." Weiss turned her sharp gaze on Ruby instead. "Hey, you ever do that balance training where you stand like a stork for a minute? Do me a favour. Try that with your left leg. If we can spare a few more seconds?" she tacked on snidely, glancing at Qrow.

"Weiss…" Ruby was shaking her head, eyes darting between her and Qrow. Her head wasn't the only thing shaking, Qrow realised suddenly. Her left leg was, too. The one she'd been holding at an odd angle before she and Weiss had started sparring.

"Hey. Did you hurt your leg or something?" Qrow asked, confused. He'd have noticed that, right? And even if he hadn't, Ruby would have mentioned it.

Apparently, this was the cue for Weiss to explode.

"Did she hurt her leg? Are you serious?" Weiss flung her hands up in the air. Her voice had gone shrill.

"It's not that bad," Ruby tried, but now Qrow could see how she was leaning against the wall, how her weight was distributed in a way that overwhelmingly favoured her right side. "I think maybe I just pulled a muscle…"

"Yeah—last week. And then it started healing really quickly, 'cause you're half-Gem. And then you pulled it again, 'cause you're half-human. And it started healing again. And you pulled it, again."

"Okay, hang on, which of us are you mad at?" Ruby asked, frowning. Qrow, for his part, was speechless.

"Both of you!" Weiss's fingers dug into the hair on the crown of her head, a handful of wispy white strands pulling free from her high ponytail. "You won't stand up for yourself, and you won't stop pushing! How two fully-intelligent people can be such irresponsible idiots is beyond me!"

Qrow finally found his words.

"Irresponsible?" he echoed, barking out a laugh. "That's what you think?"

"I really can't think of a better word!"

"No. No. Irresponsible is what I was at the start of all this, but I am fixing it. I told Ruby, I dropped the ball with her training, and I am doing everything I can to make up for that here and now." He pointed emphatically at the floor. "Train Ruby, look for Yang, train Ruby, look for Yang, that is my whole life now, and you're gonna stand there and call me irresponsible." Qrow scoffed, shaking his head in disgust. "Like hell."

"But!" There was a plaintive note to Ruby's voice. She was shaking her head again. "No one asked you to—"

"Well, no one else stepped up, either!" he shouted. "You think I don't know I'm not enough? Why the hell do you people think I'm doing any of this? I need to fix my fuck-ups and I need to not make any more! You—" he pointed at Ruby, "you gotta be able to keep yourself safe. Who else is gonna do it?"

The accusing finger moved to Weiss, stabbing sharply through the air. "Her? Little Miss Fencing Champion?" Fuck, what was he even saying anymore, he was trying to, to— "Oh, you can make a good show of knowin' how to hold that sword, but don't pretend anyone thinks you're fit to use it."

"Qrow!" Ruby didn't sound plaintive anymore. She sounded pissed.

Weiss had recoiled from him, furious blue eyes suspiciously bright.

"Even you know it's true," he growled. "You can't protect anyone."

"Like you've got such a great track record!" Weiss shot back. He faltered.

She knows.

She knows she knows she knows everyone knows everyone can see

Something shifted in Weiss's expression. Some of the anger seeping away and Qrow knew the next stage and like hell he was sticking around for the pity party. He let go of his form, compressed it down with the force of a thrown punch, and sped away on crows' wings.

"I—" Weiss turned to Ruby, face frozen and fixed with shock. She couldn't see herself, but she imagined the other girl was a pretty effective mirror at the moment. "That wasn't—I didn't—"

"Come on," Ruby said urgently, pushing herself off from the wall. "Help me walk. I'm too tired to make with the whoosh."

"Where?" Weiss stooped just slightly so Ruby could put an arm over her shoulders. The hybrid had gotten taller, she realised.

"The warp. Even if he changes his mind about leaving, that's where he'll go first. We can figure it out from there."

She'd sure sounded confident, but all the way out to the walkway, Ruby was desperately combing through her memories, trying to think of where Qrow might go. The cliff on Patch? Haven? Menagerie? But all she found were the warning signs, half-ignored, that had spelled out the coming catastrophe.

"He thinks it's his fault," she verbalised finally as Weiss helped her through the main hall. The words echoed accusingly off the walls. "Losing Fire Opal."

"I know!" Weiss squeezed her eyes shut. "I shouldn't have said it, I was just so…"

"Mad?"

"Afraid. That he was right."

"Aw, Weiss…"

"Well, he is right. For now. It'll take time before I'm ready for a real fight. I know that."

Ruby shook her head. "You've been trying to protect me this whole time. I just didn't listen. Training with Qrow is the first time things have felt even kind of normal since the ship came. I could tell something was wrong. I just didn't wanna admit it. And now Qrow's somewhere freaking out and I can't even chase after him 'cause I was stupid and hurt myself."

Getting the doors open was a team effort, but it was still easier than walking all the way around the outside of the building.

"You're not going to tell me I wasn't being stupid?" Ruby asked as they cautiously descended the wide stairs to the walkway.

"No. You were." Weiss sighed, looking up at the statue of Summer as they passed. "But I get it. So what's the plan if we get to the warp and Qrow isn't there?"

Because they were at the warp—or in eyeshot of it, at least—and Qrow wasn't there.

Ruby groaned. Then something above the warp caught her eye. She squinted. No, not above the warp; beyond it, all the way at the end of the platform.

"I think I see someone on the airship landing. It could be him." If it wasn't, it pretty much had to be Ozpin, and at least then they could read him in on what had happened.

But when they got closer, Ruby's first instinct was confirmed. Qrow was sitting at the farthest edge of the landing, his legs dangling off the edge as he looked out over the valley, the barrier making everything soft and slightly indistinct, like an old photograph. She hesitated, then withdrew her arm from Weiss's shoulders, the other girl releasing her in turn.

Ruby limped up behind the Pearl, easing herself to the ground beside him, feet dangling over the sharp drop into the fjord. In the middle of the platform, the eerie silence that pervaded Beacon held, but out here on the edge, she could distantly hear the waterfall which tumbled down the fjord wall beneath them. She wondered where the water came from—but that was a question for another day.

"That was your mom's power move, too," Qrow said. His voice was rough and choked. "Sit close. Say nothing."

"I've been doing a lot of talking lately. Dad finally sold me on Plan: Therapy. I thought maybe it'd be better if I just listened for now."

"Hmph." Ruby couldn't tell if that was a scoff, a laugh, or something more pensive. She leaned into him, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Can't listen if there's nothing to hear," she pointed out.

"I figured you heard enough back there."

"Enough to know you're beating yourself up for stuff that's not your fault. And projecting it all over Weiss," she added, a little more pointedly.

Qrow winced. "Yeah. That was, uh. That didn't go so great."

"Ya think?"

"Sorry."

"It happens," Weiss said airily. Ruby was nearly as startled as Qrow, looking up to see the girl settling herself on the Pearl's other side. "I once projected my quote-unquote 'daddy issues' onto Ozpin and apologised by saying nothing and pretending it never happened."

Ruby leaned forward, staring at her. "You swore me and Yang to secrecy about that. I thought you'd try to make me Fuse again so you could find a way to swear Russe to secrecy about that."

Weiss shrugged. "I've grown as a person."

"Oh man, I remember how down he was when he thought you didn't like him." Slowly, Qrow smiled. He seemed to be a little rusty at it. "You wouldn't stop me puttin' his mind at ease, would you?"

"If you breathe a single word to him, I will consider your apology null and void and I will raise my children to carry my grudge against you so that my hatred can endure beyond the grave."

"The personal growth," Ruby whispered into the silence. "It's so beautiful."

"Oh, shut up." Weiss peered down over the edge of the platform. "Huh. I guess the fjord would still freeze inside the barrier." A pause. "Where is that waterfall coming from?"

"Reservoir," Qrow said gruffly. "Spring up in the mountains feeds an underground stream that pools under Beacon. Easy access to freshwater's why we picked the site."

"Irrigation," Weiss said, looking pleased with herself. "I knew it."

Ruby rolled her eyes, sighing loudly in what she personally considered an excellent Weiss impression. "Oh, now he's a hydrologist."

Qrow's laughter sounded torn out of him. He clapped a hand over his mouth. "Y'know, I—I hear knowing what that word means makes you uncool."

"Then I guess we're all dorks, here."

"Leave me out of this," said Weiss.

Qrow raised his eyebrows and leaned towards Ruby. "Oh my god," he stage-whispered. "She doesn't even know what a hydrologist is."

"I do too!"

"Prove it!"

"I don't have to!"

"So you don't know!"

"Hey, hey." Qrow held up his hands like he was surrendering. "We just got done shouting at each other. I don't think I got it in me to go for Round Two."

Weiss huffed, crossing her arms. "I wasn't the one shouting."

"You were a little shouty," Ruby informed her.

"Well, Qrow was a lot shouty."

"Yeeaaah, I was," Qrow sighed. "You guys…you know I didn't mean any of that crap, right? I shouldn't have said it. I'm sorry."

"Even the parts that were really about you?" Ruby asked.

Qrow's mouth moved like he was trying to form words, but nothing came out. He hung his head, staring down at his knees. Ruby's face fell.

"It's not your fault," she repeated.

"I couldn't help Yang. I couldn't help Yang and then I let you get hurt and then I hurt Weiss when she made me look at what I'd done."

"Who said anything about me being hurt?" Weiss asked, far too quickly.

Ruby reached around Qrow's back, pointing at her. "No! We're not doing that! This is a no-repression zone!"

"I wasn't repressing," Weiss muttered down at her lap. "I was obfuscating."

"It's a no-making-up-words zone, too!"

"Wha—!?"

"You don't get to make this all your fault," Ruby said stubbornly. "I get partial credit. You would've gone easier on me if I'd spoken up. I let it happen."

"It's not your job to make me treat you right," Qrow insisted. "I'm supposed to do that from the start."

"You made a mistake! And because I wouldn't call you out on it, you didn't know."

"But I should have. If I weren't so messed-up right now I would have! Hell, I never would have screwed up like that in the first place!"

"But you are messed-up right now. We all are. And that's not your fault, either."

"I just want you to be safe," Qrow said quietly.

"I am safe. I'm sitting next to you in the safest place in the world."

Weiss appeared sceptical. "A platform with no railings suspended more than a thousand feet above freezing water?"

Ruby and Qrow both turned their heads to give Weiss a look.

"What? Don't give me that. I don't have anything to apologise for."

"Something something 'track record'?" Ruby reminded her, and Weiss flushed a deep red.

"Oh. Well. I suppose that might have been a bit…harsh." She took a deep breath. "I'm. Sorry."

"That looked like it hurt." Qrow nodded at her. "Thanks. And, uh, sorry for giving you hell about your training. You're actually doing pretty good, especially considering you just started."

Weiss let out a haughty hmph. "I'll take it."

"Um, Qrow?" Ruby bit her lip. "I know…I know it's really important that you keep looking for Yang and Blake. But, do you think you could come home? Sometimes? Just for a little bit?"

"Yeah, kiddo," Qrow whispered. "I think I can do that. Might be nice."

Ruby smiled and leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. Qrow put an arm around her, patting her sleeve.

Weiss glanced at them sidelong. Slowly, she scooched closer.

"It's freezing out here," she snapped defensively when Qrow looked over to find her mere inches away. She turned her head, staring out towards the white-blanketed Forest of Forever Fall.

Something heavy and warm fell over her shoulders, and she looked down to see red cloth, tattered at the hem. Then she had an arm around her, too, a more delicate grip than Ruby had gotten, and there was no familiar pat for her. But Qrow didn't object when Weiss leaned in the same way Ruby had.

"She called it Myrtenaster," he said softly, a few moments later. "The sword," he added, and Weiss realised he was talking to her.

"Ruby's mom?"

"Yeah. It's something to do with flowers. I dunno. Just thought a Huntress should know her own weapon's name."

She supposed the ship had sailed on sentimental when she'd moved in close, but she was grateful that kept Qrow from seeing her smile now. Otherwise things might have escalated to sappy, and that wouldn't do.

"Myrtenaster," Weiss repeated.

"Hey, no fair," Ruby complained, stifling a yawn. "No one ever told me my weapon's name."

"I don't know your weapon's name," Qrow retorted, mimicking her exaggerated pouting tone. "I know what your mom called hers. Yours is different. You gotta name it."

"Hmm." This time, Ruby did yawn, ending on a little squeak. "Lemme think about it."

"Sleep on it, you mean."

"Nope. 'M just resting my eyes…"

"Yes, I see." Pausing before the front window of his office, Ozpin couldn't help but smile as he spotted the three figures down on the airship landing. "Thank you, Leo. I'll keep you updated."

He hung up, turning back to his desk, frowning at the map there. All the data he'd collected and collated since Yang and Blake's disappearance had factored into the map's markings in some fashion or another, but unfortunately, it all added up into just two distinct pieces of information. First, that they were still Fused as Fire Opal. Second, that while her movements remained confined to the ocean, they were highly erratic. Only recently had any sort of pattern begun to emerge; she seemed to be trying to head north (ish, sort-of, more-or-less), though considering her turbulent course Ozpin couldn't be sure that was a conscious choice so much as it was a side effect of having found herself between Sanus and Anima. Even her speed seemed to vary wildly.

It was all rather concerning. Yang, Blake, Fire Opal—all three of them should have the same instinct to seek a familiar environment. What sort of person, once lost, does not wish to find their way back to where they might be found?

Someone who's running away? Or someone who's being chased?

He didn't like this at all. Qrow wouldn't either, once Ozpin got a chance to talk to him about it. But…

Once again, he looked out through the clock face.

Even so, I think we'll be okay.

A/N: I went back and forth many times on whether or not Ruby should actually go to therapy, because, see, a person in Ruby's position probably should but there are many pragmatic writing reasons protagonists generally don't. Ultimately, I think it works. This won't be a big intrusive Thing in later chapters; Ruby's just very isolated in this one, and OC Therapist made a good sounding board for her.

It's a little vague how much time passed during this chapter, but it was enough that next chapter will be focusing on some stuff that was happening to Jaune and Pyrrha in the meanwhile. Because *clears throat* Jaune and Pyrrha are about to start getting involved in the main plot. Seems anyone can get promoted to main cast these days. What is this AU coming to?

Thanks for reading! See you next time!