The Morning After:

Ruby Rose was dead.

There was no other explanation, she had died during the campaign against Salem. The years of happiness and love were all her brain's last gift to a dying girl, a happy thought to bring through the veil in peace. Or maybe she was a sickly patient connected to a dozen machines, all blaring alarms at her caretakers because she was slipping into a world inspired by the other children; they were all superheroes with ironic twists on their disabilities.

Maybe one doctor thought she had Lupus. She smiled at the thought of a gruff senior doctor insisting it wasn't.

But lying here, surrounded by people she loved, tired from a night of frivolity and togetherness. Ruby was certain this was some form of afterlife.

She was thirsty, but not really hungover - Ruby hadn't had more than a hard cider last night. She had never really enjoyed the taste of alcohol, and after Uncle Qrow… she had no love for the substance. That didn't mean she would turn down a bottle or two if offered. That would just be rude. Tactless she may have been, but that was her own decision.

Her family knew her stance, they made it easier by crowning her as the Driver - even if they had a professional doing it for them most days. They were honestly The Best, big T and B. Even when they occasionally had to leave for jobs that took far too long to finish - even a full day was too long if you asked Ruby's opinion.

Not that any of them worked for the money - Weiss' non-liquid assets alone could let the next four generations of three families live comfortably, without even accounting for interest. The work they chose to take was something each of them felt needed doing. For Ruby that was making sure all the tools of hunting Grimm were as awesome as they could be.

It was the thought of her students which managed to drag her out of the wonderful pile which made up her dreams of an afterlife. As usual, she was among the first to wake up; the routine practically set in stone since her days as a student.

Wake up, start coffee, shower and hygiene, greet her sister and/or sister's partner depending on the day, get dressed, wake own partner, panic about the time, settle down, eat something, begin plans for the day.

It had evolved over the years to involve far more displays of affection, sure, but those spontaneous events were also the best part in Ruby's opinion. Even without them, Ruby was forever a morning person.

Cinder, evidently, was not a morning person. Or maybe she'd just partied a bit too hard, a limit nothing but experience could teach unfortunately. Ruby felt some responsibility for allowing the temptation in the first place, but if her memory served right Cinder was an adult who could make her own choices about moderation. She had left her share of damage on the woman, but she wasn't responsible for all of it. The giant dark glasses told just what kind of damage had been done.

"I blame you for this." the glaring eye was practically glowing through the sunglasses. "How can you even be this alive after last night?"

That earned a laugh from Ruby. "I don't drink. And you can blame me for a lot Mrs Arc-" Ruby received something between a death glare and a blush for the joke this time, weird. "-but last night is all on you. Maybe Blake and Nora for the karaoke thing at the beginning, but the rest is all you. Now c'mon, we have to get ready for class to start."

With that they spent some time going over the (mercifully simple) lesson plan, as most of the teaching would fall to Ruby who knew the entire year's like she knew Crescent Rose. Cinder really only needed to participate during the lab if one of the semblance-users volunteered, but was welcome to give her own additions to the lesson at any time.

"Welcome back students, to my left is Ms Cinder Fall, those of you from the Vacuo regions might know her better by her title though: Maiden of the Glass-wastes."

A few of the student's eyes shot open at the mention, with some questioning murmurs from those less in the know.

"Yes, much like Mr. Mercury "The Butcher" Black from your combat class with my sister, Ms. Fall was once a well-known criminal element years ago. That she is here at all should tell you just how good she is, and how serious we here at Beacon take your education."

A single hand raised from… Magenta, if Ruby remembered correctly. Ruby saw the pensive look and decided to assuage some of the more obvious fears. "She is the Semblance-weapon specialist joining me to assist those with situations where my own knowledge honestly falls short. While she is responsible for a variety of events, know that she is here as a personal favor to me and you should in respect her as such."

"Moving on, today we will be covering a very important part of combat - Hunter Titles." Several hands rose at that. "Yes, Titles are very important to proper combat and weapon integration for any Pro Hunter. But if you don't believe me, why don't we start with an exercise. We seem to have a good spread of students from all over this year, so we'll get a good example:"

"What is my Title? Specifically from your home region if possible. Excluding the simple stuff like "Specialist-General Ruby Rose, the Witchhunter." because one of those is a role, and the other everyone knows. Enter the name into your scroll and we'll display them on the board when you're done."

As the students got to work, Ruby glanced at Cinder, trying to puzzle out the odd look on her face. She was studying Ruby, but not in her usual "trying to find all the weak points" way. It was like Cinder wasn't sure who she was looking at. A question for another time, probably. The timer she had set on the big screen was almost finished.

Of the Bloodstained Snow - The Harvest - Red Queen

Petal Bringer - Grimm Reaper - of The Shallows

Crimson Cloak - Clanbreaker - Distant Clap

Of the White Rose - Red Wolf - Red Plague

Moon-Mender - Moon-Minder - Dragonslayer

The list went on, even if the students had run out of answers to give.

"Good, you all have a good start here, all told you named eleven correctly. The full count last I checked is forty-eight unique Titles, with some repetition between regions; I am named Grimm Reaper in at least four very seperate locations for instance, and am the eighteenth to hold the title in all." Honestly it was impressive, most classes weren't diverse enough to get more than three or four outside of her well-knowns.

"However, 'of the White Rose' is not a Hunter Title; it's more of a Noble Title for my marriage to Weiss Schnee. Important, but not to this lesson." Ruby was all for traditions, but any from the nonsensical jumble that was Atlasian Noble politics just sucked.

"Next, 'of the Shallows' is incomplete, it should be 'Champion of The Shallows' as The Shallows are a faunus traditional set of tests said to be impossible for a human to complete - that title is held by my sister, Yang." She had been so excited the day she had been allowed to even try to attempt The Shallows. Yang had barely slept the week leading up to the confirmation.

"And finally, 'Moon-Mender' and 'Moon-Minder' are both not mine, they belong to Coco Adel and her partner Velvet Scarlatina respectively." Ruby still had never gotten that particular story out of them - all they ever told her when she asked was "Date Night" like it explained everything.

She removed the wrongly-attributed Titles from the main display. "Aside from those hiccups, this list is a good example for the lesson, namely: What can you tell about me just from this list?" Several hands raised, Ruby picked one at random. "Argo, go for it."

"Umm, you wear red and use some kind of farm tool as your weapon?"

"Good try, both are true and relevant to this class. Important information to have if you're trying to identify me, But I mean something a bit less complex. How about you, Fuz?"

"You have something to do with flowers? Or, you travel a lot?"

"Oooh, so close. I do, in fact, relate to flowers. Some Titles can give hints as to identity and abilities, and were originally used as a way to know if you could trust an aura-unlocked individual before the Academies. If someone didn't have a Title they were either new to an area, or killed everyone who might name them." all good guesses, but very few people ever got the point Ruby was trying to make.

"Put simply, the Formal Crier's nightmare that is my full list tells everyone who knows more than one a single thing: Don't Fuck With Me." a bit crude, but experience had left Ruby with the knowledge that the sudden outburst of profanity would stick in the student's minds that much better.

"Cinder, who was literally a legend from a fairy tale at one point, took public responsibility for the Fall of Beacon, and turned a wide swath of the Vacuo desert into a solid chunk of glass, among other things, only has one or two Titles to her name; they're powerful titles, but she tends to only be known in a few select locations that relate to them. The number of titles, and especially the type of title they are can tell you a lot about the Hunter in question. Up to, and including, just how dangerous they are."

"However, this is primarily a weapons class, so we should focus more on that probably. What else can you tell about my weapon from the full list?" with that, Ruby displayed the full run of names attributed to her.

"I'll pick on you at random. So say the Title and what you can figure from it. Gandy, you first."

Ah lunchtime. Never change. Ruby was enjoying this new batch of students, every class held before the hour-long mealtime contained one or two inquisitive learners, with only a single pair of troublemakers regulated to the third period. That pair had quickly come under her new assistant's scrutiny, much to their dismay. Cinder was really on top of her game so far, she even added her own answers to the Title quiz and, surprisingly, taken over the scripted speaking for one of the periods.

"You did really good for a first try. Only big slip I noticed was when Rodd asked about your eye, and I don't blame you for that in the slightest." Honestly, the Golden family had never been the most tactful of people, Blake had been close to physically attacking the last member to apply to Beacon, Leif, after less than two minutes in the same room a few years back. Cinder had toughed it out too, only threw a vitriolic comment about the boy's ugly mug after the bell rang.

As her head rested on the table in relief, Cinder turned her head towards Ruby. "How in the world do you do it? I can't possibly imagine how you manage to not strangle at least one child a day. Even the polite ones can take forever to actually answer a question." That was a question worth answering.

"Oh girl , my dude, I have wanted to introduce several of my students to the business end of your younger self so many times. But to answer your question, well the quickest way is to take a closer look at that list of Titles, right around the end. Starts with a G, doesn't quite fit the rest of them." Cinder looked quizzical for a moment before shrugging and beginning her search.

It was a small title, compared to the others. It had nothing to do with Ruby's appearance or skills. It wasn't violent or cool. But to everyone who knew the Woman, it was among the most important.

"Gravekeeper. It's the only one that's just a normal job."

"That's the one." a somber mood fell over the two women as Ruby's normal cheerfulness dimmed.

"I'm not sure I understand, plenty of your Titles have death imagery, why is this one so special?"

"Because it's not a correct translation. It's actually word from the old inhabitants of Patch, before they made contact with the greater Sanus tribes, long before even the kingdom of Vale. It means "One who Guards the Death-marks" but because it's a dead language, it's just translated." As she explained, she removed several of the pouches from her belt. Opening each and carefully spreading their contents across her desk.

They were coins.

Each one bearing a unique symbol on their face, and a small inscription on the reverse. Several were the same metal, but they made up a rainbow of colors and materials all the same.

"These are…" Cinder looked at several up close, carefully lifting them as if they would shatter at the slightest touch. "... Names, dates, and insignias. These are tombstones."

Ruby Rose wasn't dead.

Not yet.

While she was alive, all those who were would be remembered. At least a little bit. Not everyone got to see the happy ending they fought for in person, but maybe they saw it through her. Ruby just hoped that was enough.