Hello again, readers! Sorry for the long wait this time, but welcome to another chapter of MotSS! Unfortunately, I've been very busy and haven't been able to write as frequently as I want to. I also got stuck at a few points while writing this, which didn't help things. I'm still working as much as I can on it, though, and have no plans in abandoning it, so don't to worry about that.
So...last chapter we had a lot of verbatim quoting, albeit switched around and occasionally modified. There wasn't much I could do about that without changing Lionheart's character a lot, and Watts did mention that he needed to "work on (his) improvisational skills". I felt that it was likely Leo rehearsed what he would say, or at least what topics he wanted brought up, so changing that around felt...awkward to say the least. That's the reason why it was like that last chapter, and you'll be happy to know it'll be happening quite a bit less in this one.
This will be the first chapter where you start to see the characters' personalities differ between this story and canon. I hope you like how it was written.
Other than that, I hope you enjoy the newest chapter, and I'll see you later! Until the next chapter~

~Chapter 6~

"Ruby, what have I said about putting copious amounts of sugar in beef stew?"

This question was directed from Ren to Ruby, the latter of which stood in front of the stove in the kitchen of the apartment Team RNJR and Qrow were staying in. She was currently holding a large bag of white sugar over a pot of beef stew, with Ren standing off to the side glaring at her.

"That it's amazing and makes it taste delicious?"

"Ruby, we're trying to make beef stew, not beef marmalade. And we're also trying to not make Nora destroy the place. Please don't?"

"Oh Ren~!" Nora's voice called from upstairs. Her head appeared less than a second later, her eyes scanning the room until they found their target. "I might need a little help um...purging the place of all these 'bugs', since Qrow isn't here to help like he said he was going to."

"C-Coming!" Ren replied. He walked to the base of the stairs, gave Ruby one last glare as though to dare her to defy him, and followed Nora up the stairs.

"Have fun "purging" the place," Ruby muttered, before turning back to the stew. She looked at the bag of sugar, then looked back to see if Ren was watching her. Satisfied at finding herself unwatched, she sucked on one of her fingers and grabbed the bag, dipping it in the sugar before putting her sugar-coated finger in her mouth. She hummed happily as she stirred the beef stew, and before long the temptation to put the sugar in the stew was too much. Before she could lift up the bag, though, a pair of arms gently reached around her in a hug. She looked over her shoulder, seeing Jaune looking at her.

"U-Uh…" Ruby stuttered, not expecting to be in such a circumstance.

"Oh, sorry, I'll just-" Jaune said.

"No! N-No, you're fine. Very, very fine...um, j-just stay like that…"

The two fell into something of an awkward silence, standing over the stove as they watched it simmer. Before long, however, Jaune spoke up, with his arms still around her.

"I thought I was gonna screw everything up today."

"Huh?"

"When we met the Headmaster. I thought I was gonna end up letting everything slip when I spoke up after you. I just wanted him to feel guilty about betraying us without letting him know we knew. I'm just thanking the gods Ren and Nora cut in too."

"Hehe, we were all pretty in-sync, weren't we?"

"Yeah, we were…"

The room went silent again, though the next one who spoke was Ruby. She turned off the stovetop and turned around, still in Jaune's arms.

"I'm sorry about crying on you today."

"Why?"

"Because I just...being reminded of that night really hurt. I was the one who brought it up, but I just couldn't...Penny and P-Pyrrha…I could've saved them..."

"Ruby, stop."

"Why, Jaune? W-What gives me the right to stand here – in your arms, no less – when I could've saved Pyrrha? What's my problem?!"

"What do you mean, 'what's your problem'? What does that have to do with Pyrrha?"

"My 'problem' is that for all my Semblance speeds me up, I'm never where I need to be when I need to be there. Maybe...maybe it's not my semblance, is it? Maybe I'm just not cut out for-"

"Don't. Don't you dare say you're not cut out to be a Huntress."

"Why not? Here I am, poor little innocent Ruby, working so hard to be a great big Huntress when I can't even save the ones that mean the most to me! I really wasn't cut out for this, was I? Huh?!"

"You were. You are, Ruby. You wanna know why?" He pointed to her chest.

"What, this?" She must have misunderstood Jaune, because she lifted the rose-shaped clasp keeping her red cloak on her back. "Yeah, great deal living up to my mom's name...I can't even hear her name most of the time without breaking down. Woo, great night to be a 16-year-old girl that throws a hissy-fit every time mommy's name comes up in conversation."

"No, Crater Face, that's not what I meant and you know it." She glared at him for bringing up her forbidden nickname, but he continued undeterred. "I meant this, Ruby, your heart. Your love for saving people, the fact you were able to bring everyone together like you did. Not just us into Team JNRR-"

"Team RNJR, Jaune. It was a majority vote from the start."

"-but also everyone back at Beacon," Jaune continued on, as though he hadn't heard her. This didn't go unnoticed by her, but it was let go as he continued further, "like how Weiss was always so...cold. Blake was antisocial to a fault. Yang did her own thing and didn't care about the consequences. Yet you brought them all together and made a hell of a team, Ruby!"

"I swear to the Brothers, Jaune, if you're going to keep punning I'm gonna duct tape you to the wall." This was said with humorous giggles behind it, making Jaune smile.

"But see, Ruby? That's why you're made out to be a Huntress! I mean, you've got your awesome sniper-scythe and everything that goes with it too, but you did everything you did with your team and us because you cared. You still care, don't you?"

"Of course I care! I have nightmares every night because I care!"

"Then treat yourself better, dammit, and stop beating yourself up over stuff you couldn't help!" Jaune yelled up closely to her face, holding her shoulders now instead of hugging her. "You think I don't think the same things about myself? You think that I don't regret not being there beside Pyrrha, that maybe if I wasn't useless, somehow I might've been able to at least give her an opening? I miss her every day, I think about her so much that I know it's driving me apart from everyone. But that's not going to bring her back, and it's not going to do anything to take Cinder down.

"Gods, Ruby...you're amazing. That's, like, a huge understatement, you're super amazing. You cut down any Grimm in your way, you save everyone you can save, and you do it with a smile on your face and brighten everyone's day. You light the way for the rest of us to follow you, Ruby. You're the only one that could've gotten the three of us to make the trek to Mistral, after all."

"Stupid Jaune," Ruby muttered. She looked Jaune in the eyes before calming down, her shoulders losing their tension in Jaune's grip. "Dammit, I know. I just really miss them...gods I sound like such a kid right now."

"There's nothing childish about wanting everything back the way it used to be."

"No, but...letting it rule your life is. Maybe you're right, Jaune. I think I just need to treat myself better and keep moving forward...so I don't let what happened happen again."

"You think?"

"You know what I mean, Vomit Boy. See, how do you like it!"

With Ruby's teasing, they fell into a fit of laughter. Still standing at the stove, it was all Ruby could do to keep herself upright as she leaned on Jaune's chest plate. As the two continued to lose themselves in their laughter, they failed to notice Ren and Nora looking down at them from the top of the stairs.

Nora silently moaned. "Ugh, the sexual tension is too much...why can't they just kiss already?"

"Probably because they still need to come to terms with what happened at Beacon," Ren muttered, "not that I blame them. If that happened to you, or if I left you alone instead–"

"Nuh-uh," Nora interrupted, pressing a finger to Ren's lips, "none of that. We're here, and that's all that matters."

"...How did we not get together before now?"

"Silly, we've always been together. Just not together-together. But we were kids, and kids are idiots. Like that oblivious pair down there."

"It almost looks like Ruby is less oblivious about her feelings than Jaune is," Ren said, "though this is Jaune we're talking about."

"Yeah, our Fearless Leader's always been a bit slow on the uptake...should we give him a little push?"

"Not at this moment, but...what Ruby's uncle said gave us the push we needed, so if nothing progresses then I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"Jaune-Jaune's too stubborn to stop hurting himself over Pyrrha, but maybe Ruby's what he needs to finally move on."

"We'll help him through it, Nora. He's family, and we've always protected family."

"...Gods, I love you Ren," she said before giggling. "Wow, it feels really good to finally be able to say that."

"Better than 'booping' me, you mean?"

Nora stared at him in surprise. "Y-You knew?"

"I think, looking back, that it was pretty obvious. I was so lost in my own angst and grief back then that I just thought you were trying to cheer me up, but with everything that's happened between us I realized that even back then, you were waiting for me to say something."

"And boy am I glad you did. Any longer and I was gonna kiss you myself, you big doofus!"

"I wouldn't be repulsed by the idea of...well, continuing where we left off. I-If you still want to-"

"Ren," she said after she put a finger on his lips, "shut up and kiss me already."


Before they could start doing so, however, a knock was heard from the front door. Both pairs of Hunters and Huntresses scrambled for their weapons as another knock sounded. On the lower floor, Jaune stepped toward the door with his shield raised, clearly peeved at being interrupted from his time talking to Ruby.

"Come in," he yelled. As the door opened, they saw a teenage boy standing outside who was clearly uncomfortable doing so. Behind him was Qrow, who while clearly intoxicated was far less so than they thought he would be.

"Well, go on kid, make yourself at home." Qrow told the boy.

"What?" Ruby asked. "Not that I have a problem with us helping people, but why does that sound like you're having a stranger live here with us?"

Her uncle laughed. "Oh, you'll see in a sec. C'mon, let's get out of the dark." With that, he dragged the boy inside and closed the door behind them.

The first thing the boy did after he set foot inside was stare at Ruby. "You...have silver eyes…."

"Heh, of course that's the first thing you say to her," muttered Qrow, "so, let's get introductions done!"

"U-Um, I'm Ruby Rose," Ruby said.

"Jaune Arc."

"Lie Ren."

"Nora Valkyrie, and might I add that super suspicious as he is, he's also super adorable! If you guys aren't keeping him, I am! Whatever his name is."

"Well, um, I'm Oscar Pine."

"Wait for it," Qrow said, having a huge smirk on his face.

"...But you probably know me as...Professor Ozpin?"

The silence in the house could not be any louder. The only thing that broke the silence was Jaune walking up to Oscar and pushing him against the door.

"Whoa, Jaune, what're you-" Qrow started, before Jaune glared at him into silence. Jaune looked back at Oscar, who clearly did not expect to be shoved against something like this.

"I'm not sure if Qrow told you, but we're not exactly in a situation where we can joke around about stuff like this. Either you tell us what you're actually here for, or you need to find another drunkard to mess around with."

"I'm not–!" Oscar tried.

"Jaune," Ruby interrupted, touching Jaune's shoulder behind him, "let him go and give him some room to talk. Please? You know we can't just throw people out, even if he seems a little suspicious."

"And how do you know he's not one of hers, Ruby? How do we know he's not like Tyrian, or one of Emerald's hallucinations?"

"I am not one of Salem's subordinates nor an illusion, Mr. Arc," spoke a deeper and slightly distorted voice from Oscar's mouth, clearly not natural from the boy. Indeed, his eyes now had a partially bright pulsing light to them, taking on a lighter brown hue than his normal dark hazel. The expression on the boy's face was also one of full confidence, off-putting when compared to the almost adorable shyness he previously expressed.

"And," he continued, shrugging himself away from Jaune (who was surprised enough from this plot twist that he backed away without a thought), "though I appreciate your level of dedication to your team, I must ask that you listen to what I have to say before you judge Oscar and myself too harshly."

"I-Is that really you, Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked.

"For lack of a better term to use, Ms. Rose: yes, but actually no." He made his way to sit at a chair, and the others took it as a signal to find their own seats. "I, the one talking right now, am indeed the Professor Ozpin you know of. But the information of my death at the hands of Cinder Fall is...correct. Though, 'killed' seems to be somewhat inaccurate in my case."

"Are you a ghost possessing Oscar, then?" Ren offered.

"Not quite. He is still quite in control, I am merely...helping him along, so to speak. For example, you should be able to tell by the distortion in my — rather, Oscar's voice that the voice speaking isn't his own, but is still mostly recognizable as his own voice."

"Well...this isn't the weirdest stuff we've seen lately," Jaune muttered, "I'm sorry I pushed you against the wall, but we've had a tough time making our way here to say the least."

"It is alright, Mr. Arc," Ozpin replied, "I am glad, though, that you all have not become completely jaded from your experiences. Ms. Valkyrie's sense of humor has always given me a laugh, and Ms. Rose's kindness is a breath of fresh air from the darkness in the world right now. And if I may be so bold to say, Mr. Ren's posture seems to be much lighter than I saw last. Am I to assume the two of you finally confessed to each other?" He pointed this question to both Ren and Nora, the both of whom blushed heavily.

"Are we really so obvious?" Nora asked meekly.

"Trust me when I say that I have seen many people changed by their relationships...for better or worse. Over time, it becomes easy to see when the dynamics between others change. Also, Ms. Valkyrie, you may want to take care to cover up that hickey on your neck if you wish to hide your relationship status from others."

Nora gasped, touching her neck. "Ren! I-I mean I don't mind it, but why didn't you tell me?"

"Sorry, Nora," Ren replied, not acting at all sorry. Everyone else aside from Nora chuckled, with Nora herself embarrassed but touching her neck with a smile and gentle reverence.

"So you're really Professor Ozpin...what happens now, then?" Ruby said.

"For one, I feel it is time for me to...come clean. Ms. Rose, I told you once that I made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet...and I wasn't exaggerating. This…'possession' as you, and many friends of mine before you called it, is not something as simple as a Semblance, but rather a curse. For thousands of years, I have walked the surface of Remnant...living, dying, and reincarnating in the body of a like-minded soul.

"The Professor Ozpin you all met was not my first form," he continued with heavy sadness, "and clearly wasn't my last. It's an extraordinarily strenuous process on...everyone involved."

"First form?" Jaune asked. "Who...or what, exactly, are you then?"

"I am the combination of countless men who have spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant. With every rebirth my soul is eventually merged with another, and I am changed...though my memories stay with me."

"How did this happen, Professor?" asked Ren.

"That is...something I do not wish to disclose at this moment. Or rather, I cannot, for even I do not know exactly why I was cursed, or where my journey began. I can only assume that the gods had done this to task me with defeating Salem, and we have indeed clashed many a time with each other. Sometimes though use of armies, and others in a more...personal manner. Let it be said that those duels did not come out in my favor, or we would not be having this kind of discussion in such circumstances as these."

"What do you mean, with the use of armies?" wondered Nora. "You said you've effectively been living for thousands of years, but wouldn't that mean…"

"Yes, Ms. Valkyrie, I have led multitudes of people...soldiers, and at the worst of times even civilians, into battle against Salem's forces...as well as against each other, and most of the time they were auraless. And I have also led them to build again what they had lost, even when all had lost too much to do so, myself included."

"Build…" Jaune muttered, an inquisitive look on his face. "Professor?"

"Yes, Mr. Arc?" Ozpin inquired.

"When you said that you led armies against Salem, that implies that you had a sort of authority to do so."

"I...yes, it does. What are you getting at?"

"What you said...it clicks in my head like a crazy theory, but too much makes sense from what I've learned from my family. Were you, or were you not, the King of Vale in one of your previous incarnations?"

The room was deathly silent for a second time since Ozpin's arrival, and the former Headmaster found himself under scrutiny. "That is...not an easy question to answer."

"Sure it is," Jaune said, "just say yes or no. You owe your descendant that much, if I'm correct that is."

"Wait, your ancestor was the King of Vale?" Ruby yelled in surprise.

"Uh, yeah...I didn't tell you that?"

"Not that he was the King of Vale," Ren said, "you only said that he fought in the war, not that he led it."

Ozpin sighed. "I...had not wished to tell you this now, but not doing so would only do more harm than good. Yes, Jaune...I was indeed the King of Vale in a previous incarnation. And though I had instructed my family to let my legend vanish over time, it seems that they had no problem passing it down to their own children instead."

"So that's why you let me stay in the Academy, even knowing about my forged transcripts–"

"I will stop you right there, Mr. Arc. I did not base your continued tutelage at Beacon Academy because you were my descendant. If that were the case, I would have taken you in myself and disclosed that information to you a long time ago. No, Mr. Arc, your continued education was because of the potential I saw in you, the potential of what you could be. And if what Qrow says is correct, you have come along nicely. I just wish it wasn't at the cost it came to...and for that, I am dearly sorry."

"Please...don't bring that up right now, Professor," Jaune said tiredly. "You, um...Oscar, I mean, definitely didn't come from Mistral, so you must've traveled a long way. You must have a lot to tell us if you had to risk traveling in the open, what with Salem and her goons on the loose."

Ozpin laughed, his tone releasing some of the tension created from Jaune's interrogation. "Yes, I suppose 'goons' would be a good word to call them. And I do, so...right, let us get down to the business of why I am here. Qrow?"

"Right," Qrow responded from the kitchen. He came back with two cups of coffee in his hands, one of which he gave to Ozpin. Taking a sip, he prepared himself for what he felt would be a long speech. "First thing's first, we need to get a hold of the Relic of Knowledge."

"That's...Spring's, right?" Nora asked. "From what you said back in Lionheart's office, you said Spring applies to Knowledge?"

"Right. Which...kind of sucks right now, because Raven likely has the Spring Maiden in her ranks. It also sucks because of our situation with Leo..."

"It pains me greatly to know that Leonardo has indeed fallen into Salem's clutches," Ozpin noted sadly, "as while he was not one of my closest friends, he was one of my more trusted advisors, enough so to be in my inner circle and learn a great deal of my deepest secrets. I do not know what drove him to betray our cause, but it truly does not bode well for us. Due to this, it is imperative that the secret of my identity remains so, at least for now.

"That being said, we have two objectives ahead of us. The first: to enlist the aid of more Huntsmen."

"But the Mistral Council-"

"Doesn't own every Huntsman in the kingdom," Qrow said, "and I've been here enough times to know where we can find some more, and maybe some additional help while we're at it."

"So long as they are trustworthy," Ozpin commented.

"You can trust 'em to put up a good fight, I'll throw together a list for you later." Leaning back on the chair, Qrow fell backwards as its back leg broke under him. His cup suffered the same fate, shattering on the floor and leaving a large puddle of coffee. "Gods-fuckin'-dammit…."

"After that," Ozpin continued awkwardly, placing down his own cup on the table in front of him, "we can move on to step 2: getting you four into fighting shape. Qrow here told me that he was already planning on training you, but some extra help would not go amiss."

"But we already know how to fight," Ruby argued.

"You," Ozpin started, brandishing the cane they now realized he wielded under Ruby's chin, "can only fight so long as you have Crescent Rose, but you are still lacking in hand-to-hand combat. Mr. Arc," now pointing his cane at Jaune, "I'm glad to hear you've improved, but I'm sad to say you've yet to unlock your Semblance."

"Oh, speaking of, you wouldn't believe what happened the other day!" Nora interjected, "Qrow here-"

"He used his Semblance on the Nuckelavee we fought and got a blade stuck in its back hoof!" Jaune interrupted her, looking worried all of a sudden. "A-And Nora broke one of its ribs."

Ozpin turned back to Qrow. "You have learned to better direct your Semblance, Qrow? Congratulations are in order."

"I-It was nothing...I was half-unconscious when I did it anyhow."

"The fact that you did so still stands. Even half-consciously, you did it with the intent to protect. That, Qrow, is what I have been meaning to bring you to understand: that when you put real intention behind your Semblance, you will more likely achieve your desired result. While it has been excruciatingly more difficult for you due to what we know of the nature of your Semblance, the fact of your accomplishment means that you have passed the first test of improving upon it."

"I...thanks."

"Of course, Qrow. Speaking of, the four of you are due some praise as well. That specific Nuckelavee was notoriously dangerous and old, and your situation did not allow you to flee. While you did, in a way, receive some outside help from Qrow, it is the fact that you four vanquished it that I am so very proud of you. And Ms. Valkyrie, your accomplishment of wounding such a beast in that manner very likely made the difference in that battle. Your families and friends that had passed the day Kuroyuri fell must feel nothing but pride and joy for what you have done for Mistral. If we were not stuck in the situation we are currently in, I would have you awarded a medal."

"I-I…" Nora stuttered, her eyes becoming blinded by tears as she scrunched up her face. Making no effort to stop herself from crying, she stepped forward and tightly hugged Oscar's body to her, thanking him. Before Ozpin could make a motion to hug her back, she quickly moved back to Ren and hugged him as well, this time staying there. Ren looked at the former Headmaster with his own unshed tears and smiled.

Ozpin coughed awkwardly. "Well, yes. I...forgot how hard it was on everyone as a whole. The...point I wished to make is that there are things you still need to learn, and we will teach you with as much time as we have available. And yes I did mean we; while Oscar will be a part of our training sessions, I will also assist Qrow in your training while he both is and is not here."

"Won't doing all that at once be hard?" Ruby asked.

"Most likely, but we have neither the luxuries of ease nor of time at our disposal. I must ask that you four put your all into improving upon yourselves during the time we have...for we may likely have to deal with another disaster in the not-too-distant future.

"For now, though, I expect you all to get some well-deserved rest. We will plan our schedules tomorrow, and after that we will start your training. For now, though, I will hand the reins back to Oscar...it was unfair of me to take control before he had time to properly introduce himself, and I myself need to regain my energy. Doing this...it takes a lot out of me."

With that, the nearly ethereal glow they'd gotten used to seeing around Oscar disappeared, and no trace of Ozpin's confidence remained. His shoulders slacked, and he groaned loudly. The four looked in pity, knowing that someone without proper Huntsman training would likely end up suffering from a proper sparring session...let alone a proper training session.

"So...yeah. That was something," Oscar meekly spoke, "I'm, um, gonna hit the sack. Knowing Ozpin, he'll probably make it hell to spite me. So, um...g'night!" And so, he walked up the stairs and out of sight. As the five heard a door close, Qrow immediately spoke up.

"What the hell was that, Jaune?" Qrow growled, "Nora had the perfect chance to tell Oz about my Second Semblance, why'd you change the subject like that?"

"Look, I knew you wouldn't like what I did, but hear me out," Jaune said, "Right now, there's already too much on our plate to deal with, and adding something as huge as that would just be too much. 'Yeah, Qrow needs to find Huntsmen, and Ozpin needs to train the kids...oh, by the way Ozpin, Qrow has a new Semblance and is defying the laws of Aura as we know it!'"

"That wasn't why you did it, and you know it."

"What, that it was about him forcing the Maiden powers on Pyrrha and sending her to her death? Or that we need to find a relic that none of us, not even you, knows anything about without so much as a 'how d'you do'?"

"What's your point, Jaune?"

"...Okay, so maybe I'm a little biased against him right now. I can't deny it, and I won't. But look me in the eye and tell me that he isn't hiding stuff from us — stuff that we need to know! And don't give me 'oh but Jaune, everyone has secrets, and there's loads of things a few-millennia-old ghost has that needs to be kept secret'. Because even before the Fall of Beacon...hell, way before the lot of us were even born, he's been keeping more secrets and making more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on the planet."

"So you're telling us that we shouldn't trust him, then?"

"What I'm saying is that we deserve to have some secrets of our own if he's going to hide so many of his from us. Look...I'm not saying I never want him to know, and I know it's yours and Ruby's secret to tell in the end...but this is way bigger than just you, just us, and you know it."

"When should we tell him, then?" Ruby asked. She looked a little annoyed at Jaune's opinion as well, but he knew she understood and somewhat agreed with his point of view as well.

"Maybe when everything cools down and we can tell him without being overwhelmed with everything on our plate. But right now, telling him would just slow everything down to a crawl."

Qrow breathed a heavy sigh, more than annoyed at Jaune. "Fine, I'll accept your decision for now. Though the one you should really be asking is Ruby, since she's the one that came up with the chant in the first place."

"I...I agree with Jaune," she answered, "As much as I like Headmaster Ozpin...well, former Headmaster Ozpin...Jaune's right that he's kept a lot of secrets. He could've told me about my Silver Eyes way before you did, but he probably told you to keep it from me before you, well, told me. Until I was ready, right?"

"Yep," Qrow answered.

"Okay, so...I realize why he did that, but at the same time I agree with Jaune. That there are a lot more secrets he's keeping from us, from the world, because we're 'not ready'. If he's right about the gods supposedly having him take out Salem, why're we near the brink of extinction? I'm not saying I don't trust him, because I do. I trained for most of my life to be accepted in Beacon because I trust him, we all do.

"But another reason I agree with Jaune is 'cause we barely even know anything about this Second Semblance thing. We can't really justify telling someone about something that we can't properly explain, can we? So, uh...yeah, that's my opinion."

"Alright, Rubes...okay, I'll go along with it then." Qrow turned his head and glared at Jaune. "But know that if none of you tell him eventually, then I will. Trust me when I say that his mistakes come with a lot of hardship and experience attached; if you want to keep him out of the loop indefinitely, then you aren't any better than Leo. And I know that none of you are like him."

"We won't," Jaune confirmed, "I promise."

"I'll hold you to that." As he said that, Qrow let out a large yawn. "In the meanwhile, we all have a lot of work ahead of us. You guys should head to bed soon. I'll head up after I make my list for Oz. Oh, and you might want to put the food away before it goes bad." He pointed to the stew still sitting on the stovetop, now most likely cold.

"Oh no," Ruby wailed as she ran into the kitchen, "I didn't finish the stew!"