Blake was half drunk. The playing of "La Menagerie" and her mother's welcome to Atlas had been exhilarating enough. It was odd how many of the people in the nightclub had felt the need to come up to her and wish her all the best and say how much they admired her and her parents. Some referred to the footage from Vale and the fight at Junior's while others said that her friendship with Weiss was an inspiration.

Sun was a charming companion who, while never at a loss for words, did not make her feel that she was just an audience and listened to her responses. He had introduced her to Neptune who was his best friend and although originally from Mistral had spent six years in Vacuo and had been Sun's friend.

Neptune was a little downhearted at the non-appearance of Weiss. Blake was relieved at her absence. This was not because she disliked her teammate. It was just that Weiss appearing here would have required a whole van load of security types to join them and that would have spoilt the atmosphere.

She looked over at Yang who was dancing even more energetically than normal with Russel. Luckily not that many people had clocked who Yang's mother was although Blake suspected that tomorrow her picture would be in the papers. She knew that Yang would not be happy about being defined by relation to a mother she had never spoken to, and her father defined by his wife and daughters. Taiyang was by all accounts a skilled hunter and an excellent combat schoolteacher, but he sounded as though he had been a little like Ren on Team JNPR. He was overshadowed by his female teammates.

Coco and Emerald were signing autographs for fans while Mercury and Fox were sitting back looking amused by it all. Eventually Fox must have used his semblance as Coco and Emerald joined them for a dance to a slower song than the ones which Russel and Yang had been dancing to. She saw Yang and Russel dancing closer than she had ever seen them and for some reason she was entirely happy about seeing them enjoy themselves.

She saw four young women walking towards them. Fox stopped dancing and turned to greet them and introduce them to the Beacon contingent. He used his semblance to send a message to them, "Come and say hello to Team Indigo from Shade in Vacuo. Me and Coco invited them along."

Neptune brightened up and dragged off Mercury to be his wingman in greeting the four newcomers. Sun whispered to her that he needed to ensure that Neptune did not make too much of a fool of himself and joined them. Russel and Yang stopped dancing and joined the crowd. The four women clearly recognised Russel as being a Vacuo native. When Blake joined the welcoming crowd they were teasing Fox, Sun, and Russel about leaving the desert kingdom. It was mostly in joke but there was a little edge to it.

Apparently they had all met before at the Shade academy try outs and occasional open and training days. Shade took the view that living in Vacuo meant that attending combat school was unnecessary. Some of the professors in the holidays went round the tribes and villages to talent spot and to teach some basic elements of aura use.

For some reason Leslie was not teased. He was a little older and had been an auxiliary with the Atlas military contingent.

Team NDGO had headed to the dance floor with Mercury, Neptune, Fox, and Leslie. Just then a waiter passed her a note as Coco's latest order of champagne arrived. She had been invited backstage to meet with Julie for a chat with her and a brief word with a third friend.

After the visit backstage Blake came back excited and confused after meeting Julie again and seeing Ilia over the CCT. Apparently Julie had, despite resigning officially from the White Fang shortly after she had been sent away from Blake, been working directly for Sienna Khan for the last three years as a messenger and spy. Julie had been as welcoming as she could have hoped. She had been disturbing in her own way but had made it clear that she was not interested in Blake sexually (or not beyond a hint that she would not say no to a tumble but was happy with being friends again). Seeing Ilia had been good, but it had confirmed her belief that she cared for Ilia but was not attracted to her. Ilia was a little too obsessed with her for comfort and Adam had made her wary of that type of love. What had been disturbing was Julie's insistence that both Sun and Yang were attracted to her.

She had tried to persuade herself that Julie was wrong about Yang, but could not, and also realised that she did not want to, do so. She had caught Yang looking across at her and Sun over the evening and suspected that she had been feeling the same sort of thing when she had watched Yang dancing with Russel.

Just then the band and Julie came out for their third set of the evening. After a couple of upbeat numbers, Flynt announce that in honour of the visitors from Vacuo they would play Mood Indigo with a vocal accompaniment by the countess of the Blues, Foxy Hart. Yang danced with Russel and Blake could have sworn that she had glanced over at Blake. Blake accepted the invitation of Sun to dance. It would have been churlish to decline. Mercury danced with Emerald, Fox with Coco. Two members of Team Indigo had corralled Neptune and Marrow Amin to dance while Leslie was dancing with the two other members simultaneously.

Blake felt the turmoil in her heart. She shut her eyes and imagined being in Yang's arms. She was scared of being rejected by Yang and of what the rest of the team would make of it. She also knew that the press would be all over it. The daughter of Kali and Ghira Belladonna dating the daughter of Raven Branwen. Even if she was not wary of relationships, the thought of going through the early stages of one with that amount of outside interest terrified her.

She was also attracted to Sun. The man was easy going and kind while just being impetuous enough to be fun. She suspected that he would be OK with taking things at her pace and would take any eventual split as being part of life's rich pageant and remember the good times. She then realised that he was tickling her ear with his tail.

At the end of the song there was a pause before applause broke out. Julie picked up her guitar and said, "While this is rightfully an evening for celebration, it is good to remind ourselves why it is good to give peace a chance every so often. I know that there are people here tonight who like me had friends and relatives die in the last few years. This is the son I think about when remembering them.

She picked up the guitar and started playing, after a few bars she started singing, "There is a mine in Vacuo they call the Rising Sun." She had heard the song with different lyrics before and suspected that Julie had wrote them herself. She recalled from the White Fang side of the equation the sorrow at the loss of so many brave fighters and in particular the loss of the one friend who acted as a moderating influence on Adam. It had been after that he had started gaslighting her and isolating her from anyone who did not worship him. She felt tears streaming down her eyes. She looked over and saw Russel sobbing into Yang's shoulder and Yang first tensing and then holding him tight. She realised that perhaps for Yang Russel was her equivalent of Sun. His dancing was the equivalent of Sun's good humour.

She saw Leslie and Marrow go over and pat Russel on the shoulder. She knew the two of them had been the first on the scene after the massacre and explosions and the dog Faunus had ensured that the surviving Faunus workers were reassured that they would not be blamed for the actions of the White Fang. Luckily the Faunus had protected the lives of some of the human surface workers and both Winter Schnee and her superior officers had been glad to accept their peaceful surrender.

Coco whispered across to her, "She sang that song last time we were here, but somehow it did not have the same feeling to it. I don't think I remember the scarred eye line from last time."

Although the applause had been heartfelt the band had clearly decided that it was time to move upbeat again and the tune of "Jumpin' Jive" played out with Ivori doing call and response with the main band in between managing the fast-paced lyrics.

A few hours later it was 2 in the morning. The next day was a working day in Mantle, but the place was still two thirds full. She had been introduced to a group called the Happy Huntresses by Marrow and Leslie and the sheep Faunus with them had thrown her arms around Blake. Blake had used her aura to counteract some of the effects of the alcohol. The other odd time had been when Russel while Yang was going to the restroom had come over and tried to inform her that while he did not like the White Fang, he would give them the benefit of the doubt if the cease fire held. He also said that he did not look on Blake as being a part of the bad bit of the White Fang.

The band and Julie had come out for a fourth set. Half the house orchestra had already gone – Blake assumed that they were the ones who had to be up at eight for a full day's work. Julie had said, "Don't anyone tell the union that we are doing this." Laughs from the audience, clearly this was a joke which meant something in Mantle.

"Anyway, considering that you have all decided not to get any sleep tonight, the management has asked us to remind you that you have beds to go to and isn't concerned about how crowded they are when you get to them. They are still serving drinks at the bar, but if you pass out the management will insist on you vacating the premises."

Julie and Flynt had clearly worked on a blues and slow dance play list. This suited Julie's naturally husky voice. She looked over and saw Russel sitting on Yang's lap having his tonsils investigated.

Just then a short man accompanied by Marrow Amin and Leslie tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Miss Belladonna. I think Miss Xiao-Long needs to go home now. It is suggested that you may be helpful in persuading her that this is a good idea."

/-/

Yang was awoken by the sound of a loud whistle. "Ruby, we're on holiday, stop messing about."

She then blearily remembered last night. She had definite memories of snogging Russel and him responding. She checked her bed to ensure that she was alone. She was and was not entirely certain whether to be relieved or disappointed.

She turned and saw Weiss and Klein looking at her. Weiss had a whistle around her neck. "I always wondered what I looked like when Ruby blew that whistle. Klein had a tray with coffee and a full Vale breakfast on it.

"Cuddles, thank you. You are a life saver."

She then recalled more of the night before. "How did I get back here, Cuddles?"

Klein smiled and said, "I helped your friends return you to the shuttle once I had assured them that I was not about to kidnap you and Specialist amin had vouched for me. I then drove you home from the shuttle dock. You asked them for reassurances, and they left a few messages on my scroll. They were not entirely sober themselves."

He played the scroll and first a rather inebriated looking Blake said, "Yang, the club was in one piece when we left. Don't worry, we did not have to call Professor Goodwitch out."

She giggled. She recalled that after her two visits to Junior's she had started to worry if she was destined to attract destruction even if she was not responsible for it herself.

Next up was hearing her voice saying "Am I so unattractive? Am I so forbidding?" On the screen was Russel's face. Again, he was clearly intoxicated, but replied, "Not at all. But you are also a little the worse, or the better, for wine. And I have rules about that even when drunk myself."

She hid her face in her hands. Cuddles said, "A gentleman in the real sense of the word, Miss Yang."

"Weiss, is that an intervention?"

"No. Just wanted to let you know your friends cared for you. And tease you, of course. Drink up that coffee. I'm afraid that your picture is on about page 10 of all the papers after your egg donor's announcement last night. Probably page 3 tomorrow unless the ball tonight is wilder than any of us are expecting. Anyway, we have to rehearse your number. I am thinking of asking Russel to dance with you as well."

Yang hid her face in her pillow. She might have thrown it, but for the fear that it might hit the breakfast. "Ok, Cuddles. Serve me my coffee and carbs."

She checked her scroll as she was eating breakfast. There were a mixture of messages asking how her head was, congratulating her on her dancing and some teasing ones. Typically, Ruby had sent one with Zwei waving a paw at her and then saying that her, Velvet, and someone called Penny had designed a better crossbow bolt last night.

Weiss stayed behind after Klein had left and held her hand. "I suppose you had better read the papers. Remember you are not your parents and don't allow your life to be defined by them. Be your own person, whatever that is. Your team is there for you – Blake and I know what it is like to have famous parents."

Weiss checked her watch, "Sorry, I need to get going. The Schnee Foundation is making a large donation today and mother and I are flying the flag. It is part of the reason I could not join you last night. Just watch the television is ninety minutes time."

She paused, "Don't worry when you see it. I am not dating Brede. It just is good for both families, the SDC, and for Atlas if we give the impression that we might be. I hope that after tonight things will be back to normal and we can just relax for the last few days before we head back to Vale and Professor Port's Grimm hunt."

/-/

Jacques Schnee was taking time to think more deeply about the events of the last week or two. The lifting of the embargo on selling dust to Menagerie had been great news and Vassilias transport had been eager to take on the freight contract. He was also pleased that a term's separation from Weiss had eased their relationship. They both had mostly learned to bite their tongues and had avoided unnecessary arguments and the necessary ones had been conducted more amicably than previously.

Importantly the actions of his daughters had been good for the family reputation. It was harder to present him and the SDC as enemies of the Faunus when Winter had helped save thousands of Faunus lives and Weiss had knowingly shared a dorm with a Faunus who was also an ex-member of the White Fang and the daughter of the earlier leaders of that organisation.

He and Willow had even talked properly for the first time in years. They could both unite behind rehabilitating the name of the SDC and supporting their children and perhaps he might even bring himself to apologise for what he had said to her the night of Weiss's birthday. If he was certain that she would take back some of the things she had said that night, he was even willing to apologise first.

Winter would be harder work. He still felt that she despised him as a person but was starting to realise that he was no worse than most of the heads of the Atlas multi-Kingdoms and was readier to correct his mistakes than most.

Ironwood had certainly been more supportive than in the past. In part that was because since the Vacuo debacle, the SDC and Atlas Gold had been on probation. He felt that the SDC's had now been lifted while Atlas Gold was about to be punished severely. If the rumours were correct, Henry Marigold was being investigated about the death last night of his assistant at the Remnant Enquirer. He also knew that Ironwood still had the affidavits showing Atlas Gold's local employees' involvement in the attempt to kill Parsifal and Brede Campion. He may suspect that his own employees had encouraged the attempt, but they had not been involved in it or funded it and they were both dead now.

The SDC had even been able to show that they had warned Haven about the young woman who had used her semblance to attract the Grimm to Kulsa and had blown up the gates of the Faunus quarter.

Anyway, Willow and Weiss were off to do more good work in the rehabilitation process. He did not need his PR advisers to tell him that it had not yet reached the point where he could make the donations himself without ridicule. Still a press release confirming his support for the causes being favoured was permissible.

He then came on to the new Remnant Republic and his response to it. He was meeting with the heads of most of the other multi-Kingdoms in an hour to discuss it. Interestingly, John Marigold was sending a non-family member to represent Atlas Gold. The rumours may be true that he was losing the confidence of the other family members.

In normal times, he would have regarded the announced economic policies of the new republic as acts of war against good business. A five-year embargo at least on most multi-Kingdoms establishing themselves and most shockingly nationalising dust production if not distribution. This meant that the mines in the new republic remained worthless and if, as he suspected was true, they were not operating the mines then there was a limited extent to which the SDC could complain. He knew from the rumours that in order to fund the fines and increased expenditure after the Vacuo scandal enough other multi-Kingdoms had sold up their interest in their own mines in that part of Mistral at rock bottom prices to what was now obviously a shell company for Raven Branwen to allow them to be self-supporting. He would point out to them that it would not look for them to complain about this operation of the market.

Among the small print in the releases was a declaration that the new Republic had no interest in undercutting prices in Vale, Menagerie, Atlas, and Vacuo and were open to negotiations with Mistral.

Jacques own view was that it would be a question of time before the new republic needed to bring in the multi-Kingdom's know-how to sustain economic growth. The multi-Kingdoms had reached their position of dominance mostly because they were very good at what they did. While he suspected a lot of high-ranking Faunus employees would leave for the new republic, he doubted that they had the ability to really cause the new republic to be an economic threat.

Besides which the SDC and the multi-Kingdoms had not knowingly been doing much business with the territories under the control of the Branwen Tribe previously, so it was like they were losing out immediately from the restrictions.

In his own case, Sienna Khan and Raven Branwen had made it clear, without actually directly threatening him, that any opposition from the SDC to the new republic risked blowing up in his face. The third man from the Mistral three who had made the Vacuoan mines the most profitable in the SDC had been left alive and was acting as an economic and tax adviser to the new government. Jacques could not be certain how much the man knew or remembered and how much was still current. He almost certainly could give chapter and verse on activities which the SDC would prefer to remain buried in obscurity.

So, in conclusion there was no benefit to the SDC about trying to persuade Ironwood to act against the new republic now and plenty to lose. Weiss had said something last night which had resonated. Atlas risked lighting a powder keg in Mantle if its troops were directly involved in fighting in Mistral and even providing mechanical warriors would risk dissent.

He made his decision and reached for the phone and called Clover Ebi. "Specialist Ebi, I just wanted you to know that I will be encouraging the fellow heads of the multi-Kingdoms to back the policy of the Atlas council in relation to the events in Mistral and that it should be treated as an internal matter for the citizens of that kingdom. I certainly have no wish to see the brave citizens of Mantle sacrificed in a cause which could be seen as supporting the interests of the SDC."

Clover Ebi said, "Mr Schnee. Thank him for the message. I will pass it on to the general and I do not believe that he will object to me thanking you for your continued support."

Jacques smiled to himself and ordered up the dossier on the operations of Atlas Gold. If there was a fire sale he wanted to know what was worth paying for. He also authorised his brokers to offer put options on Atlas Gold shares at a low price and to buy shares when they hit a slightly higher price.

/-/

John Marigold was panicking. His chief of staff was missing presumed dead. There were reports of the Ace-Ops carrying two body bags out of the second target's house last night. The death of the underling at the Remnant Enquirer had been flagged as suspicious and he had been warned that his son was a suspect.

In addition, the main family members had been sent redacted copies of the draft lawsuit which he had received yesterday which indicated that there was a family member previously unknown to the rest of them who was making a claim for a share of the family wealth plus interest and punitive damages. He still thought it was a shakedown, but the extortionist knew more than he felt comfortable with anyone knowing. He certainly was not happy with his family knowing even the details in the redacted versions they had been sent.

Perhaps he should not have pretended that his sister was still alive, but it had made things easier to use his proxy to cast her votes rather than to produce the will or claim that she had died intestate. Still a demand for an amount equal to all the dividends accrued since her death using a date which was all too likely to be correct was not one which could be met out of petty cash and explaining her death to the family and the fact that she had had a child was embarrassing.

On the plus side, it sounded as though the only man who could give first hand evidence of her death was now himself dead.

Besides which his idiot son had poked George Campion with a stick. The man might dislike his brother and slightly despise his second son, but if anyone else went after them they were still family. To be fair, his son would not have known that the snide references to Brede being an animal lover and picturing him embracing a Faunus and in the company of a girl who looked underage were designed to upset Violet Campion.

If the rumours were true and the second son and the Schnee heir were close to being engaged and if Ironwood allowed them to, an awful lot of ordure was about to hit the fan if the two families combined their knowledge of Atlas Gold's activities.

There was a knock on the door. His butler announced his lawyer. John Marigold was surprised. There had not even been an advance call. The man came in and asked, "Is the room secure?"

John Marigold double checked that his own tape and surveillance devices were off and replied, "Yes. You can speak freely."

"Your correspondent was not entirely bluffing. I have received a copy of the writ which has just been issued. Whoever is behind this claim says that they have your sister's original will, a marriage certificate, a birth certificate and two affidavits as to the death of your sister. There are also references to affidavits as to the finding of a child in Vacuo. I am afraid that no matter how undignified it may be, you will need to produce your poor mad sister."

John Marigold decided that he had to bluff it out. "I appreciate the candour of your advice, but that will be too degrading for my sister. I will arrange for affidavits from her doctors."

"I understand your sentiments, but I have seen a duplicate of the birth and marriage certificates. There are Vale documents. Your sister seems to have decided to make certain that no chances were taken."

"What name is the claimant using?"

"Leoan Leslie Dunsterville. It matches the birth certificate"

John Marigold nodded. "No doubt a forgery, but Leoan is a family name. The fraudster has done his or her research. Keep me posted on developments. I expect a copy will be sent to my relatives, so speed outweighs secrecy."

As the lawyer left John Marigold considered his options. He started to call round the people he normally thought of as barking and who thought of themselves as concerned citizens. He was not going to go down without taking others with him.

/-/

Yang was sitting with most of the rest of the hunter students who were going to the ball. They were watching the television which had interrupted its ongoing analysis of what was happening in Mistral with a press conference which was being held simultaneously in Vale and Atlas. She was sitting between Blake and Ruby with Zwei at their feet and Taiyang behind them.

In Atlas Willow and Weiss Schnee were standing next to George and Brede Campion with Cardin to one side. In Vale Lydia, Lydia's father and two ladies who were understood to be Cardin and Lydia's great aunts were standing surrounding by teenage children and young adults. Professor Ozpin was in the background as was Dove Bronzewing. About half of these were Faunus. Nora muttered something about orphanage uniforms and Emerald muttered agreement.

Lydia started to speak, "In the last few weeks a Grimm attack on Kulsa was successfully resisted. Yesterday we saw Kuroyuri has been rebuilt after a Grimm attack overwhelmed it over ten years ago. Now it is time to remember Mountain Glenn. It is the disaster which for years we have not dared to speak about for fear that the very thought of it will bring the Grimm down upon us. Those who survived were encouraged not to speak about the events of that day when the barriers failed."

She paused, "It is time for us to remember that day. Not just to mourn those who were lost, but also to recall the survivors and the acts of heroism which increased the number of those survivors. Eleven hunters and huntresses died that day, and many others were never the same again. These included my brother."

A pause as she seemed to fight to keep her composure. Yang was slightly shocked. Their classmate was one of the most composed people she knew. Anne who was standing next to her squeezed her hand by way of encouragement.

"My brother was the last hunter out of Mountain Glenn and left three teammates behind him. They had fought to ensure that another two trains of refugees could flee Mountain Glenn before letting off explosions to block the tunnels leading to Vale. My brother never recovered from the physical and emotional wounds of that day and died a few years ago. His example caused me to seek to become a huntress."

"He did not ask for recognition and deflected any attempts to praise him. Now he is dead I think it is time to remember the bravery of him and his team. Gretchen Rainart, Lemon Meadowlark and Alfred Jaunedyce."

One of the teenagers stepped up to the microphone. He was wearing a cap which he took off to reveal cat ears. "I was on the last train out together with two hundred other children. This group of student hunters protected us and our teachers from the Grimm as we ran through the streets and barricaded the doors of the station after we had reached it. I saw two of them fall protecting us. The last two, a man and a woman, fought off the Grimm that broke through the door until the train started moving. I was watching from the window as they ran for the train. Suddenly a flying Grimm swooped through the doors and dived towards the train. Somehow between them the man was launched into the air and his sword slashed through the wing of the Grimm and it crashed to the ground. His aura broke as he fell, and his female friend gathered him up and dived for the train. Her aura had also gone, and a black feather landed in her back. She reached the train and staggered through the door with the man."

She looked around the room. Virtually everyone was failing to hold back tears. Those who had been at Kulsa and knew how near they had been to being overrun could imagine what it would have been like to see your teammates dying around you and risking your own life to save theirs.

The orphan paused, "It has not always been easy for me and my schoolmates since that say. For me and many others we were left orphans and being a poor orphan Faunus in Vale is not a soft bed to lie in. However, I have not given in to hate. How could I when four humans gave their lives and health to save the lives of two hundred Faunus children and the rest of the passengers on that train?"

George Campion then spoke from Atlas. "A few months ago, my family and the newspapers we own reacted intemperately to a harmless photograph of my son and a teammate. She according to my son found it amusing as she was comfortable that she and her friends knew the truth. What did upset her was when we insulted her brother. Once I learnt the truth of how the brother died, I felt ashamed. One cannot libel the dead, but some insults require recompense. I asked my son what we could do to make amends."

Brede Campion took over, "I spoke to Lydia who suggested that I contact her great-aunt Dahlia Travers. Her foundation had been funding a charity devoted to helping the orphans of Mountain Glenn of whom there are around 1,000. Because of the silence which surrounds Mountain Glenn the charity was underfunded and under the terms of the Travers Foundation, except on founding a charity, it can only provide matching funds."

George Campion continued "Today I would like to announce that the Campion family will be making a donation to the Orphans of Mountain Glenn of an amount, which even taking into account tax deductions, will cost us 1,000,000 lien."

Willow Schnee then spoke up, "My daughter Weiss would like to count Brede Lydia and their teammates as amongst her closest friends mentioned this charity to me and her father. I have discussed this with the board of the SDC Charitable Foundation and I am proud to announce that the board has agreed to donate 500,000 lien."

Cardin Winchester stepped to the microphone. "I did not know my cousin as well as I should have liked to. Families are not always as close as they should be. The more I met him the more I respected him. I believe that humanity and Faunus have a common enemy in the Grimm and all our differences are minor in the light of that battle. I have heard my cousin belittled as a fool for sacrificing his team and his health for a bunch of animals. I think that he stood up for what was right and the best traditions of Beacon Academy. It does not matter if you are defending humans or Faunus – you do your duty to protect the defenceless."

A series of whoops from the audience watching in the room. Yang looked at Russel for the first time that afternoon and gave him a thumbs up. "Do you think Cardin can ever go home again?" the man had clearly meant his father when he talked about people belittling his cousin.

"Probably not. He really hates his father and the fact that everybody assumes that Cardin believes the same as him. I could get used to living in the mansion or the brownstone myself."

Agnes Winchester stepped forward and announced, "I will be donating an amount matching that of the Campion family. I would also like to endorse the comments of the two cousins I am proud to call relatives."

She turned to the other old lady by her side, "Myself and Dahlia have disagreed on most things throughout our lives. As I get older, I realise that most of them were unimportant and that I was as wrong as often as she was. In any event, I have more in common with her than those who come asking for my support by saying things that they imagine I want to hear."

The two old ladies shook hands. Yang suspected that this probably counted as a major apology but was puzzled by it.

Ozpin then spoke. "More than a decade ago I spoke to Edward Travers and had to tell him that his teammate, partner, and fiancée Gretchen Rainart had died in his arms as he lay unconscious on the train back to Vale. It was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do. I also told him that Vale was grieving and wanted to forget about Mountain Glenn."

Ozpin toyed with his glasses. "I still think that I was right at the time, but I should not have waited so long before encouraging the survivors to tell their stories or to commemorate those who did their best to reduce the number of deaths. Edward earned his hunter's licence the hard way and his fellow students received theirs posthumously. His team was not an exceptional one. They were not Vytal festival champion contenders. But when they were called upon to serve they performed like champions and saved more than a thousand lives on those two trains."

Both Blake and Ruby were holding on tight to Yang while her father had a hand on both her's and Ruby's shoulder. Blake was muttering something along the lines of "I never knew." Yang knew what she meant. Lydia had been very matter of fact about that she had followed in her brother's footsteps. She had never spelt out what he had done at Mountain Glenn although it made sense of why she had been so supportive of Anne.

She also knew that if she had been in Gretchen's place she would have done what she had done and tried to save Blake's life even at the risk of her own. She muttered to Blake something along those lines and heard the response me too and a tightening of the grasp.

I am afraid that a lot of this chapter refers back to earlier stories under the Muskrat2 name which even I have difficulty in recalling the detail of. I hope that the Mountain Glenn memorial at the end stands by itself.

I think that my Cardin has deserved his redemption over the stories. For the avoidance of doubt, I have no problem with wither the Blake/Sun or the Blake/Yang ship and that the show did just about enough to justify both of them.

I have changed the title of this story. The original was a little pretentious and misleading.