Here we are again! Hopefully this chapter will be out sooner than the last few.

Yeah we'll see.

I'm glad to see you all enjoyed the last one though, and I hope you all enjoy this one as well.

See you at the bottom.


Adam was cleaning his sword, each stroke of the blade leaving it shining brighter. His mind was elsewhere though. Only a few hours ago he and all his friends had their entire worldviews turned upside down when they learned the man they previously called their headmaster was actually part of a secret underground war that had apparently been going on for longer than any of them had been alive.

Oh and magic was real, that had also been pretty jarring.

He sighed and passed the rag over his blade again, the process simply being a way to occupy his hands and keep him focused on the present. He was sitting on a wooden chair on the porch of the Branwen-Rose household. After Ruby had stopped nagging him about safety she had given him what could only be described as the most adorable cold shoulder he'd ever received. Rather than deal with any awkward tension, he instead opted to prepare himself for the battle ahead.

The door creaked open and he didn't even bother checking to see who it was. Instead, he listened as the somewhat hefty footfalls neared him before stopping by his side. After a minute of silence, Adam was beginning to wonder who felt like bothering him. After another two minutes he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

Finally, he sighed and realized that whoever was here was waiting for him to say something, so he went with his normal response to people.

"What?" he spat.

"And he finally speaks!" the familiar voice of Jaune laughed, "I was willing to play the silent game for a while you know. I know seven girls who do that way better!"

"Is there something I can do for you?" Adam grunted, not particularly in the mood to talk to others right now with everything on his mind.

"Considering we're about to be travel buddies, yeah," Jaune never lost that easy look on his face, "you shouldn't brood away out here when everyone is about to leave. It's almost time for all of them to take off. You don't wanna head out without saying anything to your team, do you?"

Curse Jaune and his charming smile and his charming words! Pyrrha had a stronger will than Adam had initially thought if she was able to deny this man anything. That aside, he made a fair point. Adam was avoiding his team right now. He hadn't intended to just start ignoring them, but after seeing how hurt they had looked at his decision he didn't have the strength to face them.

"I don't," he replied, finally dropping the rag and sheathing Wilt, laying it across his lap, "but I am not strong with these kinds of situations."

"Oh please, how bad could it be?" Jaune smiled.

"I couldn't break up with Blake so I ditched her on a speeding train without a word," Adam said without missing a beat. Jaune winced, sucking in a sharp breath as he took in the information.

"That's how you did that?" Jaune sent him a side eye. Adam sighed deeply and nodded, earning a whistle from Jaune.

"Okay so that's pretty bad," he laughed again. Adam gunted again, but couldn't disagree.

"I won't leave without talking to them again. I just... Need to figure out the right thing to say," Adam leaned back, closing his eyes. Jaune hummed and leaned against the wall with him, both remaining silent now. The door creaked again, and Jaune turned to see who it was this time.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting," Nora bowed her head as she joined the two, looking out at the treeline.

"Need something?" the champion asked. Nora shook her head.

"We're just waiting now. Everyone is basically ready, but we're all definitely feeling the pressure now that we're actually about to leave," she explained as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"Call it pre-flight jitters?" Jaune smirked. Nora rolled her eyes but smiled and bumped his arm.

"Sure. Let's go with that. I just prefer the fresh air instead of being inside."

So the three sat and watched the sky and trees. As the sun set, it cast the opening that the Branwen-Rose house was located in an almost golden light. It was serene, and to all present, it felt like the world was normal again, if only for a moment.

"How are you holding up Adam?" she asked. The two didn't talk much, though neither were exactly the best conversationalists. Adam appreciated the care anyways.

"Currently thinking of a way to see off my team without making an ass of myself," he huffed. Nora laughed quietly into her hand.

"I think they'd just like to know that you plan on coming back to us," Nora suggested.

He supposed that made enough sense. But he couldn't think of how he could say that without sounding like... well, like himself really. It wasn't like he was keen on abandoning his friends, especially not after everything they'd been told.

"NORA!" Ren could be heard shouting from the second floor, "I CAN'T FIND MY LUCKY SOCKS!"

Nora sighed. Looked like the peaceful moment couldn't last forever.

"I'll go deal with him before everyone on the island hears him," she turned to go back inside, "I'll see you both before we take off."

"DID YOU PUT THEM WITH YOUR PONY PANTIES OR YOUR LINGERIE THAT YOU HAVE FOR SOME REASON THAT CAN'T POSSIBLY BE RELATED TO ME!?" Ren shouted again.

"REN!" Nora disappeared inside faster than Jaune had ever seen her move, her face a bright red that was rare on someone as stoic as her. Granted, Ren had the power to make most people around him embarrassed eventually.

The two men shared a laugh. Neither had the spirit to remind Nora that none of them had any of their stuff with them aside from weapons, and that Ren was probably just doing it to get a rise out of the girl. Even with everything around them changing so drastically, some things would always stay the same.

Adam shrugged his jacket off and rolled his arms, removing any stiffness from his time spent hunched over and stressed. As he held the cloth in his hands, he stared at it. His mind wandered as he turned it around. He'd had this jacket for a long time, and the image emblazoned on the back had been something he had done himself. He knew someone who had a similar motif, and the more he thought about it, the better the idea that had just formed sounded.

"Hey Jaune," he asked, breaking the silence.

"What's up?"

Adam ran his hands over the back of his jacket, nodding to himself.

"Do you mind getting me a pair of scissors?"


"Do you have any eights?"

"Go fish."

"DAMNIT!" Gretchen practically slammed the cards on the table as Watts chuckled.

"Is this really how you guys spend your free time?" Raven asked, sitting between Summer and Cinder, her own hand of cards currently face down before her.

"We're normally working," Cinder grunted as she looked at her own cards and looked over to Summer, "any twos?"

"Go fish!"

Cinder hissed and Raven swore she would've set the cards on fire if she didn't know it meant she'd have to fight Summer for ruining her grandfather's handmade table.

"So how exactly do you all live in the grimmlands without getting mobbed by Grimm? If Salem isn't a demon lady like we thought. Then surely they still try to kill you all," Raven continued. Tyrian hummed, one hand covering his mouth as he regarded his cards, "Oh, and got any fours?"

"Tsk," Tyrian handed a card over before continuing, "Salem is a powerful magic user in her own right. While she cannot eradicate the Grimm entirely she has... discovered something about them that allows us to hide among their spawning grounds."

"Gee, that doesn't sound ominous at all, can't wait to go there with my daughters," Summer mumbled as she looked at her cards, she looked up at Cinder, "gimme a six."

Cinder nearly set the room ablaze as she passed the card to the woman. Raven didn't pity the woman. Summer had a sixth sense for any kind of board or card game. Raven was decent, but Summer was the one who played with the girls the most, and it showed on every game night.

"We should leave soon," Gretchen rumbled. The sun was setting and with night came their escape. Also she didn't want to continue losing to Summer. The woman was a skilled Go Fisher.

"He's right," Watts placed his cards down, "I shiver at the thought of being vaporized the longer we sit here. If we leave now we should arrive at our base of operations in a little over a day. We'll have to stop to refuel along the way but that is a matter I have settled already."

"Settled how?" Raven asked. As far as she knew between Patch and the grimmlands, the nearest place that they'd feasibly be able to refuel would be Vacuo. While that would put them out of the way of Vale and Atlas, that would still draw attention since nobody willingly goes to Vacuo unless they're trying to do something that was illegal everywhere else.

"There is an outpost stationed on the outskirts of Vacuo that will have hangars meant for refueling cargo ships. I have us set as an arrival. We'll quite literally walk in the front door since, as far as they know, we're supposed to be there!" Watts looked entirely too pleased with himself.

Raven rolled her eyes but didn' press any more. If they had even a skeleton of a plan it was more than she had expected. She watched as the table dispersed and went about last minute preparations.

Standing from the table, Summer quickly put away all the cards before rushing upstairs. Knowing Summer, and one would be able to tell based on many of Ruby's tendencies, her own 'packing' would just constitute as bringing as much ammo as she could fit into everything. Summer had been the one to drill weapon maintenance and upkeep into Ruby's head from a young age, but neither had expected it would evolve into the weapon fanaticism that the reaper was known for.

Raven grabbed Omen from the rack it hung on and clipped it to her belt. She was a much lighter traveler than the rest of her family. She had tried to get that into Yang's head but the girl never picked it up.

"Hey mom."

Speaking of her hotheaded daughter.

"Yang," she grunted.

"I have to ask something, but I need you to promise not to get mad," she stared her mother in the eyes, and Raven was mildly surprised with the serious nature of her daughter at the moment.

"I'll do my best," she'd meet her daughter halfway here.

"Do you... Do you think that all of... this," Yang waved her hands at all the people bustling around them, "Do you think this is why... Why uncle left Ruby and Summer?"

Raven hissed. It was a well known rule in the house that you didn't mention her brother around her, Ruby, or Summer, all for very obvious reasons. He had left his family; his wife, child, and sister, and he had never sent word back since, never reached out, never given a reason why. As far as Raven was concerned, the man wasn't her brother any longer.

But here Yang was, willingly and knowingly breaking that unspoken rule. For a moment, and only a moment, Raven wanted to lash out that she'd even bother asking her such a thing. But if Yang was asking her, it meant that it was important. You didn't open old wounds in their house unless there was a reason for it.

"Who knows brat," Raven sighed, a grimace on her face, "your uncle was always in a bad spot, even before he met Summer. He had a habit of finding himself in situations that he couldn't pull himself out of. Maybe he saw something and decided to run before he sunk too deep again."

Yang hummed, but didn't press any further. Smart girl. Raven appreciated her drive for answers, but respected her ability to know her limits even more.

After everyone gathered themselves and whatever they had managed to escape the city with, they walked outside. Raven and Summer made sure that every valuable was hidden and every door and window was secured. It may not stop much, but once anyone who showed up realized they weren't there, they wouldn't stick around anyways. After locking the last door, Raven turned and looked over the assorted group of fighters before her. Varied and, frankly, a little ridiculous looking, this would be her team for the foreseeable future.

"Time?" Summer asked softly. Raven nodded.

"Time."

It was hard to say goodbye, potentially forever, to the house that they had built together. With each other, their team, their family. Tai had helped build this place with his own two hands. Raven idly hoped that maybe, all of this— all of these secrets being uncovered and all of the revelations she'd had in the last few days— meant that maybe, Tai hadn't actually died. Maybe he was out there still.

She dashed that thought quickly, and the darker side of her mind tossed out the idea that Tai was dead. That wasn't Salem and her forces who had done it. It wasn't even the Grimm. Maybe Ozpin had a hand in Tai's death. She scowled at the thought. She didn't know what her life was at the moment.

Meanwhile, there was an exchange between teams and teammates going on.

"Don't you dare cause any big explosions without me!" Ren stomped as he bounced around Jaune, "I will never forgive you if you have a super epic time without us! You better make this mission the most boring one you've had!"

"I dunno Ren," Jaune looked over to Adam, who stood outside of the group with his arms crossed, "I think that my present company might make that hard."

Ren huffed and continued ranting to himself, but Nora stepped in and cut him off, laying a gentle hand on Jaune's shoulder, a sight that was comical due to their height difference.

"Stay safe for us Jaune," she spoke as softly as ever, "we'd hate to have to cross the globe to pull you out of danger."

"How you wound me!" he mocked as he held a hand to his chest. Nora laughed and pushed him.

"I didn't say we wouldn't do it. I said we'd hate it," Jaune laughed with her this time. Nora stepped to the side and pulled Ren with her. Pyrrha marched up to the champion, looking resolute but still somehow sheepish.

"Jaune."

"Pyr," he had that same easy smile on still.

"We're dating right?" she asked. That made him stumble for a moment, and a hint of color came to his face.

"Uh, well, y-yeah, I guess we never really said it or anything but I thought it was heavily implied," he stammered.

"Okay," Pyrrha nodded, "then two things."

"All ears."

"Promise me that you'll come back in as much of one piece as you can," she asked, maybe even begged slightly.

"Swear on my name," he nodded, "and the other thing?"

His eyes widened and he leaned back slightly as Pyrrha pulled herself into him and captured his lips with her own. He leaned in after the surprise subsided and the two shared a tender embrace, both ignoring Ren scream cheering in the background. When they finally separated, both were red, but Pyrrha was beaming up at him.

"For luck," she mumbled with a dumb smile.

"Smooth," he laughed, pulling her close and into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him, and had her breath knocked out of her when Ren dragged Nora in for a group bear hug.

Yang watched the entire exchange with a smile, one that faltered as she turned to see that Adam, ever the brood he was, still remained transfixed in his own mind. Ruby didn't look like she had the courage to go and initiate, and while Yang wanted to, she was actually beaten to the punch by the most unlikely of their team.

"You oaf," Whitley stomped over to the man, who grunted at him, "I don't care how up your own ass you are, we will be seeing you off, whether you like it or not!"

Adam snarled at him but Whitley just sneered back, the sparks flying between them almost visible.

"I'm not one for long goodbyes," Adam growled. Whitley rolled his eyes.

"And I don't care," he spat, "don't go getting yourself killed without us. If you die, then there won't be any way for me to tell you how much of an irrational ass you are!"

More heated silence between the two and for a moment Yang swore that Adam would just up and leave right there. No goodbye, no kind words, nothing. Ruby looked on too, stunned with her mouth stuck open as they stared at the two glare at one another.

Imagine their surprise when Adam was the first to cave, not by deflating or sighing, but by smirking just a tiny bit.

"Leave it to you to be so stubborn that you need to watch me die in order to feel satisfied," he jabbed.

"I'm the stubborn one?" Whitley grinned, a gleam in his eyes, "for the record I said nothing about needing to see you die. I know that you'll come back to us eventually, even if you're old and gray and missing all your limbs you'll come back just to say I told you so."

The two chuckled, and Yang took that moment to step in and wave her hand between the two.

"So you two aren't going to fight?" she asked. They both looked at her like she was insane, which ironically almost made go insane on both of them for daring to insinuate she was seeing things.

"What made you think that?" Whitley asked.

"Nothing we just said remotely resembled aggression," Adam rolled his eyes at the brawler.

Yang almost tossed them both off the island, but instead she sighed and rubbed her head, looking at them like they were aliens.

"I'll never understand boys," she mumbled. She ignored Raven grumbling 'thank god' behind her.

"Take care Adam," she hugged him, which he grunted at but returned nonetheless, "you're part of the family now! And if you don't come back to us I will come find you! You don't want that Adam!"

He chuckled and pushed her off of him by the forehead, earning a squawk of irritation from her. With both of the younger members of the team done, he turned to the last member of team YSTR, who met his eyes with her now one eye. That missing eye was why he was doing this. To prevent anyone from daring to come near his— ugh, family― and to keep the light of passion that still burned in Ruby's single eye alight until she passed.

"Ruby..." he started, trailing off as he looked for a way to say that to her without sounding so corny. Yang watched both eagerly, but Whitley read the room and dragged her away despite her protests to see 'her OTP come true'. Once they were secluded he passed a hand through his hair. What did he say?

Maybe he didn't say anything.

Instead he pulled something from his pocket and beckoned the reaper to come closer. She stepped forward, a confused look on her face. At this point they had an audience, but neither noticed.

When she was right before him he reached up, waiting a moment for Ruby to see what he was doing before he pulled her hood off her head, letting her long hair billow out into the breeze. He closed her eye with one hand and she kept it shut as she felt him start to wrap something around her head. When he finished she opened her eye and felt her face. There was something there now. She heard her mother and friends gasp and mumble.

Stepping away from her partner she walked over to the window and looked at her reflection.

Over her scarred eye, rather than the grisly and brutal wound that had once been there, was a makeshift eyepatch, the main cloth black in color. What had her holding her breath and covering her mouth was the rose emblem that was visible, the flower itself settled perfectly where her eye would have been. While roses were common on her outfits, this rose wasn't one of her designs, but was nonetheless familiar.

Turning back to her partner, his ears turned red as he turned slightly to show the back of his normal outfit. Where the rose had been on his jacket, there was now a hole in the shape of a long diamond down the center, where the man's original rose emblem had been.

"Adam..." she whispered. He closed his eyes.

"I'll be back," he said simply. To her it was enough. She smiled brightly and brought her hood back up, the new flower covering her eye still visible.

"You'd better be," she hugged him, feeling his arms wrap around her after a moment.

Summer was currently being muzzled by Raven as she tried to squeal in delight about the scene before her. Yang and Ren were both gushing about how cool and sweet the gesture was. Jaune only smiled warmly, and Nora nudged him with her elbow.

"You don't seem too surprised," she observed. Jaune shrugged.

"Maybe I was in on it, maybe I wasn't," he grinned.

Yang ran back in, pushing Whitley to follow as she jumped up and hugged both. Whitley seemed content to hover at the edge of the group hug but Yang pulled her partner in, who rolled his eyes but laughed with his team.

"How touching," Cinder drawled, tapping her foot and crossing her arms, "unfortunately we are on a schedule here." Raven sighed but agreed. They had to get going. Most of them had a bullhead to escape to and Adam and Jaune had their own ride to catch.

"Alright everyone, follow the Human Torch over there and I'll bring up the rear," Raven called out. Cinder bristled but said nothing and turned, stomping through the forest to where Gretchen and Tyrian had parked their ship.

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora bid Jaune one last farewell, the champion assuring them he'd be back. Raven followed after them. Ruby, Yang, and Whitley all gave Adam their wishes as well, the reaper especially wishing him luck and safety in his path. Summer followed her daughter, making her blush as she recounted how sweet the moment was and how adorable it'd be when she told her kids about it.

That left Jaune and Adam standing in the clearing.

"Well," Jaune hefted his shield and lance off the ground and onto his back, "guess we're off too."

Adam nodded, grabbing the small supply bag that he'd put together and hefting it over his shoulder.

"Away we go then! An A and J Adventure! A triple A!" Jaune claimed as they walked in the opposite direction as their friends, towards the civilisation on Patch. Adam scoffed.

"We are not calling it that," Adam grunted. The two continued to banter back and forth as they walked the path to the town where they would start their journey. A bullhead to Mistral followed by a boat to Menagerie. It would be a long trip, and an even longer fight. And at the end, they'd be trading one war for another as they sought out their friends in their fight against Ozpin.

All the more reason for them to get this done as fast as they could.


Ruby adjusted to the feeling of the cloth covering her eye. It wasn;t too tight, but felt like it wouldn't come off unless she wanted it to. It felt secure; like Adam, and part of her knew she'd feel just a little empty when she'd have to undo it and start tying it herself. Even still...

She flushed and hunched in on herself, letting her hood cover her face as she blushed. It was comfortable, much more so than having her scar out in the open as it had been. And it was a gift from her partner, a part of him in essence. She would treasure it dearly.

The bullhead was cramped with so many of them on it, but it still allowed for some semblance of personal space. When they'd found it, it was with some solace that it was a freight model of bullhead, no guns, but heavy plating and slightly bigger. It helped to blend in and would sell their story better when they'd have to refuel in Vacuo. The armor was meant to defend from Grimm, but would also do better against bullets than a normal bullhead would. The inside was roomier since they weren't actually carrying any goods. They weren't pressed against one another at the very least. As turbulence rocked the ship, Ruby looked back up at her friends.

Ren had almost immediately fallen asleep, snoring lightly on Nora's shoulder. Nora herself looked used to it, reading a book that she'd bought in town before they had left. Summer and Raven were talking with Cinder, and from the looks of it, Cinder was either growing more embarrassed or more enraged by whatever the two mothers were pestering her with. Pyrrha stared out the window, a far off look in her eyes. Like Ruby, she was likely thinking of her partner and wishing for their safety.

Yang was taking a page out of Ren's book and had her head in her lap. Ruby rubbed circles in her hair, a habit that she'd done since they were children. It helped to calm Yang down and sleep and it gave Ruby some peace of mind that the brawler felt safe where she was. Gretchen looked to be in deep thought, sitting with her arms crossed and head down. Occasionally she would make a sour face before shaking her head and clearing whatever thought had caused it. Tyrian and Watts were up front so Ruby didn't know what they were doing, aside from piloting their ship.

Luckily, Ruby wasn't left alone, and her solace from boredom came in the form of Whitley, who sat beside her.

"What do you think of all this?" Ruby asked, keeping her voice low so as not to wake her sister. Whitley hummed with his usual agitation.

"It's insane," leave it to Whitley to be as straight to the point as possible, "It sounds like an impossible situation, and even though we're part of it, it still feels like I could wake up any moment in my bed back in Atlas."

"You really think that you could dream up our team and friends?" Ruby sounded surprised. Whitley huffed.

"Oh I'd certainly see you all in my sleep, but I never said it'd be a dream," he smirked. Ruby scoffed and pushed him with her free hand.

"You've been spending too much time with Yang and Adam," Ruby chastised. Whitley chuckled, shaking his head. His smile faded and he turned his eyes to her.

"How are you feeling about all of this?" he stretched his neck, never breaking perfect posture even in the uncomfortable metal hull of the bullhead, "You apparently have more stake in this than any of us do."

Ruby looked back down at Yang, who stirred for a moment before settling again. Ruby sighed, thinking about what her mom had told her about her eyes. Well, eye now, but apparently as long as she had one then she was good to go. She cursed internally. Stupid eye lasers. She'd never forgive whoever made it so that that's the way they worked.

"I guess I'm still doing what I set out to do," Ruby shrugged, "still fighting to save people and still being a hero... to some I suppose. Not looking forward to whatever training I have to do to shoot beams of light out of my face."

Whitley grimaced and offered her an awkward shoulder pat. It was true that it didn't sound pleasant to have magical light shoot from your eyes, much less when you're already under the stress of fighting Grimm.

The two sat in silence for a moment after that. Ruby stared at the floor, her lips pursed as she lost herself in thought. The sudden drop in conversation and topic was immediate and for a moment Whitley wondered if bringing up the apparent latent magic within her was too much at the moment, but his worries were assuaged when she spoke again.

"It's just a lot," she sighed, "my eye, all of this, my eyes... again, and then Adam... It's all a lot to take in at once."

Whitley nodded at that. Ruby had been through the ringer, that was for sure. Out of all of them, Ruby was the only one to walk away with any serious injury, and even then, there was more responsibility being heaped on her now that they were a part of all of this. It wasn't fair, and even beside that, it wasn't something any of them had been even remotely prepared for. Sure they had been going into a profession with a relatively low mortality rate, one doesn't fight monsters for a living and simply walk away unscathed forever, but they were only in their first year and aside from Adam, none of them expected to have this amount of responsibility thrust at them and certainly not at this level.

"You've always got us to rely on," Whitley offered, "we may not have some ancient power of old or what have you, but we'll fight until the end."

A warm smile bloomed on her face, and Whitley was glad his words were enough here. He wasn't as good at affection as Yang, and he wasn't sure what would be enough or too much.

"Thanks Whitley," her smile dropped a little, "but I don't know if we're enough. There's a lot at play here and... I'm wondering how much of it is actually in our hands. What do we actually hold here?"

"Well whether we like it or not, we're part of this fight," he chewed his lip, "but do you want my honest opinion?"

Ruby nodded and he looked away from her.

"Whether we have that much stake in this or not, I'd rather die the fool who believes that we might make a difference than to have run away and spent the rest of my life agonizing over whether or not I should have joined you all."

Ruby blinked at that. That was far more than she was expecting to hear from him. It dawned on her that unlike her and Yang and team PAVL, Adam and Whitley actually had the option to come with them or not. Adam had joined them to make sure she would be okay, and when he was sure she was fine, he had chosen to deal with his own demons before joining Salem. Whitley could have gone back home to Atlas, for all the good that would do for his sanity, but he chose to fight. It was oddly philosophical from someone who was normally so logical.

"What if we can't do anything though?" Ruby still had to ask. She wouldn't keep anything to herself if he was so willing to open up to her.

"Would we not be doing the exact same amount of nothing if we didn't decide to go along with all of this?" he asked, eyebrow quirked. He had her there. Do nothing and sit in one place, or fight and do nothing. At least she trained to do one of those things.

"Better hope we aren't getting scammed," she joked, "otherwise we'd technically be doing negative amounts of anything." Whitley rolled his eyes and gave her an unamused look.

"Please spare me the agony of second-guessing this choice," he complained with no real heat, "If we've become the true criminals here I might just jump ship here and now to spare the embarrassment."

The two laughed and continued chatting away, moving on to less charged topics and simply passing the time spent stuck in the confines of the ship. Spirits weren't exactly high, but Ruby found that conversing with Whitley did a lot to take her mind off of things. Maybe he needed it too, she wondered idly. After all, despite what their outside appearance would have many believing, Whitley and Adam had grown close, and she suspected he was as worried for the man as she was. Figuring that she'd never get it out of him, she didn't press him for an answer.

Everything in the ship seemed to be going well. Of course, when that was the case, nobody expected it to stay that way for too long, and they were right to think so. An alarm beeping sounded throughout the hull, a red warning light accompanying it. There was also a low humming sound, one that was easy to miss if one wasn't looking out for it. Those who were asleep were quick to wake up, with everyone else entering guarded stances.

Gretchen rose and strode to the cockpit, pulling the door open and leaning inside.

"What's going on?" her voice carried even over the alarms. It was Tyrian who answered back, though his focus remained entirely on piloting.

"We've been struck by something, likely a Grimm since it didn't pierce directly through us. Arthur, get the radar working. Everyone else, expect turbulence," the scorpion tail swung up from behind him pushing buttons and flicking switches. None of them were really sure just how prehensile a scorpion's tail was supposed to be, but the man used it like a third arm.

As the man said, the ship began to shake as it pitched left. The engines rumbled as he burned more fuel to get them moving faster. Even through the roaring of the engines, the humming noise persisted. Whatever it was that was attacking them, he was trying to give it a rough chase.

And chase it did. Two screeching sounds pierced through the hull. One was of whatever was chasing them, and the other was of what was likely a pair of claws or talons scraping the exterior of the ship.

"That sounded bad!" Cinder shouted as she peered through the window in search of their assailant.

"It wasn't" Tyrian was still as focused as Ruby had ever seen anyone, "the damage was superficial, if there was any at all. Whatever is attacking us is probing right now. It likely isn't strong enough to bring us down without help."

"That's good... right?" Pyrrha asked, looking around. The humming noise had gotten louder now, the feeling vibrating in their fingers. Gretchen's low hum and narrowed eyes didn't make them feel any better.

"No," she walked back to the hatch that was located at the rear of the ship, looking out of the slit of glass that let them look through before a quiet curse was uttered.

"People!" Watts called back, for once not sounding condescending, but concerned, "the radar just lit up like a festive tree! We're being assailed!"

As if to prove him right, the ship practically quaked as they all scrambled to keep themselves standing from the sudden lurch. The screeching sound they heard before came back, and the humming increased a hundredfold. Ruby could feel it in her chest, the vibrations causing their own brand of turbulence in the hull. Gretchen grunted and stood back from the rear hatch, turning to the rest of them.

"Move away from the hatch and whatever you do, don't let any more of them near us," she ordered before pulling a lever down. A deep sounding beep signaled the door opening, and as it lowered and the wind rushed in, they were finally able to see what was chasing them.

"Holy shit that's a lot of Grimm," Yang muttered.

Indeed it was, and none of her older relatives even had the wherewithal to scold her for her language.

A flock would be a kind way of describing the mess that was chasing them. Whatever was chasing them was definitely a swarm, and calling it anything else would be doing a disservice to the writhing mass that flowed through the sky in spirals as it chased them.

"What are these things?" Pyrrha asked, holding her shield before her out of instinct.

"Thrummingbirds," Gretchen grumbled, "small, weak, frankly even a civilian could probably crush one with their bare hands. But they flock together in thousands and they normally have a broodmother somewhere in their swarms."

The ship continued to swerve, less so now that the hatch was open and they could be sent careening out if they weren't prepared. One particularly brave Grimm fluttered forward and directly into the hull.

It was small, like a hummingbird with beady red eyes. It had no plating like so many other Grimm had, leaving its small fluffy black body unarmored. It's beak was like a toothpick, stark white and truthfully the only dangerous looking part on its body. Its wings beat so fast they could hardly make out how they looked. It had three long tail feathers that looked rigid and hung straight down from its body. All in all, if one didn't take the chance to look at it for too long, they could mistake it for an actual hummingbird.

"These things are that much of a danger?" Yang asked, walking up and swiping at it. It fluttered out of the way of her hand, coming back and pecking the offending appendage, "Ow! That kinda stung! In like, not a super painful way though..."

Gretchen's hand darted out faster than any of them expected someone of her size to be able to move. Her hand wrapped around the small creature before crushing it immediately. When she opened her hand, the Grimm dust was swept away by the wind.

"As I said," Gretchen turned back to look out at the swarm, "they are far more dangerous when together. The one that just came in was likely scouting. If we had let it go it would return to the others and they would look for another entrance. They work like a hive-mind, and this level of intelligence means they're being led by a broodmother."

The swarm behind them twitched in sporadic movements, never simply staying on a straight path. The swarm was so dense that it practically formed a solid black sheet that flew through air. Gretchen pointed towards the center of the shape when it stopped for a moment.

"In the middle towards the back is likely where the broodmother is staying. She needs to remain within the swarm in order to stay hidden. So long as the broodmother is active, she can pump out a hundred more of these every five minutes, and that's not even saying if this is an alpha, which judging by the size and movements of this swarm, it definitely is."

"And if it is an alpha that means...?" Ren let the question hang, but it was Raven who answered him.

"It means that it'll release double the amount in half the time. So if we can't make an opening and kill it fast, that swarm will only get bigger and bigger before they just overtake us and pick the ship apart," she stared out at the swarm, "which means unless we get killing..."

"We're fucked," Yang sighed.

They all pulled their weapons up and lined up, some crouched in front of others in front of the hatch and aimed out at the swarm. The offending flock of Grimm continued to chase them, even as the first shots were fired and large swaths of Grimm dust exploded from their ranks. Even a single bullet would take out quite a few of them.

Nora in particular was making short work of the swarm, but as Gretchen had said, even with the noticeable amount they had killed, more would take their place. Ammo wasn't infinite, but these things sure as hell seemed to be!

"Okay, how do we get the alpha if it's hidden behind walls of these things!?" Whitley shouted, the wind from their current speed making it hard to hear otherwise. Normally he'd just use his semblance to create an opening, but that didn't work too well when there were thousands of targets, however small they were.

"We keep shooting and hope we hit it!" Raven shouted back. Unfortunately, unless they had a way to burn the swarm, that'd be their only option. They could potentially use the thrusters from the ship, but that'd leave them without fuel while they were over the ocean.

"Don't try to thin out their numbers!" Summer shouted. She hadn't even taken out her weapon, and when she stepped up to the opening she received shouts of confusion from the others.

"I'll make you all an opening! Just make it count! Doing this on such a scale gives me a headache!" she ordered.

"Doing what!?" Ruby asked, confused as to what her mother meant. She'd sparred with the woman her whole life and didn't know what she was talking about. Summer smiled softly at her daughter.

"This is what I was trying to tell you about back at the house sweetie," Summer wagged her finger before turning back out of the door.

She didn't jump, didn't poise herself to strike, nor did she activate her aura. Instead she simply took a deep breath with her head down before looking back up.

A blinding light ensued, and they were behind the woman. They could only imagine how powerful that light was in front of her. Judging by the screeches and rapidly decreasing sound of thrumming, the Grimm weren't exactly thrilled with this development. When the light cleared, the swarm had diminished to nearly a tenth of its original numbers.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Ren had fallen over in shock, staring at the dissipating black cloud of Grimmstuff that Summer had just created.

"I must say," even Cinder seemed taken aback, "I've never actually gotten a chance to see the power of the eyes before."

"Damn Aunty! That was kickass!" Yang cheered. Summer turned slowly, weakly shooting the brawler with finger guns.

"You know it kiddo," she sounded as if she'd just woken up. She shook her head, slapping her cheeks and taking deep breaths, "Wow it's been a while since I did that!" Ruby rushed to her side, getting her mom away from the hatch.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Ruby asked, helping her mom back into a seat. Summer waved her off, sending her a warm smile.

"I'm fine sweetie, it's just been a while and I didn't realize how out of practice I was with that," Summer did seem okay, and the fatigue they had seen on her before seemed momentary, as the woman was back to her normal color and breathing.

A screech snapped them out of their reverie of the magic they witnessed. They all turned to look out of the hatch, seeing the now exposed alpha. In the center of the now decimated swarm it could be seen. It made sense now why Gretchen had called it a broodmother and not something more bird-like.

Rather than the tiny hummingbird like Grimm that had flown in, this was the size of a small car. It flew more upright, and the tail feathers on the alpha jutted out in three directions like the fins on a plane wing. Speaking of wings, the wings on the alpha were much larger and they could now hear that even the alpha alone was capable of making a racket with the thrumming of its wings. It still had barely any plating, having only one round one on its center and another over its head. The beak of the alpha looked like it could puncture through their ship with little resistance. Perhaps the most notable feature however were the holes that lined the sides of the alpha. Anyone with trypophobia may have felt sick at the sight.

Along both sides of the alpha, under where its wings may have folded when not in flight, were a series of holes, maybe around fifty on each side. The alpha seemed to swell for a moment before it screeched. As it screeched it practically deflated, and from the holes in its side, more and more newborn Thrummingbirds flooded from its body and joined the swarm.

"Oh my God that was disgusting," Whitley had his tongue out. Yang herself had actually wretched for a moment after watching what was essentially a mass, live Grimm birth.

"Attack now! While we have an opening!" Raven called. They wasted no time, shooting back out into the swarm and whittling away at the Thrummingbirds that still defended their alpha.

One particularly well placed shot from Nora tore through the swarm and one of the alphas tail feathers. It screeched and flew sporadically, its balance thrown off. While it was nice that they had managed to finally do some damage to the damn thing, it unfortunately had just become harder to hit.

"Whitley! Your time to shine, pretty-boy!" Yang called. He rolled his eyes but stepped forward and readied his semblance and revolver. He watched the alpha shoot back and forth through the sky, his eyes following it in the calculated way they'd all seen from him before.

After a moment, he held Pistolblume forward. From the barrel, one giant glyph appeared, with the wave of his hand, ten more smaller glyphs appeared around the perimeter of the large one. He spun the cylinder of his gun, making sure each one was loaded with the same type of dust. When he was fully prepared, he took a breath and stared ahead. His eyes followed the Grimm back and forth, each glyph beginning to spin faster and faster. When the alpha swelled once again, he acted.

His hand flew to the hammer of his revolver, fanning all six shots off at once. They all got caught in the large center glyph, which now glowed brightly. The ten surrounding glyphs then did the same and with one final forward wave of his hand, the glyphs all fully activated.

From the ten surrounding glyphs, an onslaught of small, needle-like icicles flew forward and tore through the swarm, dropping the numbers even further and leaving the alpha without any of its spawn to defend it. The ten glyphs then turned inward and in the center of the giant glyph, one giant spear of ice was formed.

With his revolver still held at the center, Whitley fired one last shot, and the spear flew forward like with all the speed of a bullet. It punctured through the unarmored throat of the alpha, which stopped mid air. Its wings beat two more times before going rigid as its swollen form fell from the air and plummeted into the ocean below.

"Nice shot," Yang slugged him in the arm and he yelped, rubbing it and glaring at her before righting himself.

"Did you expect anything less?" he asked smugly. Yang hummed, tapping her chin.

"I kinda thought it'd be funny if you missed it!" she laughed. He scowled and the two devolved into their normal bickering. Gretchen shook her head and pulled the switch that closed the hatch back up. They were a spritely bunch, and they liked what they did. In a way they reminded her of herself when she was younger. She hoped they wouldn't have to go through the loss she went through at their age.

This life of theirs, the war they were now a part of, had a habit of making even the brightest of lights turn dim. She didn't want that, nobody did, but it was a necessary evil. As Gretchen watched the hull full of people celebrate their not deaths, she turned her eyes to Cinder. The younger woman was once again caught between the motherly duo of Raven and Summer, and was clearly being made for a fool again if her growing rage was any indication. Such a sight made Gretchen smile, if only just slightly. Cinder never was one who liked interacting with others. And even though she'd deny it if asked later, Gretchen swore she saw some amount of amusement on the woman's face, even as she denied Summer that she'd ever want to settle down.

Maybe these lights were just bright enough to make a difference. Gretchen hoped they would only get brighter before they ever got darker.


We'll call it there for now. This chapter got finished in under a month this time! Hooray!

We got to see our split in this chapter, and we'll be seeing Adam and Jaune more in the next chapter as they start their journey. We get a little Gretchen insight, as well as some Summer exercising her silver eyed prowess. If Ruby was able to pick up how to do it in the show with barely any practice, I'd assume that at around Summer's age she'd probably be able to use the powers like they had a cooldown instead of passing out or needing to charge herself up for every use.

Ruby gets a rose themed eyepatch, something that I have been planning since all the way at the beginning of this story. For those who might have passed over it or been confused, it's the same rose that's on the back of Adam's original jacket. My way of stoking the fires of this crack ship as well as a nod towards the fact that Ruby and Adam both have matching color pallets and insignias.

Make sure to follow to stay updated and favorite if you liked what you saw! Let me know what you thought in the reviews!

Stay healthy, and have a wonderful time!

Oh! And take an Omake for the road!


Omake: All A Part of Being a Mom

Ruby was in hell right now. It wasn't because she was missing an eye, nor was it because they were trekking through the woods to go on the run from Ozpin and his forces. No, her hell manifested in the form of her very own mother, who right now couldn't, or rather wouldn't, stop talking.

"OHHHHH! IT WAS SO CUTE AND SWEET!" Summer gushed, shaking the mortified Ruby back and forth, "HE GAVE YOU A PIECE OF HIM! AND IT HAD A ROSE ON IT!"

"Yes mother I was there, we can stop. Talking. About it. Now," Ruby bit out as she stomped through the woods rigidly.

"But how could I ever stop talking about my own daughter being proposed to!?" Summer swooned. Ruby nearly fell forward on her face hearing that.

"WHAT!?" she screeched, face somehow coloring even more. Behind her, her so-called friends giggled at her misfortune. She'd never forgive them. Never!

"Honey," Summer waved her finger like she knew exactly what she was talking about, "A man doesn't give you something like that and then promise to come back unless he wants to settle down and have a hundred grandkids."

Ruby blanched. Settle down? A hundred grandkids!?

"Ooooooooh! I'm so happy my motherly instincts were right!"

They weren't! They couldn't be! Ruby refused it! REFUSED!

"Raven! Did you see all of that!? Tell me it wasn't the cutest thing!" Summer turned her shaking onto Raven, who barely registered it.

"We saw the same thing Sum," Raven didn't even turn to look at her, "It was just adorable."

Raven sounded about as interested as if Summer had just asked her what her favorite rock was. Ruby at least thanked her for that much.

"Exactly!" Summer either didn't care or didn't notice Raven's disinterest, "So Ruby, which of your daughters are you gonna name after me? The oldest? The youngest? As long as you save the middle child for your grandmother's maiden name!"

"Rose was our grandmother's maiden name!" Ruby snapped.

"Exactly! Rose is an adorable name! What about boy names!? Ray! Help me come up with some!"

"Abortion."

"No, no, that's a terrible name. I'm thinking Cinnabar. Oh! Or maybe even Vermilion! OH! WHAT ABOUT ROSARIO!?"

Ruby was truly in hell. All of her mothers ramblings in full force and about what could possibly be one of the most embarrassing things she could be talking about. And the worst part?

Ruby flushed as dipped her head.

Rosario's kinda cute, she made sure that thought would remain locked away forever, along with what said child might look like if had with said man. She didn't need anyone knowing about these thoughts.


Adam groaned as Jaune continued his relentless teasing. If he'd known the blonde would be this bad, he would've left him at the docks.

"Oh come on, you two would totally have kids. What do you think of Rosario if it's a boy?" Jaune asked. Apparently the guy had a little bit of baby fever.

Even so, Adam hummed, for once in the blondes playful barbs did he not feel like hitting him.

"Rosario isn't a bad name," Adam admitted. But he would never admit to anything else, least of all who that child would come from. That didn't stop Jaune from starting anew, making Adam regret the choice to respond.