"Ruby, you can't eat with your mouth full."

Ruby squinted her eyes open and looked hard at the shadowy face in front of her. She had a sense that it was her mother, but facially, she couldn't tell. It was too bright, and at the same time, too dark. It almost looked like, Weiss...or Yang...was it Blake? It was like a mix of faces, all in one, of so many people she knew. It was a little scary, too.

"You could choke." The voice was also like a mix of all her friends and family, which was even weirder, because it was only one voice. Ruby tried to sit up but found she was tangled in something. It was her red hood. Or was it? She tried to lift it up, but the soft fabric suddenly melted away in her hand. It was blood. Soon, she found she was sitting in a pool of blood, her hood still on her shoulders, making it look like she was constantly bleeding from her back and shoulders. She gasped and found that the blood was boiling hot, and she jumped to her feet, falling over as her legs were tangled in her hood still, somehow. The blood seemed to burn her skin, making her feel suddenly cold, and a sizzling sound followed with some red steam.

Looking around her, it looked like she was in some old sewer, any gas or liquid possible replaced with shiny, bright red blood. The strange figure that had just been right in her face before had stepped back, standing on the blood as if it were a floor. The figures identity was even more vague, and it was starting to look much creepier than before. Ruby panicked, the blood turning colder and colder by the second and begging to turn darker and darker. She tried to stand up, get out of the now freezing blood, and away from the shadowy, vague figure nearby.

"Who are you?!" she cried, the blood starting to feel sticky and thick now, "What is this?!" The blood suddenly started to rise up, as if more of it was filling the room. And it was. The grates, holes in he floors and ceilings, and any opening visible was spurting up blood, making the levels of blood rise until it was already up to her chin. Ruby struggled to stand up, keep her head above the blood, but her hood kept her tied to the ground, and she couldn't breath. But she could somehow see, under all that blood, and saw the shadowy figure, standing there, or rather, hovering. It now looked much less like a girl now, but more like a boy. A tall, full grown man. And with every wave of blood that hit him, the less vague his features became. A black suit; golden buttons; green scarf with a silver crucifix; holding a cane in front of him.

"Ozpin?" Ruby asked, forgetting that she could not breath. It didn't seem to affect her speech, nor her breath. His eyes held his usual, knowing look in them. A look of shame was added to the mix, and his gaze seemed to pierce down to her very soul, making her shiver. She felt numb, and at the same time, too hot. And now she was only in a red room, where everything but the two of them were red.

"I tried to warn him," he said. For the first real time, Ruby actually missed him. "Warn him where this would lead. And now the people you thought were capable of protecting you from the dangers of your own friends and allies are the very ones bringing this 'danger' you fear. You want to blame them, chide them for lacking compassion and loathing you for your deeds, but if you think about it, it is really you whom you should be blaming. You were the one who completed the action that brought you here, and you were the one who concealed a secret that you should've and could've, with less complications and more love, told the others and made things right. Not to mention, you were the one who 's expectations lead to more damage, more than once, in this whole mess."

Ruby felt tears pouring down her face, mingling with the blood that seemed waxed on. Ozpin closed his eyes and bowed his head, sympathy and pain clear on his face.

"I am truly sorry, Miss Rose," he said quietly, "But I do believe you have no one to cry out to without drawback." And with that, the blood began to wash over him once more, painting over him. With every wave, that washed over him, the color of that spot would change into a different one until Ozpin's whole outfit had changed. It was no longer him anymore, but someone else. Ruby's heart jumped at the sight of him.

"Oscar!" she choked, feeling like the blood that she was once more surrounded in was beginning to gain some wait. Oscar stood there, his head bowed with his cane held out in front of him, vertical. He looked up slowly, a pained look in his eyes. There were tears brimming there, in those two pools of hazel, but they didn't spill. They just seemed to get more and more filled with tears, and the look of pain and sorrow grew until Ruby felt she couldn't bear it anymore. She tried to stand up, reach out to him with a warm, loving hug, but found that her legs were as limp as wet paper.

"Ruby..," Oscar whispered, his voice equally pained, "I-I'm sorry. I really t-tried...to protect you..."

Ruby's eyes widened and more tears ran down her face. Behind Oscar was herself, standing there and holding something. It was a small bundle...with little chubby arms sticking out and waving around. The tiny wail of a baby came from it.

Is that our baby?!

The other Ruby's face was flat and emotionless, with a hint of resentment, and she slowly pulled out Crescent Rose from her back, one handed. Then with a sudden moment, her face became infuriated with pure anger and hatred, and she transformed Crescent Rose into a scythe, swinging it high above her head with a menacing look on her face. Ruby screamed, trying to do everything, anything, she could do to stop that blade from hurting Oscar. Poor, poor Oscar. But she was too late. She was nearly stuck frozen to the ground while the silver and red blade sliced into Oscar's back, spraying a terribly large amount of blood from the wound and adding it to the blood already covering them all.

"No!" Ruby shrieked, a torrent of tears seeming to drown her face, "No! Leave him alone! Stop! Please!" She struggled against the horrible burning cold blood that kept her bonded away from her love. The mother Ruby, still holding the baby, grinned. But it wasn't a satisfied grin, but rather a grin that was meant to be satisfaction but wasn't enough. The mother Ruby's face went mad, her eyes wide and unfocused, and she began to slice and wack Oscar to her black heart's content. It was then that Oscar's tears began to fall.

And Oscar just stood there. Let her shred him up and take every ounce of strength and happiness he had left. As if he deserved it or something. But Ruby knew that he didn't. He was just as innocent about this as anyone else who hadn't even taken part in this mess. He was just a poor farm boy, forced to take the reins of a mad horse, driven insane down a rocky path full of bumps, ditches, and all sorts of obstacles.

"Oscar, no!" Ruby shouted, her desperate cries turning to sobs, "Fight back...don't let me do this anymore..." It was just too much. Ozpin could just take over, right? He could just fight back for him and get rid of her just like that. But no, he had left Oscar and Ruby by themselves, letting them stab around in the dark. And Oscar...he was capable of stopping her before it was too late. But he just stood there, letting her destroy him.

"Ruby..," Oscar coughed, wincing as her scythe cut into his head, "I-I just want you t-to be h-happy." He smiled weakly at her as another numbing blow was sent into his legs. His leg buckled and he fell to his knees in agony. He cried out as Ruby stabbed Crescent Rose into his back in spear form, making it go at least halfway through him. Oscar fell onto his hands and knees, coughing up puddles of blood. Ruby began to weep, sobbing for him to stop this and kill her. Both of her, if he had to. But Oscar looked back up at her.

"You're doing th-this to m-me because you w-want t-to," he spluttered, blood running out of his mouth in exaggerated portion sizes, "A-and I w-won't stop you from doing w-what you think is b-best. I w-won't take anything f-from you. Ever." He smiled again and Ruby cried even harder.

"You m-mean more to me than the wh-whole w-world," he continued. The mother Ruby, whose baby had suddenly disappeared, stepped back and prepared to stab her spear into his back once more. One final time.

"A-and I don't w-want them to hurt y-you for something that I-I am part of t-too." He braced himself for the last blow that Ruby would give him. Ruby realized that the mother Ruby was getting ready to stab him through and end his life. But she couldn't let her do that. Nobody was going to end her Oscar's life. She tried to use her semblance, surprised and relieved that it somehow actually worked, and she sped towards him. He was farther away than she remembered, and then, everything seemed to go in slow motion.

The rose petals all around her went slow motion, she went in slow motion, and the mother Ruby went into slow motion. She was just moving forward, her spear posed perfectly at the hole in Oscar's back that was already gushing blood, slowly. Oscar's eyes were closed and he awaited his death with a calm, sad face. Ruby watched as the spear got closer and closer to its target, and she realized that she was floating farther away from him. Away from Oscar, who would soon be dead. Things started to go back into normal speed again, and Ruby screamed out, hoping it would stop the other her from killing him.

Suddenly, she noticed that she herself was standing behind Oscar, the spear in her hand about to end his life. Shocked, she tried to stop herself, but the momentum was too great. The spear she was holding drove through the hole and out through his chest, finished Oscar's stand on his hands and knees. He fell to the ground and lay there, still. Ruby stood there, shocked and frightened, and then overcome by grief. The other Ruby was gone, but the little bundle containing their child lay on the ground by her feet, crying.

Ruby fell to her knees, her eyes wide and filled with tears, staring into the distance in pure shock and heartbrokenness. Letting go of the spear, she buried her face into her hands and began to weep. Oscar's dead, bleeding body lay in front of her with Crescent Rose sticking out of her back in spear form, their baby lay at her knees, crying louder and louder with each second, and the blood had disappeared from around her. In the hazy atmosphere of wherever she was, a world of pure white, a sense that she was alone filled her. Like she knew that there was nobody left in her life anymore. She cried harder than she even though possible, and her baby screamed so loud her ears began to loose sense of hearing.

Then, with a suddenness that could scare a rock, the baby stopped and then let out a tremendous screech, so high pitched and loud that it seemed to shatter Ruby herself. She suddenly looked like she was made of some sort of glass, and she shattered into a million pieces. The white around her became so bright she could barely see.

And then she couldn't breathe.

She tried desperately to breathe, get a breath of air, but none came. It was as if she was floating in space or something and there was no air whatsoever. She felt her lungs cry out for air, and she began to feel lightheaded. A feeling of death seemed to hover over her and she sudden became aware of nothing anymore. And then she sat up, drenched in sweat, gasping in deep breaths of air, and shaking very hard. She looked around, only to find that she was laying in her tent, wrapped in her hood, which was now damp from sweat, and sunlight was shifting in through her tent's walls and celling.

She sighed with relief, glad that it had just been one, horrid nightmare and not real. Or had it been? An uneasy sense that Oscar wasn't alright began to crowd her mind. She wanted nothing more than to see that he was living and alright. Scrambling to her wobbly feet, she began to hurriedly get dressed, tears beginning to run down her face again.

Meanwhile, Oscar lay awake in his tent, long having been up since dawn. Even though he had gone to bed late and had suddenly had the exhaustion of many days heaped upon him, he had waken up early and been unable to fall back asleep. So he lay there, thinking about everything that had happened last night. Ruby's face last night had crushed his heart, and Ozpin's message had left him confused, upset, and very sad. He and Ruby were in this alone now, not like they were't before. And what could they do? Even if they somehow managed to hide Ruby's pregnancy to the last moment, how were they going to keep the baby secret? Not to mention the labor...

Oscar sighed and covered his face with his hands, feeling more exasperated than ever. If he told anyone, they would kill him. Literally. And if he and Ruby ran away, the others would somehow track them down, likely, and then deal with them in a horrible way. Sure, Qrow and Yang loved Ruby, and Weiss and the rest of her team had been forgiving enough to forgive Blake after she had blatantly left them. But this was different. In a very bad way. There was no way he and Ruby could face up to them. It just wasn't possible without drawback, just like Ozpin had said. And now Oscar couldn't even talk to Ozpin even a tiny bit. He was gone now. Ozpin could hear him, of course, but he wasn't going to help him or talk. Wonderful.

"Some help you are!" Oscar almost yelled angrily, looking up at his head, "Way to really listen to me up there!" He grunted in frustration and sighed again. It was all hopeless now, and every day that passed, their secret would get more and more obvious. And he had to be the man of this situation. He couldn't just blame it all on Ruby. He was a man, and he was going to stand up for her in the way he ought to; with love and truth.

As he was sorting through his messy thoughts, he heard something. It sounded like...sobbing? Yes, it was sobbing, Ruby's sobbing, and it was coming closer. Oscar sat up a little, groaning at the pain in his muscles. He saw Ruby's shadow racing towards his tent, and then she burst through the entrance, locking her arms around him in a tight hug, and she held onto him, weeping into his shoulder...again. It was even worse than her weeping last night, and Oscar's heart broke once again. He immediately held onto her, hugging her back and petting her hair. She was an emotional mess now, he could tell. He just wondered what, exactly, had given her the urge to run into his tent and cry into his shoulder.

"Ruby?" he asked, gently pulling her away from him so he could see her face, "What's the matter."

Ruby sniffed and sucked in a sob, trying to stop crying. Her shiny tears dripped down her face and wetted her cheeks, and her overall expression was making Oscar's eyes water. He quickly adjusted to it, though, and looked softly at her. She sniffed harder, and wiped at her eyes.

"I-I-I," she stuttered, sobbing in between words, "I-I...y-you!" She began to cry more, and Oscar almost got annoyed. But he felt far too sad himself, and too sad for her to really feel annoyed. "What is it?"

"M-my d-dream last n-night," she choked, her eyes only half open and brimming with tears, "Y-you s-saved m-m-me from m-me." She took in a long, uneven and shaky breath. "I-I k-k-killed you and y-you forgave m-me. I-I'm so s-sorry!" She broke down crying again, and Oscar held her up in his arms. He gently brushed away the hair that had fallen into her face and he held her close again, patting her back. She clung to him even tighter, and began sobbing some sort of unidentifiable gibberish into his shoulder muffled by his coat. She really was upset. He drew back from her again and looked her square in the eyes.

"Ruby, I-" he began, confused and at the same time understanding of what she had recently blurted, "I'm sorry. Ozpin's not here anymore, but that's alright. If you need anything, then just tell me, and I'll try my best to do it for you, okay?" He smiled faintly. Ruby managed a wobbly smiled and nodded her head slowly. Her eyes displayed the kind of fear she must have felt in her dream, and it was absolutely horrendous. Oscar wished he could have just taken the dream that had been terrorizing her the night before, and had it himself. That poor girl didn't need anything more to get worked up about.

"Then could I have another hug?" she asked him weakly. Oscar smiled softly.

"Of course."

And they hugged one last time that morning, the quite of the morning and the beautiful sounds of nature around them calming them both to some extent. It was after a nice long hug and another round of tears that they both came back to the present feeling much better. Or at least much better than before. Ruby smiled weakly again and slowly stood up, not wanting to get them in trouble again by getting caught seen in his tent. Oscar smiled his goodbye, returning hers, and then she slowly left his tent, leaving Oscar behind again, alone to himself.

As Ruby walked out back into the sunshine, her clothes a little messy on her, and her hair bearing a bad bedhead, she looked down at her stomach, wondering how visible her bump was in this view. She couldn't see it too much, but it was still there. Though, she supposed it was mostly because she was used to seeing it raw, and she was so paranoid about it. But still, a growing sense of uneasiness filled her, and the fear of her secret being uncovered began to worry her. But she tried to shake it off, knowing that it wasn't too showy, and it probably wouldn't be too much of a deal. But still...

Just please let this be invisible to them.

The first person up was Jaune, and he seemed surprised to see Ruby the first one up. She had already stirred up the fire, started boiling some water, and was cutting up roots. He approached her, fresh after a good night's sleep, and wearing clean clothes. He had polished his armor last night, and the sun glinted off its smooth surface. Ruby noticed him out of the corner of her eye and looked up from the root she was cutting.

"Hey, Jaune!" she greeted with a smile. The tear stains from before had faded, so she looked pretty much normal. He smiled, glad to see that she was up at the time she used to be, and she looked much better than earlier.

"You look chipper," he said brightly, "Feeling better?" His smile was so warm and friendly, Ruby couldn't help but smile too. Although she had maybe loved him at one point, Oscar was now her man, and she felt bad for Jaune. He probably thought that Ruby was good with him. She nodded.

"Yep!" she said cheerfully, continuing to chop the roots, "I slept pretty great last night. You?" Jaune smiled and nodded.

"Great," he answered, sitting down on a log by the fire and grabbing one of the raw chunks of meat waiting to be cooked. He took out his sword and began slicing it into nice pieces. "Breakfast stew sounds pretty good," he said, eyeing up the roots that Ruby tossed into the boiling water. Ruby nodded with a smile.

"My dad used to make it all the time. Me and Yang got so sick of it that we would throw our bowls on the floor and make a huge mess." She giggled. "We were young enough that our dad though we were too cute to get in trouble!"

Jaune laughed and nodded his head, tossing in some pieces of meat into the root-water.

"Yeah, me and my sisters-all of them-would try to put together money every week so we could get to the ice cream truck on Mondays. We would take a certain amount of time every day, searching for spare change and lost money all over the place. One of my sisters, Sky, almost got hit by a car once, finding a lien card in the road."

"Wait...Saffron...Sky...Do all of your sisters' names start with an s?"

"Yeah...that's what makes me even more and oddball in my family."

"Can you tell me all of them?"

"Um...yeah, they're my sisters. But okay."

He took a deep breath.

"Sapphire, Scarlet, Saffron, Sandy, Sage, Sunny, and Sky."

Ruby giggled.

"And then there's Jaune," she said, "The J! And nobody else in your family has a J name?"

"My mom's name is Jade," he answered, "Which is funny, because she's got blond hair and blue eyes...like almost all of us."

"What about your dad? Is he blond and blue too?"

"No. He's got red curly hair and really dark brown eyes."

"What's his name?"

"Nathan."

"Nathan and Jade Arc..," she murmured, "Nice."

Jaune looked back down at the sword and the rock he had been using to cut the meat, only to realize that he had finished it and that all of it was in the pot. He shrugged and stood back up. Ruby had also finished cutting the roots and had also added them to the cooking meat. She grabbed some of the salt they still had left from a town they had passed a few weeks ago and added it to the mix, along with some fresh herbs. The stew was already smelling fantastic. But a single fruit stamped itself into Ruby's mind.

Watermelon!

"That smells great!" Jaune said, taking his sword, "I'm gonna go wash this and my hands off in the water. I'll be right back." And he walked into the trees, disappearing from view. Ruby smiled, glad that she had been able to forget the lingering horror of her previous nightmare. She felt much better after talking to Jaune and learning more about his family. She had always wondered what his family was like, or rather, what all of their names were. She shrugged and stirred the stew, wishing she had onions. Those would taste pretty great in the stew, and maybe some yuca root...

"Ruby!"

Yang's cheery voice startled her little sister badly and made her jump, nearly burning her on the hot pot atop the fire.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled angrily, stepping back and turning to face her older sister, "Stop doing that!"

Yang skipped over, seeming to have gotten some of her thrill-seeker attitude as before. "Stop doing what? Cheerfully greeting my baby sister in the morning? No way!" She gave Ruby a nice, gentle hug. "I'm glad you're doing better. I missed the old you."

Ruby's eyes widened.

Well, then. Oscar sure keeps me good and 'normal' for you.

"Yeah," Ruby said after Yang had let go, "I'm glad too. I guess I just needed a little time." She smirked and quickly stirred the stew. Yang stepped over and looked over Ruby's shoulder at the bubbling stew in the pot. It was steaming and looked quite appealing. Yang licked her lips.

"Are you seriously making that stew Dad always made?" she asked, humored. Ruby grinned and nodded.

"Mom taught me how," she began, "But we've had it so many times, I pretty much knew what was in it by taste!" She and Yang giggled together. Then Yang looked directly into Ruby's eyes with a soft, knowing smile. She gently placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder and sighed.

"It's good to have you back," she said. Ruby smiled and nodded.

"Yeah." She looked down at a small chipmunk and followed it with her gaze as it scampered through the clearing and escaped into the trees, rustling the bushes as it fled. Ruby's mind drifted as the sounds of the birds and the bugs filled her ears, along with the trickle of the stream and the rustling of the trees in the wind. Several crows called out their harsh caws, echoing slightly along the treetops.

"Ruby?" Yang asked, noticing her sister's distraction, "You okay?" Ruby snapped herself back to the present and nodded her head vigorously.

"Yeah!" she said cheerfully, "I'm great! Just listening to all the pretty sounds of nature." She smiled contently and watched a few birds fly together from tree to tree. Yang shrugged and stretched, walking over to the stew and staring its bubbling contents.

"Okay, then. Boy, will everyone else enjoy this." She breathed in the rich, savory fragrance of the stew and licked her lips. "Nice job, sis!"

Ruby nodded and started walking towards one of the logs that circle the fire. She sat down on it, frowning as she felt her bump more when she sat. She felt like it was sticking out even more when she sat, and it made her nervous. But she knew she should't stress herself out too much. Oscar had warned her what it could lead to, and she didn't want that to happen. But she still felt very uneasy about it, so she covered up her midsection with her hood, posing it as a blanket to ward off the chilly morning air.

The next hour was a mix of people waking up, getting ready for the day, and eating the stew that Ruby and Jaune had made. And now, they mostly sat there, finishing off their last bowls of stew and chatting about their next plans. Ruby had finished off her stew faster than everyone else, the savory chunks of meat appealing largely to her diet, and she now sat with her empty bowl perched on a stump in the log she sat on. Her cape remained covering her belly, and Oscar had taken notice of this. But he didn't make a public not of this, and he simply brushed it off, knowing why it was.

"Hey, could have your attention please?" Jaune asked, standing up in front of the fire. Everybody's conversation ceased as they averted their gaze to Jaune, who, fortunately for him, was taller than literally everyone else. Ruby didn't want to look directly at his honest blue eyes because she felt it would give away her secret, somehow, just by them meeting eyes. And it was weird, because she felt like it was just now, not earlier when they had been looking directly at each other. Weird.

"It seems that we've been standing around for a little too long," he began, looking at each and every one of them, "And now I think it's about time we get moving again."

Ruby inwardly collapsed and pulled out a revolver, shooting herself and Jaune thousands of times over. Outwardly, her eyes just widened and she started blankly at nothing, surprised and not very pleased. Everyone else just nodded and exchanged nods with other people, approving collectively.

"So when do we leave?" Blake asked.

"I was thinking right after breakfast," Jaune answered, enthusiastic as usual, "We can pack up and get going."

"And we're heading where?" Weiss asked, a hint annoyed. Jaune rolled his eyes and sighed.

"We are going to Atlas, Weiss," he answered for the tenth time. Literally. "I know you hate it there and you've been eager to leave and never see that place again, but we have a mission."

Weiss squinted hard at Jaune, and then looked around at everyone else, as if urging them to intervene. Then a thought came to her.

"Why are we going there?" she asked, holding up a hand, "Especially since we don't even know if we can trust Ozpin anymore. He lied to us, and quite frankly, I haven't found any more reasons to trust him at all."

Ruby and Oscar exchanged glances and Ruby's hands clutched her skirt angrily.

"And even if we did decided to go forward with his plans," Weiss continued, her voice containing its usual saltiness, "We wouldn't even know where to put the Relic, let alone what to do with it. We left it with Maria in Atlas because she knew how to keep it safe and defend herself from Grimm...t least to some extent, and so we could figure out what to do next. We need to defeat Salem, somehow, but how in Remnant are we going to do that? She invincible. How do you deal with that? Maybe we can't defeat her, but we can defend ourselves from her. If we had all four Relics, I think we could do that, keeping ourselves and others safe."

There was a long, quiet silence after Weiss finished her statement. People exchanged glances or looked at the ground in though. The birds chirping, breeze gently blowing, water trickling, and the crackling of the fire were all that could be heard. And then Qrow spoke up.

"If we don't have the Lamp of Knowledge with us, and it's in Atlas, along with the Atlas Relic, going back to Atlas while we're in bad terms with them is suicide. Even if our skills are pretty sweet, it would only be us against hundreds and hundreds of Atlas military soldiers. Not like they're hard to beat, but with a bunch of weaklings agains a small amount of strong fighters, we could get spanked away from Atlas forever."

"That's um...encouraging," Jaune said, nervously scratching the back of his head. Qrow just gave him that one maroon glare that told Jaune to hold his tongue. And he did.

"Uh...I think Weiss has a point," Blake said, slightly hesitant, "I know it could be potentially risky going back into Atlas for a second shot, but it could really be worth it. And being Huntsmen and Huntresses is all about risk."

"Yeah," Qrow said, taking a swig from his flask, "But that doesn't mean you go all stupid about it. That's how you die."

"Nah," Yang said, giving her thick golden hair a flick, "I live to risk, and look at me. I'm fit and alive as ever!" She smirked and rubbed some dirt off her gauntlet. Weiss rolled her eyes but remained silent. Qrow just looked down, feeling like anything he said would be rejected by the group. It likely would, anyway.

Just my luck.

Ruby, although having the constant stress of keeping her baby safe and concealing it fro the others, hand jumped right back into her position as team leader. She wanted to help and figure things out, just like Ozpin had told her when she had first become leader. It was a daunting task, but she knew she could do it, and she suddenly had a solution. It was kind of made up as she went, thinking it through, and then it just seemed to make sense.

"I think I have another idea," Ruby said solemnly. Everybody, including Qrow, looked in her direction, shifting their focus on her. Oscar felt a little nervous, feeling like Ruby might accidentally give something away. If her plan was easier or laid-back, it could easily arouse the suspicions of others. He swallowed nervously and listened carefully to her plan.

"It better not involve stealing another airship," Weiss said, sipping some water, "Because we already know that that plan will fail."

"Um," Ruby began looking down and starting at her dusty boots, "It kind of does. But not entirely."

The group stared at her, confused.

"We're trying to get into Atlas," she said, looking back up at the group, "And I think I found another way. It may be a little more difficult though. Like more sneaky."

"Like our previous plan wasn't difficult enough," Weiss said sarcastically. Blake gave her a scowling glance that hushed Weiss up.

"Be respectful and hear her out," she mumbled. Weiss sighed and put her hands in her lap.

"And it does involve Weiss going back home again," Ruby continue, glancing at her partner.

"And how will that work if we just tried that only a few days ago?" Weiss asked, hoping she wouldn't get scolded again. Nobody challenged.

"Because," Ruby began, "We told Argus you were going home. I'm pretty sure they didn't tell your dad you were coming back. And when they attacked us earlier, Cordovin must have messaged them to attack an 'impostor ship' or something. He probably has no idea you were involved in that attack."

Weiss nodded slowly, but remained with a frown.

"I still don't think it will work if I try going home again," she said, crossing her arms, "I ran away, for goodness sake! What do you think would make my father think that I suddenly turned around and decided to come back after only around a month?"

Ruby looked hard at Weiss.

"A sudden mishap," she said, squinting. Weiss looked at the ground and thought for a moment. Then she gasped and looked back up at Ruby.

"What?!" she exclaimed, eyes wide, "I am not going home and begging for forgiveness from my father! Never."

She crossed her arms and looked away.

"Weiss, if you'll just hear me out-" Ruby began. Oscar stood up and spoke about the growing heat in conversation.

"I think it would work," he said, his deep, raspy voice holding authority, "We just need to hear the rest of her plan." He smiled softly at Ruby and winked. Ruby hid a grin and then cleared her throat.

"Weiss, you would just call your dad up on your scroll and ask him for forgiveness...or whatever."

Weiss looked liked she waned to kill Ruby, but she simply looked down. "No."

Ruby, who's mood could rapidly change to anger at the moment, felt irritation at Weiss's stubbornness making her face hot and her fists clench. She was already getting super mad, and she didn't want to loose her friendship with her. But right now, this was important, and she was going to get this through to everyone.

"And then an Atlas ship will come and pick her up," she continued, keeping a mean eye on Weiss, "I was thinking, Blake, that from what you told us, you're pretty good at sneaking onto transportation items like trains and such. If you could get onto the ship, we could simply follow your lead, and then we're on."

Blake gave a brief nod of her head. "It does depend on what kind of ship it is," she added, "If it's heavily armed or guarded, it could be a lot more difficult. But assuming that it's just a simple transportation ship, I don't think it should be a huge problem. We should prepare for it, though, just in case."

The group nodded. Ruby shifted her gaze onto Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby began, locking eyes with him, "To make things a bit easier you you...and everyone else in general...do you think you'd be okay with...well, turning into a crow for the flight there? You could fly with the ship, just by the window, and then come out and fight if we really need it."

Qrow gave her an unamused look and sighed.

"Look," he said, shifting into a different sitting position, "Ruby, I know you have a bunch of 'big ideas' in your head all the time, but in case you haven't noticed, with me around, they usually turn into 'bad ideas'. And sure, you could say, we've made it though a lot of things with me around, but they haven't been easy, and to be honest...some pretty horrible things happened because of my semblance."

Ruby sighed, but didn't loose her plan, or her eagerness.

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby said, giving him her silver look, "You're my family, and family sticks through things together, even if one of us weighs us down. But the thing is, we can lift each other up when one of us sinks. It's how a family operates! Then we all finish standing. I love you, Uncle Qrow, and I don't want you to feel like you can't be a part of this. You're a huntsman, too. You can fight, and you're great at it. You've saved our lives countless times." She gave his a sweet smile.

Throughout that statement, all Qrow could think of was,

What a remarkable daughter.

And then he felt like all he could do was listen. Sure, he wasn't going to blindly follow or do something that would clearly ruin things, but he was going to try. He was sick and tired of thing always going wrong, but what, really, did they have to loose? If anything, he deserved to die. So why not risk everything. It didn't matter, anyway. He would die, sooner or later, so why not try to help Ruby while he still could? Nodding, he agreed to help her.

Ruby smiled and nodded her thanks.

"And then," she continued, gaining some sort of momentum as she spoke, "We can sneak off, we've done that plenty of times to remember how, and then we're in!"

"All-right!" Nora said excitedly, lifting a fist into the air, "I just should't hope for a fight. I feel like I haven't fought in centuries!" She made that almost wicked grin. "I also haven't broken any legs in years."

Ren sighed and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Nora, please..."

She giggled and scooted closer to him. "Of course, Ren!" She giggled again and Ren smiled softly. Ruby couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Nora and Ren could openly show their affection for each other. No guilt. No fear. All open and great. But she and Oscar couldn't. Not yet, anyway. But that was her own fault, anyway. She bit her lip and got back to her plan. And just in time, too. Weiss was just about to open her mouth and ask exactly what Ruby was about to talk about.

"And Weiss," Ruby said, cutting her teammate off just as her mouth opened, "As for you, we'll grab the Relic back from Maria, and then we'll get the Atlas Relic. Once we return, you should be able to see us from somewhere outside of the Schnee Manor. There are a lot of windows, right?"

Weiss rolled her eyes, her arms still crossed. "Yes."

"Great!" Ruby said, clapping her hands together, "Then just check often for us outside the windows! Which side of the Manor would you think is most accessible?"

Weiss thought for a moment before responding, "On the left side of the entrance. There's no special gate or anything. You could all probably just get over it using your weapons or something. I'll be checking out those windows then."

Ruby nodded.

"Perfect. Then you'll wait for us, and then you can escape from the window, using your glyphs. Pretty simple?"

"Sure."

"Okay then! If we do all that, then we sneak back out of Atlas the same way Weiss told us she flew out. She's got plenty of money. And then we leave with two powerful Relics and our whole crew."

"And how are we going to know where the Atlas Relic is?" Ren asked calmly. Ruby waved her hand at him and giggled.

"We have Oscar," she said, looking at Oscar, "And he's got Ozpin's memories! He can just recall where he put that Relic, as well as all the other ones, right Oscar?" She looked hopefully at him and he nodded.

"I've been testing that," he answered with another nod, "And I am able to recall where I hid all our Relics."

Ruby, excited and pumped for this plan, jumped excitedly in place. It reminded her a lot about that time in Beacon when team RWBY had gone out and stopped Torchwick's scheme together. That had been awesome.

"Then it's settled!" she said eagerly, "We do that, and then we meet back, right here, with two of the Relics!"

The group nodded and broke out in eager chatter, already working out the details of the trip and the plan. Ruby felt a satisfaction about having done this again. It really felt great to be like her old self, and not her nervous, unready, and pregnant actual self. And then a sudden realization slammed into her like a truck.

She had just increased everyone's trust about her hidden condition, but she had just raised the risk of harming her and Oscar's precious unborn child. And Oscar even looked a little nervous himself. But he knew Ruby knew what she was doing...he hoped. But now Ruby was suddenly terrified about her newly come up plan.

What did I just do?!

Okay! FINALLY got this chapter out! So sorry about this super late chapter! I was gone for a week on a trip, then our power went out for 29 hours, and then I had no access to this laptop for nearly a week. So a 2 week delay was set on this chapter! Sorry about that...Plus, I only have an hour a day to write, so it's kinda hard to post chapters as quickly as I would like to.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more chapters!