2 months later...
"We're leaving Atlas."
Jaune's words were like the lifting of a heavy burden for some, while a bit of a downer for the others. The tone he took was more determined that he had taken since their plan to obtain the Relic, fully grabbing everyone's attention.
"You're not kidding, right?" Weiss asked as she sipped her steaming mug of coffee. The group was sitting in the dining room and the living room, drinking tea and coffee as they finished the remains of that morning's breakfast.
It had been 2 months since Ruby had recovered from her illness, and the group had been dutifully watching for Salem to ensure she didn't steal the Relic, what with the newly found out consequences of the Relic being displaced. They had also been staying to finish resting up, although it wasn't essential to, and spend some long overdue time doing literally nothing.
It had been an oddly nice 2 months, and Ruby now looked very, very pregnant. Yang had laughed and made some fun jokes about it, and Nora had fun with that as well, while the others mostly went on with their usual routine.
During that time, Oscar and Ruby had been discussing the idea of the Atlas Technology, and now Oscar sounded more confident about it than ever. After setting up an appointment with James Ironwood, he had held a group meeting a little while later and informed everyone that he and Ruby would meet with the general to have the procedure done.
Of course, there had been a few protests, some for the sake of saving time, others for Oscar's safety, and one or two remarks about Oscar attempting something bad by isolating him and Ruby from the others somehow, but in the end, an agreement was made. Everyone would go with the two of them to Ironwood, they would see if it worked, and afterwards, they'd leave together with special permission from him.
Ruby had of course begged him to do it sooner, since their time was very limited, but Oscar had told her that the suspicion level of the Atlas Security there from their previous incident would need to greatly reduce in order for them to be able to meet with Ironwood.
It would be odd and a little hard to get used to, with a new vessel for Ozpin, but it would happen. Then Oscar and Ruby could be free of Ozpin's burden and be able to get married by the next year and half, once Ruby turned 18.
And because of this plan, Oscar put Ruby back into the group for leaving, explaining to Maria that he and Ruby were going to stay together and that he'd keep her safe, as well as take care of her. The others had been tentative to let Ruby back into their mission group, with her condition and all, but Oscar finally told them that after the procedure was done, he and Ruby would settle back down at his old home, the farm in Mistral, until the babies were born.
It was a bit of a complicated plan that Oscar had come up with, but he had built in on the confidence that this would work, and now they were all set up.
The group had begun to feel slight restless, knowing everything they did about Salem and their enemies, and knew that anytime now, a plan would be proposed by someone to carry out the next part of their mission.
And now it was the time.
"No," Jaune answered, shaking his head, "We're leaving this place and moving on with the rest of our objective."
"It's about time," Weiss began, "We've been watching for any sign of Salem for two whole months now, and she hasn't shown up. I'd say there isn't much of a chance of her coming after all this time."
"Yeah," Yang said, "I'm getting pretty excited to smash some Grimm heads in by now. Two months of nothing but fun cozy family time."
"If I'm honest," Blake said, "I feel like I've been missing time like this...with all of you. There's just been such a large amount of mishap and chaos, there hasn't been any room for this time, so I'm glad we had it."
The group all gave agreeing nods and murmurs.
"It's been my pleasure to have you all here," Maria said warmly, leaning on her cane and smiling, "And after you've done all your crazy huntsman work, you all come back here and visit me again, you hear?"
"Yes, we hear," Oscar chuckled.
"And come back in one piece, too," Maria added, pointing her finger scoldingly at them, "No missing limbs or any of that garbage. Oscar and Ruby, you two make sure you bring your babies with you."
Ruby and Oscar exchanged a glance and nodded. "We will."
"The rest of you, no skipping out," Maria said sternly, pointing at them, "I may be old, but you know full well that I am perfectly mobile and capable of brining you here myself!"
"You bet," Yang said, rolling her eyes, "I can't promise I'll be the most enthusiastic to arrive, though."
She giggled as she received a rough elbow from Nora and shook her head. Maria clicked her teeth and moved over to Ruby, gently placing a hand on her large stomach.
"You promise me," she said slowly, "That you will protect these children with everything you have."
"I promise," Ruby said sincerely, her voice hushed. Oscar nodded in agreement. Maria sighed and looked up at them with a smile and then turned around to face the others. She looked down for a second, looking a little sad that they were going to leave, and then looked back up.
"All of you have a grueling mission ahead of you," she said, "And I know that you all know that, but I'm not just repeating that because my brain is old and worn; I'm repeating it because it's true and it's going to be hard.
"So keep each other safe. Fight hard with the skills you've come to learn. Don't fight each other, don't split up for some selfish, foolish reason, and do not, I repeat, do not...underestimate any enemies you encounter. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," Jaune said with a nod.
"Now come over here and give me a hug, all of you," she finished, stretching her arms out wide. Everyone smiled and bunched around her, completely covering her in one big hug. Even Yang joined.
Once they had finished, Maria straighted herself up and tapped her cane on the floor. "Back to you, Jaune."
"Alrighty" Jaune said, "Me, Qrow, and Oscar have been thinking things over, and we've decided that we should be good to leave without worrying about the staff too much."
"Indeed," Oscar said with that awful formality that caused Ruby to look down, "The Relic's location is well hidden, and as you are all well informed, the current guardian is well suited for the task. If we depart, the chances of Salem obtaining the Relic are low, and if she does indeed attempt to take the Relic after we have departed, we can take our next Relic without any hinderance from her."
"He's totally right," Nora said, gesturing towards Oscar, "That guy creamed all nine of us by himself! And if Salem decides to show up where we are, then that just means Atlas is still safe."
"Either way, we aren't going to be any safer," Qrow said, leaning back in his chair, "So the amount of danger we have to face isn't really a problem we have to talk about."
"Yes," Oscar continued, "That being said, we have decided to depart for Vacuo by this afternoon."
"Aw man," Nora said, sounding disappointed, "That means we can't have one more of Maria's tasty dinners..."
"What about Ren?" Ruby suggested, finally talking for once, "He can make good pa-"
"PANCAKES!" Nora said excitedly, leaping off the couch and putting her hands on her hips, "Yes, yes, Ren can make amazing pancakes! Like, the best pancakes. Jaune, you can testify!" She faced Ren and Jaune and pointed fiercely at them.
"Uh, yeah," Jaune said, holding up his hands, "Ren makes great pancakes."
Ren gave them a modest smirk and rolled his eyes. "They are not that good...but I suppose I do a fine job in the art of culinary confections."
Ruby giggled and lightly held her hands together. Her arms felt a little uncomfortable held like that over her bump, and she awkwardly held them under it instead. Her mobility had become a little harder over the last month and a half or so, now that her babies had gotten so big already. She had no doubt that they were twins.
Oscar had sounded a little hopeful that they weren't, just for Ruby's sake, but couldn't hide the spark of fatherly eagerness that twinkled in his eyes whenever he and Ruby discussed the children. It was so heartwarming, and at the same time, like a knife to her heart.
Oscar, your plan better work. I'm starting to find myself really hoping in it, and if it doesn't work out...
"How do we know for sure that Ironwood will let us out?" Blake asked, "The Atlas Military is still guarding Atlas' borders for a reason. What would make us an acceptation?"
"James and I go way back," Qrow answered, putting his hands behind his head, "And knowing him, he probably won't let anyone in or out for a while now. Not until things with Atlas and the other kingdoms are settled. But, if I can convince him that what we're doing is dire, in which case it is, then it shouldn't be a problem."
"Coming into Atlas was difficult," Ren said.
"You can say that again," Weiss said, a bit snappily, "Using me as a ticket in, then having our cover blown, only to have to fight a giant mech and a bunch of ships after we arrived. We got hurt from that!" She finished her angry outpour with a disdainful sniff. A quick glance at Jaune ensued, however, and a softer look came upon her face.
"Eh, it wasn't that bad," Yang said with a shrug, "I blasted a whole ship down by myself."
"Hey, I helped with that!" Ruby protested, unfolding her hands from under her stomach, "There's no way you could've gotten thrown at that thing if I didn't use my semblance to launch you!"
"And my glyphs," Weiss added. Yang rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, "But I did all the damage. That was fun!"
"Yeah, so how do you know he wouldn't be well...mad at us or something from us sneaking in?" Jaune asked, hoping to steer everyone back into the original topic, "I'm sure he knew it was us."
"No, he wasn't informed of the 'intruder's' identity," Oscar replied, "He was simply notified that someone had hijacked one of his own ships and was making an illegal entrance into the city. No one knew that it was us, and since we were able to escape with relative cover, I'm fairly certain we remain unknown."
"That's convenient," Yang said.
"Indeed it is," Oscar agreed with a nod.
"Well, at least we don't need to steal an airship or using Weiss as a way out," Nora said brightly, "Those attempts make me tired."
"How would you use me to get out?!" Weiss asked, frowning.
"Maybe as exile material or something?" Yang answered with a mischievous smirk as she glanced at her. Weiss just answered with an angry, "Hey!".
"Well, anyway," Jaune said, shaking his head with a light smile, "According to what Qrow said about Ironwood, he'll probably just give us permission to leave the border. He might not give us an actual ship or something to get to Sanus, but we can just get one from the closest city."
"Does that mean we have to walk in that frigid tundra?" Weiss asked, a little worried, "It's literally freezing out there."
"We're gonna have to," Qrow sighed, leaning back farther in his chair, "But the closest city is only two or three miles from Atlas' border, and with aura and some warm clothes, we should be able to make it just fine."
"Ruby, too?" Nora asked, "She and the babies'll be fine, right?"
"If we make sure she's warm enough," Qrow answered, looking over at Ruby, "Her natural body heat and aura should protect the babies more than they'll protect herself, so we don't need to worry about them. We just need enough for all of them to be warm."
He gave a faint chuckle at addressing her as, 'all of them'.
The group all stood there with a moment of silence, waiting for Jaune to say anything else or for someone else to say something. No one did, however, and it appeared that everything was indeed settled.
"Alright, then," Jaune said, clapping his hands together, "I guess that just means that we should pack up and get ready to go. Make sure you're all ready by 10:00, okay?"
"Got it!" Nora said with a cheerful salute. The others all nodded and gave an affirmative answer, and then they all spit off to find their things, pack them up, and prepare for the next part of their mission.
As everyone left the living room, Ruby stayed, which caught Oscar's eye. He walked over to her and glanced around quickly to make sure no one was really watching them. Everyone else was busy, not at all paying attention to the two of them, and Maria had left to make sure everyone had what they needed.
He liked talking to Ruby alone sometimes.
"Oscar," Ruby murmured, holding her hands together under her belly again, "A-are you sure this is really going to work? I know we've talked about this a lot, and Ironwood said that the chances aren't too slim, but...but I don't want something horrible to happen-"
"Ruby," Oscar said, "I'm going to be gone in three months, anyway. The worst that'll happen is that either nothing happens, or...well, I'm not quite sure, but I don't think me dying instantly is an option, so I don't know. But it's the best we can do."
Ruby looked up at him and slowly nodded, filled with some sort of heavy gloom. Oscar sighed and slid his hand off her shoulder, using it to lift up her chin.
"Hey," he said calmly, "This is going to work, alright?"
Ruby lightly nodded again, but there was some kind of disbelief or lack of faith in her face, and it made him feel worried and sad. He knew that she wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of the plan failing, but he wasn't willing to give up on one of their only choices to fix things. He didn't care if he had to die trying. He was just going to fade away, anyway, so why not try?
He sighed again and turned around.
"I'm going to get ready to go," he said, "I suggest you do the same."
Ruby nodded and left for her room, some kind of gloomy cloud seeming to hover over her. She began climbing the stairs, using the side rails much more than she used to, and began to tired after the first four steps. Giving a frustrated grunt, she forced herself to take five more steps up, and found herself slightly out of breath.
"Ugh," she panted as she took a break, "Only nine steps up a sixteen-step stairs and I'm already starting to sweat. I hate stairs now!"
She had just made it up to the eleventh step when she saw and heard Nora rush up the stairs and blur past her with ease. Ruby gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes, grunting again, and finished her way back to the upstairs.
"Having a hard time there, sis?" Yang called from the bottom of the staircase. Ruby looked down and frowned at her, putting her hands awkwardly on her hips, and shook her head.
"Really, Yang," she sighed, unamused, "Really?"
"What?" Yang said, throwing her hands out in defense, "All I did was ask if you were having a hard time getting up the stairs! What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, it's just, you keep making jokes about me being so fat!" Ruby whined, annoyed, "You think I wanna be this huge? It's not like this thing weighs as much as a pillow."
"I know," Yang said, waving her hand at her, "Just teasing."
Ruby rolled her eyes again and turned around, making her way through the hallway and entering her room. She had just opened the door when Nora appeared again, accidentally bumping into Ruby. Or rather, Ruby's stomach.
"Hey, watch it!" Ruby said angrily, only to look up and see Nora.
"Oh, sorry," Nora said, staring down at her friend's abdomen, "Didn't see ya there...or see you guys there." She giggled and slipped past Ruby, making her feel even more jealous that she could do so without bumping into anything. Literally.
"Why is living so hard now..." Ruby sighed, going into her room and gathering her things. She couldn't believe how annoying do anything was now; bending down, standing back up, moving past people, going up and down the stairs, doing anything exerting at all...Things that she could once do so easily.
"I can't wait to not be pregnant anymore," she groaned, tossing the last of her possessions into her bag and heaving it over her shoulder.
"It's too bad you've got another like, 3 months of even more effortful living to do," came Nora's voice from outside the door, "It'll probably be way worse in another month."
"Gee, thanks a lot," Ruby mumbled. She walked back down the stairs, trying so hard not to lean forward from the weight of her belly and her bag, once again using the rails for support, and met up with the others, who had also finished gathering their things. No one had very many items, so packing up didn't take a very long time.
"It's almost 9:30," Yang said, "So we've got a tiny bit to hang out. Anyone wanna start practicing fighting with me? I'm starting to feel a little rusty, if you know what I mean at all."
"I'll come!" Nora said eagerly, zipping to Yang's side.
"Me too," Jaune said, "I'm going to need some more practice. It's been a while."
"How about we all practice," Qrow said, walking over with Harbinger in hand, "After two months of nothing but hanging around, you kids'll need the action. Your mistakes are better spent here than on the battlefield."
"Keep it in the backyard, children!" Maria called from the kitchen window, which she had opened. She shut it right after, and she could be seen washing dishes through the glass.
"I'll pass," Ruby sighed, looking down. If there was anything she could do right now, it'd be to practice some combat. She missed the feeling of eagerness that always filled her at the sight of an enemy, the adrenaline that flowed through her veins and energized her, the pounding of her heart in her chest, the flips and swings...
"Come inside, now," she heard Maria say behind her. She turned around and saw her standing in the doorway, a soft look on her kind face. "It's cold out and you're hardly wearing anything warm."
Ruby shrugged and slowly stood up, turning around and walking back in.
"I am going to miss you people," Maria said as she lead Ruby to the table, "Even if you do make a few messes once and a while that you don't clean up until I have to tell you to." She lightly chuckled and poured her and Ruby some tea.
"I'm going to miss you, too," Ruby sighed, "You've been such a help and a support, it's hard to say goodbye."
"Goodbye for now," Maria said, sitting down, "Not forever. Like I've said, you children are the grandkids I've never had, so you need to visit me. I won't be on the mission field, like I haven't been for years, so I'll just be here for the longest time. No need to worry about me disappearing without an address. You'll always know where to find me."
Ruby took a sip of her tea, still looking somewhat gloomy.
"What's wrong, child?" Maria asked, reaching her hand across the table and gently placing it on her forearm. Ruby sighed again, closing her eyes and setting her teacup down.
"I really wish Oscar could've found a better way of fixing things," she mumbled, "If something were to go wrong, in a way I can't even make sense of, what am I going to do then? My time with him will be cut short by like, three whole months!"
"Now, now," Maria said, patting her arm, "You have to remember that Oscar is just as unhappy as you are, if not even more. He's the one who's technically leaving you, although it is involuntary and unwelcome, and there is likely no doubt that he feels a guilt about it. He loves you, and is trying everything in his power to stop or slow the situation, and while it may sound reckless or foolishly desperate, there isn't much either of you can do but try."
She drew her hand from Ruby's arm and lightly tapped it on a table with a laugh.
"Why, you're lucky that Oscar is the only reincarnation that seems to be trying to force himself out of the process!" she said with a wide smile, "It's a valiant effort, and I'm sure you know and appreciate that, but I think it's time you had a little faith."
Ruby slowly nodded, staring at the reflection in her tea.
"Alright," she said quietly. Maria smiled and downed her tea rather fast, standing up, pushing her chair in, and then patting Ruby on the shoulder.
"Good, good," she said, "I'm glad. Now, you have all your things ready, correct?"
Ruby nodded. "Yep."
"Good," Maria said, "While everyone is training, why don't you and I go through my photo album, hm?"
"You have a photo album?" Ruby asked, standing up and leaving her tea behind, "What 's in it?"
"Oh, just a big lot of random photo's I've taken while on the mission field," Maria answered, leading Ruby upstairs with a little help, "Some humorous collages of my good friend Pietro, who repairs my eyes every ten years or so...he actually repaired them while you people were gone, and some other things here and there."
Ruby brightened up a little. "That sounds fun."
"You'll really get a kick out of some of them," Maria chuckled, "Just be prepared for some mildly disturbing rare Grimm I've found in the past. Had to snap a picture of them before I killed them."
"Cool!" Ruby said eagerly. She felt a hint of familiar childish excitement begin settling in. This was going to be good.
Heyo! Still not fully back, of course, but trying to make a way. Yes, this is my first major timeskip, not including my OC team CMSN Volume 2, and I apologize if it was sudden and disappointing, but this story has much more coming and can't just go on as a day-to-day thing.
I know with all this quarantine time, you'd think I'd have more of an opportunity to write this story more, but all of my other things in life, that have more superiority (some not voluntary) also have more time and require extra dedication while I can give them extra.
I hope y'all are safe and healthy, and if you want to, check out a quarantine song I wrote and posted on youtube, cuz why not? Just look up, "My Quarantine Song Pinkie Pie" and it'll show up. The thumbnail is a beach-themed desktop posted by my channel, called "Pinkie Pie". Be sure to like and comment if you liked it and want to comment. :P
Yes, Sweet Guest, the request for names is still on until the babies are born. If I have what I need, I'll have a request to stop in the A/N at the end of a chapter later on, but until then, anyone can keep submitting!
Thanks to the Guest who gave me those four name ideas; love em!
Story Advertisements: Criminals and Mentors, by RelightTheTorch (OC/RWBY fans, read this. Don't forget to read it's Chibi, too!)
A Silent Connection, by ArthurSG (NeoXJaune fans, read this; it's amazing and emotional)
Thanks for reading and tune in for more chapters!