Chapter Forty: Catching Up


"I wonder if I got enough extra food for the crowd you brought," Phoenix said to Qrow, holding up the bags of ingredients he'd been sent to buy for the meal Team RNJR was making for the huntsmen that Qrow was supposed to bring; huntsmen that weren't there.

"This isn't right," Qrow grumbled, ignoring him. "I get one or two of them being gone but all of them?" He sighed. Phoenix opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a strange sound. "Raven?!" Qrow exclaimed as he and Phoenix quickly turned around to see a red and black portal. Phoenix once again tried to say something, but was once again cut off, this time by the motorcycle that drove out of the portal and straight into him.

"What was tha-!" Phoenix started to yell. However, he quickly stopped when he saw the duo riding the cycle. "Oh…" was all that he and Qrow were able to say in their shock.


When Qrow, Phoenix, and the two new arrivals entered the house they couldn't see anybody, but the smell of food served as a fairly large clue as to where everyone else was. "Qrow and I are back!" Phoenix announced to them, "and we brought some… interesting company."

"I'll be right there!" Ruby called out from the kitchen. After a moment she came out holding a tray with tea on it. It quickly fell to the ground when she saw the guests that had been brought: Weiss and Yang. Phoenix, Oscar, and Team _NJR decided to hang back and let Team RW_Y have its heartfelt reunion.


The large meal that had been prepared didn't go to waste. The former students ate as they caught up with one another.

"How do you lose your map at a time like that?" Yang asked after her latest bout of laughter.

"THANK YOU!" Phoenix exclaimed, "That's exactly what I was saying the entire trip! Half of our budget was devoted to replacement maps."

"Why didn't you just take a picture of the map?" Weiss questioned.

"Well, Weiss, the problem with that idea is…" Phoenix struggled to come up with an excuse, "… that it is an excellent idea that I wish I'd thought of at the time." The room burst into laughter once again.

"Hey, but you two made up for it," Nora encouraged them. "You should've seen them take a giant grimm head on."

"We couldn't have done it without Ruby wearing it down for us," Phoenix reminded her.

"Uh, me? Did you see Ren during that fight? He was out of control!" Ruby complimented him.

"I'm sorry, I may have lost my temper momentarily," Ren, mistaking this for criticism, apologised.

"No no, out of control as in awesome," she quickly explained.

"Oh… Thank you." Everyone laughed once again.


Ruby gasped before exclaiming, "You did not!"

"Yeah," an embarrassed Weiss admitted, her face in her hands. "Right in the middle of the party."

"Please tell me you let that lady have it," Yang said.

"Of course not," Weiss said. "Even if I did really want to," she added quietly.

"No way. I don't believe it," Nora declared. She was quickly proven wrong by the Boarbatusk Weiss summoned next to her. "Gaah!" Nora yelled as she fell back in surprise.


Everyone gasped in awe as Yang showed off her new arm. "It's no replacement for the real thing," she said. "But I'll be sure to make good use of it." Everyone began to compliment it. Ruby and Phoenix dashed over excitedly to get a closer look.

"And it's just as strong?" Ruby asked.

"Sure is."

Nora slammed her hand down on the table, startling everyone. "Wanna bet?" she challenged eagerly.

"Nora, please," Weiss scolded, "now's not the time." Yang ignored her and rushed over to Nora, the two of them engaging in an arm wrestling contest with Yang using her robotic arm. Ruby divided her time between cheering for her sister and eagerly talking with Phoenix, who was recording information on the arm, about ways that they could upgrade it. The two of them looked eagerly at Yang when she mentioned "new features" the arm had. She showed one of said features off when she ejected the arm from her body. Seeing this gave the duo the same idea.

"Rocket powered fist!"


Jaune groaned as he took away the dishes. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Easy there vomit boy. I believe in you," Yang encouraged.

"Ohh, we're doing nickname throwbacks now. Wonderful," he grumbled.

"The Ice Queen seems to like it," Nora pointed out after Weiss chuckled.

"I so did not miss you people," she responded with a smirk.

Nora gasped overdramatically. "Oh my gosh, she really does like it! What went and warmed your heart while you were gone?"

"Hey! You make it sound like I used to be terrible."

"Well…" Phoenix started. He stopped when he saw the glare Weiss gave him.

"It's been a long time," Ren said. "We've all grown in our own ways."

"You really think so?" Ruby asked.

"Well, think back to when we were all at Beacon. Would you say you ever did anything foolish or embarrassing, or do you think you were perfect?"

"Oh gosh," Weiss put her head down.

"I may have been a bit too gung ho from time to time," Yang admitted.

"You? I tried to 1v1 a Nevermore on the second day of school," Ruby pointed out

"I've lost track of the number of times I almost got myself killed," Phoenix added.

"Yeah, well, don't even get me started," Jaune said dejectedly.

"Well, that embarrassment, that desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid, that just proves you're not the same person you used to be. You're smarter, kinder, stronger, and you're not done growing yet. None of us our." Everyone paused to consider what Renn had just said.

"Yeah, turns out Ren gets real deep when he feels like talking," Ruby broke the silence and made everyone laugh yet again.

"Well hold on," Nora stood up, "I thought I was pretty great in school."

"Even at the dance when you spilled punch all over yourself in front of-"

Yang was cut off by Nora who'd dashed to her side and blasting music from her scroll. "Yes, especially the dance! Thank you Yang!" she yelled over said music.

"How can seven kids possibly make so much noise eating dinner?" Qrow complained loudly as he and Oscar entered the room. Yang glared at the two of them.


The only noise that could be heard in the room was the ticking of the clock. Weiss eventually spoke up. "So the Maidens, magic, Salem, it's all true?" she questioned.

"Ms. Xiao Long, is this more or less what your mother told you?"

Weiss looked over to Yang. "For the most part," she answered when Yang remained silent.

"You forgot something," Yang stated. "You forgot something. You forgot to tell everyone what you did to Qrow and my mother."

RNJR and Phoenix looked to Ozpin for an explanation. "What is she talking about?" Jaune asked the question that they were all thinking.

"Oh great," Qrow grumbled.

"That's not a secret I thought she would give up so easily," Ozpin said.

"More secrets. Wonderful," Phoenix groaned.

"Your mother must trust you a great deal," he continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "My ability to reincarnate, though a curse, isn't without a few key benefits. Much like the Maidens I too possess a certain magical power." He stood up and started to walk around. "Using this power I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to see more, to move freely and be burdened by their natural bodies. I… well… gave them the ability to turn into birds," he chuckled. "Rather ridiculous sounding out loud isn't it?" RNJR and Phoenix all looked at the two of them as though they were crazy.

"It's true," Weiss confirmed his statement. "Yang's mom… changed right in front of us."

"Why would you do something like that?" Yang asked angrily. "I mean, what is wrong with you?"

"Yang! That's enough." Qrow ordered. "We made a choice. We wanted this."

"May I?" Ozpin asked Qrow who nodded. "Granting this power to them was no trivial task, and I assure you that it was not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem as well as searching for Maidens when their hosts became unclear."

"Okay, so have you done this with others like General Ironwood or Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asked him.

"As helpful as that may be, unfortunately it is not that simple. My power is finite and, if I'm being honest, dwindling. The amount that I gifted to Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather miniscule. You see, centuries ago I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens."

He paused to let what he had just said sink in. "Ms. Xiao Long, It was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to play close to to the chest. I believe that's how you phrased it," He looked to Qrow who nodded, confirming this. "Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them, and later one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self interest. Now, all of you have a choice. If anyone wishes to leave, then now is the time. There is no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat." None of them left. "Very well then."

"Yang?" Ruby looked over to the person in question who had stood, unsure if she was planning on leaving.

"If Ruby sticks around, then I will too." Yang said. "If there's one thing I know about her it's that she always knows the right thing to do… But if we're going to help, if we're going to keep risking our lives, no more lies, no more half truths."

Ozpin took a few seconds to consider this before giving his response. "Understood." Yang sat down, not entirely convinced.

"So… what now? I mean, what can we do?" Jaune asked.

"Hmm…" Ozpin thought about what to say. "That is a difficult question. One that I believe is best answered tomorrow."

"Is there any particular reason why we have to wait?" Phoenix asked, annoyed, as the others gave confused looks.

"The road ahead is undoubtedly filled with hardships and peril. However, it has been far too long since you have all been together." He placed his hand on Yang's shoulder. "Please take tonight. Enjoy this moment." Ozpin's eyes flashed, indicating that Oscar had taken over again.

Realizing that he was touching Yang, he recoiled in shock, something both she and Weiss laughed at.

"Ooohhhh!" Everyone looked to Nora who seemed to have realized something. "Raven? Qrow? They're birds! Cracked it!" she declared as she leaned back.

"Thank you Nora," Phoenix said sarcastically. "I'm sure we'd never have figured that out without your insight." Seeing that his sarcasm was lost on her he turned to Qrow and Oscar. "You guys should probably also tell Grant and Jenkins about all of this before they get any more involved. It's only fair that they know everything before they make the decision to stay with us."

"Wonderful," Qrow said as he took a sip from his flask, remembering how the detective had responded to the last revelations.


The first thing Phoenix saw the next morning when he opened his door was Yang storming down the hallway. Before he could ask what was wrong she slammed the door to her own room. Phoenix took a moment to decide whether or not he should go and ask what was wrong, but chose to instead ask Weiss, who seemed to be following her.

"Yang is still angry about Blake leaving after Beacon," Weiss explained. "I'm going to go talk to her." Weiss continued on her way to Yang's room.

Phoenix was tempted to follow but decided that this was a Team RWBY issue. "I understand why you did it Blake; I just wish you hadn't," he muttered as he walked into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

"Blake? Your Faunus friend?" Jenkins, who'd had the same idea, asked.

"Yeah, how do you her?"

"Oh, I took her to Menagerie on that ship," Jenkins answered casually.

"You WHAT!?" he yelled angrily. "Why didn't you mention this sooner!?"

"It never came up. Why's it such a big deal where she is?"

"It's a big deal because Yang feels like her partner abandoned her!"

"Oh, I'll go get her then," Jenkins declared.

"Wait, where are you-" Jenkins was already gone. "Gods damn it Jenkins."


Wow, this actually took less time than I thought it would. Part of that probably has to do with my skipping over most of the training stuff. However I have good reason. I had a general Idea of what I wanted to do with those bits, but I couldn't figure out quite how to say it. I might go back and add a chapter involving that stuff later, but don't get your hopes up.

If you're wondering about Jenkins taking Blake to Menagerie, I did a short side story called "The S.S. Jenkins". It also has a character summary of Jenkins with everything that was in Phoenix's except personality, something that's already been established in this story. Before you ask, no I don't plan on adding another chapter to it where he picks Blake up, and Blake probably won't be arriving early. Thanks for reading