A/N: Hey guys, because of work stuff I'm posting this chapter a day earlier than scheduled. More notes at the bottom.

3

Back to Basics

Ruby grumbled as she was dragged along by her sister. Nora and Ren followed just behind with the former talking animatedly about how many pancakes she was going to get. Honestly why was Yang dragging her into town with them this early when the girl was usually not up before the crack of noon. The younger sister stared with longing back the direction of her oh so warm bed and her work desk with it's incomplete project sitting on top.

Despite her pleas for help their father had just waved them off as Yang dragged them all out to have breakfast in Patch. While she was hungry she was just as sleepy, staying up far too late to work on the new project, which was difficult enough with one hand. Oh well at least she still had so many parts left over from when she made Crescent Rose that this would be much easier than making something from scratch.

Crescent Rose was not the first weapon Ruby Rose had built and it would not be the last. But until she could get back to it the young girl guessed she could humor her sister, plus someone needed to reign her sister in, Nora was more than enough to keep Ren busy not to mention having to deal with her and Yang. She felt a little guilty keeping her project a secret from her friends but they had it coming, trying to leave without her.

After finally convincing Yang she could, in fact, walk on her own without falling asleep they all finally found the small diner her father had frequented with them. Luckily it was just a half hour or so from their cabin. Being so close yet seemingly so far from civilization was what her father loved about their small island home.

Finally being seated Ruby's eyes lit up over the menu, They have chocolate chip pancakes! That was like a pancake cookie, just as good as cookies for breakfast without all the nagging from Yang. Nora ordered an enormous amount of buttermilk pancakes and the look on the waiter's face when he was told that it was just for her? Priceless. The young girl started to wonder if pancakes where what made Nora grow so much while staring at a particular place on the ginger's body.

Ren ordered a small plate of waffles for himself whereas Yang ordered a meaty omelette, her favorite. They made small talk while waiting for their food to arrive, though it mostly consisted of the lone male asking about Patch and it's history. Which is why it surprised Ruby when the conversation turned to her.

"How are things with you Ruby? Yesterday we didn't really have a chance to talk about how you've been doing since the Fall."

Ruby looked around and saw every eye at the table turned to her. Yang was interested and Nora was bouncing around mumbling about pancakes but still paying attention. "Well I've been okay I guess. It's kinda inconvenient but it's not like it's gonna go away. Can't really regrow my arm so…" She tried to shrug it off but only got and unconvinced eyebrow from Ren. Even her sister look a little worried.

"Look guys it's been over a month and a half since Beacon. You expect me to cry all day? Well no one can feel sorry for themselves all the time. Honestly, I'm a lot better now, and having you guys around helps more than you know. I've done my crying. Believe me. But I'm done with that. Okay? What about you Yang? What about that nasty cut?" She tossed the attention over to her sister, only too happy to shift the focus over.

With a smirk she pulled down her collar to expose the part of the scar that ran up to her collarbone, earning the eyes from most of the male patrons nearby, "Aura does wonders Sis. I'm all healed up. Bitchin' scar right?" This got Nora pitching that they should totally become mercenaries and how Yang could show off the scar when they drunk after battles.

The waiter appeared, just in time to stop the ginger from starting a riot, with their food. Nora dug in with a gusto that shocked anyone who did not know her. Ruby was slowly cutting her pancakes up when her sister leaned over to help her, much to her chagrin.

"Yang, I can cut them myself! I'm not useless, I only lost an arm!" The sister in question froze. It was unusual for Ruby to raise her voice right off the bat like that but she just mumbled an apology and went back to her own food, though only poking at it now. Immediately the younger sister regretted it. How could she explain it? She appreciated the concern but doing everything for her made her feel so… useless.

"Yang….. I'm sorry. It's just that…. Well I'm fine and I can use my arm just fine." Yang just gave her a small smile and a quick side hug before returning to her food. Ugh why do I have to be so bad at things! Ruby complained to herself while she laughed awkwardly while Nora, in a rare show of tact, steered the conversation to news from around Remnant. There wasn't all that much.

With Vale's CCT tower down the support towers could not transmit very far. Scrolls still worked fairly locally but only if a support tower could pick up the signal and relay it. News was sparse across Sanus and nonexistent from the other continents. Despite her earlier outburst Ruby could say she actually was having a good time.

Now, time for more pancakes.

General Ironwood sat at his desk pouring over the reports and estimates in front of him. He released a tired sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. A knock sounded at the door and opened a moment later admitting an older man with white hair. He was rounded out and had a worn lab-coat around his plush frame. A soft smile perpetually adorned his face as he greeted the general.

"How are you James? It's been quite a while since we were last face to face." They clasped hands together as the Ironwood returned the man's smile.

"I wish it were under better circumstances, Geppetto. But as you can see…" James motioned out the window, the expanse outside still drab, and beacon visible on the horizon with the dragon perched, still, upon the crumbled tower. "Reconstruction efforts are underway, but slow going."

"Mmm yes it would speed things up if we could use the mechs but…" The general nodded at the other man's understanding.

"After the Fall of Beacon the mechs were all recalled to Atlas. For the better I suppose. Vale may know this wasn't Atlas' fault but the rest of the world? They point fingers. So for now I have my men helping to rebuild. Hopefully the rebuilding isn't just of homes, but trust too."

The older man nodded, closing his eyes before changing topics, "I should hope so too. About what you sent a message for? The arm?"

James promptly put his scroll on the desk, a large display appearing above it. On it were the a bunch of measurements and other specifications. "Thanks for coming for this personally Geppetto. I di-"

"Nonsense James. I had heard many good things about young Miss Rose from my daughter. This is the least I could do for one of her friends. In fact I brought everything I need with me, I even had a prototype mostly completed that should do the trick quite nicely. Just some changes to meet these requirements. No more than a week, I'd say." He downloaded the information to his own scroll before replacing it into his lab-coat pocket.

A weight almost visibly lifted from Ironwood's shoulders as his face relaxed into an easier smile. This was a lot faster than the other technicians said it could be done, months faster. The man before him wasn't a genius doctor for no reason. He decided to broach a far more serious topic.

"Speaking of your daughter… Geppetto. How is it?" The sadness that crossed the man's face nearly pierced James' own heart. He had cared for the girl and the man before him was her creator, Doctor Geppetto Polendina.

"Penny is gone. The complexities of her design made her unique and cannot be duplicated. She may have been made of metal but she was definitely an individual. Even should I rebuild her, the mind is lost now. The shell would no longer hold the consciousness of Penny Polendina but would reset to a blank slate once more, a newborn. No, my daughter is dead, James, and she will not come back. I could create another model but at most another would simply be her sibling." He accepted a glass of scotch from the General before settling down into the chair in front of the desk, "I'm glad to see she could make friends though. Heh, before I started this project I never dreamed I would create something like her. She was so curious and vibrant. Ever the inquisitive child."

James just listened to the heartbroken man as he swirled the drink in his own hand. Even he had grown quite attached to the girl, and she was a young girl, of that he had no doubt. They sat in silence for a few moments in remembrance of the closest thing the Doctor had to a child. Finally Doctor Pelendina downed the rest of the scotch and stood, looking squarely at his old friend.

"That's why I've got to do this personally. Penny wouldn't want her precious friend to suffer, and I'm not going to idle my time away in some stuffy laboratory in Atlas. No, I think not. I will do what I can for this young girl." He did have one last parting comment as the he left out the door, turning around and stopping it from close, a twinkle in his eye, "By the time I'm done, this girl is going to be armed and ready!"

A cackle echoed through the small office as the door clicked shut. A sigh escaped the General as he once refilled his glas.

"It's going to be a long day."

It was getting late and the sun was dipping on the horizon. Qrow dusted himself off as he climbed out from the ruined elevator shaft. He grumbled and cursed his benefactor's name as he took a swig from his flask. Finally he pulled out the object that had brought him back to the ruins of Beacon in the first place.

It was a silver handle with intricate ivy patterns scrawled across it, a lever attached to a mechanism made of cogs that connected into a shaft of wood about two and a half feet long. The top of the handle was adorned with a white hemisphere. The huntsman pulled the lever and the shaft telescoped back into the handle. Qrow couldn't believe how hard it had been to get this thing, trapped under a bunch of fallen debris. He tried to forget what else he saw down there, there was no reason to lose sleep over the sight of his benefactor's discarded shell, or at least that is what he told himself.

Seeing the dead was never any easier.

With the grimm everywhere it was hard enough getting onto Beacon's desolate grounds, well hard for others. It was why the dead had never been cleared, even months later. The kingdom of Vale certainly had a lot going on, though. Many hunters had been recalled to guard the city from the spawning grimm and there had even been multiple expeditions to try and recover or salvage parts of Beacon. They weren't very successful.

I noise reached his ears and a hand went to his weapon while the other stored his objective in a pouch at his waist. Qrow stayed stock still, willing his senses to be sharper as he listened for any additional sound. There, he heard it again. It sounded like retching, which was odd. This was a grimm infested area now and grimm didn't eat much less the ability to regurgitate anything.

Quietly Qrow approached the source of noise, still on high alert for anything lurking among the rubble strewn about what used to be the base of Beacon's tower. He spied a single person doubled over by a bush nearby the decaying remains of what used to be a White Fang member. Of course it would be some crazy tourist who couldn't hold their chum when seeing a decomposing body for the first time.

Against his better judgement Qrow decided to get the guy out of there. It was annoying for sure but he didn't want the guy's stupidity to get himself killed. Still, the huntsman was surprised someone had made it all the way to the tower without getting killed. On second thought he spied a sword strapped at the waist of the man currently watering the bush with the contents of his last meal. Even a huntsman should not have been up here, not that he was much better. A howl sounded from in the distance causing the doubled over man to snap his head up towards it.

The had blond hair that reminded him of Taiyang except far less assuming. He wore a hood and jeans like some kind of teenage.

Wait.

Qrow's palm found his forehead as he realized his mystery hunter was actually a student, one he should probably have recognized earlier as he wracked his brain from the time he had been here just months ago. He had definitely seen this kid before and knew for a fact that he did not belong her now.

The older huntsman called out as he walked towards the young man who had finally finished retching and was starting to stand up. The kid turned around in a panic and sighted Qrow, starting to stammer until he was silenced by a lone finger held in front of his face.

"Why the hell are you here? If you haven't noticed your school's kinda been overrun by grimm."

The blonde kid looked uncertain for a second before he answered, "There was something I had to get. It… it means a lot to me."

"Look uhh…."

"Jaune."

"Jaune, yea. Look Jaune I don't think your teddy bear is important enough to risk your life in a place like this. Soz how about we go back down into Vale and phone your family or something." He turned the kid around and started pushing him in the direction of the city

"Actually I'm here for-" Jaune didn't get very far as he was silenced by the hand over his mouth as the older man shushed him, still pushing towards the city. He took one last look back at the tower before letting out a resigned sigh, allowing Qrow to guide him back into the city.

Not much was said on the way back into Vale, which was an incredible feat of awkwardness considering the walk took an hour and a half. The steep stairs down the cliff face did nothing to help either as the drunk man swayed around on the steps making even Jaune flinch sometimes when he came particularly close to the edge.

Now Jaune wondered where Yang had really come from when they stood outside an establishment called the CrowBar. With a groan he was dragged inside by the drunken huntsman. They sat at the bar and Qrow ordered two glasses of whiskey and only once they had their drinks did he turn to the young man next to him.

"Umm, Sir-"

"Call me Qrow kid. Sir makes me sound old." Jaune bit back his retort of the man actually being old when he was leveled with a one eyed glare from the man.

"Uh, Qrow. Why are we drinking exactly? I mean you haven't said anything, you just kinda dragged me here."

Qrow squinted at him for a second in confusion as though they needed a reason to drink, and to him that was probably a legitimate question. Instead of answering he just smirked and tipped his glass up indicating for Jaune to drink his. The blonde had never really tried alcohol before and nearly choked on the whiskey much to the amusement of his drinking partner. He shot a scowl over at the man in question which only earned him more laughter. Not willing to talk to the man anymore he just settled in to sip at the liquid, it's strength manifesting quite rapidly as he downed it and started in on his second when Qrow ordered him another.

"So what was it?" After looking at the young man next to him Qrow continued, "Nobody just waltzes into that place, not with that many grimm around. Unless you got a death wish. Maybe you do, I won't judge. But I'm tellin' ya you should just leave it."

"I can't" Jaune mumbled into his glass as he glibly stared at the bottom of it, maybe hoping an answer would spring forth.

It didn't.

"I know you've probably seen some shit. The Fall wasn't pleasant, for anyone. And trust me kid, I know about seeing shit. I've seen things you wouldn't believe, done 'em too. Never had anyone to talk to about though… even if I coulda used it." Qrow swished his drink around thoughtfully, he wasn't one to try and be there for someone but the kid was helpless and he hadn't become a teacher for no reason.

"Her name was Pyyrha." The words were so quiet Qrow almost didn't hear them, he glanced at the kid from the corner of his eyes. Jaune sat there in the same position as before, staring a hole in his glass. He knew the name of course, who didn't this time not because of her fame but rather something far more recent.

The brave young girl Oz had chosen to be the Fall Maiden, and it had cost her her life. Oh yeah, this kid had been her partner. Qrow didn't expect to feel this guilty but he did. And it only got worse as the story went on.

"Apparently she had feeling for me. Of course, I never noticed until it was too late. She stuck me in a locker and sent me off to be safe while she fought Cinder all on her own." His voice cracked as he gripped the glass in his hand tighter, "She died and I never had a chance to tell her how I felt. She spent so much time to help me. She was brave and smart and just incredible. I have no idea what she saw in me. I didn't even realize how I felt until after."

And it was all Qrow's fault, or that was how it felt. The blame landed on him just as much as it did Ozpin, but he knew they would make the same choice again if they had to. He hated himself for it.

"I was at Beacon because her weapons are still there, I wanted to gather them. Maybe reforge them or something. I'm not sure I just wanted something to remember her by. Maybe if I had something of hers I could have half the strength she had."

Qrow sighed, the story hitting closer to home than he would have liked, "I've been there Jaune. I know how it feels to lose someone before you realized how you felt. You got a hotel? You should get some rest"

The young man nodded and made to stand up, staggering into the older man made to support him. After paying Qrow walked him back to the kid's hotel, following the mumbled directions.

Jaune awoke with a pounding in his head that he realized after a second was actually the door to his hotel room. Rolling off the bed he realized his clothes from yesterday were still on. After getting to the door he was confused once he got it open. No one was there and he almost closed the door when he saw something out of the corner of his eye on the floor outside his room.

There were three items on the ground there, a circlet, a shield, and a broken sword. They were golden and red, adorned with a not that read

Our friend's are always with us.

Ruby plopped down onto the stool she used at her workbench in her room. She had finally gotten home after a full day out. What had been promised as breakfast turned into damage control when Nora had spotted an arcade and dragged everyone in to compete in everything. Literally every game there. Still she couldn't help but admit the day had been great, even if they had gotten banished from a total of three different arcades in Patch. Their dad made a show of being angry but he didn't ground anyone so she guessed it was alright.

The young girl could not help the grin that spread across her face, it felt great to have friends. And said friends would be super surprised to see this new baby she had. She lifted the covering from the bench that hid her project from prying eyes and admired what she had accomplished. Even one armed Ruby Rose would not be stopped from completing a new weapon.

The design was simple and based off of something she had prototyped before settling on a scythe as her weapon of choice. The design had similar mechashift design to Crescent Rose with the main difference being this was not a scythe but a katana. Ruby had trained in some swordplay at Signal a bit before she started studying under her uncle, Qrow.

She only had a few touches left till she completed it, a couple of the internal mechanisms needed to be configured and then she needed to paint it. Right now it was all just plain metal colored but soon it would be in her signature color.

Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

Okay so yeah, here's number three. I really hope you guys are keeping interested. I'm trying to limit the pace because there's a lot of setup that I don't want to miss or mess up with this and with all the time between vol. 3 and 4 I have a lot of freedom to do things and answer questions I had about certain things like how Jaune got a hold of Pyyrha's weapons and circlet. And some of you may have thought Ruby was building her new arm and before people start yelling at me, let me explain why it is not so.

Ruby may be a genius but the prosthetic limb in the show is INCREDIBLY advanced. It makes mechashift weaponry look simplistic by comparison and Ruby is 16 (Her birthday is in October and considering it's winter now her birthday has already passed) she also has one hand. This increases the difficulty of fine and dexterous work by several magnitudes. I don't think she could just build something that wouldn't be much better than what we have here in our world.

So yeah, that's my reasoning.