And in addition to needing to return to college, my grandmother had to go to the hospital. She's alright, thank goodness, but it did not give me any more time in my already stretched schedule. Unfortunately, that means this week's chapter is shorter than originally intended, I couldn't do exactly what I intended.

Fortunately, I actually really like the character focus given here. Enjoy!

If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444

Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

'Blake! Blake! You have to listen!'

Kill.

kIlL.

KiLl.

KILL!

Kill the humans! Kill the betrayers! Kill the enemies of our lord!

'Listen to me, Blake! You are stronger than this! You can control this!'

CuLL tHem!

cUll TheM!

'Fight! Just a bit more! If you're connected to them, then you're connected to me! I can find you! I will find you! I'll find you all! We will be together again! I promise!

Destroy!

dEsTroY!

DESTROY the fallen princess of the stars!

'BLAKE!'

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

"AaaaaHHHhhh!"

Blake's head shot upward, her breath coming out in mad pants as her chest rose and fell. Her golden eyes glanced all about her surroundings, multiple machines she vaguely recognized as medical in nature beeping and blinking around her bed, the cloth wall of a tent behind them. A lamp stood next to her, casting a long shadow of hers across the floor.

"Blake!" Her eyes were drawn to her side, Sun jumping up from a chair next to her bed, a relieved smile on his face. "You're okay! Thank goodness!"

"Sun?" she muttered, her hand propping up her forehead as a wave of exhaustion rushed through her. "What… happened? Where are we? The school… ergh… my head…"

The monkey faunus shot her a sad smile and helped her sit up, her back against the bed's pillows. "We're in a refugee camp. Atlas set a couple up here in the city after everyone was pulled out of Beacon. After Carla brought Pyrrha back without Ruby and Weiss, Winter took a search party looking for—"

"Without Ruby and Weiss?" Blake interrupted; her eyes wide. "Are they—"

"Oh, they're fine!" Sun quickly assured her. "They came back while we were out finding you. Jaune too. Ruby was a bit banged up, but Wendy said she'd be alright. Last I checked, everyone's over at Ruby and Yang's house. Well, Weiss and Pyrrha aren't, they're parents came and took them home, but they're okay."

"They're okay? Good. That's good," Blake muttered. Pyrrha would be fine in Mistral and while she knew Weiss had good reason to want to stay as far away from her father as possible, there was no place on Remnant safer from the White Fang than Atlas. And if Wendy was with them, any wounds that had received during the battle must have been… wait…

The cat faunus slowly turned towards her blonde friend. "Sun, did you just say 'Wendy'? And 'Carla'?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, nervously scratching the back of his head. "After we brought you back, Weiss gave me the short version of you guys'… well, 'magical adventure'. I can't believe that is actually the best term to describe it."

Blake cringed. "I'm sorry. I'd meant to tell you in the library, but then the book went missing and everything just went to hell and… honestly, that doesn't really matter right now, does it?"

"Nope. Not really," Sun smiled. "As for Wendy and Carla, well, being here? The others are still trying to figure that out. Ruby and Yang only woke up a bit ago, so we've really only had Nora's theories to go on and no one's really pulling for them."

Despite herself, Blake couldn't help the smirk that rose to her. "Do I even want to know?"

"They involve no less than three waffle monsters hellbent on destroying the world," Sun revealed. "So, depends on if you're as fond of pancakes as she is."

"Not nearly," Blake chuckled lightly, the aches in her body seeming a bit lighter. Sun had that effect on her. He was a bright and easy presence in any room he was in. Talking to him didn't come with baggage or complications, it was just simple, one friend to another. There was a reason she'd felt comfortable telling him about her past even when she'd barely known him. He was like Yang that way…

"Yang!" she suddenly shouted, memories of fire and smoke and Adam flooding back into her head. "Is Yang okay? Did Adam do anything to her, is she alright?"

"Adam Taurus? Not at all, Ms. Belladonna."

Blake saw Sun's eyes widen before her own did so, a voice she did not recognize, smooth like silk, or a velvet glove closing around her throat, speaking out from behind her. She whirled around to find a woman with shoulder cropped dark brown hair, nearly black, staring down on her with yellow eyes a shade darker than the huntress' own amber, a long jagged scar running down from the left one. She wore an Atlas uniform, but gray instead of Winter's white, black buttons dotting the coat.

Blake's eyes widened, recognizing the uniform from her days in the White Fang, terrified that the ghost story passed among the troops was actually standing before, having appeared out of thin air like a vengeful wraith. Her throat ran as dry as the deserts of her home as her heart hammered like a cannon in her chest. She was so distracted, she didn't notice the feeling of cold metal closing on her wrist until she looked down to see her arm bound to the rail of the bed by a familiar black shackle with a red stone.

Sun shot up to his feet, his hands diving for his gunchucks on his belt. Unfortunately, despite his well-trained reflexes, the woman before them was faster, a black pistol raised at the monkey faunus' chest within a blink of an eye, her other hand resting on a second gun on her own belt. Not out and ready to fire, but easily able to aim if needed. The message was clear.

Blake nodded to Sun and he reluctantly retook his seat, sticking his hands in his pockets. She turned back to the woman, who did not holster her own weapon.

"As I was saying, Ms. Belladonna, Adam Taurus did nothing to your teammate," the woman repeated. "Of course, I supremely doubt he was meant to."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you think you're implying…"

"You are well aware what I am implying Ms. Belladonna," the woman cut in, glaring at the bow atop Blake's head. "Your friend here tried to get that accessory back on you last night, but the rest of the search party saw and reported your true species. After that, it was a simple matter to dissemble your little charade. Or, is there another manner of addressing the daughter of a Menagerie Chieftain that I should have used instead of 'Ms.'?"

Blake's hand curled into fists, her stomach churning with terror. "I had nothing to do with this attack. I fought to stop it."

"You turned into a Grimm and went on a rampage that injured numerous defensive personal, including maiming your own partner. Your word is frankly meaningless to me," the woman replied. "Besides, even if it was true, your split with your parents for Sienna Khan is public knowledge. There is no record of an agreement between you and the authorities of Vale exonerating you for your previous crimes—"

"Previous alleged crimes."

All eyes in the tent whirled around as Glynda Goodwitch stormed in, followed by Winter Schnee and Ana Tremaine, the latter letting out a groan as soon as she saw the woman in black.

"Really, Driz?" she muttered. "Now? Of all times?"

The woman, Driz, spared the redhead a short glance. "One of the four academies was just sacked by the White Fang, Ana. Now seems like the perfect time to bring all those terrorists to justice."

"Atlas Intelligence will not point a weapon at one of my students and call it justice," Professor Goodwitch spoke icily, her hand flicking out and forcing Driz's pistol down with her semblance. The Deputy Headmistress' glare was the most terrifying thing Blake had ever seen, and that was including the secret agent who'd been threatening to drag her off to prison not five seconds ago and everything she'd seen on Earthland. "Ms. Belladonna has not been charged with any crimes by the Kingdom of Vale. You will not start a witch-hunt among my students."

"This isn't a witch-hunt," Driz growled back. "Blake Belladonna is a terrorist. You know it as well as I do. For all we know she was their spy in this disaster-"

"You will not threaten one of my students," Glynda growled, flicking her hand again and undoing Blake's cuff. "And you will certainly not use her as a scapegoat for your kingdom's blunder in this mess. If you wish to attempt to extradite her, take it up with the Council. Though I doubt they will be able to speak with you. The emergency bunkers for officials have quite the security to jump through."

The two women glared at each other for several seconds, emerald eyes clashing with yellow. Though, Blake was happy to notice that even the Intelligence Agent was slowly starting to cow under the deputy headmistress' punishing gaze.

"Drizzella," Winter said softly, even she unwilling to potentially provoke Glynda's wrath. "The Council of Vale has ordered all Atlas forces to vacate the kingdom. We are no longer welcome. The General has already left—"

"Atlas Intelligence answers to COMMAND ESR, not General Ironwood, Winter," Driz interrupted. "Your efforts to protect your sister's teammate from justice are uncharacteristically unprofessional."

"And your efforts to be a dick are entirely in character," Ana groaned. "Come on, sis. You really want to pick a fight with Glynda Goodwitch? I know you love sucking up to mom, but you're not that stupid."

Driz maintained her glare, but apparently her sister's words got through to her. Or maybe she simply reconsidered her odds fighting a huntress known throughout all the kingdoms as Ozpin's right hand. It was not a position earned lightly. Either way, she holstered her pistol.

"Speaking of mother, she'd like to see us both when we return to Atlas, Ana," she said. "Please try to be on time. There is no reason to provoke her."

With that, the dark-haired woman dissolved into darkness and sank into a second shadow connected to Blake's quickly moving into the tent's and disappearing.

"Always has to get the last word," Ana muttered. "I blame the semblance."

"Yeah, I get that," Sun said. "Must be pretty hard to win an argument with someone who can run away through a shadow."

"Oh, you have no idea," Ana moaned. "And it's even worse when mom—"

Her words were halted when the light bulb of the lamp shattered, Professor Goodwitch's hand closed into a fist in front of it. Blake's shadow proceeded to disappear.

"Are you alright, Ms. Belladonna?" the teacher inquired, far gentler than she had been a moment before.

Blake rubbed her wrist, slightly confused at the magic that was suddenly rushing through her system like it had been held back by a damn before. "I'm okay. Thank you, Professor. But, how did you know we needed help?"

Glynda turned to Sun, who shot them all a cheeky grin, He pulled his hands out of his pockets, revealing his scroll open in his grip. "All transfer students were given her number when we got here. A 'break in case of hell breaking loose' last resort. Granted, it wasn't much help when hell actually did break loose yesterday, but hey, hell was breaking loose."

"Quite," Winter noted. She shared a furtive look with Glynda before turning to her fellow Specialist. "Ana, can you please give us a moment?"

"What? Why—oh. You guys are going to talk about some top-secret thing, aren't you?" Ana sighed. "Fine, fine, whatever. I'll go make sure Driz doesn't decide to eavesdrop or something."

Blake was immensely grateful when the specialist left the tent, hoping she'd do what she'd joked about. For all Specialists were the feared one person armies of Atlas, their Intelligence agents were what White Fang told horror stories to each other about. If you were lucky, the grey and black uniform was the last thing you ever saw. If it wasn't, you'd soon pray for death. Because for all torture was outlawed for war and law enforcement throughout Remnant, it wasn't a crime if no one could prove the victim ever existed. If Driz had arrested her… there was no telling what might have happened to her.

Which made her only slightly less terrified when Winter whirled on her. "Weiss trusts you. Is that trust earned?"

Blake gulped. "I would die for her."

Winter's glare didn't alleviate. "Would you have died for your partner?"

"Hey!" Sun shouted. "Back off! She didn't mean—"

"Mean what?" Blake cut in, her terror coiling into a lead ball in her stomach. Her amber eyes flickered between the trio of huntsmen in the room. "That Intelligence Agent said I… I… Oh gods."

She… she couldn't remember. All she could remember was that sea of darkness, drowning her in hate and murderous rage, all while a familiar voice she couldn't quite place cried out desperately for her to wake up. She'd wanted to protect Yang from Adam, even now she knew he would have killed her, but instead she'd ended up doing who knew what to her.

Yang would hate her. She'd have to hate her. What she'd done… it was all her fault. Her friend had nearly died because of her and she wasn't able to do anything to save her! She had to go! She had to run, to get as far away as possible before all her enemies, White Fang and Atlas Intelligence, came crashing down on her friends to get to her…

…

No. No, she had to calm down. Weiss and Pyrrha had already been taken from them, she couldn't just leave her friends without a word. Fairy Tail stuck together, no matter the enemy. Perhaps spreading out would be the correct strategic move, but it was one they should decide on together, especially if Wendy and Carla had somehow arrived on Remnant.

Sun clasped a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Blake, it wasn't your fault."

Blake didn't respond, instead throwing the covers off her bed and jumping to her feet. "Professor, is there anything I need to do to get out of this camp?"

"Some paperwork, but I can handle it for you," Glynda assured her. She turned to Winter. "You're leaving today, correct? Can you give her a lift to Patch?"

Winter nodded. "The bullhead is ready to go when they are."

"Good, it is absolutely crucial that as many Fairy Tail wizards as possible are in the fray."

Winter raised an eyebrow, glancing worriedly at Blake. "But… they're only children."

Glynda sighed. "No one who has lived through last night is truly a child anymore."

"Wait, back up!" Blake shouted. "Did you just say Fairy Tail? You knew?"

Glynda's eyes narrowed. "More than you thought, less than you think. There is a larger game being played across Remnant, Blake. And like it or not, the forces of magic may soon be called to war."

"What do you mean?" Sun asked.

"I must return to oversee the quarantine of the school," Glynda dodged, striding back towards the tent flap. "Qrow will explain everything once you make it to Patch."

With that, the deputy headmistress exited the tent. Leaving Blake with only her self-loathing and her terror.

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

"So, you're a Sky Dragon Slayer? Does that mean you can fly? Or that you can intimidate Sky Dragons to fly you everywhere? Oooo, are there any Sky Dragons on Remnant? And what's the difference between a Sky Dragon and a regular dragon? Don't all dragons fly in the sky?"

"Uh…" Wendy stuttered, her head spinning. "Yes?"

Nora pumped her fist to the sky. "I knew it!"

"Nora," Ren spoke up. "Perhaps you should let her eat?"

"Oh, good idea, Ren," Nora replied. "We should let her try some good old Remnant food. Make sure she can keep it down like the stuff from… what was your guy's world called again?"

"Earthland," Carla answered, staring nonplussed at the hyperactive Valkyrie.

Nora snapped her fingers. "Thank you, Earthland! Geez, I get the land part, but what kind of a name is 'Earth'? What does that even mean?"

"The ground."

"What? Like mud?"

"Okay, okay, how about we settle down," Taiyang advised as he entered the living room. He placed a glass of orange juice down on Wendy's table tray beside the rest of her lunch.

"Thank you, Mr. Xiao-Long," Wendy smiled. "I'm sorry to have to impose on you like this."

The huntsmen let out a friendly chuckle. "You saved my girl's life last night. And more, if what little I've been able to get out of Yang is true. Trust me, you're not imposing."

"Still I should have helped prepare—"

"You're injured, Wendy," Carla reminded her. "You cannot heal yourself, which means it is necessary to get help from others at times. You know this."

The Sky Dragon Slayer cringed, glancing down at her bandage covered arms. Her burns from her battle with Cinder were still black underneath the wrappings, only the work of the Atlesian doctors' keeping them from being in pain every moment. Truly, Remnant's medical technology was a sight to behold.

Still, it was a reminder of the situation she now found herself in. What had once been a dream of hers to find and visit her old friends in their world had now become a confusing and terrifying experience, what with being dropped right in the middle of what was quickly coming to be called 'The Fall of Beacon'. At least according to the box that was playing pictures and sounds like a lacrima… television! That was Ruby had said it was called!

Back on Earthland… when she was conscious…

She should really just eat. Dragon Slayers needed to eat.

She gingerly picked up the knife and fork and dug into the scrambled eggs, collecting her thoughts as she ate. Carla hopped next to her, using a knife and fork to cut up her salmon.

Taiyang smiled. "I thought you'd like to know. Ruby just woke up. Qrow's with her now."

Qrow. Ruby and Yang's Uncle Qrow. The other girls had talked so much about their families and friends that the names had been seared into Wendy's memory, nebulous legends building up around each of them. It still amazed her that Nora's hyperactivity was if anything an understatement. Now, she had faces to put to all the stories and it was a rather surreal experience.

"Can you two call Jaune in?" Taiyang asked Ren and Nora. "Blake and Sun should be here soon, and we should start figuring out what everybody knows as soon as Ruby and Yang are ready."

"Right," Nora said, slightly less peppy than previously. She nervously scratched the back of her head. "I mean, I'm glad Pyrrha is okay, and I guess Mistral's hospitals are probably a lot less busy but still…"

Ren placed a calming hand on her shoulder, a gesture she returned with a soft smile. They left for the backyard, where Jaune had been periodically practicing like a mad man since Pyrrha had left. Wendy didn't know either that well, she'd been asleep when Pyrrha's mother had come to get her on a… plane… yes, a plane that was provided by their sponsors, but Ruby had talked enough about the redheaded girl's affections for her team leader back at the guild for her to understand the basics.

"Are they going to be okay?" she asked.

"Oh, definitely. Don't worry," Taiyang assured her. "Pyrrha is going to be fine. You stabilized her well and the entire reason her mom took her home was because Mistral has better and, at the moment, more available hospitals."

"If I'd been able to stay awake, I could have fixed her completely," Wendy muttered, furious with herself. It wasn't like she'd wanted to fall unconscious, but after her duel with Cinder, healing Ruby and Pyrrha, and Remnant's strangely thin ethernano levels, she just wasn't able to hold off the combined fatigue from the Fairy Sphere and her injuries.

Taiyang came over and patted her on the shoulder. "You defeated a maiden one on one and still kept Ruby and Pyrrha alive. Because of you, Yang still has her sister and Team JNPR is still whole. Take it from someone who knows, it could be a lot worse. You did good."

Wendy smiled, still not sure of everything, but glad that her friend's father thought she'd done well. Although…

"What's a maiden?"

Taiyang's smile disappeared, the grizzled man gazing solemnly down at his feet.

"I'm sorry," Wendy quickly said. "I didn't mean to bring up anything—"

"No, no, it's fine," Taiyang instantly told her, a calm hand raised. "Let's just say you aren't exactly the first magic user I've encountered. The others… haven't exactly left good memories behind."

"First I've heard of it."

Wendy, Carla, and Taiyang looked at the staircase to the upper floor, a familiar blond girl standing in the doorway in her pajamas with an unfamiliar number of appendages.

"Yang," Taiyang said, standing. "You shouldn't be up."

"I'm down an arm, dad, not a leg," Yang replied coldly. Her gaze turned to Wendy and Carla, a warm smile cracking through the icy veneer. "I was worried I might have been hallucinating the two of you."

Wendy smiled. "It's good to see you, Yang."

"You're looking well, child," Carla complimented, though her eyes were worriedly locked on the huntress' absent arm. "All things considered."

"What? This?" Yang held up her stump, a glassy look across her violet eyes. "This a flesh wound. You can fix this right up, right?"

Wendy gulped. "I'm sorry, Yang. I can't bring back something that isn't there."

The blonde brawler's smile faded, her bobbing up in a broken nod. "Right, right, right. I figured that. Replacing limbs is probably something that would have come up. Don't suppose you at least have a stamper on you? I kind of lost my guild mark. Need a new one."

The Sky Dragon Slayer meekly shook her head.

Yang sighed. "Darn. Well, you guys are here. You're okay. That's what matters. Once Blake gets here, you, me, her, Ruby, and Weiss can start figuring out how you got here and—"

"Um, Yang," Taiyang interrupted. "Weiss isn't here."

The blond huntress' face froze. "What?"

"Her father came and took her back to Atlas."

"Why?"

"The school was just sacked by terrorists and is infested with Grimm. It'll take time for Glynda to clear it out—"

"No, I mean why did you let her go?" Yang demanded. "Her father's an asshole, why would you ever let her—"

"It was her choice, Yang," her father cut her off. "Even if I had any legal ground to stand on trying to keep her away, Weiss chose to go back."

"… why would she do that?"

Taiyang sighed. "Jacques Schnee practically has a monopoly on dust and a heart made of coal. According to Weiss, if she refused to go with him when in his mind, he was safeguarding an investment, he would cut supplying Beacon. And I don't need to tell you how badly Beacon needs dust right now. By going with him, she ensures he'll help with the rebuilding."

Yang's expression twitched in shock. "But… she's miserable with him."

"It was her choice to make. Sometimes there aren't any good options," Taiyang explained. "She chose the one that let her help the most people and still gave her a chance of reuniting with you guys later. She made a huntress' choice."

Yang frowned, and Wendy couldn't help but mirror the expression. She understood the logic of Weiss' choice, helping to clear out the Grimm who had occupied Beacon was crucial to protecting the kingdom from what Ruby had once told her. But one of the lessons Natsu and Erza had always instilled into her was that you didn't die for your friends, you lived for them. Weiss certainly wasn't dead, but it still felt like throwing herself to her father flew in the face of those tenants.

And yet, how many of the guild members would have died if Master Makarov hadn't given his life to clear out the Alvarez army. He'd been lucky enough to be revived, but he certainly hadn't known that would happen when he'd made his choice.

Wendy's fist tightened. That had been war. War… war changed what needed to be done. First with Tartaros, then with Alvarez, Fairy Tail had suspended its normal laws, even their policy of never taking an enemy's life. They hadn't gone into battle looking to kill, but Natsu had certainly slain numerous Alvarez soldiers during the Battle of Magnolia. Wendy herself had taken Ezel's life in their duel over FACE, demon or not, whether she was comfortable with what she had to do or not. And the God Dragons… they'd been able to help Mercphobia but she still didn't know what had happened to the others during the battle with the White Witch. Just like she didn't know what had happened to her friends, the guild, or even Sitara.

Yang scowled. "She should have stayed. We could have made sure he never even thought of pulling out, together."

Taiyang frowned. "Yang, you can't force the world to be exactly how you want it to be. As infuriating as it can be, other people make their own choices."

"Well, they chose wrong!" Yang shouted, her eyes flaring red. "We can get through anything together, do anything together, protect our family together! That's the Fairy Tail way! Not sacrificing yourself and running away—"

"Yang!"

All eyes whirled around to the door of the house, Blake and Sun standing just outside the open threshold.

Yang's words immediately froze in her throat as tears welled in her eyes, both her and her partner staring at each other. "Blake. You're… here. You're alright."

Blake's eyes locked themselves on the blonde brawler's stump, her eyes widening in horror. Her foot fell back behind her, but Sun sidestepped so that her back was halted by his chest. She glanced back only to receive an encouraging smile and a simple nod forward. The cat faunus gulped, but tentatively walked into the house.

"Mr. Xiao-Long," she greeted softly. "Wendy, Carla… it's good to see you."

Wendy smiled back warmly. "It's good to see you too Blake."

The black-haired huntress nodded before looking back to her partner, unable to move her gaze from her severed arm. "Yang… I am so, so sorry." Tears flooded down from her amber eyes, her composure crumbling away as she fell to her knees. "I was so scared that he would kill you, and I was stupid, and reckless. I promise I'll never use that power every again—"

Yang cut her off by diving down and engulfing her in a one-armed hug. "Yes, you will. This power, it's yours. It's your magic. And nothing that is yours could possibly be evil."

"What? But… I… I cut off your…"

"It was an accident. You can't control it right now, but hey, none of us could control our magic right out of the gate. You're you. You'll learn. And when you do, we're gonna beat down Adam, or Cinder, or whoever else is stupid enough to pick a fight with us until they finally get the idea. We're Team RWBY. They can't touch us."

For a few moments, Blake was stock still, completely stunned. Then she squeezed all the tighter, careful to cradle her partner below her still raw stub. The pair of black and gold knelt there, embraced in each other's arms, until Nora and Ren returned with Jaune and Ruby and Qrow came to stand at the top of the stairs.

Wendy grinned over the entire thing, For all that she was confused and worried about her friends, she was not without allies on Remnant. There was no White Doctrine here to force her to fight the people she loved. Whatever was going on, whatever had Taiyang so trepidatious about magic, they would face it together. And just like all those other times, they would move forward, together.

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Go Forth and Conquer!