Chapter 15: Believe in Destiny
Summer tried to smile to herself as she sat in the bleachers of the Amity Colosseum. So far; only one fight had taken place tonight: Sun Wukong, Haven's little Vacuan, defeated his Vacuan opponent, allowing him to go onto the 4th round, and now that fifteen minutes had passed since it's ending; it was time to start up the next match.
Summer just rolled her eyes as her old friend's voice came over the sound system again. "Alright, it's now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight!"
Summer turned to the screens to see the first slot rolling to reveal the Atlas logo; great which one this time. It slowed and the name 'Penny Polendina' appeared under the headshot of a younger looking girl with copper colored hair and her near emerald green eyes. Luckily; the second slot revealed the Vale logo and that could only mean one thing, as a redhead's face appeared on the screen: 'Pyrrha Nikos'.
Professor Port answered for Oobleck. "It looks like our first contender is Penny Polendina, from Atlas! And her opponent will be Pyrrha Nikos, from Beacon!"
Eventually both young huntresses made their way down to the arena. Summer noticed that Pyrrha was a lot more punctual in arrival without her teammates lagging behind her. Her ears picked up on the convo on the stage, started by Ms. Polendina. "Sal-u-tations, Pyrrha Nikos! It's an honor to finally meet you!" Summer couldn't hear if Pyrrha muttered something but clearly could see that Pyrrha was clearly lost in her own world, until for a moment clenching her hands as Penny spoke again. "This is going to be so much fun!"
Both of them got ready as Oobleck spoke. "Fighters, are you ready?" After a few moments of the two huntresses shuffling around the arena he spoke again. "3… 2… 1… Begin!"
Summer just watched in awe as Penny pulled out a whole array of swords out of her backpack-no; her backpack were the swords. Penny slammed them into Pyrrha and they went back and forth for a few minutes, with them both getting good jabs at the other huntress in the ring. It was to say a much better fight than Sun's.
The crowds were cheering, most of Ms. Nikos though there were the pockets of Atlesians rooting for Penny. Penny raised her hands for another swing of her swords when suddenly...
Slash.
Summer gasped as part of the whole crowd's sudden gasp as Penny was wrapped around by the strings of her swords and they restricted hard. Then came the noise. It wasn't the strings cutting into flesh. No. It was the sound of the strings cutting into metal.
Crash.
Summer blinked her eyes. What did I just witness? There resting on the floor of the Amity Colosseum's Arena, was Penny's slowly dying body, torn into four sections as the strings revealed she wasn't made of blood and bone. She was a machine of wires and oil. Summer's eyes drifted to Pyrrha Nikos, whose hands had a fading black glow to them.. 'Her semblance… it must work with metal… oh no.' Summer felt empathy towards the Mistralian, there was no way she would have known that her opponent was a cyborg.
"No!" shouted Port over the sound system.
A tear fell from Summer's tear, as the cameras turned to Penny and everyone watching the screens could see as Penny's eyes shifted from humanoid to more of a camera's shutter before finally fading to a darkened state. The thought that crossed her mind was the same as everyone else. Atlas had their own humanoid robot?
The hushed voice of Oobleck was semi audible over the sound system but everyone's attention was on the screens. The screens had turned a red tint as a logo slowly faded into existence on them. A Black Queen Chess Piece. Summer gulped and then watched Pyrrha, then thought of Yang's statements from yesterday night.
A woman's voice came over the sound system, Summer's heart skipped a beat at the voice. "This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians."
Summer knew exactly what happened. The Festival had been hijacked by Salem's followers. "But are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both." That moment Summer could see the man in question, Atlas' General Ironwood rise out of his seat and march out of the Arena. "They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."
Summer gritted her teeth at the woman's comments. She wanted to help Pyrrha Nikos. She was not at fault for tonight's events, but if she just walked down there, she would give her place away to Salem, so she kept listening, a hand now on her weapon. "And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither." Summer closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on herself. This woman was lying, right here and pinning the blame on two innocent children. A tear dropped from Summer's right eye, landing on her lap as her face fell. She couldn't stop herself from falling into Salem's palm as her mind kicked itself. 'This is my damn fault. If I wasn't foolish, Yang and Pyrrha would be fine. I jumped into the fray too early and I did it alone. This is my fault.' Her mind stopped as a picture of Ruby sitting next to her appeared in her mind. 'No. I'm here making up for my fault, I shouldn't let it control me, otherwise I'm doing what Salem wants.'
Once Summer's head cleared, she noticed a mint color haired huntress get up and start walking up the stands. The young brown skinned woman's red eyes meeting the faded silver for a moment while the woman climbed the stairs. There was no gasp or anything but Summer could tell by the woman's smirk as she had been walking up that she had plans, Summer turned around, but the woman was gone, while the other woman kept talking. "Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves."
Summer turned to face the screen again, she knew it was only minutes until the first wave of Grimm would arrive to wreak havoc. Just what Salem wanted. "As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?" As soon as those words finished; the screens all cut to static.
The fear. The fear in the air was dense as Port and Oobleck were able to get back on the sound system. "The feeds are all jammed! We can't get a message out!" Oobleck shouted, clearly towards the people in the broadcast room but clearly over the microphone as well.
"Will somebody tell me what in the world is happening!?" Port shouted over the sound system as the screens all turned orange, flashing the word caution as the sounds of the Colosseum's sirens started ringing. Summer had to cover her ears at that moment as they curled inward on themselves to try to stop the ringing.
"Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner." the warning system had started. 'Threat Level Nine?!' Summer thought to herself as she just watched all of the stands around her start to be used as stairs as people started to flee towards the exits in a mad rush. The exact opposite of what the system said to do.
The sounds of the microphone being grabbed caught Summer's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, please. There is no need for panic." It was General Ironwood, Summer assumed. However; his plea was cut short as a huge slam was heard from above. Summer's eyes darted back to Pyrrha and Penny for a moment, both frozen in their spots before looking above them. There was a Nevermore right there, an easy kill honestly for herself; but with all of these students and visitors? They could get hurt badly.
Gods be damned I jinxed myself. Qrow was running with Glynda to the CCT tower. Of all things to happen. Salem's pawns have staged the impossible. Just their luck. They entered the elevator silently as no words needed to be spoken in the moment. The door opened into Ozpin's office as they saw Ozpin was staring out of his window looking down on his campus, his life. "Oz!"
Ozpin turned to them, his cane was in his hand. "Get to the city!"
"But-?"
Ozpin's eyes had an abnormal anger behind them as he shouted. "NOW!"
Qrow gulped and nodded as he turned away running back to the elevator. As soon as the elevator dinged, he turned to Glynda. "Meet you in the city." With that Qrow transformed and took off towards the city; helping those in his path. Summer would have killed him otherwise.
"Pyrrha!" Summer's ears made her turn to face the blonde shouting at the edge of the Arena. 'Jaune, I think they said his name was?' Summer thought to herself as she watched, the blonde was being held back by his other team members. "Pyrrha, that thing's going to break in! You've gotta move!" Summer just watched as the Nevermore flew off the barrier upwards, the team saw it as well and the blonde took his chance while his team mate called after him. "Pyrrha, please snap out of it!"
Crack!
The Nevermore crashed through the barrier as it landed, blowing the boy, Pyrrha, and the remnants of Penny flying towards the wall. Summer got up to get ready to teleport in to block the attack, only for a red blur to beat her to the punch, the ball of rose petals transformed back into a woman.
Ruby.
Ruby had stabbed the Nevermore with one of Penny's swords by the looks of it. Pyrrha said something but Summer couldn't hear it, but she did hear Ruby's response to whatever Pyrrha had said. "Leave her alone!" Summer knew that aura of personality anywhere, it's a reflection of her own.
The Nevermore tried to retaliate, only for a barrage of lockers to fall from the sky. Summer turned to see the other remaining students had all jumped the wall or gone the proper way into the arena and were grabbing their weapons. The Nevermore tried to stir only for the teams to all work together to kill it within moments, there was a lot of good teamwork there.
"R-Ruby. I-I'm so sorry." Summer's ears picked up on the former Mistralian Champions words, she turned to them to focus in on the conversation while her wolf ears strained themselves.
"Me too… but it wasn't your fault."
The blondie spoke up next after Ruby. "She's right." The boy handed over Miló and Akoúo̱ to Ms. Nikos. "Whoever was on that microphone... they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else." They all smiled for a moment before a group of Griffon Grimm screamed from above before starting to fly down. One of the students called out the name of the Grimm while the others got prepared. Eyes turned to Ruby when pleads were asked for a plan of attack. Ruby only asked one for their scroll and soon Crescent Rose had landed safely in it's locker. However a Griffon landed on it before Ruby could grab it, roaring fiercely at Ruby.
A shotgun rang out as the Griffon was hit off the locker. "Students! I think it would be best for you to leave."
"But we did a-" Ruby tried to worm herself into helping fight, giving Summer a soft chuckle.
"Miss Rose! This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I'd prefer it if my students could live to tell about it." Oobleck cut off Ruby.
Ruby just nodded as she grabbed Crescent Rose. The Student teams all made their way out of the arena; though some needed more encouraging than others. As soon as Ruby was out of the arena, Port gave a mighty enthusiastical laugh. "One final match, Barty! Place your bets!" The two faced back to back as the Griffons swarmed them.
Summer just giggled as she jumped from her bleacher after a few moments of watching her friends fight off the Grimm, cutting in and taking one of Port's kills for herself with her sniper rifle.
"Miss Rose! What did I just say!" Oobleck shouted; not fully recognizing Summer from a distance.
Summer just laughed. "Oh I'm sorry Bart. You must have mistaken me. Miss Rose was my maiden name. Please refer to me as Mrs. Branwen."
Oobleck's glasses nearly dropped. "S-Summer you can't be alive."
Summer just rolled her eyes. "I shouldn't be, you're right. But the gods above spared me-." A Griffon came running behind her; and with a swift turn the beast turned to stone and crumbled. "As I was saying. The Gods spared me, and I'm here to learn from my mistake."
"Your mistake?" Port said, shooting another Griffon.
"Going on a mission alone." Summer said, looking around. "Oh, we've cleared them out."
Oobleck nodded at her. "Right; let's go then."
The trio made their way to an Airbus before landing in Beacon. Summer turned to them. "Where first, you two know the campus better than-." Summer's heart sank as an earthquake started to occur. "N-no."
"No?" Oobleck said worried. "What's 'no' meaning in this case."
"W-We need to get out-." Summer was stopped by her ears hurting. "Ahhh!" she dropped down in pain for a moment, trying to cover her ears. "Mountain Glenn's seal broke."
"Mountain Glenn?" Port said looking at her. "What-?"
"Vale's Wyvern has awoken." Summer said getting up as they all heard the blood curdling scream of said Grimm. "You know how the Warning System said a Nine? It's now a Ten...Or an Eleven."
Oobleck looked in horror. "We need to evacuate the students then if it's coming here!"
Summer nodded, frowning as she faced the rest of the campus. "We should, yes." The Wyvern appeared over the horizon and was flying right for the campus as they watched it swoop in and drop oil patches down.
Port gave out a mighty laugh. "Do I hear the need for the BlunderBus!"
Summer just looked at him confused. "The w-what?"
"We replaced the Field Trip Bus a few years back and Port bought the old one and has named it the BlunderBus… It's silly; I know."
Summer nodded. "Seeing his weapon is a blunderbuss, it's a little on the nose."
"I'll have you both know; the BlunderBus is one of the best vehicles on campus!"
Oobleck sighed. "Fine, we can use it, honestly we likely will have to; I don't know if we'll have enough airbuses to transport everyone, with a Wyvern flying around. They'll be needed to get all of Vale to one safe zone if the Huntsmen get it set up."
Summer nodded. "What about the tunnels? Sure we can't use those in Vale for-."
"Too risky. We had a breach of them a few weeks ago. There's no saying if they'll be viable or even not Grimm infested." Oobleck said, turning to face the City of Vale. It's sirens were still blaring loudly through the darkness.
Summer sighed. "Right; where is it."
"In the barn by the farms." Port said, smiling. "Let's go!"
The trio kept walking until they encountered white fang members attacking the other students. Oobleck looked at them. "White Fang, should of known."
"W-White Fang?" Summer's heart sank, she had trusted them. "I thought they were the good guys, ya know. Like us?"
"Good, up until Ghira Belladonna stepped down to lead Menagerie." Port gritted his teeth as he pulled out Blowhard. "The White Fang gave up protecting the rights for all; for violence that day."
Summer frowned as a white android appeared right before them coming in with the White Fang gunners. "Great; is it a bad time to say I sold them that and others like it in a desperate attempt to get money when I arrived?" Both Oobleck and Port gave her looks of disappointment, causing her to chuckle nervously. "Hey; when you've been locked up for over ten years; you tend to trust those who you thought would have you back, back then, but it seems I misjudged them." Summer sighed as she pulled out her new Apple Slice and Strawberry Solstice, transforming them into their sickle forms. "Guess it's time to get back at them.
Summer didn't give the professors time to react before teleporting right in between some of the androids; using their weak artificial intelligence against themselves to fire upon themselves. One of the white fang turned to see, their mask blocking their expression. Guns cocked as they started to fire upon Summer and the Professors. Summer made quick work through the androids, they weren't up to the standards of most if they could be beaten by a metal rod on Merlot's Island. It took them a few minutes to disarm the goons and destroy the androids; with the final one being slammed into the gate of the Chicken coop. Those poor chickens, they must be scared by all of this. Summer sighed to herself before turning to see the bus being pulled out of the barn. "Wow. That's ancient looking."
"The BlunderBus is perfectly fine-" Port stopped when his scroll rang. "Yes Glynda? Oh, right; we'll be at the Cliffside Docks for it."
Oobleck turned to him. "Pete?"
"The General has ordered full evacuation of Beacon until Vale is protected. Then we can spare Huntsmen to fight the Wyvern. Us three are to make it to the Cliffside Docks to get everyone on the airbuses to get to the safety zone in Vale.
Summer nodded. "Alright." Port opened the door and waved for Oobleck and Summer to get on, some of the seats had been taken out, mainly around the back exit door, but still could sit a few teams of students. The BlunderBus turned on and was soon at the down ramp from the Cliffside Docks to the main road back to Vale. The first few of the airbuses had already arrived, as well plenty of the students.
"How many wounded." Oobleck said looking around when Professor Mulberry came running up.
:Oh thank goodness you two are alright; really glad you got out of the Amity Arena alright."
"Harold." Port's tone was colder as he spoke. "How many students have been wounded so far?"
Harold gulped. "From the ones reported leaving the Amity Arena last, Ms. Rose is still missing after opening the door of an Airbus mid flight and jumping out. Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie both suffered bad rib damage from a rogue Atlas Paladin on the school grounds. Miss Nikos and Mr. Arc are both missing after Ms. Valkyrie reported them going with Headmaster Ozpin for something. There are plenty of visitor students also missing in action. Finally, Ms. Xiao Long has lost her arm, in an attempt to help out Ms. Belladonna with a White Fang member."
Everyone gasped at that final one, Summer tried to hold tears back, as Port turned to speak to the crowds forming. "That's it! Everybody on board! This is a mandatory evacuation!"
Oobleck joined him in shouting as Summer sat down, now unable to hold back her tears. The thoughts of her losing her daughter on this night was too much to handle. A voice cut Summer's mind off guard. "What?!" Summer looked up; eyes watery but she could make out Ruby standing over with the other students. A small tear dropped as Summer brushed her eyes, trying to listen into the conversation. "I'll find them... I'll find them, and I'll bring them back." Summer could only assume her daughter meant Ms. Nikos and Mr. Arc, both still absent. Summer just watched Ruby fade into the darkness as she and Weiss Schnee ran back to the campus.
"Summer." Summer looked up to see Oobleck standing there. "I've just got a report from a returning airbus that the Helipad at Vale's Hospital is being overloaded, and is refusing airbuses to land at the hospital. We're going to need to drive Ms. Xiao Long to the Hospital; will you join us?"
Summer hesitated for a few moments before nodding. "Yes. I will make sure Yang makes it there. Safe."
Oobleck smiled. "That's good. Peter's carrying her over right now." They both heard Port cough and they turned. There resting in his hands was Yang, her arm bleeding still though a bandaid was trying to hold it in. Behind him was a bunch of the students. "Please; all get on board, but if you think you don't need medical; please stay with me and take an airbus to Vale."
Most of the students climbed on as Yang was slowly lifted down onto a seat of the bus. "Do you want to take care of her?" Port asked Summer, his expression a little bleak.
"Yes. I want to-" Summer's heart stopped when she saw it. A sudden flash had erupted from the top of the Beacon Tower. The whole world was engulfed into a white void in seconds.
Another robot down. Qrow looked up from the wires as his eyes caught wind of a Creep creeping up on him. He pulled Harbinger out of the wreckage of the robot and started firing upon the approaching Grimm before deciding to just slash it. As the smoke cleared he turned to Glynda and tried to look hopeful. "Another one gone."
"Great." Glynda said as she tried to repair a building. Qrow, can you get on top of the building to see if there's any other Grimm in this block?"
Qrow nodded as he transformed into his bird form, it had just been him and Glynda there so he figured it was safe. He bolted up the wall to the roof and transformed back. "Nothing by the looks-!" Qrow stopped talking as he saw something he never wanted to see.
The lights of a Silver Eyed Warrior pulling off their ability.
Harbinger dropped with a clang as he fell to his knees. "N-No!" Qrow's hand pounded into the roof as a tear dropped, he had never wanted to see this light again.
Glynda heard his plea and could only look up, unable to see the light. "Qrow?!"
"I have to go, Glynda." Qrow picked up Harbinger and looked over the ledge to look at Glynda. "I won't be back." Without another word, Qrow took off in his corvid form, heading towards Beacon Academy. The thoughts of Ruby being injured flooded his mind mid flight. 'Gods be damned we-I already lost Summer to this; I can not lose Ruby, not tonight.' Qrow thought to himself as he flew towards his own cursed fate.
If a Grimm tried to attack him in his flight; he would merely transform back and pull out Harbinger in it's scythe form, slicing through the Grimm's wing or something before flying on. He flew under the broken arches and around the shattered courtyard statue. Qrow flew right through the main building up the CCT Tower's remains. Clearly a fight had taken place here beforehand. He stopped himself when he saw Ruby. She was resting unconscious on the tile of Ozpin's office. He looked around a moment, his eyes settling on the armor pieces formerly adored by Pyrrha Nikos just sitting down on the floor before Ruby. Pyrrha's weapon laid cracked and spread out across the floor discarded.
Qrow just unhooked his own cape, wrapping Ruby into it; dropping the pieces of Pyrrha's armor and weaponry into the cape. "It's alright. I got ya, kiddo. I got ya." Qrow said to Ruby as he put Ruby in his lap, fully crying as he put a hand on her forehand and rubbed her hair a moment.
He sighed as he got up, picking her up. "Let's get you home, ok?" Knowing he wouldn't get a reply he took a breath, turning around to stare right at the frozen in stone Wyvern. "You know, you did a good job for your first time… but the cost of doing it… clearly was the loss of a friend, wasn't it kiddo."
Qrow just turned to the sight of the remains of the elevator before looking over the edge to see a white haired woman at the bottom fighting off Grimm, most of them frozen in stone like the Wyvern. "You know, I'm doing this for you kiddo." Qrow said as he walked off the edge.
Qrow landed with a soft tap, opening his eyes he saw the woman staring at Ruby. "You know, if I hadn't looked up in time that would have really hurt right?"
"Weiss Right?" Qrow said, sighing. "I knew full well, that my aura would have broken, when I walked off. Ruby's fine… she's just going to need some time to rest."
"What did she do and how did you even get up there in the first place?!" Weiss screamed at Qrow, causing him to scoff.
"You want to know? I flew. It's a part of my semblance." Qrow lied, knowing it was gonna bite him later on in life but he didn't care. "For Ruby here… it's complicated, and well, while I know just what exactly she just did… it isn't my thing to tell, it's hers."
"What do you mean?!"
Qrow scoffed. "Read a book sometime Ice Queen. I'm sure you can find your headmaster's Compendium of Fairy Tales somewhere for sale; hell, I'm sure you could just ask him for a copy."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Qrow scoffed as they started to walk. "I said you need to read. May I suggest to you, the Warrior of the Woods?" That shut her up as they walked towards the Cliffside Docks. When they arrived there was only a bus left, there leaning onto it was Doctor Oobleck. "Huh, oh hey Bart."
Oobleck had clearly had a tiring day based on his expression. "We saw that light, is Miss Rose ok, where are Miss Nikos and Mister Arc?"
Weiss looked down, a tear falling to the pavement below. "Jaune's in Vale."
"And-".
Qrow scoffed at Oobleck's attempt of asking where Pyrrha was. "Gone." Qrow surveilled the rest of the bus, noticing Yang without her arm. "Were you guys waiting on us?"
Oobleck nodded. "After seeing that light; we figured we would wait, we sent off all the other Airbuses." Oobleck looked one last time at their surroundings. "It's just us, get in both of you."
Qrow got onboard and sat Ruby down across from Yang, who was being attended to by someone. Weiss sat down next to Blake, hoping to calm her teammate. Port spoke up as Oobleck closed the door and walked around to enter through the main door. "Welcome aboard Qrow and Ms. Schnee to the BlunderBus! Please hold on!" Port closed the door and turned on the bus. Slowly the bus roared into action and turned away from Beacon the figure attending to Yang turned around and Qrow's heart stopped. Time worn eyes for the first proper time in forever reunited, the woman helping Yang had eyes Qrow could never forget.
Eyes of Silver.
Summer tried not to stare at Yang as she tended to her. She was still asleep as they were riding back to Vale from Beacon Academy. Summer did not know the full story about how Yang lost her arm but knew she had to have lost it protecting her friend; that's all that mattered.
She looked around at the other people on the bus still. Most of the students were huddled together with a partner, if she recalled the names right: Ren and Nora were hugging each other, while Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna were trying to side hug each other, trying to comfort the other. It had been a stressful day for them all.
Summer sighed to herself as she just glanced around a little more. She was out of her comfort zone by a long shot, but these seemed to be her daughters' friends. 'Self alienation.' Summer thought to herself. She looked down at Yang and slowly grabbed Yang's hand. She knew Yang wouldn't recognize her; hell Ruby didn't. Summer's other hand rested beside Yang, and after a few moments, Summer just started to sing a song she used to sing to Yang and Ruby as babies.
"Don't worry, I've got you; nothing will ever harm you. I'm close by, I'll stay here; through all things, I will be near."
Ears started to perk up as Summer kept singing; first Weiss's then Ren's.
"Close your eyes,don't you cry. Love's around you; in time, you'll fly."
Then Blake's and then Nora's after Ren nudged her to listen in, Oobleck had also turned to listen, and Port would look back every now and again.
"Don't you worry about the dark, I will light up the night with the love in my heart. I will burn like the sun, I will keep you safe and warm." Finally Qrow turned to listen in; at least making a sign he was, Summer kept singing. "Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day, I will be there to take all your fears away. With a touch of my hand, I will turn your life to gold. With a touch of my hand, I'll turn your life to gold."
Summer opened her eyes to look at Yang; she noticed Yang's grasp on her hand had tightened during the song, which caused Summer to smile meekly.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Summer looked back to see Qrow giving her a cocky smile as he clapped, the jerk. "You've got a nice singing voice, Miss." Qrow spoke out, clearly holding out the true ending of the comment.
Summer blushed, "T-thank you. I used to sing for my daughters back when they were little, always bringing joy to their faces. I just figured you all could use a little bit of singing to lift the mood a little tonight."
"I'll be the second to commend you on your voice." Everyone turned to Weiss. "I might be a great singer myself, but you've got talent, Miss."
Summer just smiled. "Only doing what a mother should for others."
"Speaking of mothers." Weiss kept talking. "Don't think that none of us have not noticed your resemblance to our friend Ruby." Blake joined her by nodding.
Shit, they're quite perceptive. Summer turned away from Weiss and Blake to look at Ruby, staring at her daughter's sleeping face for a few. "Oh, I guess we do look similar. I can't say I've never met Ruby before, I met her yesterday in the Beacon Forge." Summer gave a soft giggle after speaking. "She reminds me of my daughter, alright. And I believe, after tonight, I think I'm gonna have to go see her." Summer just took a breath, she knew she was just stalling them, and figured they knew too. Their expressions showed they were not amused by her actions. Summer knew she could not just straight up admit to them that yes; the Summer Rose was still alive, at least, not just yet . "I will admit the resemblance between me and your friend is quite spectacular, but I can not say for sure if she's related to me."
That seemed to make them contempt as neither questioned her further for the rest of the ride to Vale. She lost grip of Yang's hand as Port came around to pick her up and take her in. She watched him take her while Qrow picked up Ruby and carefully took her inside as well. Sure enough the others scattered from the bus; leaving Summer alone, again.
"I heard Oz talked to you." Summer looked up to see Qrow carrying his cape still, that cocky smile still adoring his face. "Hey."
Summer looked back down as the bus shifted a little with Qrow sitting down next to her, she wanted to speak but as she opened her mouth she lost her voice.
"I was being serious Summer. You do have a nice singing voice." Qrow said putting a hand on top of Summer's. "Please speak to me."
"Merlot had me-".
Qrow sighed as he scooted in. "I figured. Oz didn't know this but when I learned of Ruby's discovery of his island… I looked at each and every file sent to Oz. Without his permission, as I wanted to know what she was cooking up." Qrow scoffed. "Mutated Grimm and a captive Silver Eyed Warrior. Didn't take two and two to put together when you showed up at the Vytal Festival."
Summer nodded. "I-I saw you fight the Schnee woman, Winter I believe?"
"Winter Schnee, one of his top attack dogs-I mean specialists, Winter seems to work better alone which is why she's not an Ace-Op."
Summer chuckled. "I remember getting asked, as an Atlesian, to join the Military but I declined. If I had been one of those women in the Military, I'd've shot myself my now."
Qrow just laughed. "I told him that myself straight to his face! But if you had been one of those women; they…" Qrow paused to take a look at her. "You would likely never have been told about her."
Summer nodded. "I made a foolish mistake back then, one I should have told you about. I'm only here as she took pity on me and threw me to her experimental scientist. But no, I was a fool and high off being a protective mother then. I figured I would be enough to take her down." Summer paused. "I wasn't the first to do it either."
Qrow sighed, his softened red eyes blinking a little at her before speaking. "Well you're here now, that's what-."
"It's not right though, I should be dead Qrow." Summer said to him, tearing up. "I failed you and Ruby-." Summer felt warmth as Qrow just hugged her, wrapping himself around her.
"I don't care, you're here." Summer kept crying as Qrow comforted her, when the tears dried up, Qrow spoke. "So, what's your gameplan, or rather were, shortstack."
"I-I was gonna wait a little while before trying to contact you. R-Ruby; there's no way I could tell her why I disappeared but after tonight… she needs to know about her." Qrow nodded so Summer kept talking. "I-I think it's best though if I just… go my own way for a while. I think I want to say hi to Kali and live at our place for a while to think of what to do."
Qrow shrugged. "I have a feeling Ruby will want to go to Haven when she wakes up, right now she needs to rest. So do you want to just meet there?"
Summer nodded. "I don't know how long the boat trip will be; but I'll try to make it to Haven, just wait for me Stilts."
"Mr. Branwen, you can come see your nieces now." a voice rang as one of the Nurses walked out of the Hospital doors.
Qrow sighed. "That's my cue. I love you Summer; don't you forget that."
Summer smiled as she kissed him. "I-I love you too. See you in Haven, I promise." Qrow got up and left while Summer sat for a bit before getting up and walking to the docks by herself. She couldn't stop herself from crying, but she knew she had to keep walking. She had promised to reunite Qrow at Haven, and until then, she had to prepare. With Strawberry Solstice and Apple Slice in her hand she walked up to the boat she had stolen and grabbed her outfits and any belongings she had and left it. It could sink for all she cared now.
She walked to the public docks to get a ship out of Vale, eventually settling onto the S.S. Pride. She sat in her bedroom on the ship looking out to Vale and towards Beacon, where the tower lay in ruins still. In the low hanging mist of the hazy dark morning, she could make out other faunus and humans joining her for the journey; including some of the students such as Blake.
Summer smiled to herself, she was going to learn from Kali and her husband what happened to the White Fang and after that. Home. Qrow. Ruby. She pushed herself away from them this time, but when her purpose and his fate let them paths cross again? Well it'll be a brand new day for her, and after that? Well after all the reveals, she'll stick by Qrow's side until the end.