Chapter 16: Home
Final Author's Note: I'm very happy with how this story came out in the end. This started as a simple reboot of one of my other fanfics, but since then has spiralled into its own being. I am grateful to all the readers who have stuck around to read this story, and my beta readers the most; mainly Riggy. Without comments and feedback, this story would not be the way it is now, but I wouldn't have it any other way: I'm proud of Echoes of the Past.
Yang just smiled to herself as she finished painting on the purple details into her new robotic arm. She had spray painted it yellow earlier in the morning and it glistened in the morning rays. Wiping some sweat off her brow she just smiled to herself. Her attention turned however to the car garage as she walked over and lifted up the door. It groaned but opened revealing a yellow bike: Bumblebee. She recalled that Uncle Qrow had somehow fought through Beacon's swarms of Creeps and Griffons to rescue it for her. She was lucky now that he had done that for her.
She stood there for a few seconds, taking in the raw emotion and power of every memory that resurfaced upon seeing the bike. Her buying it; to dropping outside of Juniors with a mission. To picking up Ruby at the Police station that very night. To her riding with Neptune to track down Torchwick for Blake. Yang had to shake her head at those memories returning now. She didn't want them.
Blake had made her own choice. She ran. Yang pulled out her map. It was a map of Anima with a few key locations marked out: Higanbana, Mistral itself, and a circle. Qrow had given this map to her with the circle, his words coming back to her. If your mother is anywhere, she's here.
She stared at it for a moment, remembering how she had circled Higanbana after receiving a letter from Ruby mailed from the city, when a knock on the garage caught her attention. She turned around; Ember Celica aimed, until she realized who it was.
"I never said you were ready." Her father; Taiyang Xiao Long, spoke out as he leaned against the garage door track, his arms crossed.
Yang tried to hold back a scoff. "Oh yeah? Are you going to stop me dad?" She then started to pull Bumblebee into the morning sunshine. It was a little dusty, but a few minutes of washing should clean it right up.
Taiyang chuckled at the thought. "Nope. Our last fight made me sore, I would just flop over if I tried to fight you right now." He loosened his arms a little. "I just… wanted a better goodbye than what your sister gave me, although I am happy she's sending letters when she can."
"Yep." Yang said as she started the water to give Bumblebee the wash, trying to keep up with her father's talking. "Yeah, I don't think she should have done that; but she also did it to keep it a secret."
Taiyang sighed, clearly not liking how she had worded that. "Secrets… yeah. I figured that's why she did that."
"What do you mean dad?" Yang said looking up from Bumblebee for a moment.
"She got that from her mother for sure. Summer kept a lot of secrets about herself, most of them even from me for the longest time. She kept parts of herself hidden behind a mask sometimes; when talking about herself. She would easily try to help people and learn their secrets to help them, but… when it came to her own? There was one secret she kept from me for nearly ten years, and I don't doubt her secret keeping wasn't compounded by what your former headmaster told us about her Silver Eyes."
Yang sighed. "Yeah…" those words reminded her of the videos appearing on the local CCT every now and again of a bright silvery-white flash of light at the CCT tower at Beacon. One time she had asked her father what he thought of it; she ended up learning about the Silver Eyes from him, and why they were important.
"So; I have to ask this of you as well Yang." Taiyang said changing the subject. "Where are you going?"
"Huh?" Yang said not looking up from Bumblebee. "Where am I going?" She knew the rough idea but it still could use work.
"Yep. I know for a fact, your Uncle has told you where your mom is these days, despite me asking him not to tell you. I know you've been searching again for her and that you want to see her in person."
"So what if I do want to see my mother." Yang scoffed at her father, who just stepped backwards from the aggression, her eyes flashing red for a moment.
"I didn't say I'm here to stop you or sway you from doing that." Taiyang sighed as he relaxed his arms again before throwing Yang a rag. "I am not here to stop you Yang. You told me you were an adult, this is now your choice Yang. But she isn't the only person you could go after. We both know your sister is likely at Mistral itself by now. So I ask again, my sunny little dragon: Where are you going?"
Yang just laughed. "I think I'm actually going to say goodbye to Madame Mallari first. Saying goodbye to her will give me some time to think."
Taiyang smiled at her as he walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Go say hello then to her, I'm going to walk Zwei down to the harbor then. You want to meet at the Ferry afterwards?"
Yang smiled meekly. "Sure dad."
It was a little while longer until Bumblebee was all cleaned and fired up. Yang got onboard and just slightly smiled as she looked back at her childhood home. Fond childhood memories flooded back to her of her and Ruby training here, a few of Summer baking for her and Ruby as well returned, but they were stringed between memories of Ruby and herself playing as kids and all the times Uncle Qrow visited.
Yang sighed. She knew she didn't know when she was going to come back here, but it is time to leave the coop once more. She got on Bumblebee and drove away; glancing back before so often to look at the house as it disappeared into the woods.
It did not take long for Yang to arrive at Madame Mallari's house, coming to a stop at the stables, hopping off Bumblebee to look around for a moment. She walked inside and saw it was still as clean as she had left it a few weeks ago, with Mallari's horse happily in its stall and a few chickens wandering around. She eventually arrived at Madame Mallari's garden, finding the owner herself sitting on her bench. "Madame Mallari?"
The elderly lady looked up. "Ah, welcome back Yang. I don't have any chores for you today though."
"I know. Can I sit for a moment?" Yang said, trying to smile.
"Sure dearly." Madame moved over so Yang could sit down, her hair was down for once, lacking the bandana she normally wore. Yang noticed her hair was an elderly silverly-white. "Is something bothering you?"
Yang shook her head. "N-No, it's just that, I think I'm ready." She lifted her arm to show Mallari that her robotic arm had been repainted a nice golden shade of yellow. "Ready to go on my journey again."
Mallari smiled at her softly like a grandmother would. "So you think you're ready to go out and that your recuperation is complete?"
Yang nodded. "Yeah.. and now I have a lot of work to do; I can't just fly to Anima rig-."
"Anima?!" Mallari said looking at her with a shocked expression. "Deary, it will nearly take three months to get from here to Domremy, and then you have to worry about the ferry or a ship getting you across…-"
"I have a bike, Ms. Mallari." Yang said grinning a little. "That will cut the time I need to get to Anima by months."
"I thought I heard a car or something roll up." Mallari said grinning softly.
"Yep-." Yang trailed off for a moment thinking over her plans. "-and now I've got work to do, a long way away."
"It will always be a journey, Yang. Journeys are never a chore done, nor a task completed." Mallari said, taking Yang's left hand into her own. "You have a right to your anger and trauma, but not a right to surrender the battle against yourself." She looked up to Yang with her little brown eyes.
Yang sighed. "'And through it has never been fair, you are and will always have to be your own healer.'" Yang said repeating something Madame Mallari had told her on Yang's first day doing chores for her.
Mallari got up from the bench. "Come dear, I've got something for you." The two walked to the stables and Mallari pulled out a box, not too small, not too big, just right to fit into Yang's camping bag. "Here. To help you along the way."
Yang watched as Mallari opened it, it was full of vials and herbs. Yang noticed an engraving on the box. "'Physician, Heal Thyself'?" She asked, a little confused by the meaning.
Mallari smiled as she closed the box and handed it to Yang. "Yep; to heal yourself or to flavor your cooking, which you father told me is worse than your bark." She teased as Yang brought her into a hug.
"Thank you for this Madame Mallari, thank you for today." She paused. "No, thank you for everything."
"You're welcome dear; you are welcome to come back whenever you wish. Just do not forget that your journey is really just beginning."
Yang broke the hug and nodded. "Yep. I've got a long road ahead, better catch up to my dad before leaving. Goodbye Madame Mallari."
As Yang got on Bumblebee she heard Madame reply. "Goodbye, Yang Xiao Long."
As Yang drove to the harbor she just kept thinking of what Madame Mallari and her father had told her, as the smell of the ocean grew ever stronger in her nose as she finally stopped at the ferry dock and saw her dad and Zwei waiting for her. Zwei barked happily as he saw Yang pull up.
The first thing Yang did was get off Bumblebee and hug Taiyang for a few moments. "I'm gonna miss you, dad." Yang said smiling.
"I'll miss you too, my sunny little dragon. Yang." Taiyang said, replying to her comment. "Go say hi for me to your sister and uncle."
"And what if I go see mom."
Taiyang took a breath and spoke softly. "If you go see your mom, say hi for me as well."
Yang nodded as she broke the hug at the sound of a ferry horn. "I need to get set to leave."
Taiyang smiled meekly at his daughter. "Go.-" he stopped. "Here, wait." He pulled out a pamphlet out of his back pocket. "You should be able to catch the S.S. Pride at Domremy, say hi to the captain if you catch it, he's the father of a best friend of mine.".
Yang nodded. "Will do dad." She turned to walk to get everything sorted out and came back a few minutes later as the ferry finished unloading. "Well...Goodbye dad."
"Goodbye Yang, take care of yourself." Taiyang said as he held Zwei, who barked happily as Yang got back on Bumblebee and just gave them a thumbs up before driving into the ferry, she looked back one last time to see her father waving to her.
Yang returned the wave before getting off Bumblebee, before walking up top, looking around a little as the ferry departed. She kept waving until she could no longer see her father on the dock. She turned her attention to the pamphlet and looked at the photo of the ship and smiled. It would take her a few days to get to Domremy to catch up with the ship but at least she was on her way now. That's all that mattered.
The sounds of a baby crying echoed through the hospital on a special day. It was Halloween, and while most children were out trick or treating; one toddler sat on her father's lap in a waiting room. Lilac eyes grew red, she couldn't speak yet but her father knew it was the crying angering her. "There, there, my sunny little dragon. If we're lucky that's the sounds of your cousin yelling." He rubbed her back and just waited for the answer.
In the room itself, there was a very tired Wolf faunus with black hair ending in red tips. Her silver eyes tired but she seemed happy as the doctor spoke. "It's a girl."
Another man in the room sighed, as he took another pill. He crouched down to the wolf faunus's eye level, his red eyes staring at her. "How are you feeling, Summer?"
"Tired, but proud, how are you holding up, Qrow? That's the fifth aura suppression pill you've taken since we got here."
Qrow just looked at his wife. "Well, I gotta keep my semblance from triggering here."
The doctor pulled up a pink bundle. "Mrs. Rose, do you wish to hold her first?"
Summer nodded, opening up her arms to welcome the addition of her and Qrow's family, hearing the door click as the doctor left to get a nurse for testing. She looked down at the pink bundle and moved the blanket a little, noticing their daughter's lack of wolf ears in her black and red hair, before turning to her husband. "Look, no ears, Qrow, you know how rarely that happens?"
"Yeah, normally she would get your trai-." Qrow was staring down at their daughter and just stopped talking, his mouth gasping a little as a tear fell. Summer turned to see what was wrong and her heart dropped. Staring back at her were eyes of Silver, like her own.
Qrow eventually took a second to regain himself with a few breaths. "Well then… I can't believe-."
Summer stopped him right there: she knew exactly where his mind was going with that line of thought. "You can't believe what?" Summer looked him straight in the eyes as she spoke. "For all we know Qrow, Silver Eyes could have been the more dominant of the two. We took a gamble and now we know, don't even try to think this is your fault."
"B-but-"
"But nothing Qrow." Summer said, the anger in her voice rising slowly. "Now… before the doctor and nurses return, we need to name her, together."
Qrow scoffed. "Seeing as she has your eyes, Sum. I want her to take your last name. I do not want her cursed with mine, alright?"
Summer smiled. "Of course, I understand. How about Ruby? I've had that name on the brain for a few weeks now."
"Ruby huh?" Qrow said looking down at the little infant. "Yeah. Ruby. I actually like the sound of that, better than a bird."
Summer giggled as she looked down to her bright eyed daughter. "Ruby Rose, our little silbernerengelchen."
"Yeah…" Qrow trailed off, also looking at Ruby. "I think I'm gonna call her something like 'petal'."
"Fair enough Qrow, do you want to hold her? It's not fair if I'm the only one to hold her." Summer tried to beam as she lifted Ruby up in her little bundle, offering her to Qrow.
Qrow hesitated for a moment, but relented and slowly picked Ruby up into his own hands. He could only smile softly as Ruby yawned a little and stretched a hand out. Qrow returned the gesture by allowing her to grip his finger. "No matter what; she's our little petal, Summer."
"Yeah, no matter what; you're going to be here to raise her, right?" Summer said, staring at her husband and daughter, still clearly shaken by how long after Yang's birth that Raven left Taiyang. :I-I just don't want to have Ruby without her father."
"Until I die, Ruby will have me protecting her." Qrow said smiling as he looked down to see Ruby had fallen asleep in his arms. He sat down in the chair he had pulled out earlier and just used his other hand to hold Summer's for her. "Well; too bad she won't be able to go to our house yet."
Summer giggled. "Nope, not for a little while at least, a shame as we picked a great spot in Mistral for us to raise her." Summer sighed. "I'm gonna have to tell my mom soon that she's born, she and my dad will want to see her, and I think you said Tai's here?"
Qrow nodded as he rocked Ruby a little in his arm. "Tai and Yang are in a waiting room, they have been for an hour or so. Why do you want me to get them for you?"
Summer smiled a little bit more. "When you're tired of holding Ruby, ok? They can wait until then. Qrow just nodded to reply to that as they sat in bliss; both of them watching their young daughter rest in Qrow's arm until she fell asleep on them. "You think she'll have your natural magic?"
"What, my transformation magic? I doubt it with how she got your eyes, Shortstack. Yang has the chance to have the inert magic but I don't really want to go out and train her to find out, not without Tai's permission-." Qrow paused. "-and when they're older, I do not want tiny chicks running through our houses."
Summer just grinned. "You know, the song 'Gold'?" Qrow nodded. "I sang it a few nights ago to Yang as a lullaby and Ruby responded as well; so I really hope she'll like me singing it to her and Yang every night."
Qrow just laughed a little. "I heard that, you've got a nice singing voice, and if Ruby got it? She easily could have a life as a singer."
Summer blinked, then just turned a bright red and blushed. "M-maybe with a little training Qrow, but well, that's her choice. We can not force hobbies onto her."
"Of course Sum, I wasn't saying that, was I?-" Qrow stopped as his scroll rang. He pulled it out and looked to see it was Tai calling, he answered with one hand as he tried to hand Ruby off to Summer before getting up. "Yeah Tai?"
"Yang keeps crying put here, is her cousin born yet?"
Qrow just smiled as he spoke into the scroll. "It's a girl, we named her Ruby Rose, Taiya-."
"T-that's wonderful, is she a faunus or?" Qrow could tell it was on speaker as Yang pounding on the wall was heard in the background.
"Nope; she's a rare case of being human, but… she has silver eyes, Tai." Qrow eventually answered for his brother in law.
"Oh." Any happiness in Taiyang's voice dropped as he realized what that meant. "Oh no. Well can we come see her so I can take Yang home for the night before the last ferry stops?"
Qrow chuckled. "Yeah, come on up we're in room 11512."
"11512, alright, see you in a few." with the sound of a click Qrow put down the scroll and turned to look at Ruby. His little Silver Eyed Warrior, he could not wait for when she grew up. To see the person she grew up to be.
"Jaune!" Ruby shouted as her body shot up, she looked at her surroundings, she was on a couch in Mistral by the looks of it.
"Ahhh!" a voice came from behind her before a loud thud was heard. She tried to see who it was but the voice came to her. "Hey Ruby." It was Jaune, standing there in just his Pumpkin Pete's hoodie and jeans. No armor to be seen. "How are you feeling?"
"I hurt, like my head took a full on explosion. Please tell me I didn't blow up again."
"No?" Jaune said as Ruby sighed a sigh of relief. "You did kinda uh go white? There was an eruption of silvery-white that came out of your eyes while we were fighting the Nuckelavee."
"The what?- Ren, Nora, my Uncle Qrow! Are they all ok?"
"Qrow's getting medical treatment still, but we're all fine, I'm just glad you're ok Ruby." Jaune said, helping to lift Ruby into a sitting position on the couch.
"T-thank you." Ruby said, trying to smile. "So where's your armor?"
"Oh my armor? I put it in the room I'm sharing with Ren and Nora." Jaune said, putting on a grin before continuing to speak. "This is Qrow's house by the way."
"H-how did you find out?"
"As soon as we got to the hospital he refused to enter until he told us the address and where the key was." Jaune spoke. "There's room for you to have your own room, and another two rooms still, must be a fortune to keep this house, but it seems like a proper house for a family."
"A family huh." Ruby said looking at him. "Never thought of my uncle to be a family man, and to have a house here- oh no." Ruby stopped talking before gasping. She looked around, noticing that, yes, the place looked like a family home, a little dusty though. "Poor Uncle Qrow, must have been quite far in a relationship when his lover died or left him, either way due to his semblance. As there's no way he would have just bought this for missions in Mistral."
"Nope; there's a balcony and a fighting room downstairs as well Ruby, the kitchen's even flourished with multiple sets of silver and dishware. Me, Ren, and Nora have concluded that he must have either bought most of them with the house or that he at some point shared this house with a lover. Though Nora did suggest, as he's named after a crow, perhaps he's just grabbed most of it in good bargain sales but I doubt it."
"Yeah…" Ruby said looking up. "Where is he?"
"Your uncle is still at the hospital, want us to come with you, to make sure you're ok?" Jaune asked, a little concerned as Ruby got up from the couch.
"I-Yes." Ruby said getting up. "I don't know the way to the hospital so I would like that, actually Jaune."
"Then let's go." He turned to look at a door. "Hey Nora, Ruby's up! We're gonna go see if her uncle's up!"
"Alright; take care! Tell him we said hi!" Nora shouted from the room.
Jaune smiled as he went to open the door, as he led Ruby to the Mistral Hospital. It wasn't a long wall; and Ruby just was in awe of how the city looked, the fact it was all focused along two valley walls was a test to the founders. Eventually the duo arrived at the Mistral Hospital. Ruby opened the door and rushed to the reception desk. "Uh hi; is Qrow Branwen awake yet?" Ruby asked the receptionist.
The receptionist looked at her, then to Jaune. "Just take a seat, you two."
Jaune had to nearly drag Ruby by her cloak back to the seating area to sit down. They sat for a few minutes when a woman came up to them. "Hi; are you two the ones waiting for Mr. Branwen?"
Ruby got up instantly. "Yep! That's me! Is he alright? Is he awake?!"
Jaune sighed. "Ruby just got here Madame Xahn."
Madame Xakn nodded. "Alright, I understand. Mr. Branwen is currently resting, you can wait in the hospital while waiting for him."
"Oh…" Ruby said, frowning. "I-I was hoping to see him."
"I understand young miss, perhaps though to kill some time? May I suggest walking through our garden? It's one of the best in Remnant."
Ruby looked to Jaune, smiling. "You want to go Jaune?"
Jaune's expression shifted from worried to happy. "You know what, sure I can go to the garden for a bit."
The trio walked to the open gardens, with Ruby noticing first that the so-called garden was a maze. "It looks awfully big, Madame Xahn."
"Big journeys and small, all begin with a single step, young lady." Madame Xahn answered.
Jaune chuckled a little at that. "When you say it like that, you make it sound a lot bigger."
"And a little spooky." Ruby added onto Jaune's comment.
"Haha well." Madame Xahn looked at the two as the duo started to walk in. "Be careful though, watch out for the flowers… their perfume can be intense."
"Intense?" Jaune said, taking a whiff of the air. "Oh."
"But who knows? You may even find someone to guide you." Madame Xahn said as she turned to walk back in the building.
Jaune just stared at Ruby. "Got any idea what she means?"
"Nope." Ruby said smiling. "Let's go." With that Ruby ran into the garden, unable to hear Jaune's shouts behind her. Ruby eventually stopped to think once she got deeper into the maze. Something wasn't sitting well for her, the journey was done right? They had made it to Mistral, safe. Sure, Uncle Qrow got poisoned, Jaune's been a little quiet here and there. Ren and Nora have not been themselves ever since they left Higanbana. Ruby sighed to herself as she felt the sweet perfume from the roses get in her nose.
'Yang may still be mad at me, and Weiss and Blake… I miss them so much, but who am I without them or Ren, Nora, and Jaune?' Ruby thought to herself as she wandered the maze. When there had been a task before her, the method of one step after the other, one foot in front of the other, it didn't hurt so much. But now?
Breathe.
A shiver went down Ruby's spine, she croaked out a "H-hello?" nervously as she listened to it.
Waiting is often hardest. Standing still can be the wisest move.
Ruby listened in, this wasn't Jaune she was hearing, she could figure that much, as it sounded like a woman. "Is someone there?" Ruby asked out loud as she heard a rustle from the bushes. Ruby looked down to see a figure reminiscent of the ones she had made with Yang as a kid. "Yang?!" Ruby shouted, turning around.
Who speaks? Your sister? A Raven? The songbird in the egg that never hatched at all?
Ruby thought she caught a glimpse of golden hair around a bush after hearing the voice again. "Yang!" Ruby turned around the bush to reveal a field of sunflowers. "Yang… please?" She looked at the sunflowers and just sighed. "I-I can't do this alone. Huntresses… We're not supposed to be alone. You and me… and all our friends.. We're not meant to be alone."
Ruby turned to another wall, but instead of the roses or sunflowers, instead there were just Belladonna flowers.
Oh child… you are not alone. No one is ever truly alone.
Was she going crazy? "I can't lose another team…" Ruby questioned herself. She loved RNJR and her mind was full of thoughts of them breaking up; something she didn't want.
You won't.
Ruby turned to the next wall, there were now Myrten Asters in bloom on the wall of bush. "I-I can't fight these battles by myself!" she shouted, on the brink of tears.
Perhaps not. But what you can do and who you are… These are two very different things.
Ruby kept walking, eventually finding herself in a grove in front of three doors painted up in gold, black, and white.
For you to continue on, I wish you to know these things: Failure is not a failing.
She kept walking past them as three birds came in front of her,shocking none were chickens though, still those three colors as the door. 'Is this symbolism for my friends?' Ruby thought to herself.
Do not mistake what yields for what is weak.
Ruby looked up to see a towering oak tree at the center of the grove, at one edge of the tree rested a pond, filled with lotuses. The pond's edges were dotted by columbines. Ruby noticed under the other side of the tree was a field of yellow daffodils. She sat down under the oak tree after looking out upon the rest of the garden, before sighing a little.
Fire is no one's friend. Ruby looked up to see a little red bird talking to her. The dead are not always gone.
Ruby spoke up once more. "Okay… well." Ruby looked around and up back at the bird. "One of those is self-contradictory, two of them are obviously untrue and one of them sounds like it would get you in a lot of hot water in, say engineering or bridge-building or well anything that requires structural integrity to, you know, not die." Ruby rolled her eyes. "And yet, here I am… again… talking to a bird.. Again."
You grieve, Ruby Rose, Huntress and storyteller. You fear you need a quest to keep you whole. You feel you need your friends more than they need you. This is not a flaw. It is a terrible thing, to be defined by other people.
Ruby just watched as she got up that the walls started to fade inward on herself, panicking as she didn't bring Crescent Rose she just watched as they closed in.
You miss them. But know you are not incomplete without them. No person is lesser for being alone. They may bring forth the best in you but that best still belongs to you.
Ruby took a breath and breathed in. 'No. I'm not broken without the people I love. But I choose them. Like they choose me. Over, and over, and over. Ren, Nora, and Jaune? They're my team. They chose me, and I'll never love them any less.' She started to sprint through the walls using her semblance. 'I have something I want you to know, little bird, sometimes, the way out: is through.' Ruby looked around, she had made her way back to the start of the maze. "Where am?" she stopped when she fully realized where she was. "Oh." A soft squawk caught her attention as the red bird dropped something in her hand.
Ruby looked at it in the sunlight, it was a little red stone. "It's just a little red stone, or maybe a piece of old sea glass? What have I been doing out here?" Ruby looked at it then she heard a voice from behind her.
"Finally I found you Ruby,-" Ruby turned around to see Jaune holding onto the rose bushes. "I've been searching the whole maze for you. Did you at least have fun in there and clear your head."
Ruby nodded. "Y-yeah, did you see the oak tree?" Ruby asked, unsure what she saw was real or not.
"Yeah! It was the first thing I found while looking for you, I sat on the bench for a few minutes waiting to see when you would get there. The gardener here has really worked nicely to clean up the lotus pond since last time I was here-" 'Wait.' Ruby thought while Jaune was talking, 'He's been here before?' "-the Columbines are a nice touch around the pond." Jaune said smiling. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah." Ruby said pocketing the stone as they turned to the doorway to see Madame Xahn again.
"Ruby Rose right? Mr. Branwen is awake, and you're the one he's been asking for." Madame Xahn spoke out aloud for them both to clearly hear.
Ruby just beammed. "Right, can you take me to see him now?"
Madame Xahn nodded. "Follow me." They started to walk back into the hospital, eventually arriving at a door with a chalk board listing: 'Branwen' on it. "Here you go, just enter when you're ready." With that Madame Xahn walked away to do other business.
Ruby turned to Jaune with big pleading silver eyes. "You want to follow me in?"
Jaune just smiled softly and nodded. "Sure, but I don't want to distract you from him so I'll stay at the door."
Ruby grinned at that answer. "Thanks." Ruby sighed and took a breath as she opened the door. She peeked in and saw Qrow resting on the far bed. She walked in and slowly sighed as she put a hand on his head.
A soft voice came to her. "Hey, aren't I normally the one saving you?"
Ruby just smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. "Hey Uncle Qrow… when are they saying you should be able to get out?"
Qrow smiled as his red eyes just softly glanced up to Ruby. "Tonight they said. My body did wonders protecting me from the poisons."
"That's great Uncle Qrow." Ruby said kneeling down a little to put her hand on top of his. "You'll get through this, alright? We made it here, we can't afford to lose you now." She looked up to see Jaune had stashed his sword next to Harbinger, and to Ruby's shock, Ozpin's cane. She turned to look back at Qrow; who had fallen back to sleep. She figured that why he has Ozpin's cane would be a question for another day. She got up and sighed. "Jaune, would you mind sitting next to me while I write a letter to Yang and my dad? I kinda want someone next to me right now."
Jaune just nodded. "Sure, I don't mind doing that, Ruby." He replied as he pulled out the chair, letting Ruby sit down at the table first before pulling up another chair to sit next to her while Ruby started to write.
'Hey sis, I hope my letters have been reaching you and Dad. Hand-written stuff's never been super reliable, but I guess it's all we've got these days. Anyway, in case you haven't been getting them, I want to say I'm sorry for leaving the way I did. I know you told me it was a reckless idea, and after everything I've been through, I can definitely say you were right. It's been hard, on all of us, and I'm not just talking about the monsters we fought out here.'
Every step we made took us further and further from the things we knew. And every morning we woke up wondering, if just over the next hill would be something good or something terrible.
It was an early morning in Anima as a young boy looked at his bed. On it was his backpack all set for a trip he had planned. Sighing to himself he looked out onto the farm one last time as he put it on and walked downstairs. There standing at the bottom was an adult. "You sure you're ready Oscar?" Oscar nodded. "As ready as I can be, take care, Aunty." Oscar said as he hugged her.
"Take care Oscar." his aunt replied as she opened the door for Oscar. Oscar took a breath and started his journey. Only to look back to see his aunt wave at him from the house as she shouted one last time. "Before you get too far from Mistral! Make sure you say hello for me to your Abuela Maria! "
"I will, I promise!" Oscar said as he turned to the main walkway out of the house. He was on his way to Mistral, with a lot of knowledge on his mind. He knew he had a part to play now in saving Remnant.
It's scary not knowing what's going to happen next. And the things we do know now—just how bad it can get—it almost makes it all worse.
You told me once that bad things just happen. You were angry when you said it, and I didn't want to listen. But you were right, bad things do happen, all the time, every day.
Yang looked across to the sign welcoming her to Domremy, looking out to the sea she should make out a ship arriving, it seemed she had arrived not too late, not too early. Just right on time.
Which is why I'm out here, to do whatever I can, wherever I can, and hopefully do some good. We've all lost something, and I've seen what loss can do to people.
Summer pulled down her hoodie for a moment to get a whiff of the soft early winter ocean air as the ship approached land once more.
"This is the captain speaking, we are a few minutes from Domremy, I repeat we are minutes from Domremy, our final Valian stop. Next Port of Call will be Jasumin on Anima before Menagerie." The captain said over the sound system.
Summer just watched as the boat sailed ever closer to Domremy, soon it'll be back on it's way to Menagerie.
But if we gave up every time we lost, then we'd never be able to move forward.
We'd never have a chance to see what beautiful things the future might have waiting for us. We'd never have the strength to change; whether it's ourselves, or the world around us.
Weiss had shoved everything in her room away from the center. She needed to practice. Putting Myrtenaster to the floor she started to focus on her aura, channeling it into a physical form on the floor as a glyph. A sword soon started to phase into existence in the center of the glyph when: "Hello Sister." the voice of Weiss's little brother Whitley came from the doorway.
Weiss took a breath and spoke. "Ugh, leave." Her icy blue eyes glared at her brother as he stood there still.
Whitley mockingly looked taken aback by Weiss's comment. "How hurtful. And here I am, about to offer you a favor. Father's taking me to town to introduce me to some of his business partners. I'd thought I'd see if you wanted me to pick up anything since you're... well, stuck here."
Weiss got up and kept staring at him. "Is that it? Are you just jealous?"
Whitley looked back up at her. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Is that why you hate me? Are you jealous of my abilities? Of Winter's?" Weiss quizzed, hoping to get a truthful answer from her little brother.
Whitley just stepped from the door and out a little into the hallway as he mockingly put on a thinking pose before shrugging it off. "Hmm... no, not really. Honestly, I find it barbaric. It's beneath people like me. Like Father." Weiss gritted her teeth a little at the tone of his voice, she didn't want to hear anything about her father, not after the fact that he had slapped her. "What can a single Huntsman possibly do that an army cannot? That's why we have one, even if it is run by a fool."
A plan of action was forming in Weiss's head as she spoke. "I said. Leave."
Whitley put his hands up. "Fine, fine. I've got better things to do." He stopped walking back and turned around to look at her again. "Enjoy your... training, however pointless it is, you don't even have a plan anyway do you? What do you hope to accomplish while trapped in your own bedroom?" With that, Weiss summoned a glyph and slammed the door on Whitley.
Weiss sighed as she lowered Myrtenaster. Stepping back from the door she refocused herself as she started practicing again. The soft hum of the glyph started to appear as she opened her eyes to focus on the statue art in her room. She remembered it quite clearly now as the Arma Gigas Summon she had after defeating one in the actual suit. She smiled for a second as she pulled back and got into a fighting stance, before twirling and then slamming her sword into the tile of her bedroom.
The glyph increased in size and grew louder. Spinning rapidly in the spot as it grew slowly in size. The room started to shake around her and the force of the glyph caused winds to form within the room but Weiss dared not to open her eyes or stop. No. Whitley asked her if she had a plan? She would make one.
Books started to fall from her bookcase as her chair toppled to the ground. Soft thumping came as her bed was lifted up and down by the winds. The sounds grew louder and louder until the sound of glass shattering and a loud crack caught her attention. Weiss slowly opened her eyes to take what she had just done in.
Her door slammed open as a voice rang out. "Miss Schnee! Are you alright?!" Weiss turned to see the Schnee Butler looking at her, she just smirked as she focused back on the Arma Gigas now standing before her.
"Yes." She happily answered as the Arma Gigas went to one knee and bowed. She turned to the butler after looking out the window for a moment, she knew what she needed to do now. "Klein, I need a favor." She happily smiled to herself. Now was the chance for freedom once more.
And we'd never be there for other people who might one day be lost without us. This is what we were training for, Yang, to become Huntresses, to be the ones to stand up and do something about all the bad in the world.
Oscar frowned a little as the train passed a sign at a boarded up station. Oscar put his sandwich down once his mind recognized the city name on the sign. 'Kuroyuri'. That name sent shivers down his spine about the stories of how one Grimm took on the town mostly by itself, though that was more of rumors and urban legends.
'It's not Urban Legend Oscar, I know two people who survived the event and they will tell you; it definitely happened.' a voice crept from Oscar's mind.
"Right…" Oscar answered the voice as he looked up to look at the advertisement right above him. 'HAVEN ACADEMY: BE A HERO' was the focus of it; with two figures adoring it: a female with an axe and a male with a rifle.
Oscar just stared at it until the train announcer spoke over the sound system. "Now approaching the City of Mistral." Oscar smiled, he just hoped Qrow Branwen was here as well.
Because there are plenty of people out there who are still lost and even more who will try to gain everything they can from their sorrow. Believe me when I say, I know it can feel impossible, like every single day is a struggle against some unstoppable monster we can never hope to beat.
An elderly lady walks out of a Mistralian house, carrying a skulled cane, humming to herself as she goes on a walk, having to use her cane whenever her robotic eyes mess up. "Darn these old things, maybe it's time to write a letter to Pietro afterall." She laughed a little. "Ehhh, I'll do it but wait for a response or go in about a month, whatever comes first." She smiled to herself as she kept walking to the hospital.
After going into the Garden, she stopped at a bench at the lotus pool and sighed as she smelled the perfume. She stared down to the pool and saw her reflection change from her elderly self to one of a young adult. Yough, strong, powerful with her weapon. She hadn't just been any warrior-No. She is Maria Calavera; The Grimm Reaper.
Maria got up from the bench after a few hours and smiled when she walked up to her house, there standing at the door waiting was a young fourteen year boy she knew well. A smile came to her face. "Hello Oscar."
Oscar looked up, clearly deep in thought though as his expression dropped before he spoke nervously. "H-hey Abuela, sorry I just dropped in but I wanted to come see you."
Maria smiled at the young boy. "Why yes of course dear, come inside and I'll make tea." She waited until he entered to close the door. She could not wait to hear what her step-grandson would want to talk to her about, but she would hope she enjoyed his company… it was quite lonely there alone.
'But we have to try, if not for us, then for the people we've already—' Ruby stopped herself as Jaune watched and crossed out the last part. 'Then for the people we haven't lost yet.'
Ruby turned to look at Jaune for guidance on this. "How is it looking so far, Jaune?"
"Uh… pretty good? I'm not good at writing letters but I would enjoy this if it was directed to me!" Jaune answered trying to smile his cheerful grin at her.
"Good." Ruby said as she returned her attention to the letter and kept writing.
'I miss you so much. I miss Weiss and Blake too. But I think you'd all be proud to know that I made it to Mistral. All of us did, and we even ran into Uncle Qrow along the way. He's going to take us to see Professor Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy.'
And he told us some things that you're gonna wanna hear, things I can't trust will make it to you in this letter. But maybe, if you join us, he could tell you himself. With Beacon gone they'll need Dad at Signal more than ever, and I know you need to focus on yourself before I can expect you to come out with me. But it sure would be great to have the members of RWBY back together.
Yang had got off the ship at Jasumin, happily waving goodbye to the captain and crew of the S.S. Pride. She then hopped onto Bumblebee and started driving out of Jasumin and further into Anima. Eventually she ran into a crossroads sign. The sign read to the right was Mistral, but to the left was the name 'Kuroyuri' scratched out and painted over with the word 'BANDITS' in all caps hastily written on top. "You're in so much trouble when I find you." she spoke out to herself. Her mind was fully on her mission ahead, not on Weiss, nor Blake, and definitely not on Adam. Her mind was focused on finding her mother, Raven Branwen and then after her? Her sister: Ruby Rose.
'Until next time, your loving sister, Ruby Rose.
Oh! Uh, PS. I'll be sure to give you the address of where we're staying in Mistral! I'd love to hear back from you and Dad, and I can't wait to fill you in on whatever's going to happen next! Now that we've made it across Anima I really think things are gonna start going our way.'
Ruby put down the pen and sighed, wiping a tear or two from her eyes before they escaped, hitting her letter. "There. It's done." Ruby said, smiling as she picked it up. She turned to Qrow. "H-Hey Uncle Qrow?"
Qrow woke up within seconds. "Yes Ruby?"
"Do you still need me here or can me and Jaune return to your house?" Ruby said as she got up to look at him eye to eye.
"If you wish to go already; I can't stop you, Pe-Ruby." Qrow's eyes had shot wide by that near slip up of words. "Yeah you can leave Ruby, I'll try to make it home as soon as I can."
"Home?" Ruby said, cocking her head a little in confusion. "Oh right, your house!"
"Yep, my house." Ruby could tell those words were forced from her uncle's mouth, but didn't want to question further. "Yeah. I told Jaune the address, you should have been taken there right?"
"Yep! I woke up on the couch. It was quite nice looking there." Ruby said smiling, trying to support her uncle with it when she wasn't talking.
"Well then, better get used to it then. I'm gonna need a little while to recoup before we can get back on the road, but you must be feeling tired yourself pipsqueak, go home and get some rest."
"R-right." There was that word again. For some reason the word 'Home' stung her differently than normal here. She would wonder about that later, for all she knew it could have been a side effect of the garden's perfumes still messing with her. "Right, let's go Jaune." She gave her uncle a peck on the cheek. "Good luck Uncle Qrow."
"Thank you Ruby." Qrow said as Jaune picked up Crocea Mors and slowly Ruby closed the door, there they were, just two dorks now standing out in the hospital hallway.
"So…" Jaune said perking up, as he had been quiet for a while. "Ready to go or do you want to see the gardens again? I saw a few chickens there if you wanna see if we can go feed them."
"No, not really Jaune." Ruby said, softly frowning, before yawning a little. "I think I want to do what my uncle asked me to and take a nap when we get back to the house, though maybe another time?"
"Fine by me Rubes, that sounds like a good idea actually." Jaune smiled down at his best friend, the duo kept walking together for what felt like an hour in silence as neither really had anything to talk about.
Eventually they walked up to the house, it was quiet still when they entered. "We're back guys!" Jaune shouted as he closed the door behind them. He shifted focus to Ruby as she was about to sit down "Want me to show you to your room Ruby?"
Ruby smiled. "Sure." She slowly got back up and followed Jaune to a room. She gasped when she looked in the room, the bed was easily a queen sized one. "A-are you sure this is for me?"
Jaune nodded. "Well, yes. Unless your uncle Qrow kicks you out tonight"
Nora chirped in from behind him, revealing she and Ren had followed them to the room. "We figured we would give you the best room, as you're our leader Ruby."
Ruby smiled. "Ye-yeah." she jumped onto the bed smiling. It was quite comfy, though it did not seem really used before. She turned to them, they were all a little emotionless standing there. "Come on then." Ruby said, smiling as she patted the bed. "There's plenty of room for all of us."
Jaune was the first to ask, unsure how to reply. "Are you sure, Ruby?"
Ruby just nodded. "Of course I am, Jaune. I can not think of anywhere else for you all to sleep." At that answer, Ruby just watched as Jaune pulled out Crocea Mors and rested it along the wall, followed seconds later by Ren's knife.
"Well then Renny, come on and join in!" Nora said as she climbed onto the bed as well, moving in one side of Ruby.
Jaune smiled to himself. "I call the other side then." He slowly tossed himself onto the bed and scooted next to Ruby.
Ren just nodded "Right." he spoke eventually before he slowly climbed up on Nora's side of the bed.
Ruby scooted up so all three of them could join her on the bed, though it was a little cramped. She didn't care about that though and just smiled to herself as she drifted to sleep. This was the end of their journey. They had made it to Mistral and were all resting now at home. Yeah, this was it: this was her home, and she didn't want to be anywhere else.