Yang paced her small cell in the vault of Beacon. She was in a stone room with metal lining, but these stones only glowed dully when she punched them, and try as she might, she couldn't break free. She had spent the first hour trying to punch her way out, but all she had accomplished was producing smoke and fire that choked her. She now sat on the floor of the cell, sweating and staring at the ceiling of her cell.

Her head throbbed with what felt like a strong blood rush as her body dealt with exhausting all her Aura at once. She blinked and was suddenly walking through Forever Fall, lashing out at any Grimm who tried to attack her. Spots in her eyes that blinked in and out of existence became spots of blood that splattered the forest floor.

"Raven, why are you doing this?" She murmured. Silence was her answer.

Raven hadn't answered her questions when they had talked either. Over the years, Yang had played through different reunions in her head. Sometimes she dreamed that her mom would hug her and say she loved her. Sometimes she dreamed that she'd track her mom down to a cabin in the wilderness. Sometimes she dreamed that she would save her mom from an attack on all sides by Grimm.

But she hadn't dreamed that her mom would act like it was no big deal. She hadn't dreamed that Raven would look her in the eye and say, "I'm your mother," and wait for her response.

"That's it?" Yang had yelled after recovering from the shock, "That's it!? Where have you been? How can you just come waltzing back in my life like nothing happened?"

"Something has been happening for a long time." Raven had said, "But now some people have set the ball rolling."

"Where have you been?" Yang had yelled, "You don't just get to come back into my life like you didn't abandon us!" Raven had taken them to the outskirts of Vale where abandoned buildings lined the streets.

"I don't have the time." Raven had said, "Ozpin watches everything here."

Did Ozpin see her that night? Or was he too preoccupied with finding Raven? Did he see her run past branches that broke into flame as Yang brushed past them? Did he see her set Grimm dens on fire?

"You don't have the time!" Fire had started flowing out of her shoulders, and Raven actually had the audacity to smile! "Is that why you left me and dad? Because you didn't have time?"

"You look so much like your father." She had almost reached out, then stopped herself. "But that's not what I meant. Please control yourself. Qrow will sense you."

"Qrow? You mean your brother that actually looked out for us? Cared for us?" Yang had stepped forward and loaded Ember Celica.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" Raven had yelled, "I'm trying to help!"

"Then give me answers!" Yang had yelled, "Don't just talk like you know best, like you're my mom! Summer was my mom, not you!"

"This isn't about what I did seventeen years ago!" Raven yelled, "Get over yourself and listen to me!"

"Why should I? You never even cared about me once!" Yang gathered as much Aura as Ember Celica could take and launched her cartridges at Raven. Moving so quick that Yang almost missed it, Raven sliced the bullets in two, letting the broken casings fizzle out beside her.

"Remnant is in danger!" Raven yelled, "Forget about your own issues for one second and take this in."

"If Remnant really is in danger, why are you talking to me?" Yang asked, "Why not go straight to Ozpin? Why are you hiding from Qrow?"

"Because Ozpin is not who you think he is."

"He's done more for me than you have. He's been Ruby's mentor. He's kept Remnant safe for generations."

Raven's eyebrows tilted into a sharp frown, and her red eyes seemed to glow like those of Grimm. "Just listen to me! You only know half the story. We humans are broken, just like the Grimm."

"What are you even talking about?" Yang had gathered more Aura into her fists. Raven had gestured sharply at her to stop, saying, "Quiet! Qrow will sense you. He's been trained too well."

"Then why don't you actually tell me stuff?"

Raven's eyes narrowed, but suddenly her expression then changed to one of frustration to one of fear. "I've taken too long. He's coming." She dashed towards Yang and used her sword to slice open a portal. She withdrew her sword and pushed Yang through the portal in one motion. She let Yang fall through space while turning her back. The last thing she said felt like a chill spreading through Yang's entire body. "If you think Ozpin's so great, ask him how your 'mom' died."

Yang had fallen into Forever Fall and churned up crimson leaves as she fell backwards onto the forest floor. She curled up into a ball in the nook of a tree.

How could her mom do that? Was she really her mom? Why, why, why, why, WHY?

When the first Ursa came—attracted by Yang's anguish—Yang had thought it was a gift from the moon. She had sank her fist into its stomach, relishing the feeling of her fist sinking into fur, flesh, and whatever else Grimm were made of. She punched a third, then a fourth, and even more.

Soon, Yang stood on a mound of Ursa and Beowolf corpses, with a fefw Boarbatusks at her feet. She felt her body aching, felt her limbs trembling, felt her vision blurring, felt her head spinning, but she grasped onto her pain with a fervor. This pain transferred to the force behind her punches. Her pain made her stronger, pain always did.

Until Raven had come.

A slot in the bottom of the door opened and shoved in a tray of oatmeal with a slab of unrecognizable meat. Yang lashed out at the metal door, but the rivets didn't even shake. She considered not eating but her rumbling stomach decided against it. She scoffed down the food and threw the tray against the door.

She huffed and paced back and forth, but the fire in her couldn't be quenched by simple pacing. Thoughts bounced around her brain, gaining momentum and causing her to yell out in frustration. That was her mom? Someone who told her to get over herself?

It made sense when Yang thought about it. Only someone as thoughtless as Raven could leave her newborn child. Only someone like Raven would accuse Ozpin of…

No, Yang couldn't even think it. Only Raven would blame the death of her teammate on Ozpin. She should have asked him about it. Hear him deny the accusation.

But what if…

Yang punched the ground, causing the temperatures in the cell to rise to sweltering levels. No, she couldn't doubt Ozpin. What Raven said was just lies.

"Why is Ozpin keeping me locked up in this place?" She asked to herself. She stared up at the ceiling, imagining she could grasp the moon above her.

"Because he's worried." A deep and husky voice came from the other side of the door.

"Who is that?" Yang ran up to the door and started pounding on it.

"Yatsuhashi."

"Yatsuhashi?" Yang hadn't been expecting that at all. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on guard duty."

"Why? Where's the rest of your team?"

Silence followed, and Yang thought that Yatsuhashi wasn't going to answer. Then he said, "We're waiting in Beacon while Ozpin can find us a new member."

Yang was mentally and physically spent, so it took a few seconds for her to comprehend what Yatsuhashi had said. Then she gasped and said, "Dust, I'm so sorry." She placed her palm on the door which, seconds ago, she had been punching for all it had been worth. "Who was it?"

"Velvet." Suddenly, Yatsuhashi's short replies and husky voice made sense. Yang and her team hadn't been close to team CFVY, but everyone had seen the way Yatsuhashi would sometimes smile when Velvet excelled in a class, or the tender way he would regard her when they were together.

"I'm so sorry." Yang said again.

"You're not showing a good job of it." Yatsuhashi's words made Yang take a step back from the door.

"What?"

"I don't know what's going on." Yatsuhashi said, "Team CNDR, the Grimm, the Dust Slivers, any of it." There was another pause, and Yatsuhashi took a deep breath, as if he was trying to gather himself. "But Ozpin knows. And he can get us through this. He can make sure people like Velvet don't die. But only," Yatsuhashi's fist crashed into the door, "If people like you obey him."

Yang stared at the dent Yatsuhashi had made in the door. She felt the weight of Velvet's death hanging in the air. "How… how did she die?"

"A Panthera." Yatsuhashi said. "Those damn cats, they come running at you faster than a car. Velvet didn't want to use her weapon at first. She had been charging it for a while. But then it…" Yatsuhashi breathed in. "We tried to reattach Velvet's arm once the fight was over, but we couldn't. It got infected, turned black. Velvet, she was screaming. She cried so much."

Yatsuhashi's voice fell to a whisper that Yang could barely hear through the door. "She went mad within hours. Her veins turned black. Her eyes were red and swollen. She screamed about ashes falling from the sky. She screamed about great wolves eating away the earth. She screamed about the moon finally shattering."

Silence fell. Yang still had her hand pressed against the door and was crying with Yatsuhashi. She wanted to reassure Yatsuhashi, make him laugh or smile again. But how could she after that? She sat back down at a total loss of words and let the weight of a fallen comrade rest on her shoulders as she dozed off.

"Thank you, Yatsuhashi, you may leave." Yang's eyes darted open at Ozpin's voice. She heard the scraping of a chair and the footsteps of Yatsuhashi's retreating figure.

"Now then, Yang, have you thought more about divulging what happened last night?"

"No."

Ozpin sighed. "Yang, is there anything you would not do to protect your sister?"

"No." Yang wondered where this was going.

"No, there is not." Ozpin said, "Likewise, there is nothing I would not do to protect Remnant. I have been charged with a duty, and it is one that must be fulfilled."

"At the cost of murder?" Yang's eyes flashed from purple to crimson.

"Is there anything you would not do to protect your sister?" Ozpin repeated, "Would you not kill to keep her safe?"

"No." Yang said, "Ruby would hate me for that."

"But she would be alive." Ozpin said, "Is that not more important than how she regards you?"

"What are you trying to say?" Yang asked, "That you threaten and kill people for the greater good?"

"Yes."

"BULLSHIT!" Yang roared. The flames that erupted from her body cast a gigantic shadow that flickered and wavered on the dented cell door. "You killed my MOM for the greater good? What kind of logic is that? My mom was the greatest person I ever knew!"

"Is this what Raven told you?" Ozpin said, "That I killed Summer?"

"Yeah." Yang said, "And you don't seem to be denying it." She felt the heat in her cell rising to what would normally be unbearable temperatures, but she didn't care. It was nothing compared to the pulsating heat that was in her heart.

"Has it occurred to you that Raven wanted you in this turmoil?" Ozpin asked.

"Or maybe the reason you never trusted us was because you and my mom had this history."

"You take Raven's word over mine despite having just met her. Is this simply because she told you she was your mother?"

It struck Yang that she had never questioned Raven's motherhood. It seemed as natural to Raven as being female; she simply was. Ozpin sensed Yang's hesitation and said, "Raven is a criminal." Ozpin said with emphasis, "I have worked for decades to preserve Remnant, and Raven is working against me, as she has for years."

Yang still didn't answer, and Ozpin said, "I implore of you, Yang, what did Raven tell you?"

"We got interrupted by uncle Qrow." Yang said reluctantly, "She didn't say anything."

"Don't lie to me, Yang." Ozpin said.

Yang stepped back in shock. "I'm not lying, I swear."

"You were missing for hours." Ozpin said, "Raven had you for hours, and you say Qrow interrupted you?"

"I didn't spend hours with Raven, only a few minutes before Qrow spotted us."

"I'm sorry, Yang, but Remnant has not survived for over a century by ignoring threats." Ozpin said, "I will do anything and everything to protect Remnant. As I recall, you said you would do the same to protect Ruby."

"Don't you DARE!" Yang frantically punched the wall, doing no more than the first dozens of punches she had thrown. "Ruby has NOTHING to do with this. Let her go!"

"Ruby's fate, along with Remnant's fate, depends on these events now." Ozpin said, "What did Raven tell you?"

"Nothing!" Yang yelled in between her punches flying at the door. "Nothing! At! All!

"I want to believe you, Yang, I do." Ozpin said, "But too much rides on my shoulders."

With that, Ozpin left and Yang was reduced to spending her Aura futilely slapping at the unyielding door.

"Hey, Weiss?"

Weiss murmured something unintelligible. Ruby had awoken with her head resting on Weiss' shoulder. "Are you awake?"

"No."

Ruby smiled slightly before shivering. The hall had gotten chilly in the night. Judging by the position of the moon, it was around two in the morning. "You can go with your family for now. It's okay."

Weiss already had her arm around Ruby's waist and now pulled her tightly towards her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Ruby said, "You'll be back."

"I just feel like nothing's changed." Weiss said, "I'm still the scared little girl that does whatever her dad tells her."

"The old Weiss would have ditched her team without a second thought." Ruby said, "You've changed for the better, Weiss. You're a great teammate."

"You're a great team leader, Ruby." Weiss said.

Ruby started drifting off while she leaned on Weiss' chest, but then the doors to the main hall suddenly opened and Atlasian guards lead by Coco and Fox marched in. Ruby and Weiss jerked apart, taking in Coco's angry strides that were so different from her former carefree gait. She had once conversed with Grimm before slamming it into the ground with style, but now it looked like she would brutally rip apart a Grimm and look for seconds.

"We need Ruby to come with us." Coco said. She stood with her hands on her hips while Ruby slowly got to her feet.

"Why?"

"Ozpin needs you." Coco said, "Come on."

"And why, I wonder, does Ozpin send Atlasian soldiers as an escort?" Oobleck strode past the guards and leaned his face closer to Coco. Zwei padded along by his heels. "Surely Ozpin is not worried about Ruby's safety within Beacon's very walls."

"What are you doing here?" Coco asked.

"I have just finished recovering from my mission." Oobleck said, "The night sky relaxes me, or at least it does until I see a platoon of Atlasian soldiers marching past me."

"It's none of your business, Oobleck." Coco didn't flinch from Oobleck's stare.

"Ruby and Weiss are my very esteemed students." Oobleck said, "Of course it concerns me. Now, why would Ozpin send guards for Ruby and only Ruby? Weiss is meant to leave in a few days. Is Ozpin planning on detaining Ruby for that long?"

"With all due respect," Coco started to speak, but Oobleck cut her off. "Sentences that start with that prefix rarely end respectfully. But I digress, why does Ozpin want Ruby. Does it have anything to do with her incarcerated sister?"

"Let us pass." Fox hadn't said anything up until then, but now he gathered dense Aura into his arms. "We will use force if necessary."

Oobleck regarded Fox's haggard face and desperate need for action with solemnity. "I am truly sorry for your loss."

"What loss?" Ruby asked, but Oobleck gestured for her to be quiet. Unfortunately, Weiss didn't take the hint. "How dare you order us around like this? We aren't criminals."

Fox surged forward and grasped Weiss' arm tightly. She winced at his tight grip, then stumbled as he yanked her away from Ruby. Oobleck came and forcefully ripped Fox away from Weiss. "Your grief is no excuse for using force and intimidation to get your way."

"You're a history teacher, Oobleck." Fox said, "We would have graduated this year as fighters. True Hunters of Beacon. Don't test us."

"I am a teacher," Oobleck said, "Testing you is my job." He looked back at Ruby and Weiss, who had both withdrawn their weapons. "As is protecting my students."

"Sorry, Oobleck, but you don't have authority here." Coco tried to brush past him, but suddenly paused as Zwei latched onto her leg.

"Ah, my faithful companion!" Oobleck said, "I must thank your father, Ruby, he has trained a most excellent pet, capable of channeling his own Aura."

Coco grunted and tried kicking Zwei away, but the dog growled and bit into Coco's trousers.

While Coco was distracted, Oobleck thrust his palm into Coco's chest so fast that it seemed Coco had stumbled back of her own free will. Fox ran to Coco's side, but she swiftly gestured him to step back. "Soldiers, hold the perimeter. Fox and I will handle this."

"We will run." Oobleck said in a low voice to Ruby and Weiss. I will create an opening. Make the best of it."

They nodded as Zwei jumped onto Oobleck's shoulder with a short bark. Oobleck decompressed his thermos, then used it as a bat to send Zwei hurtling towards Coco and Fox. The two Hunters tried to flank Oobleck, but Ruby and Weiss were already running past them.

The main hall shuddered as Zwei crashed through the walls enshrouded in streams of crimson fire. Atlasian robots tried to stop them, but Ruby and Weiss made quick work of them as they jumped through the flaming crater Zwei and Oobleck had made.

Ruby looked behind her to see if Oobleck would catch up, but as she did so, Oobleck's coat whipped her in the face as he yelled, "Don't worry about me, girls!" He gulped down the Dust essence in his thermos and thrust it into Ruby's hands.

Ruby gulped down a fiery liquid that seemed to strip her throat, but suddenly felt that burning heat race through her veins and back through her arteries. Her vision shook and suddenly the colors seemed to be more vivid and stand out. Ruby gasped as Oobleck plucked it from her hands and suddenly ran. She had thought that she had been running before, but nothing could prepare her for the exhilaration she felt as the world seemed to rush past her.

Weiss soared next to her in a pale nimbus shrouding her. Ruby could see Aura flow through Weiss' body and eject itself in the form of a glyph. Weiss' blue eyes became beacons that seemed dazzling in the pitch-black sky.

Then a streak of earthy brown passed by Ruby and she saw Oobleck leading the way. He pulsated with life the same way the soil beneath her pulsed as it gave life to new plants. He led them somewhere, though Ruby had lost all sense of direction. There was just the present, the glorious and real present where she could almost taste the colors and see Aura across the earth.

Ruby only realized they had been running for almost an hour when Oobleck stopped and she saw the sunrise. The effect of Oobleck's Dust essence was wearing off, but she was still mesmerized by the diaphanous swirls and streaks of color that were being flaunted on the horizon.

"Well, girls, I suppose it is time we appraised the situation." Oobleck said. "We are now fugitives from Beacon."

"We left Yang!" Ruby said, whirling back. She was shocked to see that Beacon—and any sign of civilization—was nowhere to be seen. They stood on a small ridgeline with a river nestled in wide valley below them.

"There was nothing we could do," Oobleck said, "Freeing her would be unfeasible given Ozpin's presence."

"We also left Blake." Weiss was doubled over and panting. "What's she going to do?"

"I did not sense or see Blake," Oobleck said, "And I suspect she may be hiding herself. She has much experience in that matter."

"But Yang's still in jail." Ruby said, "We need to get her out."

"And we will," Oobleck said, "But not while Ozpin and the others are on high alert. Ozpin believes Yang has information, and will not kill her until he believes otherwise."

Ruby wanted to protest but suddenly felt so drowsy she would have fallen to the ground had Oobleck not dashed to her side to catch her. Ruby heard him say, "Withdrawal symptoms are perfectly normal, girls." After that she fell asleep.

"Yang!" Blake's hushed voice came from the other side of the door.

Yang sprang to her feet. She had been simmering on the ground after spending her Aura for what seemed like hours. Images of Ruby being dragged to a cell like this one made her skin burn with fury.

"Blake! How did you get here?" Yang pressed her hand to the door that was still warm from her assault.

"I still haven't forgotten the espionage I learnt with Adam. I waited until I saw Ozpin return to his office, then came down here." Blake said. She unlocked the door and Yang jumped over to hug Blake. Blake returned the hug for a second before flinching away. "Yang! You're burning up."

It was only when Yang felt the chilly air of the prison that she realized just how hot she had made her cell. Blake stepped away from the sweltering air that came billowing out, dropping the keys on Yatsuhashi's unconscious body. "I snuck up on him. I used a quarter of my Aura. We all know how tough he is."

"I don't think he's as tough as people think." Yang murmured. The memory of Yatsuhashi's brittle voice flashed through her memory, but she thought of Ozpin and his threats to banish her guilt. The rage she felt focused her, though her eyes didn't turn red because her Aura was depleted.

"Ruby, Weiss and Oobleck are on the run." Blake said. "I don't know why, but Coco and Fox tried to take them in. Oobleck helped them escape."

"What?" Yang turned and started to sprint up the stairs. Blake held her back and said, "They're gone. I had to dodge past Atlasian patrols as well as half the Hunters here."

"So where did they go?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Blake said, "I don't know. We can find out later, but right now we need to go, okay?" She handed Yang her weapons.

Yang grudgingly nodded, and the two girls ran up to the surface. Blake's ears were twitching in every direction, and she would jump at the slightest noise Yang didn't make.

The two girls slipped towards the cliffs of Beacon facing the sea. The silence made Yang's head turn at the slightest sound, including her own footsteps. Blake seemed to glide across the asphalt floor, making Yang's footsteps seem like hammers on anvils. Yang did her best, but as they passed through the kitchens, Yang ran right past a patrol of six coming out of adjoining doors.

Yang started in surprise, but Blake was already slicing at one, attacking all the joints where the armor was weak. Yang's approach was slightly different. She grabbed one robot and threw it to the ground, emptying out cartridges that ripped the metal head apart. Her depleted Aura made it harder, but she made quick work of another two. She looked around to see Blake finish off the others.

Blake sharply beckoned for Yang to follow, and she started to run. Yang was surprised at the sudden speed, but was able to keep up. "Why are we running?" Yang panted.

"Robots almost always have alarms when they go down." Blake said, "And you weren't exactly subtle."

The two of them started to head down some stairs, but were cut off on the bottom by robot soldiers. The two girls backtracked through a corridor and burst out of a window. They fell into bushes and scrambled away. Blake led them to a small road where supplies were regularly brought in. She walked over to a dark lump covered by a dark green tarp.

For the first time in twenty four hours, Yang felt a small tang of joy. Underneath the tarp was her motorbike, Bumblebee. It had been moved to this very spot with the keys in the ignition. Yang turned to Blake and said, "You planned this all out, didn't you?"

Blake waited for Yang to get on before jumping behind her. "I didn't know Ruby and Weiss would draw Ozpin's attention away from here. We wouldn't have had a chance of Qrow was watching us. That's the only reason we've gotten this far"

Yang revved the bike and Blake held onto her waist. They heard the several jeeps being turned on, and Bumblebee took off as fast as Yang dared down the steep mountain path.

Well, I think that this chapter came out a little sooner than the last. Hopefully? Anyways, things are really kicking off now, so if you have any opinions about what's happened, feel free to tell me. The faster and more intense things get, the more I want to know whether I'm pulling it off or not.

Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks!