Chapter 62 - Ambush

A strange smell assaulted Pyrrha's nostrils as she woke up, the surroundings threw her off enough that for a split second she reached for her weapons, before she realized: I'm home. They were off the road, no more constant threat of Grimm attack from any angle, worry that Raven would be hunting them down... She was safe.

Taking a moment to control her breathing, she took another look around. Above her on the headboard were a few trophies that didn't fit in the display cabinet, shining brightly in the early morning rays that peeked through the curtains. Despite not being lived in for almost two years now, and sporadically before that, the staff was obviously keeping diligent in cleaning the place. There were a few posters on the walls, most of training regimens or from advertisement of her tournaments. The only one of those she enjoyed was the one nearby the door, the dramatic fighters posing in the center crowded in by all the signatures of her classmates. It was the first professional fight she was set to enter and all her friends at Sanctum had signed it, cheering her on. She didn't talk to any of them much after that.

Not on purpose, she didn't shun them, but after a 'spectacular' victory the first time on the stage, a distance had grown between them. Something intangible, but very real in the pedestal they started putting her on. Then her managers needed her in more tournaments, more press events, trainers demanding more time training so she could stay on top and they started to drift away. By her fourth grand tournament victory, she realized she had no one close to her at all. A bedroom filled with beautifully carved cabinets and antique lamps, and feeling more and more foreign to her whenever she 'visited' from Haven over here.

That was what had prompted her to join Beacon over Haven, a chance for a new start, with people who hopefully wouldn't be as focused on her own fame. And it did. Some people still whispered and pointed her out when she arrived, but plenty of others didn't. Who knew vaguely of her victories but didn't care. One young man who didn't even know about that and just saw her for... her. A part of her couldn't help but wonder, if all the pain that followed was worth it.

Pushing aside those thoughts, she focused on the smell of breakfast wafting up. That felt familiar and oh so mouth watering after months on the road. Dawn was just breaking over the horizon, so it would still be a bit of time before it was ready. Enough time for a workout.

Getting dressed in simple workout attire, a tank top and shorts, she headed out to the grounds to get back into her routine. Surprisingly, she heard someone else out and about as she started stretching. "Oh, hey Pyrrha" her partner said, running past her on her loop around the grounds. The younger girl's presence brought a smile to her face.

"Good morning Ru- uh babe?" The moment she said it, the words felt wrong, and she quickly blurted "Honey?" Still wrong, what was the right term of endearment to use here?! Ruby preempted her thoughts by falling down into a fit of giggles. "I'm sorry! I'm new to this and-"

"You don't need to pout," the other girl said, zipping over to her. She wasn't pouting- Ruby kissed her shutting down any protests, or thoughts on any matter. "It's cute, seeing you try, but you don't need to try so hard for me. We're both new to this and we'll figure things out in time."

"Indeed. That- that sounds wonderful." With a sense of incredible joy and indeed, wonder, she set about joining her partner on their workout.

They finished near 8 o'clock and breakfast was ready. A delicious spread of pancakes, sausages, muffins, and fruit lay out for them. It was different, tasting the pancakes not made by Ren, but just as good in its own way (her parents hired the best after all - which probably spoke more to Ren's culinary skills than anything). Nora obviously didn't agree, stilling slightly before slightly elbowing Ren and giving him puppy-dog eyes to silently communicate her desire for him to make them in the future (even as she still scarfed down the pancakes in front of her). His response was a slight upturn of the eyes, not a full roll, but with a slight smile of agreement, all of it lightning fast and completely missed by everyone else in the room.

Theta ate a small portion quickly and waited patiently for the huntresses and huntsman to finish their meals before asking "So, now that you've had the chance to settle in, I was hoping we could discuss a bit more some things we talked about last night."

Right, that. Word had leaked, and obviously she'd explained some of it to the council, but there was just so much more detail to go into here. To explain their journey, and magic and... everything.

"Alright, I do owe you some answers. To start-" she was interrupted by Myrmyr's scroll ringing. "Something up?" Pyrrha knew that the only reason his scroll would be ringing now would be if work had come up.

He took it for a moment saying "Yes? I see. I know where she is, I'll ask her." Then hung up. "We've received word from the military, Cordovin passed the news along to the General, and he's asking to talk to you, Ruby" he said, turning to face the young girl still wiping crumbs from her mouth. Pyrrha wanted to lean over and brush those crumbs off herself and- not the time for that she reminded herself.

"Why just Ruby?" Ren asked, sounding curious.

"Uh, I guess I made an impression on him the time we talked. It was during the tournament after Yang got tricked. Ironwood even sent her a new arm... Yeah, I should probably go and talk to him." She sent an apologetic glance to Pyrrha for not being able to be there, but she shook her head minutely. It was fine. "After I'm done, I was thinking of talking to Saphron. Do you want to come?"

The former champion thought on it. She'd already talked to the woman, to Jaune's sister, but it still felt like there was more to say. More ways the memories dredged up could cut into her- both of them. "... I'll see if I have the- If I can." 'If I have the time' was an excuse she often used in her days in the spotlight for when she didn't want to do something. She didn't want to slip back into that habit, especially not with Ruby.

"Alright, I'm off then." Before leaving, she zipped over and gave Pyrrha kiss on the cheek that froze her thoughts for a moment, barely catching the 'wooo!' from Nora. "I uh- ahem. Yes, explanations" she said to her parents as her brain rebooted.

They looked on fondly at the display before getting more serious. "Right, so..."

"I think I'll start at the beginning. Or at least, the beginning of the end of my time at Beacon. It all began partway through the Vytal Festival, when Ozpin invited me to his office. He asked me what my favorite fairy tale was..."

There were interruptions, details and explanations asked. Some things had to be deferred to be explained later - why a random scorpion faunus attacked them on the road or how Cinder could 'steal' Maiden powers were details only vaguely understood later with the Salem connection and they hadn't known them at the time. Nora and Ren helped, supplying details on things she forgot or events she hadn't been there for.

"We were fighting a whole bunch of Grimm, and Qrow wasn't doing too hot, the Nuckleaveee bearing down on Pyrrha until suddenly Ruby's eyes flashed and turned the thing to stone!" Nora filled in, recounting the time she had shamefully run away and yelled at her friends.

"The fighting atop Haven was chaotic. Students that we'd fought against minutes earlier were now standing side-by-side with us as we fought the White Fang and Salem's minions. Blake's well timed arrival turned the tide, until suddenly... nothing. We were all in a white void, separated from the world as the spirit of the lamp filled us in on the secret history of the world. On everything Ozma had hidden from us."

"Hordes of Grimm pressed in on us from all sides, and as three Elder Grimm closed in on our line I gave one mighty swing of my mighty Magnhild and crushed the Grimm in a single fell swoop!" Ren coughed something suspiciously similar to 'Port' and Pyrrha giggled while Nora blushed slightly, while flicking her hair/shaking her head in dismissal/denial of the claim. Not that it was actually that far off the mark though - Nora had fought through quite a few Grimm and even some of the giant ones by herself once boosted by her semblance.

Eventually the tale wound to its end. Their trip setting out to Mistral, and then leaving, and everything in between. Theta and Myrmyr just sat there for a long moment, taking it in. "So this... this is what you've been fighting against?" Her father asked.

"We should have never sent you to Beacon" Theta declared. Pyrrha wasn't sure how much she disagreed directly, but...

"Would I have been any safer in Haven, getting manipulated by Lionheart before he blew up his own school? The fact of the matter is, whether or not we knew about this fight, we're in it now. Salem will not leave us alone, and who knows when Raven will act again."

"There are other roles you can contribute in- you don't need to be on the frontlines, constantly fighting against, against immortal witches and monsters. You can stay here, help protect the city, be a symbol-"

Pyrrha gnashed her teeth, trying to keep her cool. They just couldn't get it. They knew everything that had happened now, could understand the stakes, but they still weren't comprehending the threat her enemies posed. "Please understand. Salem will come after me. She's already sent people after us once and that was before I claimed the mantle of Fall Maiden." She ignited her eyes, not directly calling on any other magic than that, however. "Cinder was chosen by her to steal Maiden powers in the first place, I don't think she'll stop now, or at all so long as we stand against her and work with Oscar. I was a symbol," she spat out the word like an insult "for years and it didn't matter. A glorified 'champion' that was utterly worthless in the end."

"Why you? Why not someone else to claim her mantle, or a group of people to stop that warlord? We just want to keep you safe honey." Theta asked as Myrmyr spoke up too.

"I'm not sure how much we can trust that boy/man wizard in our house. I know you wanted to invite him here but from the sounds of it."

"Hey, Oscar is a good kid," Nora chimed in.

Myrmyr ignored her teammate, continuing. "Your training was top-notch, it wasn't 'worthless'-"

"Then why did I fail!?" There was a silence with her shout, though she'd kept enough control to not break anything with her magic this time. "I couldn't beat Cinder by myself and Jaune died for it. I only got the Fall Maiden powers by sheer chance, when Raven outplayed Cinder, and Raven... You know your history as well as I do; Mistral was a city that had never fallen. Not to Grimm, not to any other nation, not even in the Great War. Vale may have bested its armies, but the city itself was untouched. Then I come in, the only one who could have the strength to stand up to Raven and her tribe, and I fail. We turned and ran because I wasn't. Strong. Enough."

Her cheeks felt wet, and a flare of magic evaporated the water. "I'm going out for a walk." She turned tail and marched out before things could devolve further between her and her parents. They'd understand, with time (she hoped). It was just a lot for them to take at once, she got that.

"Hey, are you saying we failed too?" Nora asked as she exited the mansion, the scarlet-haired champion turning back to see her two friends having followed her. "Cause we made that choice there with you. And all the councilors and other people too."

The pair stepped out with her. "It was a smart decision. Risky, but so was everything, and it worked out," Ren added. "Fighting them in Mistral, even if we had 'won' would have devastated us. We barely survived the first Grimm incursion and I have no doubt that Salem could have destroyed us if we'd fought Raven." There's a pause then he adds "If it's redemption you're after, we'll help you with that too."

The words of how she felt that it was still her fault, how as a Maiden, as a champion, it was her duty to defend the city, above their own, got lodged in her throat. They wouldn't help, they might not even be entirely right. She couldn't help but feel them, though. "I know. I appreciate it too, I just... need a bit of space for the moment. I'll meet up with you guys later?" They nodded and Pyrrha felt immensely grateful for them.

Why was it so hard? To relax? To feel at ease even when she was home, when she was safe? Taking some time to calm down, she knew that her parents just wanted to keep her safe, that it must have been horrifying to them, to hear about their daughter throwing herself headlong into danger, she just... things were tense, whenever she talked to them. Hopefully, they (like so many others) could forgive her some day.

Without even realizing it, her footsteps were taking her out of the city, towards the farm. She consciously decided to continue course, seeing if she could lend a hand there. It would be something to do at least.

Taking flight, she saw the frozen terrain below her as she zipped by. A wave of the hand made the air feel slightly warmer, the weather improving between the farm and the city. It would take a bit of effort to keep it up, but would keep come of the chill away from any civilians trekking between- a 'whoomp' sound hit her, followed swiftly by a net, tangling her up in the air and pulling down.

"Umber?" A gravity dust net fit his fighting style, but she wouldn't have expected such a thing from one of her biggest fans- and it wasn't him, her emerald eyes catching a glimpse of the launcher that had fired the net at her, operated by some dirty, unkempt people, a red hand 'standard' planted beside them as more of the bandits darted out from the trees towards her, howling for blood.

"Get her boys! We've got some magic powers to take!" The leader yelled out.

"Ironwood, it's good to see you again" Ruby said, starring at the man on the other end of the screen. She wasn't sure why she had to go to the top of the base and he couldn't just call her on her scroll, but apparently this was to be a 'vital military briefing', to the point that even Cordovin wasn't allowed to be present for it. She almost chuckled at the thought of her, being seen as an experienced Huntress to give these sorts of briefings, but she kept a cool composure.

"Miss Rose, it's a pleasure to see you too." He had a stiff formality to his voice like Winter, Ruby noted, but also that hint of warmth that revealed he really was happy. Come to think of it, Weiss was like that too when they first became partners, so maybe it wasn't a military but an Atlesian thing? "And please, call me James."

"Then you can call me Ruby." He smiled, a real smile that seemed to take years off his face. Which was good because he looked liked he'd gained a decade since Beacon.

"Alright Ruby, I need a full briefing on what's happened. I've heard a lot- a lot of rumors on what's been going on, but I need full details from someone who was there for everything so I can sort fact from fiction. So we can make plans for the future."

"That sounds good I- James. I was around for most of it, and my friends filled me in on anything I missed during some parts, so I'll try to tell you what I know." She launched into her tale, explaining how they had traveled to Mistral, skimming over some events like random Grimm they had fought, but pointing out Tyrian and the other major obstacles that had come their way. Then on to Lionheart, the attack on Raven's camp, his betrayal and the fight atop Haven.

"Raven managed to get the Relic and forced- forced me and Oscar to give her the password to use it. Raven used it, asking about Ozpin's past, but apparently the question got answered for uh, everyone there. All the students, and White Fang, and Menagerie people fighting nearby. I was busy rushing Pyrrha down to get medical attention, but it caused a lot of panic."

"Do they know of Salem? The relics?" Ruby nodded.

"The maidens too, Ozpin, or uh, Ozma's immortality, the fact that he used to be married to Salem-"

"What?!" James did a spit take of his coffee, before hastily wiping the screen and Ruby giggled.

"Uh yeah, it was a bit of a shocker for all of us." Her tone grew more somber as she continued. "They had a bad falling out though, about the mission the gods gave him and her actions which caused the first fall of the world. Their children died in there."

"Oh. That- I had always wondered about his past, the things he wouldn't open up about. Those wounds though... perhaps even for an immortal wizard, there are some things that time won't heal. I would like to speak to him though, when his new vessel can get the chance."

"That might be a bit of a problem. See, ever since it was revealed, the secret war, that he didn't have a plan to beat Salem... Ozma went into hiding. Oscar hasn't been able to talk to him, he's basically shut down inside Oscar's head."

"That's unfortunate- wait, you said he didn't have a plan?!"

"That's what some people said. One of the mistakes was him wasting a question on trying to find a way to kill Salem, but apparently there isn't one. Jinn said it was impossible." She hated telling him that, seeing the proud military man just slink down, slump in total defeat. The answer was out there though, no putting that cat back in the bottle. It'd be best to confront it head on than trying to lie to the General.

"Damn. DAMNIT OZ!" James shouted out suddenly, his fist slamming against the table before the anger bled out of him again. "I'm, I'm sorry it's just-"

"It's a lot to take in, I get it. A lot of people at Haven took it poorly too. Some of the White Fang quit to work with Mistral and Menagerie, others quit to join Raven, declaring that she'd help keep them safe from Oz and Salem's war. Uncle Qrow, Yang, and Weiss left with her too."

"Qrow left?" His voice sounded hollow. Qrow had never had particularly nice words for Atlas or their military before - Ruby remembered well his fight with Winter for no real reason at the Vytal festival - but it was obvious the two men had some connection in Ozpin's inner circle and those losses were felt hard. She understood all too well.

Ruby gave him a few minutes to compose himself, before he added "I guess I have to tell Winter about her sister as well."

"Wait! Weiss left, but she... I think she's just keeping an eye on Yang. They were able to talk for a moment later, after they had left and... I believe in her. I believe they can all come back to us, in time. They were just shocked by what was revealed and Raven was, or is I guess, family to Qrow and Yang. When Bake left after Beacon, even with her coming back, it hit my sister hard and-" she cut off her ramblings. James took her words in and slowly nodded.

"I won't leave her in the dark about what happened with her sister, but I'll relay your thoughts to her too. It isn't good- none of this is, but I hope you're right."

"I'm sorry too. You gave Yang that arm and now she's using it for..." It was so hard to speak, to even think about the kinds of things Yang was doing in the tribe. What Ruby hoped was happening, what she feared, both of them and more, all at once. If things were terrible, would that make Yang more likely to leave? Was it wrong for Ruby to want that to be the case so she could have her sister back? Would Summer be upset if she knew that Ruby had left Yang behind too, while she was hurting? It was a lot to deal with. She dabbed at her eyes. "Ah, excuse me."

"It's very dusty in there, I understand." His own eyes were a little red, but he'd regained his composure admirably. "What else can you tell me?"

The huntress went on to explain the battle for Mistral, fighting off the Grimm and nearly being overwhelmed only to be saved by Pyrrha, then Raven's army marching to Mistral. The decision to leave, and the trek to Argus. "... After we cleared out the Apathy at the farm a bunch of people stayed there while we started getting others settled in the city." They'd stopped bringing in anyone else for the moment to make sure things wouldn't get overcrowded in Argus, but the councilors were scrambling for plans to take in more people. "More people will come with time, but the plan is eventually to expand the city limits all the way to the farmstead, filling in more housing in between."

He quickly pulled up a map on another screen, inspecting it. "An ambitious expansion, but anything would be to take even a part of Mistral on top of Argus' already bustling populace. This will be an attempt to make a new kingdom essentially, an expansion as great as Mount Glenn." A warning she was familiar with there, having been to the Mountain and its outskirts a couple times and fought the Grimm threat the former expansion had become. "Salem won't take this lying down, even if she was caught just as off guard as Ozpi- Ozma by this revelation."

"We'll be ready for her." Even if it took their lives, this was what she had signed up for. To be a huntress and protect the innocent, whatever threats may come.

"I really hope so. Obviously, Atlas will provide as much support as it can, however for the moment our resources are... limited."

"Why? Uh, if I can ask that, sir." He gave her a considering look before he agreed.

"You can. Frankly, with Ozma's disappearing act and secrets and Qrow quitting, you might be one of the few people left I can trust beyond Winter and the Ace-ops, Mis- Ruby." Taking a deep breath, he launched into his explanation on why Atlas had cut off contact with the world, Ironwoods plans to use Amity colosseum to let the broadcast continue uninterrupted between all Kingdoms, forever.

"We've upped Atlas' cyber security massively, a complete overhaul since Beacon. Salem won't worm her way into our systems again, and with this we'll be able to stay in contact no matter what."

"That's amazing!"

He chuckled "It will certainly be helpful in getting information faster. Remnant is changing more and more every day it seems. As such, we will need to keep the majority of our forces here, working on getting Amity up in orbit. I'll move the schedule up, see if we can get it done faster, but can you keep Argus safe till then?"

"Yes, we can do it." Her voice was full of conviction. They might be young, but she and her friends had faced all sorts of threats, from Grimm invasions to bandit warlords to Salem's minions. And they were still standing. They'd protect it because they had to and there was no other acceptable outcome.

"Very well put," James said, causing her to realize she'd spoken all of that out loud. "I can't say these are good tidings - possibly the worst I've ever heard. But hearing you speak... I feel like I have a spark of hope I thought was put out. Thank you, Ruby."

"Thank you for all your help James. Things are rough, but together, with us, and Atlas, and Menagerie, and everyone standing together, we'll make it through this." Things were so tentative, that fragile hope hanging in the air, and Ruby could feel them both clinging to it, but she felt good as the call ended. Even if she fell, she knew she'd have her partner to swoop in and pick her up.

Pyrrha was falling, and she couldn't fly up. Not enough past the gravity net and deal with all the bullets flying at her. She'd been flying slightly off the path up to the farm, taking a more direct flightline but she hadn't expected anything like this! Bullets whizzed around her, filling the air as more bandits took their marks in the clearing. Her head was swimming as she tried to deflect them all, a few somehow slipping past her ferrokinetic grip and pinging off her aura.

"Wha?" She barely avoided a large grappling chain fired out by one custom gun, the man cursing below as he tried to reel it back in. Distantly, a voice in the back of her mind (that sounded a lot like Ruby's) noted that the weapons weren't quite hunter tier, but better than most people could get their hands on. It was hard to focus on more than that however with all the attacks coming at her.

A flex of her will made a miniature cyclone around her, through the attacks into disarray. It didn't clear her focus, however; if anything it was getting worse, wobbling in the air off balance. "How is this...?" Through the debris she had kicked up she saw the bandit leader glaring intently at her, but seeming to do nothing else.

Conjuring a fiery dagger, the Maiden tore herself free of the surrounding bonds, even if it meant letting the wind die down. She swooped low to avoid another shot, pulling forth Akouo and ramming into a group of three of them like a comet. Pulling forth Milo with her mind she waved it in front of her... utterly missing the off balance bandit.

Pyrrha boggled at her bad aim, the distraction costing her more seconds and Aura as the bandits renewed their attack. Sending out wild walls of flames racing over the grounds helped break their formations and send them scattering, throwing Akouo to pick off more of them, but she was quite outnumbered and feeling remarkably off balance.

Spinning around, flying over the battleground, she saw the leader looking intently at her still, not doing anything else, not even giving any orders. It finally clicked in her head. He had some, some... thingy! Some unique soul thing. The haze in her mind got worse, but she charged ahead, letting hard earned instincts carry her through, raising her shield arm without a conscious thought to stop a sword strike from the side, pulling her javelin back before sending it flying forward, nailing the man, and the instant she did, her mind cleared. Mostly. The 'red hand' bandit leader wasn't fully out yet, but she could take in the battle more clearly now.

Her semblance easily deflected the weapons aiming at her from the other side of the battlefield, far smarter than trying to block the bullets. A wall of wind helped cut another line in their ambush stage, cutting off the bandits from their reinforcements for the moment as she leapt towards their leader striking him swiftly, Milo switching from spear to sword mode between blows as she closed the gap between them, even as she pushed him backwards. Within half a dozen seconds his Aura had collapsed and her weapon stabbed through his shoulder, illiciting a howl of pain from the man. She felt no guilt at his agony, ripping her weapon out as she turned to face the rest of his crew.

The few that had made it past her barrier were now scrambling back away, looking to escape. Eyes flaring bright, she froze the ground with a wide arc of ice spreading out from where she stomped on the ground, sticking them to the ground by their footwear (or bare soles in one unfortunate case). A few well-placed shots took out the runners while the champion's semblance directed her shield to ricochet around any still trying to fight. Her use of it had improved to the point where she had no problem crumpling up the minigun one of them tried to fire at her while still flinging her shield around, something she felt a bit of pride in.

"You think... you're so special..." The leader breathed out, in pain from the wound. "If I had that magic, it wouldn't be that Branwen bitch ruling Mistral." She took a moment to look at him. He was an ugly man with an uglier soul, his mouth turned to a pained frown and his eyes glaring up at her. Scars covered his face and head and likely the rest of his body and his black clothes were sown with many patches, though his looked to be in slightly better condition than the others. Obviously this group at least was on lean times.

"I'm not special, despite what some people may think, but I'll fight with my all to protect those who are. You though, are nothing." She kicked him in the gut, taking a bit of vindictive glee at seeing him hurt after that assault on her, and the previous one they had thwarted on the camp. "Now tell me who was the Maiden you had hiding to take my powers." None of the few women she saw in his group were young enough to inherit the mantle.

"Maiden? What are you talking about?" He groaned.

"The... the titles are called the seasonal Maidens for a reason. Did you think, what?" As she said that she started to piece it together. He must have had incomplete information, from whatever had flowed through the grapevine and believed that anyone who killed her would gain her powers. "Idiot." He spat at her but she just sent it back to his own face with a gust of wind.

There was a part of her that was tempted to simply end him. Kill all of them right on the spot. They were wastes of skin, draining resources that others would need and hurting them in the process. She could only fathom that they were driven to attack her because Raven had solidified her hold on Mistral, driving the lesser criminals out or forcing them into her own fold, and that this group hadn't qualified for the later. These were truly leeches on society that nobody would miss.

... But that wasn't really why she wanted to end them. They were bandits; they reminded her of Raven, and she wanted to take out her frustrations on the Maiden that had bested her on them. It wasn't the right answer and it wouldn't help fix her problems. With a sigh, she began gathering them up, making icy shackles to hold them as she started slowly directing them down to the base where the military could deal with them.

"Um, hello. I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose" the young reaper clarified, standing in front of the townhouse door, looking at Saphron Arc. Her long blonde hair instantly reminded Ruby of the woman's late brother. She must have heard of her, because she opened the door to her house wider and let the young girl in.

"Please, come in. Jaune told us a lot about you. Terra's just dealing with Adrian; he's being a little fussy right now." She stepped inside and took a look around. It was a nice home, very cozy. Jaune had a lot of stories of his sisters but that was mostly from when they were all living together, not much of the ones who had left.

"Thanks. I know you talked with Pyrrha earlier but I just wanted to stop by and see if there was anything else you wanted to... discuss."

"Ah, thank you. It's good to talk to his friends. I'm sorry if I pressed Pyrrha too hard earlier, I just... needed to know." It felt like there was an invisible Goliath in the room with them, the specter of Jaune's demise hanging over their conversation. Felt, but not directly referenced.

"Oh, it's alright." That was what her girlfriend had told her at least. She'd respect Pyrrha's privacy, but inwardly, she'd bet the confrontation rattled her partner a bit; Jaune's death hit them all hard, but especially her. Pyrrha had been kinda a wreck in the months following that. "She's busy talking to her parents, getting them up to speed on everything, but she said she might be able to come by later. No promises though, everything is so hectic right now."

Which might not have been the whole truth on why Pyrrha was hesitant to come, but it was a very real fact they were dealing with. The Argus military base had been scrambling, the defenses on high alert with the sudden influx of refugees and negative emotions felt, from them and the people already living here. There were plenty of positive emotions too, but unfortunately those couldn't drive the Grimm away. The military was pushed, having to co-ordinate with the new hunters and the ones currently there to try and keep out any incursions, but for the moment things seemed fine and Grimm free (or at least, no hordes gathering).

She entered their living room, seeing a very familiar woman holding a toddler who had fallen asleep. "You!" Adrian, the toddler started to stir at her exclamation and they all froze, before he just rolled over in his sleep. Terra quickly passed Adrian to her wife, who took the kid upstairs.

"Ah, sorry about that, I just recognized you from the military base. I didn't realize you worked for Atlas military."

"I do communications maintenance for many of their systems, so I happened to overhear what Cordovin was thinking. Or not thinking, that was ridiculous! And what were you thinking trying to fight that overpriced monstrosity?"

"I couldn't just back down, everyone needed me to prove myself! I hoped maybe I could break through the front viewscreen, but… I don't know if that would have worked. Wait, why did you say 'overpriced'?"

Saphron came back down the stairs, interjecting. "Because my dear wife constantly complains about how much of a drain that thing is."

Terra blushed a little before clearing her throat. "That's just because it is. It was an experimental design, and it is functional… against giant Grimm, but that's about it, and from what I've heard the project ran massive costs, even before tallying up the runtime costs it has as well, which are also quite high."

"I guess that makes sense, otherwise I might have heard of that being used in other places, but I don't think even Atlas has anything like that protecting it."

"Nope, just troops, airships, and more troops." A bit of an oversimplification, but Ruby got the gist of Terra's point. "Enough about work though, we were hoping you might talk a bit about Jaune, and Beacon."

Ruby nodded, swallowing a lump down her throat. Now that they were done with the 'small talk', it was time to get on with why they had really called her here. "Jaune… was probably the first friend I ever made at Beacon. We had kinda auspicious starts, him vomiting on the airship, and me making a crater in the courtyard…" She carries on, telling Jaune's sister and her wife all about the various (mis)adventures their teams had gotten up to. Mostly the funny, lighter stuff, but also touched on some of the more serious issues they had, like Cardin's bullying and Jaune's worries about leading his team. She even learned some things too.

"Wait, he didn't go to a combat school? I thought it was weird how poor he did in combat class, but…"

"Nope. Didn't even have his Aura unlocked working at the farm. Just a dumb kid with big dreams…" Saphron sniffled, holding back her tears.

"I'm- I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"If you did, would you have stopped him?" She asked, and Ruby froze up for a moment.

"I- I don't think I would have stopped him from going to Beacon. It was his dream, you could always tell that, and he really did have so much potential. I would have made sure he'd trained harder and kept away from that last battle… there's so much I would do differently."

"I'm sorry," Terra said, reaching over to place a comforting hand on Ruby's arm. "It must be difficult to go through all this." She gave a warning glance at her wife, who looked away for a moment. "Thank you for telling us this, it's good to know what he was like at Beacon, how much he enjoyed it there."

"He really did. Oh, I didn't even tell you about the time he wore a dress to the dance!" That brought a slight smile to Saphron's face and began another round of tales. It was tough, but she even managed to speak on how it ended, briefly touching on the Fall of Beacon, and final battle against Cinder and the Wyvern.

Eventually the light was winding down as sunset approached, and Ruby began making her way out. Terra excused herself to deal with Adrian who had woken up again (and was so cute!) so it was just her and Saphron in the doorway to the little home. "What do you think Pyrrha thought of Jaune? She seemed close to him, but…"

"Oh, she definitely was. Everyone on our teams knew how big a crush she had on him. If he was still around, they'd probably be together instead of…" Saphron cocked her head and Ruby forced herself to finish. "Well, instead of me and her. As partners. And girlfriends. Girlpartners!" She blushed embarrassed as the words came out of her mouth in a fashion not unlike Jaune on the Bullhead.

Saphron chuckled. "She sounds like quite the player."

Ruby shook her head vehemently. "No, nothing like that. She was just a good friend back at Beacon. When we set out to Mistral together, we grew closer, bonded somewhat over those we had lost…" and had once been somewhat divided over it, she didn't say. "Eventually it grew to be something more." The young huntress wasn't sure what the older woman saw in her, but it seemed to satisfy her, as she slowly nodded.

"Thank you, truly. For being his friend, and ally, and telling us about everything he did. It means a lot, and our doors will always be open, for you and his team." Ruby smiled gratefully.

In that moment, she realized it was worth it. Going to Beacon, everything that had happened since. All the pain and mistakes she'd made, hadn't broken her. She'd continue to grow, get stronger from the scars she'd gained, and be lifted up by her friends and girlfriend at her side while doing the same for them.

A/N: Firstly, thank you all for the feedback. Seems like people definitely want this to continue so it will, if at a slower pace, though hopefully I'll get to the end of this 'volume' by then. I'm nearing the end of my already written chapters, but at least this one is a fair bit larger than usual.