RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.

CHAPTER 40

Cherri and Amber looked up from the small fire they had started to cook breakfast at the sound of two approaching pairs of feet. The Spring Maiden struggled to suppress the urge to grin happily as Chess and Melody's shoes rustled gently in the grass as the pair approached the clearing near the stream the other two Maidens had slept in.

Melody was gripping Chess' hand tightly in her own. Occasionally, the Bloodline and young Winter Maiden would lock eyes for a moment, before promptly turning vivid shades of crimson and doing their best to look in different directions, all the while, never letting go of each other.

The pair sat down on the fallen trunk of a moss-covered tree. Cherri noted that the two of them appeared rather... disheveled... and not it the morning bed-hair kind of way. She also noticed the amount of color that refused the leave Chess' face, his normally deathly pale features were flooded with a deep red that rivaled the color of his eyes.

"Food'll be ready in a while," Cherri felt a smile tug at her lips when the love-struck pair jumped at her voice. "Melody, do you want to go clean up? Amber can show you a good spot."

"Uh- S-sure..." the silver-haired girl stammered. She hesitantly stood, letting go of Chess' hand with clear reluctance. Amber placed a gentle hand on the younger Maiden's back and guided her off down the stream, out of sight. Once she was certain they were out of earshot, Cherri turned with a smile to Chess.

"So, it looks like last night went well for you two," the Maiden of Spring grinned. Chess nodded his head dazedly twice. "She really does love you, Chess. You'd better take care of her."

"I know..." the Bloodline answered hoarsely, looking down at the ground with a deepening blush.

"Geez, what did you two get up to?" Cherri chuckled, leaving the boiling pot of water alone to walk over to Chess. The ex-Lord flinched slightly as Cherri placed a cool hand across his forehead to get his attention. "You're redder than a tomato, you know."

"There's... a lot of different feelings... floating around in my head right now..." Chess answered. "I'm not sure how to process a lot of them..."

"Well, just roll with them, I'm sure you and Melody can figure it out," the Maiden of Spring smiled. "After all, the two of you have a whole life ahead of you."

"So, how'd it go?" Amber asked. Melody turned to face her from the stream, seemingly unperturbed by the cold water.

"It went... well..." the silver-haired girl replied, sinking further into the stream.

"How far did you two go?" the Maiden of Fall inquired innocently. Melody promptly turned away with a flustered expression, placing a hand over her lips. "Wow, you're both certainly bold. Was that all?"

"W-why are you asking me this!?" Melody squeaked in embarrassment, every inch of her face had attained a deep crimson hue.

"Sorry," Amber laughed, "I'm mostly just teasing you." Melody turned away from the Fall Maiden, closing her eyes with an annoyed expression. She tossed water from the stream across her face, trying to chase off the heat in her cheeks. "Though, really, I'm curious... What happened yesterday between you two?"

"I..." Melody started turning redder again, "I confessed how I felt... there was a little bit of awkwardness... but Chess admitted he felt the same... and..." The young Maiden trailed off and stared off into the distance for a moment with a happy expression plastered across her face. Amber snapped her out of it by tossing a handful of water into her face.

"'And'? What, did you two give into your passions or some-" the Fall Maiden's sentence was silenced as Melody threw a sphere of water from the stream at her. The orb of liquid splashed across Amber's face, knocking of Fall Maiden off of her seat atop a tree stump. "Well, judging from that reaction..." Amber smirked good-naturedly from the ground. Another pair of watery orbs impacted the ground near her. "Are you sure you should be using your power as a Maiden for such petty reasons?" A projectile left a soaked splatter on her clothes. "Alright, you asked for it!" Amber rushed to the side of the stream and splashed Melody.

After a short while, Amber collapsed at the side of the stream, thoroughly soaked by her "battle" with the younger Maiden, who was no worse for wear. Melody let out a sigh of relief that Amber had stopped teasing her about the night before.

"You know..." the Maiden of Fall spoke softly as Melody stepped out of the stream and wrapped her self in a towel, "Cherri and I were a little jealous of you two..."

"What do you mean?" Melody asked, sitting down beside Amber in the grass.

"You and Chess," the tanned Maiden answered. "We'd been kept away from other people ever since we got our powers. Something like finding love seemed impossible when you didn't even have the ability to have a normal conversation. But... you and Chess disproved that idea."

"You two don't resent being isolated?" Melody asked.

"I told Ozpin I didn't, but..." Amber sat up to toss a small pebble into the stream, "I can't exactly say I enjoyed it." She sighed. "Cherri wasn't too thrilled with being alone either... but we know Ozpin had the best intentions... Before we left, it sounded like he thought that we should try doing things differently..."

"I'm sure you'll find somebody to love too," Melody smiled.

"That's if somebody is willing to put up with the whole Maiden thing and... well," Amber gestured to the scars across her face.

"You're still pretty, don't be dramatic," the silver-haired girl replied. "And if you find somebody who thinks that what you are or how you look matters, then they aren't the right one." Melody looked back towards the camp with a warm expression. Amber followed the younger Maiden's gaze, staring at the distant glow of the campfire Cherri was cooking at.

"Thanks, Melody," the Maiden of Fall said softly. The two of them sat in the grass silently for several minutes while they waited for themselves to dry. A shiver ran down the younger Maiden's back as an impish smile spread across Amber's face. "So, did you and Chess..." The Fall Maiden leaned in to whisper in Melody's ear. The silver-haired girl's face immediately turned bright crimson once again.

"What's wrong with you!? Why would you ask someone that!?"

"So you aren't denying it, then?" Amber smirked. "When's the-" A large ball of water fell on top of the Fall Maiden's head.

"Do I want to ask?" Chess inquired, looking up from one of his armor's shoulder pads. The piece of metal had fallen off and cracked somewhere along their journey, and the Bloodline had only just noticed.

"No," Melody answered bluntly in an exhausted tone, plopping herself down beside Chess and hugging his arm. "I don't want to talk about it..." The Bloodline noticed Amber smiling and scratching the back of her head sheepishly at them. The Maiden of Fall looked as if she'd fallen into the stream.

"I'm really sorry, Melody," Amber called. "I went too far."

"Just..." the silver-haired Maiden blushed, "just don't do it again..."

"Well," Cherri piped up cheerily, "I'd say it sounds like Amber got what was coming to her. Food's ready, by the way," The Maiden of Spring promptly handed a pair of bowls to Chess for himself and Melody. She turned to Amber and began to gently scold the Fall Maiden for teasing Melody, though that was all of the information Chess was able to make out.

This is all very different, isn't it? Mini's voice announced. The fragment of Chess' soul once again manifested itself beside him in the form of a child. From what we had before?

Traveling with others has... been a nice change... Chess affirmed. I think... I think that somewhere deep down... I've always known this is what I wanted... a family...

"So, what are we looking at in terms of an ETA?" Jerloh asked Alex, sitting himself down in an empty seat on the darkened bridge of the Tether. The ceiling lights had been dimmed throughout the ship to allow more power to be dumped to the engines. Outside the ship, heavy rain and lightning swirled and roared over a vast expanse of dark ocean between Vale and Mistral. The blond soldier was keeping careful watch over the Tether's navigation console.

"If Ryland keeps pushing the engines, we should arrive sometime late tomorrow or early the day after," Alex replied.

"Alright. Oh, Marcie and Cinder wanted me to pass on a message to you. They want to run all of us through their plan before we arrive," the Terror Inheritor reported. "And Peleus and Pyrrha have been trying to use the ship's transmitter to try and raise any resistance forces in the city."

"I'll be sure to check in with everyone ahead of time," Alex nodded. "Thanks, Jerloh."

"Hey, it's what friends do," the Bloodline shrugged. He looked around. "Are you the only one up here right now?"

"I sent Ryland to get some rest. He looked like he was nodding off," Alex answered. "Auto-pilot's doing all the work for now anyway, I'm just here as a precaution."

"Well, the others are sitting down for some food. Think the ship can survive without you for thirty minutes or so?" Jerloh smirked for a moment, but suddenly adopted a serious expression. "You should ask someone else to take over later. You need to take a break."

"I'm fine," Alex raised an eyebrow at the Bloodline questioningly.

"For now," Jerloh replied. "But we all know about your thick-headed tendency to work yourself to the breaking point. Let Marcie or Cinder watch the screens for a bit."

"I guess you might be right," Alex sighed, leaning back in his seat. A flash of lightning briefly basked the bridge in bright white light. "Huh... I just realized... this is the first opportunity we've had to just sit and talk, isn't it?"

"Yeah, things kinda got hectic right after we met up," Jerloh nodded.

"I've talked a bit with Marcia about what's happened back on Earth and elsewhere," Alex shrugged, "but what's your take on everything?"

"Honestly?" Jerloh sighed. "Things could be better back home, but they could also be much worse. The EDC officially announced that the war was over twelve years ago, but as you can probably tell, that's far from the truth... The Order might not have a foothold on any particular planet anymore... but they're still finding ways to recruit new members every day."

"So... in other words... essentially nothing has changed..." Alex sighed.

"Yeah," the Bloodline nodded solemnly. "Relations between Auras and normal folk are better than they were thanks to some of the other Guardians, but there are still a good number of people who'd like to put a bullet in people with abilities." Jerloh let out a distressed huff of air.

"Marcia said she was the last old member of STRD left..." Alex spoke flatly, looking down at the floor of the bridge. "What happened to the others?"

"Only a handful of people from STRD made it to the official end of the war," Jerloh answered. "Marcie, Henderson, Morgan, and Raine were the only ones left from First Infantry... When the Order reared its ugly head again, we wound up losing a lot of familiar faces..."

"I see..."

"Still, myself and a lot of others have to thank you, Alex," the Bloodline said. "You helped the Guardians show humanity that not all Auras were evil. So, thanks, Major."

"I only did what I thought was the right thing," Alex replied.

"You always do," Jerloh smiled. "Alright, enough talking about depressing things. Let's get you some grub and rest."

"Sure."

Jerloh guided Alex back to the small common room aboard the Tether, a simple area that they had filled with tables and chairs prior to departing Vale. After somewhat forcibly sitting the blond soldier down in between Luna and Ruby, the Terror Inheritor seated himself beside his daughter. Lex looked from her food with filled cheeks.

"Hrg, Drdy!" the small girl attempted to greet her father.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Jerloh chuckled, patting her head. The Bloodline's attention was drawn to Alyia, who pulled up a seat beside the pair, placing a plate of her own down on the metal table with a light clatter.

"You being trouble, Lex?" Alyia inquired with a smile. The little girl swallowed her food in one large gulp before responding.

"Nope," Lex replied innocently. "Auntie Aly, can I come watch you and Daddy fight the bad guys?"

"No, absolutely not," Jerloh said firmly. "You're staying far away from any fighting with Cinder and Peleus."

"But-"

"No 'buts', Lex," Alyia interrupted. "What we're doing is incredibly dangerous-"

"But I'm a hero too! Like you and Daddy!" Lex pouted.

"I just want you to be safe," Jerloh sighed, wrapping an arm around his daughter. "There'll be a time and place for you to be a hero, Lex... just not right now, okay?" The small girl looked up at her parent and aunt with pleading eyes, but seemed to acknowledge their decision.

"Okay... I'll stay with Miss Cinder..." Lex relented.

"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?" Weiss announced her presence.

"Oh, Weiss," Alyia turned to the Schnee. "No, not at all. You can join us if you want."

"Thank you," the white-haired student bowed her head in a slight, but proper manner. Weiss softly sat herself down in another chair at their table, placing her hands together in her lap. "I wished to make a request that-"

"Weiss," Alyia stopped her. "What's with the formality?"

"I'm simply observing the proper manner in which to ask someone else for a favor," Weiss replied stiffly, though it was clear she was quite nervous.

"Well, cut it out," Jerloh waved his hand good-naturedly. "I'm sure you heard how Lex fields requests, that's just how our family has always done it." Weiss took a deep breath, allowed her shoulders to slouch slightly, then released a heavy sigh.

"I... want to avenge Charles," the young Schnee stated, a dark look crossing her face. "But I know that I won't be strong enough on my own... So... I wanted to ask... whether the two of you would accompany me if I went to fight Golem..."

"Of course," Jerloh answered with a slight shrug.

"Sure thing," Alyia nodded her head.

"W-wait!" Weiss cried. "Just like that!?"

"Yeah," Jerloh replied, "was that not what you wanted?"

"I mean... it is what I was asking for... but..." Weiss sighed, "I didn't expect you to agree so easily..."

"Well, it'd be dishonoring Dad's memory if we just let you run off on your own and get killed," Alyia said. "Besides, he considered you, Winter, and Anise to be a part of the family, so by extension, we do too."

"And family watches each others' backs, right?" Jerloh added, tilting his head at the young Schnee. Weiss suddenly burst out laughing, a clear, charming sound that bounced slightly off the walls.

"You both certainly are Charles' children," the white-haired student said as she tried to quell her giggling. "I shouldn't have doubted you... Thank you."

Ryland's eyes flickered open, adjusting to the dim light that filled his room aboard the Tether. The weight of an arm laid across his chest informed him of Yang's presence. She was curled up between Ryland and the wall, with her right arm draped protectively over the engineer. Careful not to disturb his girlfriend, Ryland gently lifted Yang's arm and stood. He shivered slightly at how cold the room seemed.

Ryland took a moment to allow his eyes further time to adjust to the darkness. Slowly, he became able to make out the shapes of the bed, a small table, and a chest-high cabinet. The young soldier walked softly over to the cabinet and opened one of its drawers, quietly removing his prosthetic arm from its stored location within. He tossed a cautious look towards Yang's gently shifting form, making sure he hadn't woken her up, and slotted his metal limb into its socket with a harsh click.

Ryland returned to the bed's side for a minute, taking the time to gingerly cover Yang with a blanket and tenderly brush her cheek once with his right hand. Then, he discreetly saw himself out the door and into the equally dark hallway through the Tether. The young engineer made a beeline for the small common room, passing through the ship's hangar, which they had converted into a large storage room due to the absence of smaller vehicles. He stopped as he caught sight of a black-armored figure leaning against the hangar wall. For a moment, Ryland flinched and reached for a gun, before realizing that it was Ignis. The Bloodline of Flame looked up from the floor, becoming aware of the engineer's presence.

"Felstrand," the ex-Lord acknowledged.

"Ignis," Ryland nodded. For a moment, the two just stared at each other awkwardly. "Oh... wait... you go by 'Ryan Aedus' now, right?"

"That's always been my name," Ryan answered flatly. "Where you looking for something?"

"Not in particular," Ryland shrugged. "I just saw you sulking in the corner there and figured I'd strike up a conversation." The Bloodline made a small "hmph" sound. "So, what's got you trying to stare a hole in the floor?"

"I'm planning," the ex-Lord replied. The orange-haired engineer quirked an eyebrow at him, sensing there was more to it. "I'm planning... in order to keep my thoughts off of a certain subject..."

"What, your Maiden friend?" Ryland guessed. "Wait, didn't Marcia say you had a kid?"

"Ember's mother..." Ryan looked down again, "did not survive giving birth to our daughter."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that," the engineer flinched.

"Still... you were right. I am trying to avoid puzzling over the... complex... feelings I have regarding Cherri," the Bloodline answered. "My loyalties feel divided, which is not something I had prepared myself for."

"So... you fell for the Maiden, huh?" Ryland said, walking over to sit on top of a crate across from the ex-Lord.

"I am not sure," Ryan shook his head. "I most definitely have a desire to protect her... but I an unsure whether that constitutes 'love'. Even if I was certain, I could not ask her to leave her duty as a Maiden of Remnant to come with us to Earth, and I would be unable to abandon my own duty to the fight in our own world and bring Ember here..."

"Now you've got me thinking..." Ryland trailed off, clasping his hands together and staring at the floor. "Hey... you haven't happened to run into my parents, have you?"

"As a matter of fact," Ryan answered, clearly pleased to divert the subject, "I have met your father. The EDC apparently asked him to act as a consultant on the newest generation of ship subsystems. I met him when they were re-outfitting the initial craft for EDC's MATF."

"How was he doing?" Ryland asked cautiously.

"He... did not desire to engage in conversation with someone of my... history," the Bloodline replied, carefully choosing his words.

"He screamed at you, didn't he?" the engineer sighed, knowing the kind of person his father had been turning into.

"I can't exactly say that I blame him for it," Ryan replied. "He believes that his family was slaughtered by people like me. His distrust and hate is well-earned."

"So... Mom's gone too then..." Ryland looked down. "She was already coming apart at the seams when my sister died... I- I didn't even think what losing me too would do to her until now..." Ryland placed his right hand across his face, a horrified and sickened expression crossing his features. He suddenly remembered when he had been arrested and given the choice between jail and the EDC. Ryland's mother had wanted him to take the prison sentence... and now he understood why. She had already been convinced that the war would take both of her children from her... and she'd been right.

"You can't hold yourself responsible," Ryan said.

"Yeah... I know..." Ryland sighed. "Still doesn't stop me from feeling like a complete idiot... Actually... I have and idea. Ign- I mean, Ryan, would you be able to deliver a message to my Dad?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, if you write-"

"I'll get right on that, wait here!" Ryland hopped off the crate and sprinted back down the hall towards his room, leaving the Bloodline of Flame to shake his head good-naturedly.

Ryland ground to a halt in front of his door and carefully pried it open as to not disturb the sleeping Yang. He knelt down by the side of the bed, quietly fishing out his old EDC tactical pad. The engineer stealthily exited the room once more, closing the door behind him. He leaned back against the wall, inserting a small memory chip into the side of the device. The hand-held screen lit up, displaying a light blue keyboard with an empty void above it. Ryland began to type, his fingers tapping audibly against the pad.

Hey Dad,

I know this will be hard to believe, but it's me, your son. I'm alive. Just to prove it's me, here are a couple things: Megan and I almost burned the old house down when I was six, because I was playing around with the battery from one of those miniature spaceship prototype models you kept in the garage. I'm still not sorry.You bought me my first programming book on my eighth birthday, and I made Megan cry when I made her dolls start threatening world domination. I'm a little sorry for that one.

Hopefully, I've established that I really am me. Well, believe it or not, I didn't die on January 15th, 2998. Instead, I wound up in another world called "Remnant". It's a weird place for sure. There are only four major cities here, called "Kingdoms", and there are these Shade-like things call Grimm roaming around everywhere. Still, in spite of all that, the people here are strong. Every living being in this world produces something called an "aura", kind of like the Auras back on Earth, and each person has a unique superpower called a "Semblance". But it's not just physical strength, the people of Remnant are some of the most strong-willed people I've ever run into, (yes, including you) as well as some of the most compassionate. There are people here, called "Huntsmen", that defend the people of the Kingdoms like an order of badass knights from history, only with guns.

That was the other thing I wanted to make sure to mention. Remember how you always said that "no girl would go out with someone who acts like a buffoon all the time"? Well, I proved you wrong. Her name's Yang, and she's quite literally the most beautiful and loving person I've met. Honestly, I think your head would explode if you had to deal with both of us at once. Yang's probably the main reason I've made it far enough to even write this to you, Dad. She's strong, and I mean really strong. There are a lot of times that I feel like I can barely keep up with her or that I'm not doing enough, because of how much she can outpace me. She always tells me that it doesn't matter, and I'm reminded that I'm lucky to have met her.

Yang's not the only person here though. I think you'd find her sister, Ruby, a fun sort. She's a gun-nut and a kickass engineer in her own right. There are also Weiss and Blake, two of their friends. Blake's more of a quiet sort, likes to keep her head buried in books, a lot like Mom. She's a type of person called a "Faunus", she's got a pair of cat ears on her head. Weiss is the daughter of the head of a huge company here in Remnant, responsible for keeping pretty much the whole planet running. She can get a bit uppity and snobbish, but she's ultimately a good person. These four girls that I've mentioned so far are training to be Huntresses, and I think they'll do well.

Aside from them, there's also a handful of guys from the EDC and one Guardian that crossed over with me. It's nice having familiar faces to watch your back. We made friends with a few of the people from Remnant since we got here. There's Luna, who's got a really big heart. Firo's a rabbit faunus. She used to be really nervous, but she's warmed up to everyone, I think. Then there was Carbon. I think you'd have liked him. You two could have had all sorts of "old guy" discussions.

I guess I'm ultimately writing this letter to say "I'm sorry". Ryan, who you know as Ignis, told me about what's been going on back home since I left. I'm sorry about Mom. I'm sorry about disappearing. I'm still really sorry for Megan, and for not listening to you guys more.

Don't worry about me, Dad. I'm alive. I'm alright. I'm happy. I hope you can find it in you to be all those things too. Thank you for raising me the way you did. Without it, I wouldn't be who I am. Thank you.

Love ya, old man,

Ryland.

A/N:After agonizing over this chapter for eight hours straight, it is finally complete.

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