Question: Why does everyone who knows about Qrow and Raven turning into birds (in canon) think its a bad thing? I would have thought Ruby and Nora would want to see for themselves and geek out about it. Come on, it's awesome! Not scary...Unless there's another legend we don't know about.

Anyway, time to finish up Summer's story.

Summer sat on the couch in the living room, or at least the representation of it in Ruby's head. Both her girls sat next to her, though they couldn't see her…and never would again. They had no idea what was going on. They couldn't. Tai just called them down here. No doubt about it, this would be the worst day so far in either of their lives.

Tai and Qrow walked out of the kitchen. It looked like Tai was trying to put up a brave face, but Summer saw the tear stains on his cheeks through Ruby's eyes. As always, Qrow had a bottle of…wait, that wasn't orange pop. "Qrow, don't you dare drink in front of my girls. Look what it did to me! Don't be me!" Of course, Qrow didn't hear her. He popped the top off the beer bottle and took a swig.

"Girls, we need to talk." Tai sat in the chair opposite the sisters. Qrow remained standing and leaned against the wall.

Ruby and Yang looked at each other, then back to their dad. "What's going on, daddy."

Summer saw Tai's throat constrict and his eyes turn glassy. He was really trying to not break down. "Your mom…isn't going to be…coming home."

Ruby cocked her head. "Long mission?" She sounded so disappointed.

Summer felt it too. She hooked an arm around her girl's shoulders. "I'm here, Ruby."

Tai shook his head. "She's…gone to live with her mom."

Yang gasped. Summer looked at her oldest. Yang had a hand covering her mouth and her own eyes were leaking. She knew. Summer walked around Ruby and she tried to hug Yang, but she just fazed right through her. "Phoenix, I'm sorry. I love you so much. I'm right here. I'm not leaving."

"Grandma?" Ruby asked, once again sounding happy. "Can we go too?"

Qrow shook his head. "She lives too farr away. We can't make the trip ourrselfs. Costs too much."

Summer's jaw dropped. "You're drunk already?" She jumped off the couch and marched toward Qrow. She slapped the bottle out of Qrow's hand, or at least tried to. "Don't be me!" She tried to slap Qrow in the face, but her arms might as well have passed through air. She stared at her hands, then tried slapping Qrow over and over, her own cheeks getting drenched and screaming the whole time. She fell against the wall and buried her face in her arms. This was too much.

"Why can't we see grandma?" Ruby asked. Summer looked up at her youngest. She didn't understand what was going on. Summer could feel it.

"Because we can't!" Yang cried. She jumped off the couch and ran upstairs.

Summer just watched her oldest disappear behind the corner. She couldn't do anything. Nothing she'd say would make it to Yang. Nothing ever would again. Only Tai, Qrow and Raven could get to her now…speaking of Raven, where was she? She'd be coming in later, right? The Nevermores might not be gone, but their threat wasn't as great, right?

Yang was acting weird. Normally she was a chatterbox. She never got back to her normal level after she learned that Summer died, but that was half a year ago. The past two days, she avoided most conversation and tried to stay away from Ruby. Summer couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Yang. She…she didn't like someone at preschool, did she? Nah. She was too young for that.

So when Yang walked up to Ruby in the living room, Summer didn't know what was going on. "Ruby," Yang started, "you want to go on a walk with me?"

Ruby yawned. "Not now. I'm tirrred."

"But I don't want to go alone." Yang's shoulders slumped, then she straightened up and her eyes brightened. "I can pull you in the wagon." Summer giggled. Ruby wouldn't be able to say no to that. She loved it too much.

"Okay." Ruby jumped off the couch and followed Yang out the door. Summer 'walked' behind them. She found out early on that she could just 'fly' after Ruby, but just walking felt natural. She couldn't get used to the 'flying.'

They entered the shed where the wagon was kept. Yang looked at the motorcycle that had rested unused since Summer left. She ran a hand over the side. Summer saw the tears in Yang's eyes but they disappeared just as quickly. "Come on, Ruby." Yang pulled the little red wagon from there it rested.

Ruby climbed in and curled up in the wagon. "I'm gonna take a nap." She closed her eyes. Both Ruby and Yang faded from Summer's sight, and she sighed. She could only 'move around' through the first week in Ruby's head. Now when Ruby closed her eyes, it was just Summer on Patch, alone. She could still hear what Ruby did, and saw her dreams, but as for what was really going on, Summer didn't know. At the moment, Summer just heard the wagon rolling over the ground.

Summer sighed and walked around herself. She didn't have much to do. Sometimes she would sing to Ruby, and sometimes Ruby would start humming that tune. But that wouldn't make sense if Ruby was trying to take a nap. Instead, she just wandered where she thought her girls were going. Just a loop around the house. They knew not to leave the clearing around the yard. Ruby was a stickler for the rules, and Yang knew which ones couldn't be broken.

After a while, Summer heard growling around her. At first she didn't know if it was from only one direction or not. She hadn't gotten the sleeping directions right quite yet. Then she heard Yang whimper, and that gave a little perspective. Ruby and Yang were surrounded.

Then Yang screamed. Ruby's eyes snapped open and she sat up in the wagon. Summer made herself stand where her girls were. They weren't anywhere near the house. She had to use Ruby's eyes to get a number and position, but they stayed in Summer's own sight afterward. She counted eight grown Beowolves. Summer could take them in her sleep, but she wasn't there. No Huntsman was.

"Oh no." Summer looked to her girls then back at the Grimm. She lifted her hands into her line of sight. Could she use Ruby to fight them off? Would that be right? She suddenly realized why Ozpin wanted to keep Amber in the dark about what she was.

She heard a weapon unfurling, one of the most beautiful sounds she heard. Qrow jumped over Ruby's head and slashed at a Grimm that was lunging at Yang. The two halves of the Beowolf fell to the side. After that, Ruby's untrained eyes couldn't follow him. A few seconds later, all Beowolves were dissolving and Qrow stood in front of the girls with his back facing them. Summer could feel Ruby's heart pounding and fast breathing.

Qrow hung his sword on his back and turned around. "Yang, what are you doing out here?" He knelt down in front of her. "You know you're not supposed to be away from the house without me or your dad. And with Ruby too?"

"I…I'm sorry." Yang cried. "I…I had to know."

"You had to know what?"

"The fourth person in the picture." Summer lifted a hand to her mouth. Yang knew about Raven.

Qrow's eyes widened, then looked to the sky. "You're going to need to have a long talk with your dad, and you're going to have to apologize to your little sister."

Yang turned her watery eyes to her sister. "I'm sorry, Ruby."

Ruby didn't answer, and Summer knew why. She wasn't quite in shock, but she was terrified. Summer knelt next to her youngest and kissed Ruby's cheek. "It's okay, Gem. You're safe. Uncle Qrow will keep the monsters away."

Ruby blinked a few times and finally looked at her sister. "I…forgive you Yang." Ruby moved in for a hug and Yang eagerly returned it.

Summer nodded and looked around the clearing. Qrow got to all Grimm before they got close. If he was following those two from the beginning, they were never in any real danger.

Then Summer saw a bird sitting in the trees. A very familiar bird. She narrowed her eyes and grimaced. "Raven, get your feathered butt down here." She marched toward the tree even though Raven couldn't hope to see her. "You get down there right now! Take care of your daughter!" She pointed at the wagon. "Take care of my daughter. Don't you dare let them grow up without a mom. You're better than that! You wanted to come back! Why haven't you?"

Raven took flight from her branch and flew away from those in the small clearing. Summer let her head and shoulders fall and hugged herself. She turned back to where Qrow was pulling both girls in the wagon. Ruby and Yang cuddled up next to each other, but Summer couldn't be happy. She could only somewhat be there for Ruby. If Yang was in trouble, like she was now, she couldn't do anything about it.

Summer bit her lip as she stared off the cliff on Patch. What happened last night…so many things went right, yet so many went wrong. That wasn't Amber in that Bullhead. The things that were done with all that fire could only come from a Maiden…No. No one would kill her little Amby. Amber wouldn't be so little anymore, but still. Then again, if she was working with whoever that orange haired guy was, they could have wanted the extra firepower…pun not intended given the situation.

At the same time, Summer couldn't be more proud of how well Ruby fought. She still had a long way to go, but she took out quite a few guys on her own. She wasn't even touched by any of those guys. Those goons weren't the most skilled in the world, but they were still more dangerous than individual Grimm. Summer couldn't help but squeal and try to hug her daughter for such a good job.

Then Ozpin came in and enrolled Ruby at Beacon. Um, WHAT? That didn't happen! Ruby was the first fifteen-year-old to go to Beacon in the school's history! Of course Summer thought Ruby was ready. She'd seen her little girl train with Qrow, Yang, Tai, and all her friends at Signal. Ruby was definitely at Yang's level, maybe even better.

Even so, Summer didn't know Ozpin's motives. He hat to have seen Ruby's skill, or he wouldn't have even thought of it. But Ruby was the Winter Maiden. The Nevermores hadn't come after her, nor had Summer seen them in the news, but other people may be looking for the Winter Maiden. Ruby was much safer at Beacon than on Patch.

Overall, Summer thought that last night was an positive for Ruby.

Speaking of her youngest, Summer's 'Ruby Vision' showed her youngest running toward her position. She smiled and sat where her gravestone was in real life. At times like this, she couldn't help but wonder if Tai buried her as is or cremated her. Either way, she was pretty sure she was buried there, but she wasn't certain. Tai said no, but Summer thought he was lying.

In both her own eyes and her 'Ruby Vision,' Ruby ran out of the trees. Ruby stopped right in front of Summer's gravestone and bounced on her heels. "Hi mom! Oh man! Where do I start?" Ruby ran her hands through her hair. "I was at a Dust shop in Vale, and these bad guys came in. One of them tried to rob me, but I kicked him out the window."

"You better hope the place has insurance," Summer laughed, "or else you're paying for that."

"I took out all that guy's buddies outside. Then their leader shot at me, but he couldn't get a solid hit…Well, a Huntress did save me from one of his blasts. Oh! I fought alongside a real Huntress! I mean I do that already with dad and Uncle Qrow, but that doesn't count. Then this fire user came in and helped the guys get away in a Bullhead…" Ruby lost some energy on that last line and her shoulders slumped. "Yeah that wasn't the best.

"Then I ended up at the police station and the Huntress yelled at me. I don't really know why. I did what any Huntress would do." Ruby's new smile threatened to break off her face. "Then Professor Ozpin came in and asked if I wanted to go to Beacon! I thought he meant in a few years. But guess what? He said now! I'm going to Beacon, mom!" Ruby jumped around and squealed.

She sobered up and smiled down at Summer's grave stone, not so coincidentally meeting her mom's eyes. "I wish you were here to see this."

"I am, Gem." She reached a hand out and held Ruby's cheek. "I am so proud of you, Ruby. Go there and kick butt for me." Ruby pulled her head away and rubbed the cheek that Summer touched. Summer snatched her hand back. "Did you feel that?" If that did happen, that would be the first time in years.

Ruby shook her head. "I'd stay longer, but the ship for Beacon leaves tomorrow, and…I've got to pack!" She jumped once more. "I love you, mom! I'll be back when I can!"

Summer smiled as her baby girl ran off. "You'll do great things, Ruby. I just know it."

Well, this is the end of Nevermore. Back to RWBAY and everyone else next week. See you there.