"And what good did it do us!?" Raven yelled, her chest heaving and voice strained.

Blood seeped down from the woman's hairline, trailing lazily across her forehead and rolling down her nose. She could taste the iron in the liquid upon her lips, and the sensation only served to hint at how much worse the situation could have been. One or two more grimm, and someone would have been dead. If the tea kettle's whistling had masked their approach for even a second longer, she wouldn't have made it to her sword in time. Had the baby not started crying, Taiyang would have been sitting right where the first alpha beowulf had fallen through the ceiling. So many factors were involved in the way events had played out, and none of them were in her direct control.

"Raves, calm down," Taiyang ordered as he cradled the screaming baby with one arm, his other hand gripped firmly around the shaft of his trident. He, too, was breathing hard and covered in his own blood. His shirt was in tatters, and red claw marks had gouged into his chest through the fabric. Mountains of black ash were scattered throughout the room, staining the carpet and overturned furniture. Scour marks had raked their way through the wooden floor, and the wall dividing the kitchen and living room had a hole punched straight through the plaster. "We're alive. We fought them off, and Yang's okay. That's all th-"

"And how many more times will we get lucky like this?" Raven demanded as she sheathed her katana, slamming the weapon back into its holster with a harsh clack. "We weren't ready. Summer wasn't here. They could be watching the house, waiting for moments like this…"

"So what's your solution?" Taiyang interrupted as he pushed his weapon sideways, letting it fall to the side and prop itself up against the ruined couch as he used both arms to try to rock the baby back to calm. "Never allow ourselves a second to breathe? Treat our lives like we're at war every second of every day? Or maybe we should just ask Summer to move in with us and be our personal watchdog, instead of our friend. That would be fair to her, right?"

"Clearly, that's exactly how we should be living," Raven protested. "I told you that this was a mistake, Tai. We weren't meant to have something like this. The second we signed ourselves over to Ozpin, we signed away our freedom to live normal lives. We can't have it both ways. This isn't the first time we've been attacked. We've been lucky so far, but this time, we almost weren't."

"Then we take some more precautions," Taiyang suggested, his patience wearing thin. "I'll set up more cameras. We'll put motion detectors in the woods outside the house…"

"You're not listening!" Raven replied as she began to pace, her hands on the sides of her head. "I'm tired, Tai! I can't keep doing this! I can't spend every hour of every day wondering when she'll send the next wave, or another one of her disciples. Who's to say she won't just drop a nevermore on us? How long before she shows up at our door? We should be living at Beacon. We should be training again. For everything we've done for Ozpin, we should have armed guards outside of this place 24/7!"

"Raven, you're being totally unreasonable," Taiyang balked. "We chose this life, and everything that comes with it. We chose to be happy with each other and start a family!"

"Then why am I not happy, Tai?" Raven asked, the question echoing through the room like the sound of a bullet leaving a chamber.

The only noise in the house was the baby crying as the two adults stared each other down. Neither of them was sure how much time passed before the sound of the door being thrown open came from the front of the house, followed by a startled gasp.

"Oh my gods… Tai! Raven! Are you alright!?"

"We're fine," Taiyang insisted as Summer's boots echoed throughout the home. He offered his teammate a sigh of relief as she approached, her long mace in hand. "We fought through them…"

"I came as soon as you called," Summer said apologetically to Raven, who afforded her a far less friendly expression. "How many w-"

"Too many," Raven interrupted as she moved her eyes down to the ruined floor. "Too many to do this again."

"Raven, what are you saying?" Taiyang asked cautiously.

"I'm saying that this was all a mistake," Raven answered, her voice totally devoid of emotion. "I never should have let you convince me. You made me soft…"

"Raven," Taiyang said, his voice becoming desperate and serious as he watched the woman make her way toward the door. The baby in his arms began to cry once again as he moved to pursue Raven, his pace quickening. "You don't seriously think that! You're just upset because we had a close call! I am, too, but the only way we're going to get through this is by communicating! Come on, don't do something you're going to regret…"

"Leave me alone, Tai," Raven insisted. "I need time. I need to think."

"Raven, come on," Summer chimed in as she followed the couple. "We've talked about this. You promised us you would tell us what's got you upset instead of holding it in, and more importantly, how we can help you. Tai is right- you two need to talk. I can go, as long as you're safe. Talk this out. Please?"

"I can't do that right now," Raven denied as she opened the door. "And you don't need to go. I will."

"You're… coming back, right?" Taiyang asked, his voice wavering.

Raven spared the man one final look before she shook her head.

"…I don't know."

"…so let me get this straight," Raven said slowly as she stared across the campfire at Ruby. "Your entire plan hinged upon me going back to Taiyang in Patch, running into the two of us with impeccable timing, and using me to teleport all of you to Kuo Kuana? Do you have any idea how unlikely the individual pieces of that are, let alone the entire thing working out?"

"Well… you're here, aren't you?" Ruby said with as much false enthusiasm as she could muster. "And it sounds like you've seen reason…"

"What I'm seeing is inanity," Raven snapped before letting out a heavy sigh. "All of you took a ridiculous risk with this plan. How familiar."

"And so did we, not all that long ago," Taiyang reminded as he put a hand upon Raven's shoulder. "We need to focus on the now, rather than how we all got here. Sounds like we're going to Kuo Kuana. I've always wanted to see the beaches…"

"Not yet, we're not," Cardin protested. "We're out here for another reason that had nothing to do with Ruby's initial plan, and not all of us are going off to see Menagerie. We can't."

"Besides- even if just Ruby and Oscar go, we would be fucked if grimm swarm the lakeside before Oobleck and Port can get to us to back us up," Coco reminded. "We're headed out to check in on the Whispering Pines resort and fortify the place before Salem's forces can take it as a strategic position. I at least want to get a lay of the land and call in the professors to help us lock it down before you two, Ren, and Nora run off to Atlas."

"I think that's fair," Ruby agreed. "We have a job to do here… and we can't just take off without talking to Sage, either. I don't know if he would want to stay, or link back up with Sun."

"Regardless," Fox cut in, "having the help of two professional hunters, especially of Team STRQ caliber, should speed up the process of searching the grounds of the hotel and determining an approach to defend it. No matter how murky the path ahead may be, we just found ourselves a significant advantage."

"And I'll take anything I can get when it comes to putting us in a position to get one over on that witch," Cardin agreed. "Want me to go wake the kid?"

"…you said this 'Oscar' is Ozma's new body, right?" Raven asked, only to earn a nod from Ruby. "Then no. Let him sleep, both for the good of Oscar, and because I don't want to talk to Ozma any sooner than I need to."

"It's going to end up being inevitable," Taiyang observed. "And in the end, he was right- you're going to be a key part in the fight against Salem, especially being a Maiden, now…"

"Can we talk about literally anything else right now?" Raven asked, her mood souring even further as she nodded toward Ruby. "Like why that thing is hanging off your belt?"

"Oh, the relic?" Ruby replied as she detached the lamp from its leather strap and held it up. "It's a fake. We were planning to use it to lure Salem and her agents here before teleporting away. We might be able to use it as bait to get them to move on a less important target than the resort or the mall. It would make fortifying our defenses at both locations easier…"

Raven's glare grew ever colder as she stared Ruby down. Through the filter of the flames, the girl's distorted face reminded her so much of someone else. Someone she had hoped never to see again.

"…do you have any idea how furious Salem would be to find out she was being jerked around with a fake relic? And you want to bring her here? Where she already has a strategic foothold?"

"Well… ideally, her lackeys would come, so we could isolate them and take them out…" Ruby considered, shifting her legs to get more comfortable. "But… I guess we can't exactly choose who comes running…"

"No, we can't," Raven agreed. "And bringing her here would put her in range to revive that thing perched atop the central tower at Beacon. That prop should be destroyed."

"Have you ever seen Salem?" Taiyang asked.

"No," Raven answered quickly as she turned her attention to the man. "And I've never met anyone else who has. There's probably a reason for that."

"She's not wrong," Coco said with a shrug. "But… let's be real, here. None of us really understand Salem or her motivations, and I get the feeling that the only one who does is currently having a wet dream in his tent over there. I doubt anything we do could control Salem in any significant capacity. Thinking we have any influence over the supposed queen of the grimm is a laughable notion. She's going to hit Beacon, Atlas, or Shade, sooner than later- that much is clear. We've got two of three bases covered. If we can lure her toward one where we have a presence… we can at least have a chance of holding her off and buying the other location time."

"…Coco, right?" Taiyang asked, getting a nod from the girl. "You've got a good head on your shoulders…"

"…she's not wrong," Raven agreed with a weary sigh. "I… maybe I have a problem with… getting lost in my own perspective and having trouble seeing past it."

"We've all got problems," Cardin added. "And we've all been assholes, now and then. Welcome to the redemption club."

"Amen to that," Coco agreed. "Gods, I wish we had brought some alcohol…"

"…Ozpin would freak out," Ruby warned. "Oscar and I are underaged. So is Cardin."

"Ozpin doesn't have a leg to stand on," Raven replied with a bitter laugh. "The things he did to us in the name of protecting the relics… and here you and Yang are on that same path."

Ruby shifted once again, leaning in closer to the fire.

"Go on."

Raven locked eyes with Ruby, staying silent for a moment as she tried to read the young girl's facial expression.

"…now's not the time… and I think he should be here when I tell you. Right now, we all need sleep."

"Guess I'll handle watch from here on out," Coco suggested as she stood into a long stretch. "I'm not getting any rest."

"Coco…" Fox said hesitantly.

"Let it go, Fox. I'll crash in the truck on the way to the hotel."

"Then so will I. I'll stand watch with you."

Coco shook her head as Fox got up beside her, but she made no effort to protest.

"Raven and I will go and get our gear and vehicle," Taiyang added. "Tomorrow, we'll head out to the resort and consider our options. One way or another, though… we'll get you to Kuo Kuana soon."

Ruby stood and brushed off her skirt. She found Raven looking at her once again and gave the woman a firm nod.

"…which means that we're going to take the fight into our own hands and make our first move against Salem directly."

Raven felt an involuntary shiver creep up her spine before she turned away and began to walk into the forest. She could feel a pair of silver eyes upon her back.

Author's Note:

Next week- back to Sun for a quick interlude.

-RD