RWBY watches 'I can almost hear the Hounds' Chapter 5, a rwby fanfic

Holy crap this chapter took WAY longer than I expected. Because of either life or my work schedule, I normally try to write one page a day. If I'm lucky, I get two pages a day (one page on one story, one page on another). And this chapter got over 50 pages…Yeah, it's a long one.

*Black text, bordered by crimson red, appears over the Vale skyline.

(BUT JUST THE SAME) HOW CAN YOU QUESTION WHO'S TO BLAME?*

"The statement is completed." Pietro notes. The group hug ended, as RWBY, Penny and Ilia quickly went back to their seats.

"So the whole sentence," Penny exclaims, "Is 'If there ever was a time, if there ever was a chance, to undo the things I've done, and wash these bloodstains from my hands, (but just the same) how can you question who's to blame?'."

"Hmph," Qrow grunted, "Sounds like both you and Yang, Ruby. Yang-well, Screen Yang, blamed herself for what happened. Your blood was on her hands. Though, depending on what Salem made you do while you were in her thrall, you yourself might have some blood."

Ruby's face scrunched up. She remembers seeing what she did to Doctor Oobleck's leg. She really didn't want to imagine what she could've done to someone who didn't have backup to help them.

*The words shatter into black petals, rimmed red.*

"The flower petals," Ilia comments, "They aren't…dead."

"Yeah, you're right," Yang replies, "The title card was the same, too. Shows that Ozpin did save Ruby."

"Though, not without a cost," Winter retorted, turning to Ruby, "Weiss told me that the petals you leave behind are red, right?" When Ruby nodded, she continued, "Well, if the petals here are black, then the scars of what Salem did will stay with you, and your black petals may become permanent."

*Yang Xiao Long wakes with a start in a small bed surrounded by curtains.

She's alone.

"Ruby?" she says, torn between keeping her voice low and shouting at the top of her lungs. "Ruby?"

There's no response.*

"Oh no," Yang groaned, "I'm going to think it was all in my head. Ruby, you better answer, before I have a meltdown!"

*She hangs her head.

Gods, what an idiot she is. It's not the first time she's dreamt of holding Ruby in her arms again only to wake up with her little sister nowhere to be found, but she'd thought she had grown out of it. Sure, this dream had been weirder and far more intricate than the others, but still. She should know better by now.

Tears are just beginning to fall from her eyes when a voice calls out from just behind the curtain, "Yang?"

She nearly falls from her bed as she tears the curtain aside to find Ruby, her little sister, sitting in the cot next to her. Her ruined eye is covered with a bleach-white eyepatch. It's too big for her.*

"Oh, thank Gods."

"Yang, as you can see, I'm-Well, I definitely wouldn't say I'm fine, but I'm alive."

"And, for that, I will be thanking Ozpin once he finally decides to come back out."

"Our Oz didn't even do anything?" Jaune exclaimed.

"It still counts!"

*"Ruby!" She actually falls in her haste to get across the tile, the pain when she lands reminding her that there is a reason they're sharing a hospital room, and has some trouble dragging herself up to Ruby's level. "You're okay! You're— Gods, I thought I'd imagined it again, but you're here. You're back."

Ruby smiles, a small, gentle thing. "Yeah. I'm here. I'm okay."

They hug again, and Yang's content to not let her sister go for the rest of their lives. Reality sets in when Ruby's curtain opens, far more gently than Yang had done.

"You're awake!" Blake says with a smile, Weiss and Ilia behind her. "How are you two feeling?"

Yang breaks away and makes to sit back on her own bed; this time, she expects her leg to give out, and so gracefully lowers herself down instead of collapsing in a heap.

"Not that well, then," Ilia says. There's a hint of a smile on her face.*

"Ilia, once again, I cannot begin to thank you. It may not have been our you, but it could've easily have been."

Blake reaches over and puts a hand on Ilia's shoulder. "I'd like to thank you, too."

Ilia blushed deeply in response, trying to keep her face from being seen by the others.

*Blake helps Yang to her feet, and half-leads half-carries her to her bed. "The doctor said your leg will take a week or so to heal, once your aura's back up. In the meantime, there's some crutches in the hall with your name on them."

"Those might come in handy," Yang says. "How about you, Rubes? Feeling good?" She receives no response. She looks off to see Ruby staring off into space, eye blank. "Ruby?"*

"I hope you haven't experienced any side effects from being turned into a Grimm, and then having it be removed." Ren states.

"Or she could be suffering from PTSD." Winter adds.

*Weiss waves a hand in front of her face, and that finally snaps Ruby out of her funk.

"Oh, sorry," Ruby says. "I've been, um, trying to remember stuff from when I was... you know..."

Yang frowns. "Trying to remember?" She doesn't need to ask why.*

Yang's eyes widened," No, this might be good! I don't want you to remember all the torture you went through Rubes-"

"But, if I can remember who I met while in Salem's HQ, it could help us in our timeline. I doubt Salem would change her minions so quickly."

*"I, I guess it sounds weird like that," Ruby stammers. "But when I was the Hound, it was like... have you guys ever had weird dreams? Like, really weird dreams?"

Slowly, everyone nods.

"And when you're in those dreams, you're not really all there. Like, things happen, and you remember them, but you weren't really aware when it happened. If I got up and fought a Grimm, I wouldn't have to try to remember that, it would just kind of be there in my brain. But if I dreamt doing something like that, I'd wake up and have to try remembering lots of it."

Yang nods. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"It was like that for all of it," Ruby says. "Like a really weird dream. And when you have those dreams, you never look around and think something's weird because your dad's an alien and your classmates are vampires. You just go along with it." Ruby has started staring at nothing in particular again. "I was like that. Most of the time I just wasn't there, mentally, and I didn't question anything that happened because I couldn't question it. I wasn't able to wonder why there was a Grimm queen and I was her, her dog, I just was."

There was a what now?*

Weiss, of all people, snorted. "Just casually reveal one of Remnant's biggest secrets, no big deal. Why do I feel like that would be something you'd do?"

Ruby giggled, rubbing the back of her head.

*Yang shoots a nervous glance to Blake, and gets one in return from the rest of her team.*

"Yeah, and learning about it a year earlier," Jaune exclaims, "Wanna bet that Ozpin will demand that you girls keep quiet."

"No bet," Nora quipped, "As it's a sure thing. I HATE keeping Salem a secret, but, for now, it's the right thing to do."

Ironwood and Winter gave each other a side glance, which Qrow noticed, but didn't comment on it. For now.

*She wants to say something, but Ruby continues unblinking. "There were bits when I was aware, just a little. When the fog cleared. Maybe... once or twice a month, looking back? I figured I was dreaming, then, because what else could I do, but after a while I started thinking hey this is a really weird dream, it's been going on for a while now. It's going to stop soon, right? I can wake up? When am I going to wake up?"

Coming back to herself, noticing that she's started breathing heavily, Ruby swallows.

"I'm not sure when I realized it wasn't a dream, but it was a while before I ran into you."

Yang doesn't say anything. She can't. It sounds hellish, trapped in a nightmare for months on end, barely able to realize you were suffering; what words could possibly help?

She's saved from failing to help when someone knocks on the door. Immediately, her head whips to look at the door, and she's halfway through the motion of cocking her gauntlets before she realizes she's unarmed. Ruby stares at the door in horror, before scrambling to raise the bedsheets to cover her face.*

"Wow, I don't think I've seen you that scared at a simple door in a long time, Rubes."

"Given her current situation," Qrow snarked, "It's surprising that she hasn't hidden in the corner."

"Guys, could we not discuss my current panic attack?"

Frankly, the only reason they could joke about it was because they knew Yang's team would MURDER anyone who came in there with any inclination of harm.

*Blake gets up. "Who's there?" she calls.

She puts her hand on the doorknob; not to turn it, but to keep it from moving.*

"Why?" Penny questions, "It's highly illogical that Cinder or any of her subordinates will attempt to take you, as you're in a public facility, likely packed due to the Breach."

"Penny," Jaune says, "If there's one rule to humans, it's that, if something can go wrong, be ready for when it goes wrong."

*Her body is tense.

"Just a headmaster concerned for his students."

Blake opens the door to reveal Ozpin, one hand holding a mug, and the other carrying a pair of crutches. His ever-present cane is currently just a handle, clipped to his waist.

Just like that, the tension leaves their bodies. Even Ruby's, Yang notes, who despite being saved by him has never actually met the man. Yang can't think too much of it. If she were able to walk, she'd be out of bed and kissing his boots. He had done what she couldn't.

He'd saved her little sister.*

Weiss put a mocking hand to her chin, "Hmm, a groveling Yang, now there's a sight I'd like to see-OUG!"

She was interrupted when Nora wrapped an arm around her neck.

"No need to show your true nature, Weice Queen."

"Nora, get off me!"

*Ozpin enters and leans the crutches against Yang's bed. She grabs his hand before he can retract it. "Thank you," she says as he meets her gaze, "for saving Ruby. I owe you my life. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you, but if there's ever anything you need me to do I promise, swear on my life, I'll—"

"Please, stop, Miss Xiao Long," Ozpin interrupts. "Your life is a valuable thing. You should not be giving it away so easily."

She contests his gaze for a few seconds, but eventually relents. "Fine. But still, if you need anything from me..."

"If you insist, I shall keep you in mind."*

Jaune got a nervous look on his face. "Uhh, hey Qrow…How high on the list was Yang for Ambe-?""

"Compared to Pyrrha, low."

"Okay."

Yang found it hard to disagree. She was-is a little more bombastic than Pyrrha. If she got Maiden powers, she'd likely be trying to show them off to her teammates, even if she was warned against it.

She'd obviously do it somewhere far secluded, so none of Salem's cronies would catch her in the act, but still.

*She releases her grip on his hand, and Ozpin grabs a chair.

"Professor..." Blake says. "Is there any news on Oobleck? Is he..."

"Doctor Oobleck?" Headmaster Ozpin sips from his mug, then sets it on the counter. "Yes, I believe he returned with team CFVY not that long ago. He was quite relieved to hear you were all okay."*

Ruby's shoulders sagged, something she didn't even realize she tensed up at the mention of Oobleck.

"That's good. I definitely didn't want the Doctor's death to be on my mind."

*Yang lets out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Oobleck's okay. They hadn't abandoned him to die in Mountain Glenn. Her sigh of relief is matched by her teammates, though Ruby grows weirdly still.

For a while, Ozpin is silent. When no one asks him anything else, he gets to the point.

"I am here to speak with Miss Rose about some details of her experience," Ozpin says. Alone, he doesn't. He tilts his head towards Ruby. "If that's alright with you."*

Oh boy," Nora whined, "Here comes the interrogation. Ozpin, would you like to get a new host?"

Yang chuckled, "Yeah, I don't care what he threatens me with," she wraps an arm across Ruby's shoulder, "No way am I leaving you alone. Especially if I take what you said about a 'Grimm Queen' seriously."

*Yang's first instinct is to say no, but she's not the one he asked. It's Ruby's choice, and she looks genuinely conflicted, eyes flicking between Yang and Ozpin. What could she possibly want to discuss with the headmaster, who she just met, that Yang can't be around for?

Unless it's about…

Yang knows she shouldn't say anything, knows she should let Ruby decide if she should be present for this conversation. But if it's about what she thinks it is, she can't. So even at the risk of looking stupid or worse, Yang asks Ruby, "This wouldn't happen to be about that Grimm queen you mentioned, would it?"*

Qrow chuckled, "That was both dumb and smart. I definitely don't want you involved, but-"

"It was the best way to make sure I don't leave Ruby, no matter what she gets involved with."

Ruby blushed.

*The room goes so quiet she could hear a pin drop. Ruby freezes where she's sitting, eye going wide, and Ozpin's face is so perfectly blank that it has to be purposeful.

"Did— did I?" Ruby stutters.

"You did," Blake confirms.

"Glossed over it, more like," Weiss says.

Ilia nods, face tight.

Ruby looks between them, panicked, before she turns to Ozpin. Like she's looking for help."Would you like me to explain it?" he offers.

Ruby nods, and much of the tension escapes her body in a deep sigh. "Please. I don't know the full story, I was just there."

"That's more than most anyone else can claim," Ozpin says. "Least of all your uncle and father."

"Dad and Uncle Qrow know about her?" Ruby says, echoing Yang's own thoughts.

Ozpin nods, bringing his cane out and resting both hands on it before speaking. "They do. Should you want reassurances from someone you trust, feel free to ask them." That part's directed at Yang more than Ruby, as the turning of his head makes clear.

Then headmaster Ozpin lets a smile flicker across his face and, like it's perfectly normal, asks, "What's your favourite fairy tale?"*

"Hey, that's just like what you asked us, Uncle. Like, word for word."

Qrow smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

"General Ironwood didn't say those exact words," Winter replied, "But it was along those lines."

*Yang can hardly believe Ozpin's story. If not for Ruby nodding along the entire time, Yang may have dismissed it entirely. But it's real.

On the plus side, the mysterious mastermind who took her sister is mysterious no longer; her name is Salem, she's older than the kingdoms, and every Grimm in existence answers to her.

Yang's going to kill her, one day.*

Qrow was doing his hardest to keep his laughter in, though not enough to not be noticed.

"Hey!"

"I'm sorry, Yang, but, you so casually thinking that is just beyond stupid, it's hilarious. I don't blame you, but it's still stupid."

"Hmph!"

*"That just about covers it," Ozpin says. "Did I miss anything?"

Ruby shakes her head. "No. I didn't know half of that, honestly; no one with Salem ever mentioned the Gods, any talk of Relics went over my head, and all those times they talked about eyes make a lot more sense now."

"I see," Ozpin says. "Any questions?"

The room is silent. Ruby fidgets.

"I have one," Weiss eventually says. "Why does Salem want the relics so badly? I know they're powerful, but that seems a bit much for..." She gestures at the window, and the damaged city outside it.

"I can't say," Ozpin says, lips pressed thin. "I can guess, certainly, but Salem and I are not exactly on speaking terms, and in any case I have never been able to prove her motives in this one way or another. I can only fear what her bringing the relics together would accomplish."*

Those in the know took glances at each other, though Ironwood noticed.

"What?"

"That's…" Blake turned her head to Ruby.

"We'll explain it once the movie's done."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow, but nodded in contentment. He should've figured that there was something more to their story.

*Weiss nods. No one speaks up.

"I understand that this is all rather a lot to process," Ozpin says. He inclines his head to Ruby, just a bit, so they know he means more than just Salem. "I'll take my leave now, but should any of you wish to discuss this further, my office doors will be open to you all."

He's halfway to the door before he stops, turns on his heel, and says, "Just one last thing, Miss Rose. This may sound odd, but; to your recollection, were any of Salem's underlings ever referred to as a maiden?"

"A maiden?" Ruby cocks her head.*

Jaune's jaw dropped, as realization dawned on most of the group.

"Oh my god, am I about to bust Cinder's operation wide open!?"

'Please,' Jaune begs, 'Please Ruby.'

*Yang says nothing, but privately admits that is an odd question.

"Maybe... yeah, yeah! Cinder, the one who, um..." she pauses, swallows, and continues, "the one who took me to Salem in the first place."

If her aura weren't still shot all to hell, Yang's sure she would feel her eyes going red.

"I didn't think much of it, but sometimes Salem or her minions would call her 'our dear maiden' and stuff like that. She took me back to Vale, too. Does that, um, help?"

Ozpin, who had been grimacing at the mention that this 'Cinder' had taken Ruby to Salem, is now smiling. Just a little, though Yang can't imagine why.*

"Ozzy knows!" Nora cheered, "He knows that Cinder is one of the 'transfer students'! WE WIN!"

"It's more than that, Nora," Jaune added, "Ozpin is probably going to wonder how they got past Lionheart, which mea-"

"Oh, oh, oh," Ruby interrupts, "That Ozpin will be able to discover that he's a traitor!"

*Whoever this Cinder person is, Yang's going to make her pay. The rage boiling inside her, the desire to hurt whoever hurt her little sister, would be overwhelming if not for the niggling bit of recognition in her brain.

She's not the only one. "Cinder?" Ilia says. "I'm not sure where, but I feel like I've heard that name before."

"I recognize it as well," Blake says. "It's not a common name, is it?"

Ruby grips her bed sheets so hard Yang worries they may rip, hands trembling. "You do?" she breathes, and the warble in her voice is fear, as plain as it is in her expression as she looks from face to face.*

"It seems your assumption that Ruby has PTSD," Ren comments, "Is correct. Just the idea that Cinder might be nearby is making Ruby afraid."

Weiss scoffs, "Which would probably put a smile on her face."

*"Yeah, I remember it, too," Yang says. "But I can't think of a face or anything... Maybe someone mentioned her?"

Ruby worries her lip. "She isn't the only one in Vale. There are two others, her helpers. Young, about your age. The guy's pale, and has grey... everything, kind of. The girl's got dark skin, green hair, and red eyes, I think their names are—"

"Mercury," Yang says, voice barely a whisper, "and Emerald." She remembers where she heard the name Cinder, now. Their team leader.

Ruby stills. "You know them?"

"Know them? Ruby, they're at Beacon for the tournament. They're here."

The reaction is instant. Ruby shakes and shivers, eye darting from side to side as she practically hides under her covers. She's muttering to herself, though Yang can't make out what.

Before any of her teammates can say anything, Yang grabs her crutches, hops out of bed, and limps towards the door.

"Yang?" Blake calls with clear befuddlement. "Yang, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to kill them," Yang hisses through clenched teeth. "This entire time, they were sitting right under our noses and I didn't even—" Yang takes a slow, shaky breath, doing her best to ignore the pain. "I'm going to go take them down. Now. Before they can find Ruby and take her back."*

"Damn right you are!" Nora cheered.

"Perhaps you should let the professionals handle them, though." Winter interjected.

"Not taking any chances."

"Kid," Qrow retorted, "Tell you what, you can have whatever's left of her once Ozpin is done with her."

"Deal."

*She expects Blake or Weiss or Ilia to try talking her down, to tell her she's too hurt to fight. Instead, it's Ozpin's cane that casually falls between her and the door.

He's smiling wider than she's ever seen him smile, but all things considered that doesn't say much.*

"I've never seen him so happy."

Ironwood smirked, "Well, he has reason to, Qrow. Salem's entire plan for Beacon has been dismantled right before his eyes. I doubt it could've gone better for him."

*"Now, there's no need for you to do anything quite so drastic, Miss Xiao Long," he says. She opens her mouth to yell, to scream, to tear his throat out, but he continues before she has the chance. "I already have pieces in position to take care of this problem."

Yang blinks. Her rage against her sister's torturers (and her frustration with Ozpin for getting between her and them) takes a backseat to confusion. "You literally just learned about them, how— what are you talking about?"

"That our adversaries are among us is news to me, yes," Ozpin says with a nod. "But, in a stroke of good luck, I took the liberty of contacting your uncle and father the moment you and your sister were safe. Something tells me they will be just as interested as you are in a... polite chat with our infiltrators; and, unless Qrow's luck has been much worse than usual in the time since I called, I do believe each of them presently have full auras and two working legs."*

"Oh," Qrow deadpanned then wheezed a laughter, "Sorry Yang, but there's not going to be anything left of Cinder when the two of us are done with her."

Yang gave a smile that, if the others didn't know her better, would've been seen as evil.

*Dad and Uncle Qrow? Of course they'd be on their way, it would have been the first thing he did.

Whatever hell she would visit upon the people who took her little sister, Taiyang Xiao Long and Qrow Branwen would make it look like child's play.

"In the meantime," Ozpin says. "If any of you were to encounter this Emerald and Mercury, would you be able to act as though you knew nothing?"

Blake, Weiss, and Ilia share a glance. Blake and Ilia are clenching their fists, while Weiss is not-so-idly cycling through Myrtenaster's chambers. "No," Blake says. "I don't think we could."

"Then might I suggest that it would be for the best if all of you stayed in the infirmary for the time being?" Ozpin says. He receives no argument.*

"Oh, come on!" Nora yelled, "You can't leave them out of this! They deserve a crack at her!"

"But that would leave Ruby practically defenseless." Jaune retorted.

"We'll need Glynda and Ozpin if we're going to make sure Cinder can't escape," Qrow added, "The other teachers, while skilled, don't know what they'd be up against, and that could be…deadly.."

*As he opens the door, he turns and says, "And just to reiterate, Miss Rose; if you do remember anything more that you wish to tell me, or have questions you think I may be able to answer, do not hesitate to visit my office. My doors are always open."*

*Hungry. Waiting. No orders. Bored... Noise. Walking? Grimm. Not Grimm. Hound. Like me.*

"What the-?" Ilia exclaims.

"We must be seeing things from Ruby's perspective." Penny replies, "During her time under Salem's control."

"And," Pietro added, "We can confirm that Salem has at least one other Hound-like creature."

*Approach. Speak. Hello. You are like me.

Hound screaming. Hound thrashing. Attack? No. Other Hound not hurt me. Hound... Why Hound screaming? Thrashing? Why?*

"Geez," Weiss said, "That one is practically having a panic attack."

"Maybe Salem's hybrids aren't so…complete?" Penny inquired.

"Not sure if that's the right word, Penny."

"Neither do I, Winter."

Ruby leaned forward, curiosity across her face.

"Ruby?" Yang questioned.

*Ask. Why? It look at me. Crying? Why? Ask. Why? Cry more. Wail. Scream.

Sit beside it. Lean against flank. Trust it. Why? Houd familiar. Older Hound. Smell familiar.

Smell like…

Ruby wakes up and yawns.*

Ruby, Yang and Qrow all looked to each other in dread.

"That was-" Qrow began, only for Ruby to interrupt.

"Mom." Ruby says. She turns to the screen, tears going down her face. "She's one of them. Salem…"

Yang let out a breath as tears flowed down her face. She wanted to deny it, but, with the divergent point being only a year ago, it means that Summer's fate was the same as their own timeline. She felt Ruby wrap her into a hug, which she tearfully reciprocated.

*She goes to rub her eyes, before one hand touches the fabric patch on her ruined eye and she hisses at the flash of pain.

Right.*

Ruby's eyes then widened as she gasped, shoving herself out of the hug.

"Ruby?"

"Yang, I just realized…Ozpin!"

"What do you-" Yang mouth dropped.

"He turned me back to normal! He might be able to do the same for mom!"

Practically everyone turned to Oscar. Just when he was thinking about getting used to not having Ozpin in his head again, he turns out to be the key thing in saving his friend's mother.

*It's evening, if the clock's to be believed. She can't have napped for long, then. It's only been an hour since she got some time to herself. She's missed Yang, missed her so much even though a part of her remembers arguing with her just a few days ago, but everything's happening so fast and so much and Ruby needs time to recharge.

Yang's team is nice, at least. They smile at her and listen to every word she says and back off when she's uncomfortable. She hopes she didn't do anything too bad to them. She's been avoiding her last memories of being the Hound ever since mention of Oobleck.

The professor who had been supervising Yang's mission.

The one she had... hurt.

Whose leg she made crunch and crack and snap as her paw forced bone through his flesh—*

"Ruby," Jaune states, "You're definitely going to need therapy."

Ruby nodded. The image of Oobleck's leg came back, and the fact that, even if she wasn't in complete control, she still did that to him.

*Ruby shakes her head hard enough that she swears she can feel her brain bouncing back and forth. She has to stay out of those memories. Maybe when she's stronger, when she's had some time, she can come back to them.

But not now.

She's pulled out of her thoughts by a tapping noise to her side. From the window.

She whips her head over, terror taking over pretty much instinctively, but it's just a blackbird pecking at the window latch.*

Nora tried to hold back a giggle, "Okay, that would look extremely weird, but, knowing what we know now, it just looks funny to see your uncle trying to open a window like that."

Qrow wasn't going to dignify that with a response. Instead, he leaned closer, curious, but also nervous, about his condition. Summer's 'death' made him a drunken wreck. He almost doesn't want to know what Ruby's 'death' would've done.

*Then the window opens, the bird flies in, and Uncle Qrow is standing in front of her. He's staring at her.

He looks like he's seen a ghost.

Wow, Uncle Qrow's gotten skinnier, she thinks.

It's not a happy thought. She's seen her uncle when he's taking care of himself and when he's not, knows that if he's put on a few pounds it means he's eating three full meals a day and taking time to relax, and if he's skinnier than normal it means he's been eating little, drinking lots, and working himself into the ground out of desperation to keep moving.

He looks practically skeletal.*

Qrow flinched when he saw himself. He expected to look…well, worse than when he got the news that Ozpin had no plan for Salem, but it still didn't soften the blow.

*"Hey, Uncle Qrow," she says. He jumps a little, like he's forgotten she's there; or rather, like he's forgotten she's real. "Did you miss me?"

"Yeah," he croaks out. "I missed you, kid. I missed you a lot."

He steps forwards and hugs her, pressing her face into the crook of his neck, and she leans into his embrace. Like always, his hug engulfs her in a way that would make her feel trapped if it weren't from her family. Instead, she feels safe.

"We thought you were dead," he says, voice cracking. "We didn't know you were still kicking, I promise we would have-"

"I know," she says. "Yang explained it. It's not your fault. You couldn't have done anything."

His grip tightens. She feels something wet drip onto her hair.

Tears, she realizes.

He's crying.

Uncle Qrow never cried. Even after Mom had died, when he'd been a wreck for weeks and sober for minutes, she'd never seen him shed a tear. Collapse in a pool of his own vomit, sure, but not cry.*

Ruby and Yang looked to each other and nodded. Without warning, they reached behind their couch, grabbed their Uncle, and yanked him over it, pulling him into a hug. Needless to say, while Qrow was caught off guard, he returned the hug.

Ironwood merely gave a soft smile. He had never seen Qrow (Screen Qrow) look so broken, so to know that his friend didn't go through that trauma was comforting.

*And now his shoulders are shaking. Every movement makes his chin shift atop her head. It's scratchy; his usual hint of facial hair has been replaced with something too long to be stubble and too short to be a beard. She wiggles out of his grip just enough to get a look at it. It doesn't look good, scraggly and uneven, and worst of all there's a little bit of grey in it.

His hair had been all dark, the last time she'd seen him.

"I missed you too," she says.

Her uncle opens his mouth to say something, but a commotion in the hallway outside her room. She can hear a voice, shouting words she can't make out, and her hands grip the bedsheets tight, unconsciously pulling them up to her face.

The voice is getting louder. It's heading towards her.

Ruby doesn't panic; she's a big girl, and big girls don't freak out because people in a public infirmary are talking in the hallways. But her heart beats faster and faster, and the sound of blood pumping through her veins is so loud.*

"Rubes," Yang says, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, considering I'm also gripping this couch like my life depended on it. I doubt it's Cinder or her goons. 100 Lien says it's dad based on the commotion."

"If it was anyone else," Nora replied, "I'd take that bet. As it stands, no way!"

*Is it weird that Uncle Qrow resting a hand on Harbinger's grip reassures her? Because she knows he'll protect her, yes, but also because it means she's not the only one who's worried.

The doorknob turns.

If this were one of those scary movies she'd used to watch curled up next to Yang even though Dad said she was too young for them, the door would open slowly, creaking with every inch.

Instead, it's kicked open so violently that it slams against the wall and bounces back into the man who knocked it open.*

Everyone else, who were expecting it to slowly open as well, jumped at the sudden loud BANG.

"Taiyang still has little patience when it comes to family." Ironwood chuckled. Qrow snorted.

"Considering the old badger thought his daughter was dead for over a year, I think a little bit of leeway should be allowed.

*"Qrow?" Her dad says with audible confusion.

Then he looks down from Uncle Qrow.

To her.

His voice takes on a whole new tone as he says, "Ruby?" It quakes.

His eyes begin to glisten.

Like Qrow, he's started growing hair on his face; unlike Qrow, his beard is full and wild. He'd tried growing a beard once, when Ruby was younger, but eventually relented to the pressure and returned to his normal self. That one had been clean and combed and trimmed.

This beard looked like it would eat any comb that tried to touch it, and probably spit bones out after.

The doctor said to stay in bed for the time being, but she feels fine. So with the aid of her semblance, she crosses the room in the blink of an eye to launch herself at his midsection.

(She barely notices that her petals, once crimson red, are now a sickly black almost to the tips, like her hair. Barely.)*

"And there's the Semblance Scarring." Winter exclaims. It was a rare occurrence for Semblances to be altered due to PTSD, especially in a way that would actually be noticeable.

"You know," Yang said, gently shaking Ruby, "If the context wasn't so dire, I'd say those black petals looked good on you."

Ruby gave a weak smile.

*"Hey Dad," she says only once she's wrapped around him. "It's me."

He reciprocates, slowly, like the wrong move might scatter her. "You're real?" He says. "You're alive?"

"I sure am," Ruby says. "And I don't plan on going away ever again."

The dam breaks.

Dad wraps his arms around her so tight, sobbing, a relentless flood of words flowing from his mouth: he's sorry, he missed her, he's so glad she's okay.

Ruby just smiles and hugs him tighter.

Uncle Qrow joins, at some point, and then a pair of arms she thinks are Yang's, and Ruby lets herself be at ease.

It's been a while, but she's with her family again.*

'And,' Yang thinks, 'If we can get Ozpin to come back, maybe we can get another one back as well.'

*...But despite that, Ruby can't help but think of the reason she was sent with Cinder in the first place. Another Hound, one older than her, who freaked out whenever it saw her around Salem's castle. She knows she should tell her family about it now, or soon, but she can't. She's just seen them again, after so long. Dad and Uncle Qrow don't even know what happened to her. They still have to deal with Cinder.

But tomorrow, she'll tell them about the Hound that smelled like Mom.*

"I've got to say," Ilia states, "I wonder if your mother will recognize you."

"Of course she will!" Ruby exclaims, "Why would you even say that?"

"Because she's been separated from you for an even longer period than in their timeline. Salem probably could've…conditioned her more."

Ruby was about to retort, but stopped herself when she thought about it. Ilia did have a point, but-

"I highly doubt that," Jaune retorts, "If anything, it might make it easier."

When no one spoke, he continued, "Well, if Summer hasn't seen Ruby yet, then she hasn't had any freakouts. Salem might not realize that Summer is able to…partially resist. So, when she encounters Ruby again-"

"It might be enough for us to capture mom, and get her help."

Ironwood rubbed his forehead, but with a grin. He'd have to make a special cell in order to contain such a creature. But the idea of saving a friend, as well as stealing one of Salem's weapons, did bring a smile to his face.

*In the dead of night, as Vale slumbers below, a very old and very tired man sits in his tower-top office and thinks. Thinks about a truly confounding problem. For many long minutes he sits completely still, the deep ticking of the great gears above his head deepening the silence, rather than breaking it. Measuring it out so that he feels every second of it.

Then a bird crashes into his window.*

Everyone, with the exception of Qrow, began laughing. Even Ironwood.

"Ha ha," Qrow mockingly said, "Laugh it up!"

"Although," Ruby says through her own laughter, "It explains the random bird that would hit the window whenever you visited."

*The old man doesn't bother feigning shock, too used to such things to be rattled. Instead, he rises to his feet, strides over, and opens the window.

"While it was amusing the first few times," the old man says, "I must admit I am beginning to feel rather concerned, my friend. Do you need another lecture about drinking and flying?"*

The laughter intensified, much to Qrow's dismay.

'I'm never going to live this down, aren't I?'

*"Oh, fuck off," says Qrow Branwen, who had not been there only a moment earlier. "It's a bird thing, not a me thing.*

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Winter quipped. Oh, how much Qrow wanted to chuck Harbinger at her RIGHT NOW.

*"You ever wonder why my dear sister always used the elevator? She just didn't want to embarrass herself." His smirk is halfway between conspiratory and mocking.

The old man tries to smile, just a little. He fears it doesn't reach his eyes. Qrow rarely talks about his family while on business, and never his sister. The day's events must have shaken him even more than the old man had realized.

As the gears turn, he turns back to the task at hand. "As far as our next move is concerned... You have confirmed the information your nieces revealed, yes?"

All humour erases itself from Qrow's face. "About the wannabe Fall Maiden? Yeah. Right down to the dorm room."*

The laughter died down like a bucket on a fireplace.

"Oh, goodie," Nora chipped, "We're seeing you and Ozzy plan to murder Cinder."

*"We must act as soon as is possible, or else risk tipping her off," the old man says. "If by chance she should visit the infirmary, or even happen upon your other niece and her team, Cinder Fall will likely figure out that something is amiss. At the moment, we have the element of surprise, and that advantage cannot go to waste."

Qrow nods. "What's the plan?"

"Simplicity and swiftness will be key. Draw her away from her companions, into the waiting arms of the greatest force we can muster without raising suspicion. Somewhere without cameras, ideally; if Doctor Watts's demise is as illusory as Miss Rose has reported—"*

"Wait, Watts?!" Pietro yelled, Ironwood not far behind him.

"He's alive?!"

"Um, who is Doctor Watts?" Ruby asked.

"Arthur Watts used to be a respected Atlesian scientist. He was one of the candidates to receive personal funding for his project, alongside Doctor Polendina here."

"What was his project?" Ren inquired. Ironwood looked at his gloved arm.

"Cybernetics. Atlas has the top prosthetic in the world."

Yang flicked her robot arm, almost in recognition.

"However, Watts wanted to take it a step further. He imagined how powerful a Huntsman could be if they implanted cybernetics enhancements across their entire body. However, his research was deemed too dangerous, as it was decided that few Huntsman could possibly survive the procedure. He was reassigned to the Paladin Project, and died several years ago. Or," Ironwood narrowed his eyes, "It seems it would be better to say that he went missing."

"James, if Arthur is alive, then it would explain how they hacked our Knights and Paladins back at Vale."

James nodded, "Pietro's right. Arthur helped design much of Atlas's current hardware. He would know their weaknesses."

"Sir," Winter exclaimed, "If he's alive, then we should prepare. Atlas itself has upgraded our cybersecurity, but Mantle-"

"That'll be one of the first things we address once we get back."

Ruby herself was smiling. It seemed that they were going to get another leg up on Salem.

*Ah. So that's what it's about.

"Well," the old man carefully says. "Normally I would attempt an arrest, use evidence of the individual's crimes and my influence with the legal system to ensure they are placed in a high-security prison where they can never hurt anyone again." Qrow's humourless stare is withering, so Oz elaborates, "But there are many... additional complications, in this case. For one, the maiden powers will only be reunited upon the death of one of the half-holders, and Amber will not last forever."

The old man's eyes meet Qrow's. "I must also consider, well... if I told you to arrest her, what would you do?"

Qrow looks his boss straight in the eyes as he says, "I would nod my head, and wait, and kill her the instant we had her in cuffs."*

Qrow merely closed his eyes and nodded.

*Oz purses his lips. "Do you know, I'm not the slightest bit surprised to hear you say that? Taiyang will feel the same, I imagine."

Qrow jerks. "Tai? You talked him into this?"

"I did no such thing," Ozpin denies with a weighty glare. "On the contrary, the man volunteered himself for the mission, I presume for much the same reason you are."

When he doesn't say anything more, Qrow takes a long sip from his flask and rasps, "I'm not gonna make it slow, or anything. I'm not— that's just not who I am. But one way or the other, Cinder Fall has to die. I could pretend it's about keeping Ruby safe, making sure the bitch can't hurt her any more, but... She kidnapped my niece, fucked the kid up real bad, and put everyone I love through hell. Maybe she deserves to die, but I don't think either of us care about that. She hurt me, hurt Tai, and hurt the kids, so I'm going to kill her. No matter what."*

Everyone could agree that Cinder was too dangerous to live, especially at this point. Too much would be at risk if she wasn't dealt with permanently.

*Qrow's breathing heavily, by the time he's finished, and it doesn't get better when he brings the flask to his lips once more.

Very few things have stayed constant, over Ozma's many millenia. But the first time he had been a child, his neighbour had started a fight with a young man over some stolen cattle. His neighbour did not get his cattle back, as they had already been sold to someone in another town, but he did kill the young man who had taken them.

Revenge had existed long before Beacon's headmaster, and it would exist long after him.*

"Well said, Ozpin." Winter agreed.

"Technically," Jaune retorted, "He didn't say it."

*Unless Salem got what she wanted. Then there would be nothing.

"The last king of Vale," the old man says with deliberate slowness, "once said that only a fool gives an order he knows will not be followed."

Qrow cocks his head. "I thought you were Vale's last king?"

"I was," says the old man with the king's cane leaning against his desk. "I may be just a man, and not even a very good one, but I at least have the wisdom to follow my own advice."*

"He's gotcha there, Uncle."

"Yeah, yeah."

*He claps a hand to his most loyal ally's shoulder. "Rest, Qrow. Tomorrow, we will kill Cinder Fall."

And when the window shuts behind the flapping of wings, Oz settles back into his chair. He lets the turning of the gears measure every silence in his office. And he returns to what he was doing before Qrow arrived.

Wondering how exactly Leonardo Lionheart, cautious far beyond the point of paranoia, had let an agent of Salem into his academy.*

Maria huffed, "Seems you were right, Mr. Arc."

"Frankly," Qrow added, "It'll do a lot more good once Leo's out of the way. Based on the dates they started getting picked off, Salem only started to clear out Mistral's Huntsmen after the Fall, so, without Leo to set them up to fail, it'll be harder for her to do that. Not impossible, but much harder."

*In her team's dorm room, Cinder Fall sits and frowns. "Have you heard anything from Neo?"*

Nora was cackling, "Pleeeease tell me we get to see them get taken down a peg!

"Yeaheah," Yang yelled, "It'd be awesome to see everything they worked for crumble around them."

Ironwood shook his head, "Unlikely. Or, at least, it's unlikely that they're about to bust down the door. Ozpin…would want to take things slow. Something I'm starting to realize might have some merit."

Qrow raised an eyebrow, but decided to question it later.

*Emerald and Mercury share a glance before shaking their heads. "No, ma'am," Emerald says.

"Then we must assume Ozpin has captured her as well as Torchwick."

This is a problem, Cinder thinks, though not an insurmountable one. They know the consequences for ratting us out, but Neo's absence means increased scrutiny on us.*

Ruby smiled, "But you don't know that I've been…would you say captured or rescued?"

"That's," Weiss said flatly, "An interesting question. Technically you were both."

*"As far as we are concerned," Cinder orders, "Our teammate is missing and presumed killed during the Breach. Do try to act as though you're grieving."

Mercury gives a loose, two-fingered salute. "I've never been much of an actor, so don't expect too much outta me. Really, we should be sending Em out to get all teary-eyed in front of random kids."

Emerald gives him a shove. "Fuck off!" Then her eyes flick to Cinder, and she adds, "Unless you think we need to, Cinder."

Cinder suppresses the urge to roll her eyes. "We have more important things to worry about. Have either of you managed to locate the Hound?"

Emerald and Mercury lock eyes once more, and this time they grimace.

"No, ma'am," Emerald eventually says. "The safehouses are all empty, even the ones outside the city, but it isn't turning up anywhere. And there's been nothing in the news about a Grimm loose in the city..."

It's likely dead, then. Neopolitan's capture, while a wrinkle in their plans, would likely pass without doing more than placing them in Ozpin's eye for a few hours; and even then, there's every chance Goodwitch dealt with their situation before it ever reached the headmaster.

But Salem would not be pleased with this. *

"Well," Ilia snarked, "On the bright side, you won't be around long enough to feel the punishment."

Nora wheezed, while a few others were shell shocked.

"What Faunus type are you?" Weiss questioned.

"Chameleon, why?"

"Because I feel like you'd have been better as a snake Faunus."

Ilia blinked owlishly. She honestly didn't know if that was an insult or a compliment.

*They were incredibly rare, these Hounds, (Cinder herself had only seen one or two others in all her years of service) not to mention the Hound that Salem had entrusted her was by far the most intelligent one. The weakest, physically, but sheer strength was not what made it valuable.*

"We now have confirmation of at least two other Hounds." Penny exclaimed.

"Yeah," Ruby nodded, "Mom and someone else." She had a weird feeling at the fact that Salem considered her the smartest Hound. Like, being genuinely complimented by the villain. It was...a sickening pride, as best as she could describe it.

*They all followed orders, but only this one had been able to hold something resembling a conversation.

No, Salem would not be pleased to learn of its demise. She had offered it to Cinder because it was causing problems in her castle (one of the older Hounds grew manic whenever they were together, for some reason) but had made it clear that this Hound was not a pawn to be sacrificed.*

Yang and Ruby both cocked their heads.

"Wait," Oscar states flatly, "Does Salem not know that Summer and Ruby are related."

"Salem probably thought 'Oh, another person with silver eyes. Don't care about any relations, just bring them to me.'." Nora said in as best of a witchy evil voice as possible.

"That…was a horrible impression."

"Well, how would you kno-" Nora shut her mouth, before she could embarrass herself.

"More likely is that Cinder doesn't know they're related. Salem might've known about Ruby through...torturing Summer, which could've been the diverging point. Summer didn't break in our timeline, but broke in theirs."

*And Cinder had done just that.

It had seemed wise, at the time, to have it supervise Torchwick and Neo, alone, instead of letting them oversee the White Fang. Neither parties had proved themselves reliable, over the past few Fang's failures she could chalk up to incompetence, but Torchwick was a professional criminal. Whether he was testing the length of his leash or just not terribly motivated, forcing him to work with the Hound should have reminded him why exactly he was on her side.

Instead, he was captured and it was likely dead.

"Perhaps, if Torchwick or Neopolitan had been competent enough to escape, we could ask one of them what happened to it," Cinder says. "But seeing as how everyone involved is currently indisposed, we must assume the worst. Now, neither Neo nor the Hound affect our plan too much, so their absence should prove inconsequential so long as the Vytal tournament—"

She's interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Were we expecting anyone?" Mercury whispers. Emerald shrugs.*

Nora and Yang had huge smirks.

"I think I hear the sound of doom on the winds." Yang mocks, putting a hand to her ear.

*"Miss Fall?" Calls a voice she doesn't recognize.*

"Seems dad is the…" Ruby cocked her head, "Would you say 'lure'?"

"Lures," Penny replied, "Are used to cover a large area, for a general group of targets. The proper word would be 'bait', as you're looking for a specific target."

*She opens the door to find a man she hasn't seen before. He looks to be in his early forties, with tanned skin, short blond hair and blue eyes.

He's just shaven, Cinder notes.

"I'm sorry," Cinder says, "We were expecting someone else, mister...?"

"Xiao Long," he says. The name rings a bell, but Cinder can't quite place where she recognizes it from. "Could you please come with me, Miss Fall? The headmaster would like to speak with you."

Ozpin? Why? Her first panicked, reactive thought is that he's found her out, but she brushes it aside. Their position is secure. Besides, had she not predicted his attention falling to them not a moment earlier?*

"I'd say trust your instincts," Winter flatly declared, "But, considering all that's she's done, I think you should take that advice, and toss it." Winter's eyes widened, "Except for you kids."

*"Is it news about our teammate?" Cinder says, trying to affect a worried tone. "Did you find anything?"

Long shakes his head. "No, I'm afraid we haven't. That's what he wants to meet with you about, actually. If you'd follow me?"

He smiles, just a bit. It doesn't reach his eyes.

Cinder hesitates for a moment, glancing back at Emerald and Mercury, before relenting. She has a bad feeling about it, yes, but it's likely nothing. She's played everything perfectly, the fools have no reason to suspect a random student visiting for the Vytal tournament to be their undoing.*

"Hmph," Maria scoffed, "Another reckless thought. All it takes to ruin a plan is just a small, random action."

"I can attest to that," Ironwood added, "In my younger years, I would sometimes stake out a place, and a random civilian would pass by me, and accidentally blow my cover."

"I mean," Ruby said, "We wouldn't have found Roman's operations if Zwei didn't go to the bathroom."

Yang's eyes widened, "Wait, that was why you were missing from the camp?" She smirked, the idea that Roman's entire operation was ruined because of a dog needing a whiz.

*Besides, even if it is a trap, they can't kill her. The professors are all old, weak, and still exhausted from the attack just yesterday. The only Huntsmen capable of threatening her are Branwen, who is busy with a wild goose chase in Vacuo and has no reason to return to Vale, and Ozpin himself, who has been growing weaker with every death and cannot afford to further lessen himself. Everyone else who could threaten her is dead or retired.

It would ruin her plans to fight them, yes, but plans can change. No, she has no reason to be afraid. Wary, maybe, but not afraid.*

(THIS NEXT PART ISN'T FROM RESPLENDENT CHUNGUS'S FANFIC. IT IS COMPLETELY ORIGINAL TO THIS STORY)

*Long took Cinder near the Breach, passing by Atlesian soldiers who were assisting civilians. Cinder noticed that the man's smile was gone.

"I…," Long stated numbly, "I didn't want to say it infront of your teammates. But I…wasn't telling the truth when we said we didn't know where your teammate was."

Cinder merely raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"We found a body, mangled, that bore a resemblance to your teammate. However, we aren't entirely sure. Headmaster Ozpin wished to have confirmation from you. Hence why he didn't want your teammates involved."

Cinder resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Emerald and Mercury have killed people before, so seeing a bloodied corpse wouldn't affect them. Though it did make her wonder if Neo was actually dead. If she was, then she'd have to commend her. Transforming into their fake teammate as she died, to cover up their own tracks. Maybe she underestimated Neo's resolve.*

Everyone was anticipating the boot to drop.

"I must say," Ren stated, "Their reasoning has a gap or two in its logic, but, considering that this plan was made within a couple of hours, it's not bad."

"Yeah," Blake chuckled, "And Cinder has no idea she's walking to her death."

*Long and Cinder approached a warehouse. Long stood next to one of the side doors.

"The Headmaster is inside. I'll…give you some space."

Cinder nodded for formalities. She wouldn't truly be affected, but she might as well keep up appearances. She entered the building. There were crates lined up along the walls, dim lights providing little in the way of sight…with the exception of the light in the middle. She saw Ozpin was kneeling to a tarp, covering a figure laid out on the floor. His grip on his cane was tight.

At the sound of Long closing the door behind her, Ozpin turned his head before getting to his feet.

"Ah, Miss Fall," he calmly stated, the barest strain in his voice, "I don't believe we've met."

"We haven't, Headmaster."

"Yet I've heard great things about you from Headmaster Lionheart."

'Lionheart talked about me and my team?' Cinder thought, nearly scowling, 'There was no need to put attention on us, you fool.' "I'm sure he exaggerates."

Ozpin shrugged, "Perhaps. However, it only makes the news I bring all the more…tragic. The loss of a student, especially one under my care, always weighs heavy."*

"Brothers, he's nailing the performance!" Qrow exclaimed, ""If we didn't know any better, I'd say he was being genuine."

"Well, in his defense," Ironwood replied, "The best lies have truth to them. He's genuine in caring for his students, as I do for Atlas's students. The only 'lie' here is that Neo isn't dead."

*Cinder took a deep breath. "So you've found our teammate?"

"What we believe to be. I am…truly sorry for putting this on you. However, as her leader, I'll need you to confirm the body."

Cinder approached the body, about to kneel down.

"If you do not wish to see it, I wouldn't fault you."

Cinder merely ignored the old man's words. She knelt down to the tarp, and flipped it over…

Revealing a female mannequin.

For a split second, Cinder's face scrunched up in confusion, before her eyes widened in shock.

'They found out!'*

Everyone leaned forward, the anticipation at a breaking point.

*Time seemed to slow around her. Looking ahead, she could see General Ironwood, Due Process out, appearing out from behind some crates. To her left, Deputy Headmistress Goodwitch. Ozpin's top pawn Qrow Branwen to her right. She had a feeling Xiao Long was coming from behind her. And, on top of that, Ozpin himself was right next to her!

Cinder's eyes flared.

From outside the warehouse, flashes of gunfire, and just straight up fire could be seen from the windows. After a minute, there was only silence.*

*The better part of a week after what people have been calling the Breach, Ruby starts eating with Yang and her friends in Beacon's cafeteria.*

"What?!" Nora cried out, "Come on! We should at least see her body!"

"What about Emerald and Mercury?!" Jaune exclaimed.

"If we got lucky," Weiss answered, "They're in prison. If they aren't…well, they weren't as important to Salem's plans as Cinder was, so I'm not sure if she'd keep them around."

"Still," Yang muttered, "Complete bull that we didn't get to see Cinder's corpse."

*It's awkward, at first; she knows Yang's team well enough, but Jaune and Pyrrha and Nora and Ren are all total strangers to her.*

Jaune stiffened as a thought crossed his mind.

'If the Fall doesn't happen, then that means Pyrrha…' He felt his eyes water, but he kept them down.

*Even worse; they know her, or at least know of her, if the weird looks she got when Yang introduced her were any indication.*

"Wait," Ironwood declared, "Define 'know her'. Do they simply know the significance of your name, or…"

"I think it's just the name, Jimmy. Doubt Yang told Jaune's team. Remember, they got weird looks from Ruby's name, and not anything else."

*Still, they're all fairly nice. Besides, Ruby is pretty sure Yang's been getting tired of bringing her food, even if she'd never dare say it.

"And then this big huge elephant thing jumped out," Nora says, plate swinging wildly in her hands as she gestures. She's been explaining what her team did on their mission for the past while now, and Ruby can't help but ignore the food line in favour of Nora's tale. "It was the size of a building! No, two buildings! No, three buildings!"

"It was approximately the size of a small house," Ren chimes in.

"And it had an army of Grimm following it, each one nastier than the other!"

"There were some nearby packs of Beowolves attracted by the fighting."

"I, Nora Valkyrie, struck it down with a single, mighty blow!"

"It took several minutes of fighting to bring down." Ren pauses, then allows, "Though, yes, Nora did finish it off."

Nora lets out a harrumph as they all sit down to eat. "No need to spoil a girl's fun, Ren."*

"There's more to it than simply 'spoiling your fun', Miss Valkyrie."

"Oh?" Nora mockingly replied, "And what might that be, Bigger Ice Queen."

Winter's eye twitched at the nickname, but continued. "What if, because of your boasting, someone decides to give you a job you can't handle? Not just you, but also your partner?"

Nora shut her mouth.

*As the conversation shifts topics, Ruby grabs her fork and prepares to go to town on whatever they've been served. Mac n cheese, potato chunks, as well as three slices of... pork chops.

Ruby's stomach churns. Just looking at it makes her think of—

Jaws closing around leg crunching on bone blood in her mouth juicy tasty delicious want more more more—*

Ruby's face turned green, as did several others.

"Why did we have to see that?" Weiss groaned.

Qrow slid a hand down his face. It was too much to hope that this was Ruby's first mission while under Salem's thrall. And the idea that she ate people-He put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, as did Yang wrapping her arm around Ruby's.

*Things she would rather forget.

Can she pass it off to someone else? No, they'd ask why she can't eat just a little bit of meat and she can't explain why. Yang's friends wouldn't understand, and Yang and her team would understand and that's worse. She doesn't want that. Some things shouldn't be known.

She can handle it. She's a big girl.*

"Ruby," Qrow flatly says, "Being a 'big girl' also means knowing your limits. It's not wrong to ask for help."

"I know, but it's jus-"

"It's not just pork chops. It's the trauma that comes with it."

"Yes," Pietro added, "I've seen people who had a hard time eating after a particularly bloody mission. Even Ironwood himself had this issue once."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Really? Tin Man got a queasy stomach? I almost don't want to know the story."

Pietro waved a hand dismissively. "Regardless, I doubt you'll become a vegetarian, though no one would blame you otherwise, but it's clear that meat, at this point, only brings out more trauma."

Ruby lowered her head, understanding their point.

*A part of her wants to put it off, but she decides to get it over with rather than spend the entire lunch dreading what's to come.

Her hand trembles as she brings the meat to her mouth. She hopes no one's looking at her.*

"Rubes, after thinking you were dead for nearly a year, and almost being forced to kill you, there's no WAY I'm not keeping some eye on you."

*Ruby bites down on the chunk of meat. She chews it as little as she can before swallowing, but it's tough, chewy, she bites down harder and harder but the meat keeps struggling, chewy on the outside and crunchy on the inside that's not how it's supposed to be.

Ruby swallows. She can feel it slide down her throat.

She raises the second slice to her mouth. It's a bit large to be eaten in one go, but there's no way she's prolonging this any longer than she has to. It tastes good, is the worst thing. Not incredible, but it's slathered in a nice sauce and the meat is unseasoned, pure, soft muscles and stringy tendons all coming apart as she chews and swallows.*

"Gah!" Ilia exclaims, "Stop, we don't need to see this!"

Penny was beyond glad her father didn't program a gag reflex, because she really didn't want to know what vomit from a robot would look like.

*Her mouth tastes of puke. Even sitting down, she's dizzy.

Just one more to go.

She raises the last piece to her mouth.

Over the pounding in her head, she can feel Yang touch her shoulder-*

"Told ya."

*-can hear her scream and plead and beg for it to stop, meat so loud, why won't he shut up make him shut up shut up shut up stop chewing on his leg to put his head in her mouth and squeeze until it—

Ruby tries so, so hard to keep it down, but she can't.*

Ruby felt a pat on her back.

"No one blames you for what happens next." Qrow says. Ruby gulped, readying herself.

A lot of people agreed that Screen Ruby was most certainly going to need therapy for this.

*She empties her stomach onto her plate, vomit and meat and chunks of breakfast splashing on top of her lunch, a not insignificant amount falling onto her shirt and lap. Some splatters onto her eyepatch. She swallows, and the taste of barfis enough to make her throw up again. Thankfully, there's not much left in her stomach, so aside from some liquid leaking down her chin she does nothing but dry heave.*

Most of the audience grimmance at the sight. Luckily, none of them vomited alongside Screen Ruby, though Nora looked like she was about to.

*She looks up to find everyone staring at her.

"Holy shit," Yang says. "Ruby, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ruby instinctively lies, then retches. She swallows again, and this time is able to keep her stomach down.

She pauses.

"No. I wanna— can we go back to your room?"

"Of course," Yang says. She wraps an arm around Ruby as she helps her up, and Ruby can't help but lean into her big sister. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Yang gestures to the puke-covered plate. "Can someone, uh..."

"I'll deal with it," Blake says. She smiles and gently says, "Ruby, do you want me to save some for you? For once you're feeling better."

Ruby lets herself smile as she nods, just a little. She's not hungry right now, obviously, but she knows she will be once she's calmed down.

Except then she panics, because more lunch might mean more meat and she can't handle it, can't do this again. "Just no meat," she says. "Please, I, I can't."

Blake has a strange expression on her face, and Ruby's heart sinks. She gave it away, didn't she? Of course she did, they're not stupid, they know she was the Hound and they know what the Hound was like and Ruby couldn't just say she didn't want lunch, no, she had to let them know exactly how much of a monster she was.*

"Ruby…," Weiss says softly, "You know we wouldn't think less of you, right. Even if you're a complete stranger to us, you're Yang's sister, and you already saw how much we were willing to protect you."

"I…I know, but Screen Me doesn't."

*She can't bear to look Blake in the eyes, so she buries her face in Yang's side. She's just a little too quick about it, and can't stop herself from smearing something on Yang's jacket, too.

She can feel tears forming in the corner of her eye. Even as they start walking back to Yang's dorm, she keeps it there. She doesn't want to see Yang. Doesn't want to risk seeing disgust on her big sister's face.

"It's okay," Yang whispers. "I love you, Ruby. It's okay."

Ruby wants to say she shouldn't, but she knows it will just make Yang worry and she'll regret it later. When she's feeling better.

So instead, she says "I love you too."*

"Pot," Weiss says flatly, turning to Ruby, "This is my friend Kettle, he says you're black."

That got nearly all of Weiss's friends laughing.

"Damn Weiss," Yang chuckled, "Have you been getting better with your jokes."

Weiss narrowed her eyes, "When I'm stuck with your jokes, I need to find better material."

Qrow laughed as Yang's stopped, and she gave a look that would kill a Beowolf.

*The walk to the headmaster's office fills Ruby with something a little bit like dread. She's not entirely sure why he called her to meet with him, just that it's about her future. Not her past, like all their previous meetings, going over every last thing she remembers about Salem and her minions and her plans. For those, she at least had the benefit of knowledge. Now she has nothing.

How could she not be nervous?

She's so wrapped up in her worries that she almost misses when another girl dashes into the elevator just as the doors close.

"Sorry," Ruby says. "I didn't see you coming."*

"Penny?" Ruby questioned, "Why are you seeing Ozpin?"

"I'm not sure. However, upon seeing my alternate self, I came to a frightening conclusion: We never met, Ruby."

Ruby, for a moment, looked confused, but then her eyes widened. Penny was right. If Ruby was grabbed over a year ago, and was 'cured' at the Breach, then that means that she never met Penny, fought together at the docks, met her again (while finding out she's a robot), and, most importantly of all, never became friends.

Honestly, Ruby didn't know how to feel about all that.

*Despite having to sprint to make it before the elevator doors closed, the other girl isn't breathing hard. In fact, she's breathing so lightly that Ruby can hardly see it.

"Do not worry about it!" The girl says, all awkward smiles. "My name is Penny Polendina. It is a pleasure to meet you!"

She sticks a hand out, and Ruby shakes it. Her grip isn't strong, exactly, but it feels like Ruby's grabbing a block of smooth concrete. "Ruby Rose. Are you going to see Ozpin as well?"

Penny nods, visibly forcing herself to appear serious. "Indeed I am! I am supposed to meet with him in roughly nine minutes and thirty-eight seconds, but he requested I arrive early and wait outside."

Ruby cocks her head. That seems a bit weird, but then she supposes it would be hard to be as old as Ozpin and not be a little bit weird.*

Qrow snorted, as did a few others. "Yeah, a little weird. Somehow that perfectly encapsulated the times I worked with Oz in the past."

"Any idea why Ozzy wants to see you?" Nora asked, to which Penny shook her head.

"None. I see no possible objectives, however, since this isn't the same 'me' as in our timeline, perhaps her logic processors have come to a different conclusion."

*Eventually, the elevator reaches his floor and they step out. Penny sees her off with a wave and a "Good luck!" as Ruby opens the door to Ozpin's office.

"Welcome back, Miss Rose," he says from behind his desk. Beside him, Goodwitch doesn't look up from her paperwork. "Please, have a seat."

There's two open seats, on her end. She slides into one.

She sits there in awkward silence for a while, waiting for him to get things going. Finally, he does.

"How is your health?" Ozpin asks.

"Pretty good," Ruby says. "I still feel a bit weak, and I get tired quickly, but that's getting better every day." Ozpin sips from his mug, as if waiting for her to continue, but she doesn't know what else to say. "And, uhh, Dad says I should be able to start exercising soon?" She hopes her grin doesn't look as tacked-on as it is.

"That's very good to hear," Ozpin says, perfectly pleasant. "I take it you will be leaving the infirmary shortly, then?"

Oh! That's what the meeting's about. "Yeah, the doctors don't need to do much now."

"I had hoped that would be the case," Ozpin says, putting his mug away and steepling his fingers, "but, good news though it may be, it also forces us to confront the question of what exactly we will do with you, Ruby Rose."*

If a stranger saw that, they'd be worried. However, since nearly everyone there knew what kind of person Ozpin was, despite what he had hidden, they knew that there wasn't any malicious plans going on here.

*Ruby can't stop her nervous gulp. What they'll do with her?

Ozpin seems to notice her discomfort, because he chuckles and says, "Ah, pardon my phrasing, I meant nothing ominous. But from what I understand, well; your family says you were quite committed to being a Huntress, before everything that happened to you."*

"Ueehh," Yang grimaces, "Yeah, after what you went through, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted nothing to do with Salem, and that includes fighting her Grimm."

Ruby leaned forward, interested in what her screen self might do. I mean, she would still want to be a Huntress, but she didn't go through what Screen Ruby did, so…

*So much of Ozpin comes across as forced, to Ruby. Like he's putting on a show. But all the sympathy in his eyes is genuine as he says, "But, in light of those experiences, I very much doubt that there is a person on Remnant who would think less of you if you chose to pursue a more... quiet career."

Ruby blinks. "You mean like, as a civilian?"

Ozpin very deliberately does not smile as he nods. "Yes. To hear your family tell it, you're quite the engineer. I'm sure that if you went to a regular school and studied hard, you could get accepted into a good university. Graduate, live a normal life, keep your head down. You may never have to think of Salem ever again."*

"That's a bit naive."

"Weiss!" Blake yells.

"I'm just being serious. Ruby just ousted Salem's entire cabal. I doubt she's the kind of person to just let that go."

*Ruby doesn't need to think long before shaking her head. "No. No I don't think I want that. Mister, uh, Ozpin sir."

"Oh?" Ozpin gestures for her to go on, still affecting careful neutrality.

"Well, um. There's a lot of reasons, I guess." Ruby scratches at the edge of her eyepatch. "I don't think I could just keep my head down, for one. No matter where I go, eventually someone's going to see my eye and word's going to get back to Salem and it's going to be this all over again. When that happens, I want— no, I need to be able to protect myself. Yang's already done so much for me, I can't make her deal with that again."*

Ruby smiled at her counterpart's decision. Now the only question in her mind: What's she going to do now? She can't really join Yang's team, and going back to Signal, where so many people knew her, would certainly draw too much attention.

*If anything she says surprises Ozpin, he doesn't show it. Goodwitch, though, raises an eyebrow at the end.

"Well in that case," Ozpin says, "it becomes a question of where exactly you wish to continue your training as a huntress."

"Well... Signal, right?"

It seems like the obvious answer to her, but Ozpin grimaces and shakes his head.*

"Sorry, Ruby, but-"

"I know, Uncle Qrow. I already thought it was a bad idea."

*"Unfortunately, I'm not sure that would be wise. The vast majority of that school, students and faculty alike, knew you. Returning there, suddenly alive, would inevitably cause something of a stir."

Ruby can't hide the shudder that passes through her body. "And Salem's definitely going to send people to figure out what happened to Cinder. If any one of them thinks to check around Patch..."

Ozpin nods, expression grim. "Yes, I fear returning to Signal may not be your safest choice. Which leaves you with one option, if you wish to continue as a Huntress: staying here at Beacon."

"Not just one option," Goodwitch says. "You could also attend a different training school, like Sanctum or Oscuro, if you don't want to skip multiple years."*

"Pretty sure you aren't going to take those options." Blake declared.

Ren nodded in agreement. "Even if you were willing to do it, I doubt you'd want to be away from your family, and I doubt Ozpin would be willing to transfer an entire team to either Haven or Shade just to accommodate one student."

Qrow snorted, while Ironwood simply smirked.

*Ruby's brain, maybe reeling just a little bit from the offer to stay at Beacon, latches on to Goodwitch's words. "Like, move to Mistral or Vacuo? No, I'm not going to. I can't. I— I just got back." Ozpin raises both eyebrows at Goodwitch as if to say 'I told you so' and she sighs. "I appreciate the offer," Ruby continues, "but, um, what do you mean stay at Beacon?

"I mean that you would attend Beacon as a student, of course." A genuine smile is thrown into the deal for good measure.

It's one heck of an offer. What she had been dreaming of, before... everything. Though there are some, how should she say, logistical problems.

"Well, um, no offence, but I mean the second semester just started and Beacon has teams so I can't just enter by myself and initiation for new students doesn't start until next year so, um. How?"

Ozpin only smiles wider. "You would have to wait until next year for full initiation, yes, but given your... unique circumstances, I am certain exceptions could be made. For example;" he leans back in his chair and turns his gaze to his coworker. "Glynda, if I were to ask you to prepare a one-semester schedule of classes for a student to sit in on if, say, they needed to catch up on classes they had skipped?"

Goodwitch looks to the ceiling for strength and takes her time before answering.*

"Glynda looks like she's just done with everything." Nora laughed.

"Comes with having to work with Ozpin on a daily basis." Qrow retorted, "Trust me."

"Says the person who apparently runs into windows."

"...When we get back, Schnee, you're dead."

*"I would have to talk with the student," she says slowly, "and prepare some quizzes to determine what areas of study they need to brush up on the most. It would require quite a bit of scholastic effort, on their part, to catch up on the classes they had missed, but it's certainly doable."

Ozpin continues to smile guilelessly at Goodwitch.

Her voice is as cold and humourless as an icicle between the ribs as she adds, "It would also take the better part of a day to do, though, so unless you plan on clearing my schedule..."

"Perhaps Doctor Oobleck is better suited to such a task," Ozpin says seamlessly, turning fully back to Ruby. "He has been getting rather restless, as much as the resting period is needed." Ruby's heart twists itself into a knot; not over what Goodwitch said, but she knows the name Doctor Oobleck. Remembers what she did to—*

"Ieee, yeah," Ilia grimaces, "That will lead to some…awkward conversations."

Qrow shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. Bart's not the type of person to hold a grudge, especially if it's something out of their control."

*"Miss Rose?" Ozpin's voice brings her back to reality before she can get too deep in her own head. "How does that sound to you?"

The gleam of pity in his eyes makes it clear her episode, brief as it was, didn't go unnoticed. He doesn't say anything about it, though, for which Ruby offers silent thanks.

"It sounds good to me," she says. "I'll have to work hard and study lots, but I can do that. Better now than later, right?"

The corners of Ozpin's mouth raise up, just a little bit. "I am pleased to hear you say so. Which brings us to the second issue on the table today. Glynda, if you would bring in our other guest?"

Goodwitch exits the room, and Ruby is left momentarily to wonder. Other guest?

Oh, right, probably the girl she ran into on the way here. Her suspicions are confirmed when the professor returns with said girl in tow, bright orange hair bouncing up and down as she walks.*

Penny then gasped.

"Penny?" Pietro questioned.

"Oh, this is going to be wonderful!"

"Wait," Nora exclaimed, "You know why you're there?"

"I have a suspicion. Let's watch."

*"Salutations!" She says, positively exuberant. Ruby waves, and the girl sits down next to her.

"Ruby, this is Penny Polendina," Ozpin says. "Penny, this is Ruby Rose. Given certain... similarities in your situations, I believe it best for all involved for the two of you to act as partners for the next few months.*

Penny was practically bouncing. "I'm going to be staying at Beacon!"

Ironwood was gobsmacked. Was Ozpin going to be swindling one of Atlas's best…honestly, he couldn't think of a good word that wouldn't sound bad. Thankfully, Qrow brought him out of his thoughts.

"Jimmy, did you tell Oz about the robot girl?"

"No, I never did. And, frankly, I don't see any reason why this new timeline would give my counterpart a reason."

*Similarities? Ruby's heart quickens as she takes another glance at Penny— the girl's on the same side as her missing eye, so she has to tilt her head even further than normal— but her eyes are a bright green, not silver.*

"Hmm, perhaps Ozpin might've requested your best assets in apprehending Cinder, only to reject the idea of using me?"

Ironwood and Qrow turned to Penny, amazed that she came up with the perfect response.

"Yes…I guess that would convince me to reveal you early."

Qrow chuckled, "And Ozpin's about to steal her right from under you."

*"Similarities?" Penny echoes Ruby's own thoughts. She looks back at Ruby, and for a moment they hold each other's confused gazes before Penny turns back to the headmaster. "In what way?"*

"Oooooo," Ruby squirmed in excitement, "This is gonna be so COOL for my counterpart," in a petal burst, she ran to Penny, "Penny, you'll get to stay at Beacon, just like you planned to back at Vytal."

"Wait, she planned what?"

Ruby flinched at Ironwood's both harsh and shocked response. "Uh, I mean, what plan?"

Weiss smacked her face. "You dolt."

*Ozpin seems to understand why they're confused. "Not in background," he says, "but rather, in terms of how we must proceed with you. Both of you, for different reasons, would draw interest from those who would mean you harm, and thus require our protection."

Ruby's gaze doesn't get any less quizzical, so Ozpin adds, "I will not explain why, Miss Rose, any more than I would tell her how you lost your eye."

Ruby flinches. Yeah, that's fair.

"Now, strictly speaking, we could keep you cooped up and under constant supervision to ensure nothing happens to you; but as Miss Polendina can attest, that is not a successful long-term strategy. It would, I fear, drive you to act rather unreasonably."

Now it's Penny's turn to flinch. In one breath, almost as if rehearsed, she recites "Please inform General Ironwood that I feel deep remorse for the damage I caused, and will not do it again under any circumstances."

Ozpin adorns himself with a slight smile. Penny hiccups. His smile grows.*

Ruby turned to Penny, squinting her eyes. "You know, I just noticed something, Penny. Everytime you lied, you hiccuped."

"No I didn't." *Hiccup* Penny slams hands over her mouth, much to Pietro's chuckle, and her friends laughter. Ironwood merely rolled his eyes.

*"So instead, I think it best for the two of you to be looking after each other," Ozpin says. "One could say that we are putting all our eggs in one basket, so to speak, but that expression seems inadequate when it fails to account for scenarios in which an egg can fire lasers."

Ruby's head whips towards Penny. "You can shoot lasers?"

Penny blinks. "Yes! Although technically I can only shoot one laser, singular."

"Oh my gosh that's so cool! How does it work?"*

"And, of course," Blake chuckled, "That's the first thing that interests you."

Ruby blushed as her teammates laughed.

*Penny explains the complexities of her weapon, the Floating Array, and Ruby is so enraptured that she barely notices when Goodwitch shoos them out of Ozpin's office.

They're halfway to the dorms before Ruby realises she never asked where they'd be staying.

It's okay, though! Her new partner knows the way.*

*The instant the doors to Ozpin's office close, Glynda Goodwitch gets up and begins to make herself a cup of coffee. "They seem like they'll get along well," she says.

"It certainly appears that way," replies Ozpin, neutrally.

Glynda continues, "It really is generous of you, giving them exactly what they want. Miss Polendina gets a friend who knows nothing of her creation and can empathise with her as an equal. Miss Rose gets a partner who knows her first and Miss Xiao Long second, who has no reason to see her as Yang's little sister back from the dead. If I didn't know you any better, I'd even suggest you arranged this out of the kindness of your heart."

Ozpin smiles, like an asshole. "Oh really? Do explain."*

Ironwood and Qrow gave each other a knowing look. Typical Ozpin, accomplishing several important things as easy as it was as simple as breathing. Oscar also was a little bit awed at seeing Ozpin as he was in his original body. Though, saying that, it would be more accurate to say 'previous' body.

*Glynda rolls her eyes, but obliges. "The most generous reading is that, by tying Penny to Ruby Rose, you're all but tricking Team YIBW into doing our job for us."

Ozpin sips from his mug. "One could say that, yes. Miss Xiao Long and her team do have good reason to be on the lookout for hostile forces seeking to harm or apprehend Miss Rose, and it may prove difficult for that protection not to extend to her partner. Not to mention, Miss Rose understands far too well why exactly they must stay safe. If anyone can convince Miss Polendina to take her own safety seriously, it will be her. And as I said, giving her dedicated watchers proved fruitless when James tried it. She will undoubtedly respond better when surrounded with peers instead of guards. We do not want a repeat of her... outburst."*

"Uh…what?" Ruby questioned.

Nora and Yang got a grin on their faces.

"Penny," Yang turned, "What did you do?"

If Penny could sweat, she'd be doing it. "I honestly don't know!"

She didn't hiccup.

*Glynda can't help but shudder. Outburst is certainly one word for the incident that got Jimmy to give up and transfer Penny to their care, sure. Even if no one was seriously hurt, Atlesian flagships don't come cheap. Her only solace is that the pound of flesh was taken out of his budget and not theirs.*

Ironwood and Winter were gobsmacked, Penny was horrified, while the rest were either smiling or dying of laughter.

"General Ironwood, I am so, so sorry."

"That's…that's okay, Penny. I'm sure I may have been…unreasonable." Honestly, the Defiance was one of his favorite ships. To hear that Penny had wrecked it, at best, and possibly destroyed it, at worst, gave a very sour taste in his mouth.

"It makes sense, though," Ren states, "Penny was heavily influenced by Ruby's presence. To have that effect gone…may have unintended consequences."

*"Still, that's the generous reading," she repeats.

Ozpin takes another sip. Glynda can never tell if he does that because he's thirsty, or to hide the hints of amusement on his face, but after so many years of working for him she's come to the conclusion that it's usually both.

"The less generous reading," Glynda says, "is that I've not seen poaching this blatant since Sylvester, and that whole affair frustrated poor Leo so badly I'm surprised he didn't defect to Salem then and there."*

"Who?" Ilia questioned.

"Before your time, kids," Qrow replies, "Short version, Sylvester was practically at Haven, but, since the school year hadn't officially started, Oz convinced him to transfer to Haven. Caused a bit of a scandal, though nothing came of it."

*Ozpin cringes, as he very well should. It really was quite rude of him.

"As I recall, Ironwood asked you to look after Miss Polendina until she returns to Atlas at the end of the Vytal festival, not to make her one of your students. He seemed quite confident he, or if worst came to worst her father, could deal with her once she was back home."

Ozpin sighs. "If Miss Polendina requests a transfer to Beacon—"*

"When."

*"When Miss Polendina requests a transfer to Beacon," Glynda interrupts.*

Qrow laughed, while Ironwood was slack jawed. Ozpin really was about to steal right from underneath him. He could only hope that Glynda would talk some sense into him.

He didn't notice Pietro was smiling.

*"If," Ozpin insists, lazily waving a hand at her, "for some reason the young Miss Polendina makes the social connections she has been seeking and requests a transfer to Beacon rather than leave them, I will speak with James myself. The goal of his project, after all, was not just to create a weapon, but to create a person. If that person simply wishes to study under his ally instead of under James himself, I believe he will respect that. He knows as well as I do that there are no sides or factions in the war against Salem."

Glynda takes a sip of her newly-prepared coffee. Still too hot, and the caffeine gives her not quite enough of a jolt. For a moment, she feels jealous of Qrow, or at least his reputation. He could drink in the middle of meetings without more than a roll of the eyes, but if she tried that? Oh, the horror.*

"A drunk Goodwitch," Nora smiled, "Now that's so-"

"No it's not!" Both Qrow and Ironwood yelled, shocking everyone.

"Uncle?"

"Believe me, Yang, you do NOT want to see Glynda when she's drunk."

*Then she is reminded of everything else about Qrow, and the moment passes.

"If it were Leo or Theodore you were doing this to, I would have no choice but to warn them you're taking an interest in one of their students," she says.

"But?"

"But, in the long-term, maybe it will be good for Jimmy to receive a reminder that children are not soldiers, and soldiers are not machines for him to pilot."*

Ironwood looks betrayed. "When did I become the bad guy?"

Qrow couldn't resist the temptation. "About the time you threw Ozpin under the bus back at Beacon."

"What do you mea-?!"

"We can discuss it later, back to the show."

*That elicits another grimace from Ozpin. He doesn't correct her, though. Instead, he raises his mug for a toast.

"To a new and fruitful partnership," Ozpin says when she raises an eyebrow.

Sighing, she obliges him. "To the fit James will throw when he realizes what you're doing."*

Ilia giggles, "I'm starting to regret not chasing you down, Blake. Even if it's a different timeline, I think I would've enjoyed seeing those two."

"You would…until Glynda decided to hone in on you. She's ruthless when it comes to school work."

*They drink together. Ozpin maintains the facade of a noble and dignified headmaster for maybe a dozen seconds before saying, "Twenty lien says she requests a transfer before the end of the month."

Glynda glares at him. "Really, Oz?"

He doesn't bother looking ashamed. She hadn't thought he would, but still.

She counters, "I have not gotten where I am today without learning to trust the laziness of teenagers. Thirty says she waits until the festival is nearly done."

"Deal."*

Every Beacon student, Maria, and Qrow laughed at the impromptu bet. It was quite hilarious to see them betting on how quickly Ironwood would 'lose' Penny.

*The Kuo Kuana sun beats down on Kali Belladonna with only most of its usual intensity.*

"Wait, why are we at my home?" Blake exclaims.

*The winter months in Menagerie brought no snow (and thank the Brothers for that) but did leave the island cool.

Still hotter than most of the kingdoms got in summer, of course, but that's life on Menagerie. Kali wouldn't have it any other way.

Her morning walk has long since moved past routine into simply being life, checking on the city's people and making sure everything is okay. In theory, it does have an actual point, as she always drops by the post office. But everyone knows that's not the point. As Menagerie's leaders, their household get quite a bit of mail.*

"Wait, Blake, your parent's lead Menagerie?"

"Yes. I thought you knew that, Ruby."

"I just knew they were your parents. We dealt with a lot of stuff after the battle for Haven."

*Enough that no one would mind if they requested it be delivered to them. But why bother, when Kali walks by it every morning?*

"Wait a minute!" Weiss exclaimed, "You're parents rule Menagerie, and you have the gall to accost me on our first day at Beacon for what Ruby said, when you fit the bill more than I ever did!"

Blake soon realized what was happening. "Wait, it's not like that! My dad was elected to the position of chieftain of Menagerie. So, while he is the ruler, it's an elected position."

*The majority of their mail is boring, a mind-numbing deluge of diplomatic enquiries that will never amount to anything and corporations with a bridge to sell them.*

"Technically speaking-" Penny began, only for Blake to bolt over and cover her mouth, only for Yang to tackle Blake to the ground.

"Yang!"

"I want to hear this." Yang cackled.

"Technically speaking, while the position of Menagerie Chieftain is an elected one, it's held until the ruler resigns, or is killed in office. Also, their children are automatically candidates for the next ruler. If anything, it's an elected monarchy, meaning the title of 'Princess' does apply to you."

Yang burst into laughter, followed by all of Blake's friends. Blake's cat ears flattened in embarrassment.

*But occasionally, they get something interesting.

Today looks to be much of the same. Politely worded letters asking why Menagerie isn't begging for their upcharged goods, dry diplomatic language from some poor council member's intern about a minor trade deal, an unmarked letter from Vale—

Her eyes go wide, and without care for who might see her, she sprints back to the house.

"Dear!" Kali calls the second she's inside. "Come down, you need to see this!"

"What is it," Ghira grumbles as he pads into the room. She waves the letter at him. "Who's it from? Mistral? Vale?... Khan?"

"No," she says. "It's from Blake."*

Dear mom and dad.

I'm really not sure how to start this. I guess the important things first; I'm okay, and I'm not in the Fang anymore. You don't need to worry about me. I'm sure you've seen what the Vale branch is doing (what Adam's doing) and I want you to know I'm not involved in it. I ran away from them a few months ago, when things started getting bad. I keep worrying about you hearing what they're doing and wondering if I'm like them, and I need you to know I'm not. I'm not a murderer. I'm sorry for all the things I said to you, before I ran away. You were right. You were right about Adam especially; more right than even you thought. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that.

That being said, I don't want you to worry about me now either. I'm doing well! Ilia came with me when I left the Fang (you remember Ilia, don't you?) and the two of us are training to be Huntresses. To help people and protect them, not hurt them. Our team is great. I know you never liked Ilia much, dad, but she's a good friend and a better teammate, even if she can be a bit much. The universe seems to agree with your view of her, though, because she's partnered with the one and only Weiss Schnee.

I won't lie, things were rough at the beginning (the two of them had some truly epic fights, which I may or may not have gotten involved in) but they've somehow warmed up to each other. I'm not sure which is more incredible; a Schnee being friends with two ex-White Fang faunus, or Ilia growing fond of the SDC's heiress. At the start of the year, I would have been shocked if we all managed to get through the semester without trying to kill each other. They've both grown so much.

Then there's our team leader and my partner, Yang Xiao Long. How could I possibly describe her? She's strong, one of the strongest people I've ever met, both physically and mentally. If and when you two meet her, I give it an hour at most before she challenges dad to arm wrestle. It's like she lights up the room just by walking in, though even I have to admit her sense of humour is atrocious. She's actually the one who suggested I write you this letter, for which I couldn't be more grateful. I really do owe a lot to her. I credit her with keeping us from killing each other, at the start, and bringing us together even now. She really is incredible.

I'm not sure when I'll see you again, but I know I will. Ilia suggested I bring the team to Menagerie for the break in between semesters, which would be right as I'm writing this, but Yang had something of a family emergency which makes that unfeasible. To make a long story short, Yang's not going to be leaving her little sister's side for a while, and I can't make her deal with it alone. I think I'm going to come back home for the summer break, if that's okay with you. Ilia as well, unless Weiss or Yang's dads feel like hosting her. (One of those is far more likely than the other. I'll let you guess which.) Maybe if things go okay I can get Weiss and Yang to come visit, and then you can meet the whole team. In the meantime, we'll be competing in the Vytal Festival, representing Beacon. I hope you'll watch it, and I hope you'll be proud of me.

I know I haven't shown it in a long, long time, but I love you.

Your daughter, always,
Blake Belladonna.*

Blake smiled, proud of her other self making the effort to contact her parents before she herself did.

"Um," Weiss said, "Weiss, how odd is it for humans to be in Menagerie?"

"Very. And if I bring a Schnee with me…well, let's just say, don't be surprised if it ends up in Menagerie's historical records."

*Kali puts the letter down.

"She's okay," she says, blinking back tears. "Our girl's okay."

"And out of Taurus' reach," Ghira says. There's more than a hint of anger in his voice, as mention of Adam Taurus always inspires, but now a sort of vindication as well. "I've heard horror stories of what he's doing up in Vale. It's good that Blake's not a part of it."

Kali leans over and wraps an arm around her husband.

They stay like that for a while.

"I miss her," Kali eventually says. "More than I did yesterday. I should be content, knowing she's safe and doing well, but I just want to see her more than ever."

Ghira nods. "Myself as well. I suppose she seemed less real, before. We knew she was out there, before, but now we know she's at Beacon and she misses us. She still loves us."*

Blake's smile deepens.

*They both pause. Then Kali has an idea.

"It occurs to me," Kali says with a sly grin on her face, "that we haven't been to Vale in quite a while. Perhaps a diplomatic mission is in order?"*

Then it became a frown, her ears drooping. She knew exactly what was going to happen. And she dreaded it.

Qrow smirked. He didn't know much about them, but Blake's mom certainly seems like the 'I'm going to embarrass my child in front of her friends ON PURPOSE' type of parent.

*Ghira blinks, then matches her grin. "Yes, now that you mention it, it has been a while. And what better time than the Vytal festival? We'll have to attend the tournament of course, it just wouldn't be right to go through all that trouble and not show up."

Kali giggles, and her husband matches with a hearty chuckle of his own. "You know," he says, "I also get the feeling we should meet this Yang girl ourselves."

"I did get that impression, yes," Kali says. This time, their smiles have an edge to them.*

"Oh," Yang exclaimed, "We're going to have so much fun."

"Agreed." Weiss replied.

"I hate all of you."

"We know, Blake."

*If there's one thing Kali knows teenagers hate above all else, it's having their parents embarrassing them in front of their friends, second only to their parents embarrassing them in front of their crushes.

They love their daughter no matter what, and their years apart haven't lessened that. They could never hate her.

But she's certainly earned some teasing.*

"Girls, what do you think the odds are of your old man adding Blake's parents to our bi-monthly card games?"

"Kali, most certainly, Ghira, not so sure."

Ruby giggled at Yang's response, with Blake simply horrified in the background.

*"So," Qrow rasps, standing in front of Amber's comatose body, light from her pod illuminating Beacon's underground lair (sorry, Beacon's secret vault) about as well as the actual lights. "What are we gonna do with her?"*

"Wait, if Cinder's dead, shouldn't Amber be alright."

Ironwood shook his head, "I'm afraid, at that point, it might've been too late for Amber. Even if the physical injuries could be healed, whatever damage to her mind was certainly permanent. Best case scenario, we looked at her being in a permanent coma."

"But-"

"Look, Jaune," Qrow interjected, "It's a crappy situation all around. Let's just take the win that Salem wouldn't be able to get her hands on Fall's power."

Jaune didn't like that the girl was still going to die, but at least Pyrrha wouldn't be forced to try to take her power, and, more importantly, won't get killed by Cinder.

*Beside him, Ozpin smiles so thinly that it might actually be a frown. "The main threat is gone," he says. "When she dies, the powers will not pass to Salem's underling."

"We made damn sure of that," Qrow says, and despite everything he can't stop a hint of pride from creeping into his voice.

Ozpin's face definitely has a frown now. "That we did. Instead, the powers will almost certainly pass to some poor girl." He takes an especially somber tone as he says, "These may be the last peaceful days the next Fall Maiden ever knows."

It's a sobering thought. "Unless you wanna use the aura transfer anyways," Qrow suggests. "Give it to someone of our choice, who knows what she's getting into." He doubts Ozpin will go for it, but it can't hurt to keep their options open.*

Jaune tensed up, as did a couple others. Was his hope for naught?

"Um," Oscar began, "Would he-?"

"Not at this point," Ironwood replied, "Since there's no direct threat, he may prefer the extra headache over thrusting the responsibility onto someone else."

"Yep," Qrow agreed, "And, given that we still have no clue what exactly that would entail, I doubt Ozzy's going to take that risk."

*But as expected, Ozpin shakes his head. "It would not be much of a choice for either party," he says. "Not to mention what transferring her aura would do to our candidate..."

Yeah. It's all nice in theory, making sure the next Maiden has a choice in the matter instead of dumping it on whichever poor soul loses the lottery, but in practice... well, someone's going to be stuck with it, and in the long run it's not gonna matter much if she chose it. Might as well let the poor girl keep being herself.

They stand in silence for a while, neither's eyes leaving Amber.

Eventually, Qrow says, "Where do you want me to start looking? You bunch can check in Vale, and Jimmy's got the surveillance state thing down to a science, so it's either Mistral or Vacuo for me. You got a feeling either way?"

Ozpin says nothing, rotating the question in his head. When he does speak, it's not with directions. "Perhaps," he says, "we need not be so hasty with letting dear Amber pass on."

"Really?" Qrow looks at Ozpin askance. "You want to let her be?"

"Not forever," Ozpin says. "Better to let her pass on our terms, so we can be prepared to start searching. But, with Salem's main operative in Vale deceased, the one who took her powers no less, it occurs to me that there exists little direct threat to Amber. It would not hurt to wait a while."*

"Hmph," Maria stated, "Take that lesson to heart, kiddos."

"What lesson?" Nora questioned.

"Not everything needs to be 'Go, go, go!'. Sometimes it's better to just take a break, go slow for a while. A rested head can sometimes come up with brilliant ideas when doing day to day tasks."

Pietro nodded in agreement.

*Qrow pauses. "How long, then?"

Ozpin smiles. "Oh, I don't know. Until the end of the Vytal festival, perhaps?"*

"I can attest to that," Pietro replied, "When building Penny, I was constantly coming up to a brick wall. Eventually, James had to force me to take a break after I passed out in a room."

"Pietro, you had your hand on the switch for the power grid." Ironwood deadpanned.

"Regardless, that break gave me the breakthrough to finally make Penny."

In response, Penny gave her old man a sweet hug.

*Qrow smiles back, just a little. He knows Ozpin's game. "That would leave me with nothing to do until we let her go. Once she kicks it, you'll need me out there looking for the new maiden; but how will I amuse myself before then?"*

"Ah, one of Ozzies sarcastic talks. Feels like I never left Beacon."

"Qrow, that's you talking!"

"And Oz doesn't engage in these talks?"

*"Oh, I'm sure I couldn't begin to speculate. Though I hear that the world's largest sporting event happens to be starting soon. Perhaps you could attend it?"

"Now that you mention it, I do have a niece in that thing." Qrow's hand flicks toward his flask, instinct from not having touched the thing in quite a few minutes now, but he keeps it at his side.

"A niece in the Vytal Festival tournament? My, my." Ozpin says with a smile that might seem innocuous on anyone else's face but is a shit-eating grin on his. "I wasn't aware. I wonder if she would appreciate having her uncle cheering her on?"

Qrow grunts. They stand in silence for a little bit longer before Ozpin continues. "I also heard that an old teammate of yours may be attending as well."

"Tai's staying, then?"

Ozpin nods. "Told me as much himself."*

"Pretty sure dad's not going to let me be alone for longer than a few hours, unless I'm sleeping." Ruby chuckled.

*"Wouldn't do to let the kids outnumber him," Qrow says, and doesn't even try to mask the joy at being able to say that. "But there's a lot of work to do, and they could use some good luck for a change... I'll think about it."

Qrow turns to leave, but a hand on his shoulder stops him.

"Stay for a while, old friend. Please. Enjoy the festival with your family. You all deserve it."

The smile that finds its way to Qrow's face is faint, but in his defence it's a lot more than he's been used to of late. Ozpin squeezes his shoulder. He gives a two-fingered salute as he finally turns to go.

When he enters the elevator, the old man doesn't come with him, instead staying behind, eyes locked on Amber's slumbering figure.

Just a little while longer and she can rest for good. And another poor soul can take up her burden. But until then? Well, no one really pays attention to the stands when kids are beating each other up.

Who'd notice a dusty old crow up there, keeping his family company?*

"Great," Yang muffed, "Never actually thought about that. I'm just going to assume that any black bird I see is you keeping an eye on me."

Qrow scoffed, "As if that'd stop you from getting into trouble."

*Two weeks after she returns to Yang's life, Ruby asks if she wants to play Immortal Ninja 2. Yang accepts, because whupping Ruby's butt at video games is her Gods-given right. (Yang doesn't mention that they actually released the third game a few months ago. Besides, she didn't buy it. Didn't see the point, if there was no one to play it with.)*

"You MONSTER!" Ruby cried out, "How could you NOT buy it!?"

*It's fun, for a while, bantering back and forth. But Ruby seems a bit stiff the entire time, taking just a little too long to laugh and thinking a bit too much before every word she says.

"Hey, Yang?" Ruby eventually says. "Can we talk?"*

"Okay," Nora chimed, "Here come the feels."

*"Of course," Yang says. "What about?"

Ruby seems just a little more at ease. She doesn't look away from the game, though her button mashing loses its ferocity. "...About when I was the Hound. When I ran into you."

Yang's heart skips a beat. She's been trying to forget that night, and her role in it. How, even if it had ended with Ruby safe, it wasn't because of her. What she had been about to do.

"Yeah?" Yang forces out. She forgets to block, and Ruby's quick to punish but messes up the combo halfway through.

"I said some, some things," Ruby says, "and I'm not sure how you took it? Or if you took it at all."

"What do you mean?"

Normally aggressive, Ruby backs her character into a corner as she says, "I wasn't really there when I first saw you, but then on the train... I didn't mean any of it, okay? None of it. I know you and I both said some, uh, concerning things, but I don't blame you for anything, and I definitely don't hate you. I could never."

With how passive Ruby's being, it's only a matter of time before Yang lands an attack and follows it up with a combo that finishes Ruby off. She forces her hands to unclench as the screen flashes a 'victory!' and prepares for round two.*

"Anyone else enjoy how their game is reflecting their current mindsets?"

"I thought I was the only one to notice," Jaune replied, "Nice spot, Ren."

*"Did you just make it up?" Yang says. "Not hating me, but your last words. What you said before you got turned into the Hound. Was it real?"

Slowly, Ruby says, "Yeah, but I don't—"

"Then it still stands," Yang says. "Even if you didn't mean it, you were right. I promised I'd keep you safe, and the one time you needed me I wasn't there for you. You should hate me."

Yang's character doesn't observe much strategy, throwing out attacks at random. A part of her worries she may break the controller, with how hard she's gripping it.

Ruby's defence falters, but Yang's in no state to punish it. "Yang, no," she pleads. "Don't say that. That's not right."

"Yes it is! You should hate me! What happened to you was my fault, and then I found you and—"

"And you saved me," Ruby interjects.

"And Ozpin saved you," Yang counters. "I didn't do anything for you. I was going to kill you. Ruby, I was going to kill you! How can you say I saved you when I was seconds away from blowing your brains out!"

Ruby swallows audibly. "This is going to sound a bit messed up, but promise me you won't worry, okay? It's all better now."*

"Ruby, don't you dare say it."

*"Ruby—"

"It would have been a good thing, if you had killed me."*

"Ruby-"

"You know, if Ozpin didn't get to you in time, it would've been better."

"But-"

"Kiddos," Maria interrupted, "We can table that discussion for later. I think your on-screen counterparts might just answer the discussion for you."

*Ruby blocks all her strikes, counters her grapple and gets Yang's character stuck in one hell of a combo.

The screen displays another victory sign, this time for her.

"Obviously I'm glad it didn't actually happen," Ruby says when Yang doesn't respond. "But I wanted you to. I wanted you to do it, and you tried even though it hurt you so much, and I just..."

"I shouldn't have," Yang says. "I should have held out, should have waited longer, shouldn't have gone through with it."

"No!" Ruby says. "You should have done exactly what you did!"

"I should have waited for Ozpin. I knew help was coming, I should have trusted Ilia instead of—"

"You had no way of knowing he was on his way," Ruby says. "You would have been gambling with my life. Gambling with your life too."

"But it was the right choice! He came, didn't he?"*

Qrow shook his head. "Firecracker, let me be blunt.. In the heat of the moment, you have to make the right choice with what you know. Sometimes it isn't the best choice, but it's the one you've got. If Oz didn't show up, then…" He didn't need to say what the 'right' choice would've been.

*Ruby shakes her head. "Just because it worked out doesn't make it the right choice. If I go to a casino and bet my life savings on some game of chance and I win, does that mean I made the right choice? No, it means I was dumb and got lucky! And if you had waited and Ozpin had still shown up in time, it would have been wrong even if it worked out. If he hadn't, I'd still be the Hound and you'd be dead."*

As Screen Ruby explained, Qrow just threw his hands up in the air. 'Why do I give advice when someone just repeats it back to me?!'

*"Fine," Yang says. "Even if waiting was too risky, I just..." Yang turns to look at Ruby for the first time in this conversation. Her hands are shaking. Her eye is glistening wet. "I was going to kill you, Ruby. How can you say that's a good thing?"

Ruby meets her gaze without backing down. "Because I wanted it, Yang."

Ruby takes a deep, shaky breath. "Because every second I was the Hound, I wanted it to end. I'd do awful things and wake up every day as a monster and I wanted to scream but I couldn't, because they'd ordered me not to, so I'd sit there and try to do something, anything, until my brain got so fuzzy that I couldn't remember why I wanted to scream in the first place.

"And every time there was enough me in my head to think, I'd spend every second wondering how long I had until I wasn't me again. And every time I stopped thinking, I'd wonder if it was the last time. If I'd just... stop being me. It was hell. How could saving me from that, no matter how, be a bad thing?"*

While Ruby was focused on her Screen counterpart's words, Yang had another thought.

'And Mom is stuck in that position. Screaming inside, unable to do anything. I…I hope that it's not too late to save her.'

*Ruby stares her down. Yang blinks first.

Yang lets out a shaky breath. "Okay," she says. "Maybe it wasn't that bad, trying to end you. Trying to put you out of your misery."

Ruby smiles a little. "Yeah! Like I said, you didn't do anything wrong. You've got nothing to blame yourself for."

Yang shakes her head. "I do," she says. "It's still my fault you died— that Salem took you."

"What?" Ruby blinks, smile dropping. "How?"

How? "What do you mean, how? I was a bitch, and you tried to make me stop going out looking for Raven so I yelled at you and stormed off. And then you went into the forest and the Grimm..."

And the Grimm killed you, she doesn't say. Because that's not what happened, now is it?*

"Riiiight," Ilia says, "You don't know. Well, Other You doesn't. We know that your sister killed all the Grimm, only for Cinder to sweep in once she was low on Dust. But-"

"But my counterpart simply thinks the Grimm did it."

*Ruby looks confused. "What about the Grimm? I ran into a few Beowolves, sure, but they didn't give me any trouble."

Yang tries not to reel. "They didn't?"*

"And there's your hangup, Yang. All these years you thought you got Ruby killed, but it was something completely out of your control."

"Thanks, Ren," Yang says sarcastically, "I didn't notice."

*"No, of course not. I was maybe a bit low on ammo by the time I got to Mom's grave, but that wasn't the reason I..." She trails off, looking into space. "Cinder was strong. And because I know you're going to say you should have come with me, on one hand that's really stupid, I'd never needed help there before, and on the other hand you couldn't have done anything. Cinder was strong enough that it took Dad and Uncle Qrow and a bunch of professors to beat her. You were only sixteen. She would have killed you."*

"I definitely don't want to know how that timeline would've worked out."

Blake was about to respond, when Qrow interrupted.

"Better than you think, actually. Ruby probably wouldn't have been taken."

"What!?" Ruby and Yang exclaimed.

*"You're sure the Grimm didn't do anything?" Yang says. "There weren't too many of them?"*

"I have to agree with them," Ironwood added, "There's no way either of them together could face Cinder, especially without warning."

"You're forgetting one thing, Jimmy…Raven."

Yang's eyes widened. Her counterpart didn't know about Raven's Semblance, or her one-save rule. If she was with Ruby, and they lost, then Raven might've-

"Now, before you jump to the heavens, keep this in mind. My sister wanted nothing to do with Oz's war, and even ended up joining Salem's side at Haven-" Ironwood's eyes widened at Qrow's words "-So, even if Raven came in, there's no guarantee that she'd help."

*Ruby blinks, like she's expected Yang to have moved on to arguing about the Cinder thing by now. "No? Not really. Maybe a few more than usual, but I kicked their butts and moved on. It was just Cinder who got me."

Just Cinder. No Grimm.

"I'd," Yang starts, then stops, then starts again, "We'd thought the Grimm had killed you. That you'd died because I started a fight and ran away." She swallows. "I thought it was my fault."

For a few silent seconds, Ruby stares at her. Then she pulls Yang into a hug.

"No, no, It wasn't," Ruby says, and on some level Yang knows she's right but it still feels awful to believe it. Like she's letting herself off the hook. Like lying. "Nothing that happened to me was because of you, you hear me? Nothing. It was just... bad luck."*

Ruby and Yang snorted at Screen Ruby's words, while Qrow just gave a mocking scowl.

*Yang blinks. "I get what you mean, but maybe don't say that in front of Uncle Qrow?"

Ruby pulls back. "What? Why not?"

"It's a long story." Well, it's actually a pretty short story." (his semblance is a bad luck charm and he's too used to blaming himself for things going wrong) but that's its own conversation.*

"Yeah, no way I told you my Semblance while sober. And I'm pretty sure you'd see me more drunk than not after a year believing my niece was dead."

*In the background, Yang can see the game displaying a flashing victory message. Ruby, always stubborn, must have taken Yang out while she was distracted. She'll get her back for them, some day.*

"Out of curiosity, what's the current score?"

"Well, we haven't played a game in a long time, but-"

"42 to 39." Ruby happily declared.

"Bull! Power outages don't count! 40 to 39!"

"They do too!"

*Some day. It's stupid, but that's what it takes for this all to hit her. Ruby's back, and she's going to be back forever, and Yang can play video games with her and cheat and get her back whenever she feels like it. There's no rush. Ruby's not going anywhere.*

"It's the simple things," Maria states, "That are worth fighting the most. The idea that you'll be able to do normal things again, leaving behind only bad memories. Makes fighting Salem all the more worth it, doesn't it?"

Everyone nodded at Maria's words. The idea that, one day, Salem will simply be a bad memory, is an enticing thought.

*Yang's going to go to class and see Ruby there, probably doodling in her notes. Her team will hold game nights, and celebrate finishing essays, and complain about homework, and Ruby will be right there beside them the whole way.

What used to be a Ruby-shaped hole in her life is just... gone. Just like in the good old days, Yang's going to see her sister every single day.

She sniffles, trying to hold back the tears. Ruby, seeming to misinterpret the rush of emotion, pulls Yang back into the hug and says, "If I had anyone else in the world as my sister, I'm not sure I'd be here. You didn't get me killed, Yang. You saved my life. You're the best sister ever, in the whole wide world."

It's not the first time Yang's heard that sentiment. Dad had said she had been a good big sister, even when Yang couldn't comprehend how he could still love her. Uncle Qrow, as well. And Blake, and Weiss, and Ilia. And every single person who'd come to Ruby's funeral, come to think of it. For the past year, Yang couldn't escape people telling her she'd been a good sister.

But for the first time in a long time, she believes it.*

Unsurprisingly, all of RWBY got into a group hug, which was quickly followed by Nora, with Jaune and Ren, unable to actually reach the scythe wielder, opting to put a hand on the shoulders of one of the girls. Even Ilia and Penny got involved.

After a moment, the group disbanded.

"Well," Ironwood declared, standing up, "It seems the story is over. We now know about Salem's hybrids, and can properly prepare for them."

Ruby nodded, "Right. So, Mr. Screen, how soo-"

The pylons projected the screen once again.

THERE IS ONE MORE THING I CAN SHOW YOU, BUT YOU MUST DECIDE NOW! MY ENERGY IS RUNNING LOW, SO YOU MUST CHOOSE QUICKLY. IT'S NOT AS VITAL, BUT IT COULD PROVE USEFUL IF YOU DECIDE TO PURSUE CERTAIN ACTIONS. THIS IS YOUR CHOICE, RUBY ROSE.

"Like wha-"

Interrupting Weiss, the screen started making a countdown from 10. They could only guess that that, once it hits 0, he/it won't have enough energy to show them the vision. Ruby babbled for a couple of seconds but, once the timer hit 3, she yelled out.

"Show us!"

The screen went dark. After a moment, green text appeared.

TRIM AND NOTHING ELSE

Author's Notes: Just one more chapter. While technically the story IS over, there's a side story by the same title, and concerns Emerald. I do believe they'll find the knowledge obtained her rather...interesting.

Yeah, this is by far my longest chapter EVER. None of my chapters ever cracked 40 google docs pages. This one is exactly 60 pages. Shows why this chapter took so long XD

As always, leave a review, fav/follow, and I'll see you all next time.