Team RWBY and Jaune stared at the massive fleet of airships hovering over Vacuo's capital city. They saw ships from every single kingdom: Vale's four-winged transports had been fitted with large turrets, Mistral's had broadside cannons lining their flanks, and Atlas's surviving warships still looked battle worthy. Even Amity Coliseum had been weaponized, with large cannons and other turrets covering it on all sides. It was unbelievable.

"Are they really all here?" Ruby asked, talking to nobody in particular. "Did they come here because... because of our warning?"

"Your warning, Rubes," Yang reminded her sister, placing an arm around her shoulders. "This happened because of you. Because you decided to get the word out about Salem."

"Look at everything," Blake said in awe. "How did they get here so fast? It's like they've been here for a long time."

"Well," Jaune said, "we won't know for sure just by standing around. The Sun's already setting, and we need to find Ren and Nora and Oscar."

"Right," Ruby nodded, then walked towards the city. "Follow me, guys."

The others nodded and followed her lead, entering the city and walking through the streets of sandstone tiles and buildings. Compared to Mantle and Atlas, Vacuo was far less impressive in architecture. But what it lacked in that area, it more than made up for in atmosphere. The streets were filled with people, and it was extremely lively. People were laughing and shouting and cursing up a storm, and some were even brawling in the open.

"Heh," Yang chuckled, "I like it here already."

"Certainly a rough bunch, aren't they?" Weiss remarked.

"Hey Blake," Ruby asked, "did you ever come here back when you were in the White Fang?"

"No," Blake shook her head. "My dad never took me with him when he came here, and when he stepped down and Sienna took his place, her actions burned every single bridge with the people of Vacuo. The White Fang was rooted out of the kingdom almost immediately, and they weren't able to find a foothold in the city again." She made a face. "Not that the White Fang even needed to be here. Discrimination against Faunus is practically nonexistent here. But the people still have a problem with outsiders."

"Guess what means we're just gonna have to earn our keep again," Yang said, walking over to hold her lover's hand. Ruby smiled as she saw that. She was really happy that her sister found someone to be with, but a part of her couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.

"First, we've gotta find the others," Ruby reminded them. "Let's start with Shade Academy. I'm sure Professor Theodore can help us."

"Right," Blake said, slightly apprehensive.

"What's wrong, Blake?" Yang asked.

"Nothing," Blake replied. "It's just that my parents met with Theodore several times before leaving the White Fang, and if they had to describe him in one word, it would be... frustrating."

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "I heard that he's a character. I almost thought about applying for Shade instead of Beacon just because of him. Apparently, he acts even younger and more energetically than Ozpin did."

"Right," Ruby said. "Well, come on. Shade-"

A loud siren interrupted her. Looking around, the group noticed that all the citizens were quickly scattering. Before any of them could say anything, a roar cut through the streets. Then another, and another.

Grimm. And from the noise, there were a lot of them.

"Okay! New plan!" Ruby said quickly. "Split up! Blake, Yang: you go that way!" She pointed to her left. "Weiss, Jaune: You head over there!" She pointed to her right, then directly in front of her. "I'm gonna go that way! Find and kill those Grimm before anyone gets hurt!"

Nodding, everyone ran off without a word. Using her Semblance, Ruby sped off to hunt down and kill as many Grimm as she could before more Huntsmen arrived. It didn't take long before she found a large pack of at least fifty Beowolfs, which immediately turned in her direction and snarled. Unlimbering Crescent Rose, she charged up to the nearest one and sliced it in half with a single swing of her scythe. Without missing a beat, she dodged under the claws of another and cut that one down, too. One by one, she slashed away the Beowolfs before they could properly attack her. Within the first two minutes, she had already cut down half of the pack.

She found herself smiling as she continued to slaughter the Beowolfs. Her scythe felt light as a feather compared to how she felt in the Ever After. She still felt the weight of her burdens, but her experience in the Tree made it all much easier to bear. She was faster and stronger than ever, as if she had a physical weight lifted from her shoulders. And the Grimm there stood no chance of reaching her now.

At least, that was what she thought. But she quickly found herself slowing down the more she fought. It didn't take her long to realize that she was still tired from her last fight with the Curious Cat and Neo, not to mention lack of sleep and food. The Tree might have healed her injuries, but she was still running on empty.

Forcing herself to ignore her fatigue, Ruby adapted and began pacing herself, letting the Grimm come to her instead. The new strategy worked for a while, and she managed to bring down another dozen Beowolfs. But then the remaining thirteen all rushed her at once. Thinking quickly, she focused her mind and tapped into her desire to preserve. Almost immediately, a burst of brilliant white light poured from her eyes, engulfing the Grimm surrounding her and vaporizing them before they could get close.

With the area cleared, Ruby planted her scythe on the ground and leaned on it to catch her breath.

"Man," she panted to herself. "I'm gonna need a long sleep and a shower after we find the others. I hope Professor Theodore can spare us a room."

A roar to her left got her attention. Standing back up, she sped off to find the next pack of Grimm.

As she got closer to the source of the roar, she started hearing the sounds of a fight. There were the sounds of a blunt object hitting home, and familiar grunts and shouts.

"Is that...?" Ruby picked up the pace and made it to the scene of the battle. At least a dozen Beringels were running around, demolishing the buildings around them. Three dozen more Beowolfs were also running around, mostly focusing on one who was fighting them—a young boy dressed in green. The boy was flitting between the Grimm, striking vital points and crushing their skulls with his ornate cane.

"Oscar!" Ruby shouted happily.

Oscar stopped dead in his tracks, and looked over to where Ruby was standing. His gold-to-green eyes practically bulged out of their sockets when he saw her, and he didn't even notice the Beowolf charging at him with claws extended.

"Look out!" Ruby shouted, aiming her sniper rifle at the Beowolf and firing a shot into its head. The bullet tore through the flesh and bone of the creature, killing it instantly. The report of the gun was enough to snap Oscar back to his senses, and he rushed the other Grimm, with Ruby speeding over to join him. Slicing through another five Grimm, she found herself back to back with her youngest friend with the Beringels beginning to notice them and join the fight.

"It's good to see you again, Oscar," Ruby said, cutting down another Beowolf.

"Ruby, h-how are you-"

"Later! First we need to get the attention of the other Beringels! Get them as close together as possible!"

Oscar nodded. "I can do that!" And he bounded off to the nearest Beringel that was demolishing one of the buildings. Moving with surprising speed, he jabbed the gorilla-like Grimm's lower leg with Long Memory, a loud CRACK resounding through the air followed by a roar of pain. The creature turned to slam a giant fist downward, but Oscar quickly dodged out of the way and repeated the attack on another Beringel. Then another and another.

Ruby meanwhile, was chopping Beowolfs to pieces. She knew she was going to regret pushing her tired body so hard, but she didn't care. Once these Grimm were dealt with, she could rest all she wanted.

By the time she cut down the last Beowolf, Oscar had gotten the attention of every single Beringel and was running straight towards Ruby. Momentarily shocked at the number of them, Ruby once again focused on the desire to protect, this time to protect him. Right when the Beringels got in range, she unleashed another burst of white light, vaporizing half of them and turning the other half into stone. Only one of them survived, and it was reeling back in pain, holding its enormous hands to its eyes, blinded.

Oscar acted immediately, launching himself at the monster and jabbing it in the throat with his cane. The impact rang out like a gunshot, and the Beringel fell to the ground, quickly disappearing into black smoke.

Ruby collapsed on her rump, gasping for breath as Oscar leaned on his cane to catch his own. For a few minutes, they just stood there, trying to get their bearings. Eventually, Ruby stood back up and looked at Oscar, smiling as he looked back in bewilderment.

"Ruby?" He asked, taking a small step forward. "Is... is that really you?"

"It's really me, Oscar." Ruby nodded, then grunted when Oscar ran over and grabbed her in a tight hug.

"I thought... I thought you were..." Oscar started sobbing happily. Trying to hold her own tears back for the time being, Ruby returned the hug. "I missed you so much," he sniffed after calming down a bit.

"I missed you too," Ruby replied gently, still holding onto him. A few seconds later, she realized something was off and pushed him back. "Wait a minute, what happened to you? When did you get so tall?"

Looking him over, Ruby realized that Oscar had grown taller than she was, and was less wiry as well. He was wearing a sleeveless, dark gray shirt over white bandage wrap, orange fingerless gloves and dark green cargo pants with black boots, and a tattered olive green cloak with red interior.

"Me?" Oscar replied, perplexed. "What happened to you? You look exactly the same as you did the last time I saw you!"

"But I thought we were only gone a couple days!" Ruby argued.

"A couple days?" Oscar repeated in disbelief. "Ruby, you've been presumed dead for six months!"

"Six months?!" Ruby gasped. "Dead!? But I... I'm not..." she fell back on her rump as the info sank in. "Oh no... Dad... Uncle Qrow... Are they still okay? Did Qrow make it back here?"

Oscar looked down. "He made it back, but when he learned that you didn't... well, he's fallen off the wagon. Hard. Your dad came here with the rest of the Vale forces, hoping to find you here, but... at least he took it a little better. He's probably somewhere in the city, fending off the Grimm."

Ruby sighed, putting her head in her hands. She knew that Qrow was probably going to be worried about her if she didn't make it back soon, but she didn't think she would be dropped six whole months into the future.

"And Ren and Nora?" Ruby asked, looking up at Oscar. "Are they okay?"

Oscar nodded. "They're still grieving, but they've been coping. We all have."

"Well," Ruby sighed, picking herself up off the ground and dusting herself off. "We've made it back, all five of us. I guess we've got some catching up to do, huh?"

"Ruby!"

Ruby turned around to see Yang and Blake running up to them.

"You okay, Sis?" Yang asked. "You look tired."

"I'll be fine," Ruby said. "Where's Weiss and Jaune?"

"Over here!" Weiss called, running up to the group with Jaune in tow.

Yang eyed Oscar curiously. "So which one are you right now?" She asked him. "Oscar or Ozpin?"

"I'm Oscar."

"He's Oscar."

Both Oscar and Ruby spoke at the exact same time, and they laughed awkwardly when they realized.

"Seriously though," Oscar addressed Ruby again. "Where were you guys? When the portal closed, we thought you were all gone forever. Where have you been? How'd you get back?"

Ruby sighed. "That's a long story, and I don't really feel like telling it more than once. Maybe we should call the others first?"

"Right," Oscar agreed, pulling out his Scroll and thumbing through the contacts. While he did that, Ruby beckoned her teammates closer.

"Listen, guys," she said quietly, "I know we need to tell everyone about what happened in the Ever After, but what happened to me? What Neo did and my time with the Tree? That's my story to tell, okay?"

The others looked at each other uneasily, but nodded respectfully.

"We get it, Ruby," Yang said gently. "You can tell us all whenever you're ready." Ruby smiled gratefully. "But you are going to tell us, right? We need to know what happened."

"I will, Yang," Ruby replied, holding out her left pinky finger. "I promise."

Yang smiled, and wrapped her own pinky finger around hers. She knew that she had a lot to make up for with her sister, and she was going to do whatever it took.

"Alright," Oscar said, walking up to them. "Ren, Nora and Winter are heading up to Shade right now. The Grimm have been dealt with, so we should get going. Follow me."

With that, he walked off in the direction of Shade Academy, and the others followed close by.