Chapter Eight

Shellshock

/-\ Yang Xiao Long /-\

"Hello, Yang," she'd said.

As if that could fix anything at all. She simply stood there, practically gloating with just how unbothered she looked. Did she not know that two of her best friends were dead – even when she had a child with one? Did she not care that said child just went through a goddamn war zone and lost one of the few people in this world that she cared about? Was she so completely self-absorbed that she didn't understand what her mere presence would do to… everything?!

Finally, her expression morphed into a frown. "I know I'm the last person you want to see right now, and I won't take up much of your time."

"Never have before," I spat.

She blew a breath out her nose. "Fine. The really short version, then," she said, gesturing to the soldiers behind us. "You're all going with them. You can trust them, unlike what little miss kool-aid here says," she gestured to Pyrrha, who was being restrained by another soldier while Blake reclaimed her swords. She then turned her attention to the former hostage. "You'll take her too. She won't be safe anywhere on Earth except with them. Same as all of you, but for a different reason. She has The Curse."

"Well, as if that ain't cryptic," Qrow said, now getting his arm properly bandaged by a white-armored soldier.

Raven shook her head. "You know why I am."

"Well I don't – why are you even here?!" I shouted.

She slowly turned her head towards me. "Indoor voice, sweetie."

My fists clenched. "Indoor-!"

"I'm here," she interrupted. "Because I live right across the river. Believe it or not, I don't appreciate it when a saucer crashes in my backyard, either." I opened my mouth to- "Yes, I know about that. Of course I know about that," she said. "It's good your first instinct was to run. You should really leave the fighting to the people who know what they're doing."

"And I thought you said you were going to make this short," I said.

For the first time since she appeared, she paused. "I suppose I did," she said, turning around. She waved her hand and a purple vortex suddenly appeared a few feet in front of her. She looked back. "Tell Summer I said hi – we don't talk enough, her and I." Before I could ask what the fuck that was supposed to mean, she strode forward into the vortex

"What the hell was that?!" a red-armored soldier shouted.

A black-armored soldier – this one clearly female – came up to him. "Psionic bullshit, that's what. Just be glad she wasn't hostile." She turned towards me, "C'mon, you've been through enough today. Let's get you out of here."

I nodded and began following her as she led us away from the hellhole we'd come across. I passed Jaune on the way, who was being carried by two soldiers. I stopped and told them I wanted to help carry him. He was my boyfriend, he was only here because of me. He only died because I couldn't let him go, all the way back in Minnesota. They acquiesced, one of them handing off their end of the stretcher to me. The whole time we carried him, all I could think was that he'd be home with his family already if I wasn't so God. Damn. Selfish.

/-\ Qrow Branwen /-\

I really hated it when Raven did shit like that.

Would it have killed her to at least have some contact over the years with Yang? Probably, knowing her. Regardless, I'd been responsible for the safety of all these teenagers – including Jaune. That wasn't going to go over well. I'd tried to get Yang and him to stay with the truck while I went after Ruby and Blake, but they just simply wouldn't listen. I'd been faced with the dilemma of personally ensuring they stayed out of the fight or risking everything to back-up Ruby and Blake. Knowing what I do now, I made the wrong call, and a kid died for it.

Not a whole hell of a lot I can do about it now, though. This is why I went eighty-eight-Mike, back in the day, I remembered. Raven was pissed I wouldn't be joining her on combat patrols, but decisions like that… I was never good at them. Silently sighing to myself, I realized there was still something I could get right. We were all inside that Ops Team's aircraft – most of the soldiers were stood up, hanging onto straps that hung from the ceiling. I cleared my throat, gaining their attention. "So, uhh, where are you taking us?"

"To our base, mate," the green-armored soldier said.

I blinked. "You're Australian?"

"No shit."

I put my hands up. "Woah, just… surprised, is all. This some kinda international unit?"

He gave me a flat look, even through his helmet. "I distinctly remember Spitfire over there telling you we're a classified unit. What part of that did you not understand?"

The black-armored woman glanced at her comrade. "Cut him some slack, Murray. Most people are a little frazzled after an attack. Hell, they were in the thick of it – don't see that too often."

"Wasn't our first," Yang mumbled.

"What?" the woman asked.

"Saucer landed on our house," I said. "They tried to get away, but the aliens blew up their car. They were fighting when I finally got to 'em. Smashed my patrol car into a few of 'em – dunno the rest of the story, but we're still here." My gaze trailed down to the bodybag at our feet. "Most of us, anyway."

"Holy shit, that was you guys?" the blue-armored one – Spitfire – said. "That shit was legitimately haunting. Never had a UFO cleared for us on-"

The blonde girl suddenly jerked awake with a scream, thrashing against her restraints next to me. "Woah, easy there," I said, grabbing one of her arms. Her head whipped towards me, eyes wide and terrified as she breathed heavily. "Nobody's gonna hurt ya, kid. You're safe."

She looked around, seeing all the soldiers in the center and even Yang and Blake across the bay from us. Of course, she also saw Pyrrha, sitting right next to Blake and bound as well as she possibly could be. "Why is she here?!"

"Prisoner of War," Spitfire said. "She'll be going straight to the brig when we set down."

She relaxed a little, fingers untensing from her restraints. "That's… good." She blinked a few times. "Umm… how did I get here? Where are we going?"

"My egg donor came out of nowhere and zapped you two, proceeded to piss me off, and then left," Yang said. "Par for the course, I guess."

Part of me wanted to immediately tell her that it wasn't fair of her to say that about Raven – that she had her own issues to work through and couldn't be there even if she wasn't being hunted down by the illuminati. No matter what I wanted, though, Raven had made it abundantly clear that she would be the one to tell Yang and Ruby about what happened. Not me, not Summer, and not Tai… as if those last bridges hadn't already been nuked off the face of the Earth.

"She tazed you, you both went down, and now we're on our way to a classified military base that doesn't exist," I said. "Be nice if we could know just about anything from these guys, but it's apparently some really high-level alphabet bullshit."

The green-armored soldier chuckled. "Doesn't matter if you wanna know more, you're not gonna know more."

"Yeah yeah, I get it," I said, turning back to her. "Seriously though, you okay? That wasn't an easy thing to go through."

",,,I'll be fine," she said. "I'll be fine."

The black-armored woman looked at her. "You might wanna book an appointment with the base's therapist. Actually, that might be a good idea for you all."

I was about to say we wouldn't be staying long, but then I remembered Raven's warning. We were in danger – we all were. Everywhere except for at these people's base. She hasn't ever warned anyone of any misfortune heading their way, even on the rare occasions she actually bothered to talk. "We'll take it under advisement," I said.

She didn't seem offended, simply going back to her regularly scheduled 'staring at the wall of the plane'. And for a while, the aircraft was quiet. Everyone simply decided to sit (or stand) in silence, waiting out the unusually smooth ride.

Then Pyrrha had to wake up about five minutes later and start spewing death threats. One of the soldiers gagged her with some duct tape – thankfully – but she was more than happy enough to rattle her restraints constantly. I simply leaned back in my seat and hoped the ride would be over soon.

/-\ Ruby Xiao Long /-\

I felt… numb.

My body was moving, but my mind just simply wasn't anymore. I vaguely registered that it got darker and that I was suddenly sitting down. There was shouting earlier, but now there wasn't. All I could see was… was the sights of my gun, interposed over the back of Jaune's head. It felt like I'd been kicked out of the driver's seat of my own body and that I was watching someone else kill my friend while I was powerless to stop them. The gentle exhale of my chest, the resistance of the trigger, the kick of the rifle. It all added up to something so much more real than any recording could ever be.

Dismally, I recognized that I was now in an aircraft of some kind – buckled into a seat without memory of getting into it while the armored soldiers stood in front of us, hanging onto handholds from the ceiling. There was also a pair of green-striped rovers lashed to the floor. One of them had its optics trained on me, even with its gun facing forward. Ultimately, it only served a temporary distraction. My thoughts very quickly spiraled back to the battle – to shooting Blake, to- to killing Jaune. She even said so, well before it happened. You'll get someone killed, Ruby, Blake prophesized. If only I'd listened to her.

At some point, Pyrrha and her hostage woke up. The combination of panicked screams and deranged ranting brought me back out of my head for a little bit, but soon, Pyrrha was gagged and the other girl realized she wasn't being kidnapped. My thoughts had begun to drift once more when the plane lurched. The soldiers didn't seem bothered by it – in fact, many were stretching out their arms now. I felt the aircraft drop out from under me, soon followed by it slamming into the ground with a loud thunk.

One of the soldiers began unlashing the rovers while others helped us with our restraints. Qrow – who I only now realized was next to me the entire time – helped me out of my seat. He said something I didn't catch… my attention was focused on the bandage around his arm. Even on the people I don't kill, I leave scars, I realized. He shepherded me out of the aircraft, behind most of the others. Blake walked alongside Yang, my sister not even giving me a single glance. I remembered the things she said – the things she'd yelled – all boiling down to there being something fundamentally wrong with me. She was right. If there wasn't, I wouldn't be watching them unload his bodybag from the aircraft.

Yang froze half-way down the ramp, Blake walking a few more steps before stopping herself and looking back. It only took a few heartbeats before my sister sprinted out into the blinding light with a shout. When Qrow and I exited the hatch ourselves, we saw her on the floor, having tackled someone.

I was still in a disoriented haze, but a single word cut through all that. "Summer?" Qrow whispered.

All of a sudden, everything became clear. The woman who Yang tackled was already standing up, dragging my sister with her. The woman's eyes shone like sapphire, her hair a deep red – almost looking black – her face… it was like looking in an aging mirror. There was only one person in the entire world who could possibly be all these things at one. "M- Mommy?" The only thing that didn't match my memory of her was her outfit – blue coveralls over an orange long-sleeve.

"Ruby… Qrow," she said, holding out one arm while the other firmly gripped Yang. "Get in here, you two." We didn't wait for another invitation, both of us stumbling over ourselves to embrace her. "I thought you were gone," she said, sobbing into my hair. "When I saw the house… I- I thought they got you."

"We thought you just vanished off the face of the Earth," Qrow said.

"They did get Dad," Yang said.

I didn't say anything, simply nuzzling into my Mom's embrace after far too long of not having it.

She squeezed us tighter. "They didn'tget you. That's all that matters."

We stayed like that for a while, just standing there in the hangar enjoying the simple fact that we were back together. Alive. We stayed so long, in fact, that a security guard came along to usher us away. I didn't let go of her when prompted, instead I clung to her arm while we walked to… I honestly didn't pay attention to where we were going. Everything passed in a blur of metal and paint, but nothing stuck.

Eventually, she stopped outside a room and entered a code into a keypad. We shuffled inside after the door whooshed open. It was fairly bare, having four beds set into the wall, a couple metal dressers, a table with a boardgame on it, a minifridge, and a couple desks with a computer each. "Well, here we are… dorm sweet dorm," Mom said.

"This is where you've been?" Qrow asked.

"We're… not allowed to tell people on the outside who we are," she said. "Too big a risk the aliens or EXALT will find some leverage that way." She took a deep breath. "I… know what Tai was like at the end. I wanted to let you all know I was fine, I really did. But I just… I couldn't. It would put you all at too great a risk. I just hoped that you all wouldn't hate me too much once this was all over and I could go home."

"Would've been a shock, that's for sure," Qrow said, plopping down on one of the chairs. "So how long do you think we'll be here? They sure as hell ain't gonna let us leave now that we've seen the inside of this place."

"No, I don't imagine they will unless you join a strike team."

"Bit old for that," Qrow said, frowning thoughtfully. "Might see if I can get into security, though – I'll have something to do and make a bit of money while I'm at it."

Yang, though, frowned. "Is there a boxing gym here? I need to let off some steam."

"There… is, what-" she cut herself off as Yang promptly walked out the door. Her shoulders slumped. "Fuck. She thinks I pulled a Raven, doesn't she?"

"I murdered her boyfriend," I said, voice hollow. "She probably hates me… and she's right to." If I hadn't decided to just be a hero and listened to Blake instead… he'd be here still. He wouldn't've felt the need to go after me and he knew Blake could handle herself.

"Ruby…" Qrow let out.

I heard him stand up, but I'd already buried my face into Mom's shirt. She tried to comfort me, bringing me closer into her embrace and whispered reassurances in my ear, but it simply wasn't enough.

Just because I had her back didn't mean Jaune's blood was suddenly not on my hands.

/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\

I was more than happy to get away from that lunatic.

As the suited woman was dragged away in handcuffs – and gagged, thankfully – I was shepherded down several levels of what was clearly an expansive underground facility. I was escorted alongside the cat-eared girl by two of the soldiers from the aircraft and several more in blue uniforms with baseball caps instead of helmets.

I looked to the girl at my side, wondering if all these soldiers would be enough for just her. Despite keeping my head down for most of the fight, I couldn't help but catch occasional glimpses of what was going on when there wasn't anything shooting at me. The feats this mostly average-looking girl in her baggy grey sweater and skinny jeans had performed… I've seen less capable gold medal olympians. And then when that psycho took me hostage, she was just so calm. Did they take her emotions too, when they added the ears? I wondered.

As we were moved deeper into the facility, I couldn't help but wonder just where they were taking us. We passed by a firing range – the sound of rifles firing constantly within… it shook me. For just a moment, it was like I was back there, only a few hours prior. I didn't know if they'd be my last minutes on Earth. I didn't even know why it was all happening.

Eventually I was separated from the cat-eared girl, all but a single soldier following her instead of me. I was brought down a flight of stairs, passing through yet another metal door. On the other side stood a white-haired and violet-eyed woman dressed in the same olive military fatigues I'd seen several of the base personnel wear. She stood at the center of a metal ring, surrounded by several man-sized pods. Above us, a few men in labcoats observed through windows.

My red-armored escort saluted. "Corporal Durand," he said, a slavic accent coloring his words.

She returned the salute. "Private Kulyk. Dismissed – I can take it from here," she said, her voice tinged with a French accent. She turned her gaze to me as her comrade left the way we came. "So, I understand you have zhe Gift."

I blinked. "Pardon me?"

She raised a palm, forming a marble-sized ball of purple light. "Zhe Gift," she said. "It allows us to perform feats zhat many would consider… unnatural."

I backed up a step. "What… what is going on?"

"I am simply confirming the veracity of our intel," she said. "An old friend claimed you to be Gifted. Normally, confirmation would require a lengthy stay here, in one of zhe Psionic Pods, but even just standing in your presence… it is enough."

"What are you rambling about? Psionics? That's… that's not real!" Even with as distracted as I was, I could already poke holes in my own logic. Aliens weren't real, then they were. Cat people who could teleport and run up walls weren't real, then they were.

"Yes, zhe 'cat person' was a surprise to us as well."

"What? But we weren't talking about-" I cut myself off. I was thinking it.

"You were, yes."

My blood froze. She could read my thoughts – what else did she know about me? Who were these people? Were they trying to get at the company? Why else would I be here?

"Ah, the reason you are here is much simpler zhan corporate espionage. You are like me. Even if you are untrained with your Gift, you have massive potential. Potential zhat others would use for evil."

"You really think I can read minds? If I could do that, things would be so much easier."

Annette shook her head. "No, I don't believe you can. Yet, at least. As I said: you are untrained in the usage of your Gift. With practice and more zhan a little instruction, you can master a talent most don't even know exists."

What was this woman even talking about? "There is zero chance I could go all of my life without knowing I could do such things."

"Tell me, Miss Schnee," she started. "Have you ever walked into a crowd and were just… overwhelmed?" As if I'd admit to that. "Have you ever gotten just a feeling that someone may not have had the purest of intentions towards you?" Every single day as an Heiress. "What about names? You remember them very easily, yes?"

"Of course I do. I have to," I answered.

"Non, I think you cheat," she said. "For instance, what is mine?"

"Annette Durand," I answered. "That other soldier said your name."

She smirked. "He addressed me as Corporal Durand, mademoiselle. I have not spoken my given name once, yet you know it all zhe same."

"That…" I cut myself off, realizing she was right. "Wait, you could've just… I don't know, put it in there instead!" I gestured to my head.

"I suppose I could, but I did not." She gestured to one of the pods. "If you are so resistant to the truth, perhaps we could prove it with scientific data? We are quite adept at identifying zhe Gift, even if you will be isolated for a prolonged period of time while zhe tests run."

My gaze trailed over to the pod – the big, gunmetal grey cylinder with a couple more bolted on to the sides. Despite what she told me, I couldn't be sure of its true purpose – she wouldn't be the first to lie to me for her own gain, after all. Part of me was curious regardless, imagining myself as a psionic warrior, throwing balls of energy at the very same alien invaders that had almost taken my life just an hour ago. But another part of me… I saw Winter, my baby sister. I saw her growing up under our father – maybe under Whitley, if he keeled over soon. Even if I became powerful, there were still risks. The thought of leaving her to fend for herself… "Do I have a choice?" I asked, turning back to Annette, hoping she'd get my meaning.

"XCOM is not like EXALT," she said. "They gave me a choice to enlist, just as we're giving you a choice, too."

"Then I want to go home."

She frowned. "I… hate to be the bearer of bad news, but zhat is, frankly, impossible."

"You said I had a-"

"To enlist," she clarified. "Regardless of your opinion, you are one of zhe most powerful latent psionics we've ever encountered. If we sent you home, you would be abducted by EXALT within a week. On top of zhat, your family would be put in danger as well by your simple presence. Your choice is to either help us fight, or to be confined to base for the duration of zhe war. You would not be a prisoner. You would be free to access zhe base's non-restricted facilities – zhe same scenario as if you were a civilian consultant and/or protectee."

"So you just want me to sit around all day while aliens burn my home?! Potentially for years on end?!"

She held up a hand. "Non, I want you to help us fight back. But as I said – what I want is not important, this is your decision."

I threw up my hands. "I can barely even use a gun – I'm the heiress to an automotive company, not a soldier! I know how to negotiate multi-million dollar deals and occasionally draw a blueprint if necessary, why do you want me so bad?"

Annette was silent for a moment, studying me. "...perhaps zhere is anozher way," she said. "I sense great apprehension in you for battlefield roles, but you say you know machines? We cannot allow you to leave unless its in a strike team, but if you could prove to us zhat your words are true, perhaps Doctor Shen could find some use for you. You will certainly not be sitting idly by, zhen."

A retort died on my lips. What she was proposing… I looked around again – looked at all the specialized machines and precise angles. All of these things were built by some very smart people. I shook my head. I still didn't know anything about this organization – not really. On top of that, I was still being confined to base indefinitely. I looked back at Annette. "Whatever offer you have, save your breath. Please take me to my quarters and leave me alone."

Her frown deepened. "I see zhere is no convincing you, mademoiselle," she said, walking past me. "Very well. I shall show you where zhe basic amenities are located and zhen we shall part ways. If you ever change your mind, ask any of the base personnel, and zhey will direct you to me."

"I'll be sure to do that," I said, rolling my eyes. Right now, I just wanted to be alone for a while. Even though I just woke up not twenty minutes ago, I felt completely drained. My muscles were sore and my stomach was rolling. I didn't even remember my head hitting the pillow when the tour was finished.

/-\ Blake Belladonna /-\

I wasn't surprised when they separated me from Weiss, nor was I surprised when they confiscated Gambol Shroud. I simply impressed upon them that it was one-of-a-kind, mine, and not to be dissected. Even though I wasn't as attached to my weapon as my Ruby was to hers, it was still hard letting it go. I wanted so much to lock my fingers around its grip and simply refuse, but I knew that was an impossibility. There were many proverbs about a huntsman being naked without their weapon and the moment I let mine walk out the door was the same moment I knew their veracity. It didn't matter that I could probably incapacitate every single one of my numerous guards even without Gambol Shroud, it was the principle of the thing.

My seven-odd guards led me through the metal corridors of the base, passing numerous base personnel. Some wore labcoats, others wore coveralls, and yet others wore simple olive green military fatigues. All of them stood aside for the crowd I had keeping me in line. Eventually, we stopped traipsing around the base and came to a conference room. It was relatively spacious – had to be, given the six guards that were coming in with me plus the man in a green sweater already inside. The room itself was fairly decorated – black carpet with a mahogany-colored pattern on it and a big wooden table of a matching color.

The sweater man was already seated at the opposite head, he motioned for me to sit and I did so. The soldiers took up positions along one wall, weapons at a low ready but fingers off the triggers. He pressed a couple buttons on a keyboard built into his side of the table.

"Starting recording!" A cheerful voice said.

My gaze shot upwards to the speaker mounted in the ceiling. "Penny?"

"How the hell do you know the name of our Base AI?" the sweater man asked. "Our highly classified base AI, I might add."

For only a moment, I considered trying to lie my way out of this situation. I'd certainly done it enough times in the White Fang, but this situation was different. I still had to keep an eye on Ruby to make sure she didn't unlock any auras and I couldn't very well do that from a prison cell. No, better to just rip the band-aid off. I flexed my feline ears. "You've probably noticed I'm not from Earth by now, but it gets weirder than that. I'm from the planet Remnant, where there are clones of a lot of the people here," I said. "Penny Polendina is… was an aspiring huntress. I didn't know her very well, but she was very dear to my version of Ruby. There was… an accident in a tournament, shortly before I woke up here. She didn't survive."

He simply stared at me for a moment. Even through his intense, no-nonsense visage, I could tell I'd thrown him off. It wasn't my intention, but I understood. "That… is certainly a story," he muttered. "What is your name?"

"Blake Belladonna."

"Penny, search for any records of one 'Blake Belladonna', please."

I blinked. "Um, you might not find any. I haven't found clones of everyone I knew back home, and there's a lot of new peop-"

"Your search returned one result!" Penny interrupted. "Blake Belladonna, born to Ghira and Kali Belladonna January 19, 1997 in Osaka, Japan. Immigrated to the US circa 2001 with her family, names changed from Amaririsu upon immigration. Orphaned in a car accident April 11, 2009. She now resides in San Diego, California." The wall changed, displaying… my face. Well, my face with a few changes. I was apparently heterochromatic on this world, with a single sky blue eye while the other was a deep brown. A small part of my hair was dyed a golden color and my Faunus ears were completely missing.

"Penny, when was this photo taken?" he asked.

"It was uploaded to Blake's social media approximately two hours and three minutes ago."

He turned back to me. "Bit shortsighted to choose an alias of a living person, isn't it?"

"I didn't choose an alias," I said, looking at the girl displayed on the wall. "It's simply who I am. We're just different people from different planets." In an idle moment of thought, I wondered what it would be like to meet her. Briefly, I entertained the thought of bringing her back to Remnant, for one last conversation with… well, not her parents, but close enough. She'd lost them at age twelve… the same age I left my own parents for the White Fang.

"So it would seem," he finally said, turning to one of the guards to the side of the room. "Ramirez, you get anything?"

The blue-armored man shook his head. "No sir, she's not psionically active."

"That's a relief," he said. "Alright, Miss Belladonna, I won't say that I fully believe you – your story is far-fetched – but I will say that I believe you enough to not throw you in the alien containment cell next door."

"How comforting."

"My name is John Bradford – I'm the Central Officer for the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, XCOM for short. I have a few more questions for you, if you don't mind answering them."

I shrugged. "Not like I have a choice."

And so we got to it. Over the next half-hour or so, we went over basic things such as why I was here, how I got here, why I didn't just run off the second I was free, what a Faunus was, how Pyrrha knew I was a Faunus, several variations of those questions, etcetera etcetera. Though I hadn't been caught very many times, I could certainly recognize various interrogation tactics when I saw them.

Eventually, Bradford seemed satisfied enough to get back to his regular duties and sent me away with a couple guards who would show me to an isolated room. This base really does have everything, I thought, passing a swimming pool on the way. I'd been informed that I'd be guarded around the clock "until it was determined I was not a threat to XCOM". All that meant was I was stuck here in this room for a while, soldiers stationed right outside.

It wasn't easy to push down the comparisons to how We were treated by the Humans back home, but I managed it. These people were in the middle of a war for their own survival, it makes sense they'd be paranoid. Doesn't mean it doesn't suck for me, I thought.

Eventually, I took up a meditation pose on the rug – not like there was much else to do in here. All that my room was furnished with was a bed, desk, and an empty bookshelf. Hopefully they had a library or something I could check out books from. Even if I enjoyed meditating, it would get quite boring after a while.

After an hour of meditation, my posture began to slowly sway as muscles relaxed. It had been a long day for everyone involved. I only resisted the embrace of dreamland long enough to get into bed.

That night, I dreamed of all the civilians I'd failed to save. Jaune's face was on every body.

On A Planet Far, Far Away

/-\ Ruby Rose /-\

We all sat by the fountain in the village we stopped at; all of us sans Jaune and Yang. We were getting a little low on supply money, so we decided to go off the path a little to see if we could scrounge up any work. The Geist we were contracted to kill didn't go down easy, but of course it didn't – it was a Geist, for crying out loud! The people didn't exactly have much money to pay us with, most villages didn't, it seemed. They did have spare food and ammo to give us in addition to the hundred-ish Lien they scrounged up. Of course, they were incredibly thankful, as people always were, but it still felt… weird; acting like fully-fledged huntsmen and huntresses after barely a year of Beacon.

I sighed. The five of us were… remnants; the survivors of broken teams. Neither Blake nor Pyrrha were coming back, and we all knew it. Nora tried to be her peppy self, but sometimes it came off as a lot more forced than it was at Beacon. I guess I wasn't much better – I couldn't stand to see Yang… like this. Ren was probably taking it the best out of any of us – or at least he looked like he was.

I heard someone approach and I looked up from my scroll to see Jaune, new outfit donned. His armor saw a massive upgrade – covering more of his chest, better gauntlets, and all around looking nicer. But the thing that caught my eye the most was the sash around his waist. The clip that held it closed, though… the circular bronze pin etched with Pyrrha's emblem. I gave a sad smile. He simply nodded, pulling out his gilded sword and shield. Her circlet – the only thing that hadn't been turned to dust – was forged into the metal, nicely accenting the white.

Nora and Ren ran up to him practically smothering him in a hug. I heard more footsteps behind me. Turning around, I was greeted by the sight of my one-armed sister approaching. She wore one of Dad's old huntsman jackets – though her emblem covered his – atop a dull yellow tank top. She also wore her black riding pants and leather boots, but they seemed just a little out of place with the rest of her outfit. In addition, a new pauldron stretched over it, the black metal ending just below where her arm ended, while a purple leather strap reached across her chest and fastened under her other armpit. Also new was her other half of Ember Celica strapped to her right leg – she'd been immensely thankful Ren could retrieve it under the cover of his semblance, even if the arm was obviously too far gone to reattach.

As she approached, I realized that the new pauldron had a white emblem on it, and that it wasn't hers. It only took me a moment to recognize the stylized flower…

Blake's flower.

My tail drooped as I looked into her sad and blue eyes. I did the only thing I could do…

I ran forward and enveloped her in a hug.

(A/N) And here. We. Go. That's the last Remnant PoV that was in the original version, barring the fact that I changed the outfit Yang wears. Thinking about it now, her Hunter alt-outfit is way too party girl and happy for what's going through her head. So she gets a combo of her DGAS outfit, her Mistral outfit, and the pauldron with Blake's symbol on it. I think that combo nicely symbolizes that she wasn't anywhere near as ready to leave as she ended up being in canon, she just did because she feared losing more people she cared about.

Also, Ruby's gonna have a very long road to recovery from this, as I'm sure you well guessed. Not to mention, everyone all blames themselves at least a bit for Jaune's death; and it's hard to argue against most of them. Not Ruby, though, it's pretty easy to factually disprove her responsibility in it, but good luck actually convincing her. Anyways, that's all I had! Have a nice rest of the day!