Chapter Nine
The ocean filled the horizon before Team RWBY. The smell of salt was heavy in the air, and the cries of gulls loud in their ears. The stream they had been following burbled happily down the last fifty feet to the surf, spreading into much smaller rivulets as it crossed the beach. Rolling bluffs blocked the view on either side of them, and with their limited line of sight they couldn't tell if they were near either the ships or the cove.
"Any ideas on which way to follow the beach?" Ruby asked her team.
"I could take to the sky," volunteered Weiss. "I can get the lay of the land from up high."
"Good idea," said Ruby. "We'll wait here for you to get back."
Weiss moved a few paces away from the group while Troy and Rime looked on curiously. She drew her sword and her eyes flashed as a large glyph materialized in front of her. A moment later a queen lancer, spectral white and icy blue, appeared. Troy whistled.
"So you can just summon grimm, huh?" he asked.
"I can only summon avatars of things that I have defeated in battle, and that challenged me to grow as a Huntress," Weiss replied, climbing onto the lancer's back.
"You've killed one of those things!? Holy crap. You guys just keep getting more awesome," Troy said enthusiastically.
Weiss didn't respond to this, and a moment later she was airborne and off over the bluffs. The group watched as she disappeared, and then looked to Ruby.
"Now we wait," she said. "Keep your eyes open, of course, but there's not a lot to do until she gets back. Good time to take a quick break." With that said, she sat down on the ground, using her cloak as a blanket to shield her from the sand. She pulled out her water bottle and took a drink.
Yang, Blake, and the two students followed suit. As they sat there, Rime spoke up. "Blake, you wanted to know why I wanted to kill grimm." She fiddled with a silver fastening on her shirt as she spoke. "I want to kill them because they killed the people that mattered to me."
"Revenge, eh? Not a bad reason, that," Yang said.
"Wanting to avenge fallen friends and family is pretty common. Lots of Hunters join for that reason. But what is your long-term goal? Killing grimm is fine, but you need something beyond that to keep you going," Blake said.
Rime kept fiddling with the buckle on her shirt. "I guess I don't want more people to have to deal with people they love dying," she said.
Ruby smiled warmly at her. "That's a much better reason than some I've heard from people who want to be or are Hunters. Just remember that everyone on Remnant is a person with hopes and dreams, fears and regrets. We have a duty to help them all, if we can."
"Even if they're jerks?" Troy asked.
"Even if they're jerks," Blake said.
"Well…" Yang started, then stopped when Blake elbowed her in the ribs. "Fine. Though making sure the jerks stop being jerks is part of it too."
Their conversation broke off when the thrumming of wings alerted them to Weiss's return. Weiss stayed seated, yelling over the hum of her lancer's wings.
"There's another ship and it's under attack," she said. "They're still offshore, maybe three, four hundred feet. I don't know how we'll get us all there, unless you can take us that far, Ruby."
"Weiss, how many people do you think you can get on that lancer?" Ruby asked, getting to her feet.
"I can probably summon a nevermore instead, but that's going to tax my aura, especially after that fight earlier."
Ruby considered for a moment. "Do it. I'll take Rime, the rest of you are with Weiss. Rime, how good are you with that rifle?"
"Pretty good. I always score well in marksmanship, at least. Why?"
In response, Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose and racked the slide, chambering a round. "We're going to be long range support for this fight. Brace yourself!"
Without waiting for a response, Ruby shifted into a storm of petals and swept Rime away with her. She sped down the beach in the direction that Weiss had returned from and reformed on top of a small bluff several hundred feet away from where they had started. Next to her, Rime swayed and nearly fell over.
"Oh my god. That was an experience I do not want to repeat," she said weakly.
"Hey, it's not so bad. Eyes up, we have targets." Ruby had already planted her scythe blade in the sandy earth, using it as a brace for her sniper rifle. She tracked for a second, and then fired. Out over the waves, a griffon jerked and plummeted to the water, trailing black smoke.
Rime's eyes widened as she took in the scene. There was a ferry, roughly three hundred feet out, and it was swarming with people and grimm. Griffons were thick in the air, diving at the hapless figures that were running around on the deck. She caught sight of a massive white nevermore swooping in from her left, and several griffons broke away from the ship to engage it. She unsheathed her longsword, the blade whirring as it transformed into her rifle. She planted her feet, stock firmly pressed into her shoulder, and breathed out as she tracked a griffon of her own. She squeezed the trigger, and her target was knocked from the sky with a shriek.
"Good!" Ruby said from beside her, sniper rifle booming as she took the head off another griffon. "Keep them off our team until they land on the ship, then pick off the ones that you're sure won't have civilians behind it."
Rime kept breathing steadily as she tracked another grimm. Her first shot winged her target, and it stayed aloft. Swearing softly, she readjusted her aim. Her next shot took it in the throat, and it fell soundlessly from the air. Grinning in satisfaction, she started to hunt for her next target.
On the back of the nevermore, Weiss, Yang, Blake, and Troy held on tightly to its feathers as they soared towards the ship. Troy whooped as they flew, clearly enjoying the ride.
From her perch right behind the nevermore's head, Weiss called out. "We've got hostiles incoming, hold on!"
As they watched, a pack of griffons broke away from their assault on the ship. One immediately fell from the sky, its head a smoking ruin. They could just make out Ruby and Rime on top of a bluff, providing covering fire for them. Now Yang was whooping too, cheering on her teammates.
Two more griffons were knocked from the sky, and then they were on them. Yang, knife-blade smile on her face, got to her feet, keeping balance on top of the nevermore through sheer force of will. She looked at Blake and called, "Try to keep up!" She leapt then, landing squarely on the back of one of the griffons. It shrieked as Yang broke one of its wings with a crushing blow from her prosthetic, forcing it down towards the ship.
Blake, grinning widely herself, unslung Gambol Shroud and threw its sickle blade like a grappling hook at another griffon. It caught fast around its throat, and she too leapt from the back of the nevermore.
"Showoffs," muttered Weiss. Then, to Troy, "Get ready to jump onto the ship. Now!" She jumped off herself, gracefully tumbling once in midair before landing in a fighting stance on the ship's deck and darting towards a woman who was backed against the railing by a griffon's raking talons.
Troy leapt as well, flailing through the sky as he hurtled to the deck. He managed to tuck and roll at the last instant, but still hit the deck far harder than he meant to. He got to his feet, winded and shaking his head. "Ow," he said. He didn't have any more time than that as a griffon swooped at him.
He kept his shillelagh in front of him and dodged to the right as its razor-sharp beak lunged at him. He retaliated with a crushing blow to the back of the griffon's head, and the beast collapsed, wings spasming as it died. "Ha! Got one!" he cried in triumph.
Yang crashed to the deck next to him, hair now aflame, her one-time mount crushed and dying beneath her as she landed. "Good one, kid," she said, then rushed into the fray.
On the very top of the ferry, Blake landed gracefully on the captain's cabin, a headless griffon falling to the sea behind her. She converted her weapon back into a sword and leapt from her perch. As she fell towards the main deck, she kept her sword to the side and slashed a griffon from flank to neck, using the resistance to slow her fall. She tumbled forward as she landed, and then sprung up and ahead, taking another griffon in the throat. It snapped futilely at her as it died, unable to move its head forward with the blade pinning its throat.
Above them, Weiss's avatar called stridently as it caught a griffon in its claws and ripped the smaller creature in half. The fight was over within minutes, RWBY and the students having made short work of the hostile grimm. Ruby used her semblance to fly over the water to the ferry, bringing Rime with her. Rime came out of the storm of petals off-balance and was caught by Troy before she could fall over.
"Never. Again." she said, pale face taking on an ashy texture as she fought with her gorge.
"Right?" Blake said in solidarity with the younger woman.
Ruby was striding the deck, and her and her team started checking on the survivors. "Yang, get Slate or Hyde on the scroll, let them know we have more incoming, including wounded." She knelt before a young woman who was weeping as she cradled an arm that bent at an unnatural angle. "Here, let me get that in a sling for you." Ok Ruby, simple splint and sling, you can do this, she thought to herself as she pulled out her first aid kit.
Similar scenes were taking place as the rest of her team, students included, began to help where they could. Weiss shook her head sadly as the man she had been trying to help convulsed and then died. He looked fine externally, but Weiss was sure he had ruptured something and had been bleeding internally. There was only so much they could do with their limited first aid kits, and heavy trauma care wasn't something they were equipped or trained for. It was likely more would die before they could get them to town.
As Ruby finished wrapping the girl's arm in a sling that she was fairly proud of, a broad-shouldered man with a ragged, grey-streaked beard approached her. He had bags under his eyes, his clothing was ripped and travel worn, and there was a bloody bandage wrapped around his head.
"Thanks," he drawled, his voice scratchy and deep. "Didn't think we were gonna make it when those bastards showed up." He held out his hand, and Ruby shook it.
"It's what we do, sir! I take it this group are from Vale, too?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah. We lost our lone Huntsman a few leagues back. Poor bastard was running on fumes, and we got attacked by a whaddya call'em, a shark gimm, carcharadon, yeah that's it." He snapped his fingers as the name came to him. "It was takin' bites outta the hull and I thought it would sink us, but then that glorious sonuvabitch killed it. Shame he died in the process. Then these flying things showed up, and I thought we were doomed. Name's Russet. Arlo Russet."
"Good to meet you, Arlo. We've got a journey of about three miles to get to town. Can you get your people together, take stock of who might need help making the trip?"
"I dunno if I'd call 'em my people, but sure, I can start roundin' 'em up." He moved off, calling out to others on the ship as he did so.
There was a rough grating noise as the ferry ran aground on the beach, and the sound of people shouting as a makeshift walkway was lowered. Ruby rejoined her teammates as Blake finished bandaging a young man's arm. His eyes widened when he saw her.
"You- You're Ruby Rose. From the broadcast a few weeks ago." He struggled to his feet; pain forgotten as he stared into Ruby's silver eyes.
"Uh, yeah, haha. At your service!" Ruby said awkwardly. Internally, she started to panic. Oh shoot I never thought about getting recognized. What should I say? Crap crap crap.
Weiss, recognizing the panic behind her friend's eyes, came to her rescue. "What's your name?" she asked, gracefully inserting herself between Ruby and the young man.
His eyes snapped to Weiss. "I'm not important." He impatiently pushed past her, undeterred. "Where were you when Salem attacked us?" His eyes were now bright, angry.
Ruby flushed, stammering. "Um"-
"We were busy with another mission," Yang interjected, putting herself in front of Ruby as well.
"You've been through a lot, please, let's take it easy and talk things over," Blake said imploringly as she stepped forward as well.
"Do you know what we've lost!?" He was shouting now, and others had paused, no longer disembarking from the ship so that they could see what was happening.
"More than some, less than others, I'm sure," Weiss said.
"Less? Less? My home and family are all gone. I watched my parents and brother die, right before me. My house flattened, neighbors killed, city I grew up in demolished, and you think I've lost less than some people?"
Ruby spoke up quietly, moving in between Blake and Yang. "You still have your life, right? I've watched friends get killed as well. I was there when Beacon was attacked. I saw Atlas burning as it fell from the sky. We've all lost something to Salem. I'm sorry we couldn't be there. Believe me, our priority is still to stand against her."
The boy continued, still angry. "We saw your message, how Atlas was under attack. How they needed help. And then we got attacked and got no help ourselves. I thought Hunters were supposed to help people." His voice broke and he collapsed to his knees, sobbing huge, gasping sobs.
Blake crouched down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, and he didn't try to move away. Arlo reappeared and sat on his haunches next to the boy as well. "Hey there. I know things are hard, but takin' it out on these lasses isn't gonna help anyone. We've all seen Hunters put everything on the line, again and again. They die just the same as us, and still they put themselves in harm's way for our sake."
The young man, boy, really, who couldn't have been any older than thirteen, continued to sob, words lost to him. Arlo said, "You just take yer time. We'll be in a safe place soon, and these Huntresses are gonna be by our side the whole way."
Arlo stood and wearily rubbed the nape of his neck. "Sorry 'bout that. We've all been under a lotta stress."
"Hey, it's no problem," Ruby said bravely, shaking off the shock she had felt at the young man's anger.
"We know how he feels," Blake said sadly. "It hurts us, too, when we can't save people. We just try to save who we can."
Arlo nodded somberly, and then asked, "Did I hear right, are you really Ruby Rose?"
"Yeah, and this is my team. We arrived in Patch yesterday to help with the refugees," Ruby said. "The younger two are students at Signal Combat School, under our mentorship. It's all hands on deck, I'm afraid."
"Shit, younger two. Yer'all young to me. Kids puttin' their lives on the line." He shook his head sadly. "I'll be damned I didn't recognize you sooner, you were all over the feeds for a while there a few weeks back."
"I'm glad people saw it. We tried our best to get a message out, wanted to prepare the world the best we could," Ruby said. A matronly looking woman came over and put an arm around the sobbing boy, pulling him to his feet. He didn't look at them as he was led down the makeshift gangplank to the beach.
Ruby, Arlo, and the rest followed them down. There were maybe seventy people all told, several of whom had wounds, and nearly a dozen that would need carried or dragged via travois to get to the town. There was also a line of shrouded figures, the bodies of the people who had died on the journey.
Arlo tasked a group of people to gather driftwood while Troy sang the pieces into shape. Arlo handily assembled them, using some canvas from the ferry to make a series of beds for the badly injured to lie on. As they took stock, and Ruby consulted with her team about which direction they would need to head to get to Patch, a piercing melodic whistling caught her attention.
Ruby's head whipped around, her eyes scanning the bluffs. "Melody!?" Ruby called joyously as she spotted a trio of people coming across the sand, led by a brilliantly colored bird faunus.
"Ruby!" A vivacious, beautiful girl called back. She was brightly dressed in blues and yellows, her clothing evocative of exotic jungle-dwelling birds, flowing and graceful. There was a delicate pattern of jewel-colored feathers over her cheekbones, she had bright orange eyes, and a lyre in her arms that she was plucking at.
Now laughing, Ruby bolted over the ground in a swirl of petals and hugged the other woman. "Gahhh I thought everyone I knew from school had left! Dad didn't say anything about you guys still being here!"
"What, no tearful reunions for me and Jack?" A blue-haired teen dressed in extravagant robes with a staff slung across his shoulders asked. Next to him was a massive, hulking young man with a bowl cut and a huge slab of metal that was vaguely sword shaped across his back.
"Well, not tearful, but it is good to see you!" Ruby exclaimed. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We're the team you were supposed to rendezvous with," Melody said, still plucking at her lyre. "Tai sent us to the cove, seeing as we're the only academy aged students still on Patch."
Ruby rounded on her mentees. "Did you two know who the team was at the cove?"
"Uh, yeah?" Troy said. "I didn't think it was important, though. Hey Al, hey Jack."
The other two teens nodded back at Troy and Rime.
"We spotted a white nevermore from the lookout and came to investigate. Which one of you was that? Unless it was an aberration, I'm sure it was summoned." The blue haired teen, Al, peered at Weiss and nodded in satisfaction. "Ah-ha. A famous Schnee avatar, unless I miss my guess."
"You have me at a disadvantage, I'm afraid," Weiss said cooly, arms crossed.
"Aoluine Quicksilver, at your service, m'lady. Called 'Al' by those afraid to pronounce my full name," Aoluine said, bowing deeply.
"Ruby, I didn't know you had friends at Signal," Yang said teasingly.
"Oh shush, you. There were people I liked, and Melody was one of them. And as much as I'd like to catch up, we've got people to take care of. Can you three accompany us back to Patch? The extra eyes and hands will come in handy," Ruby asked.
"Of course we can," Melody said.
"Do you also happen to know the way back? We kinda took a detour through the woods to get here, and aren't sure which way it is," Blake asked.
"My dear lady, but of course," Aoluine said. "Just follow us, we'll not lead you astray," he winked at her. Blake regarded him with bemusement, eyebrow raised.
Yang, in no way whatsoever threatened by this, was looking at the huge teen's sword while he stood there impassively. "I swear Jack, you've doubled in size since I last saw you, and you were about the size of an ox then. You can really swing that sucker around?" she asked.
He grunted in reply.
"Still not much of a talker, eh? That's ok, you can let that bad boy do the talking in a fight, am I right?"
He grunted again.
"Well, nice chatting with you!" She caught Blake's eye and made a surreptitious circling motion with her finger by her temple, and Blake grinned.
Arlo came over to them, rubbing the back of his head. "Hey, is there anythin' we can do for the deceased? I hate to just leave 'em there on the beach for the crabs and the birds."
"Allow me, my good sir," Al said, walking over to the surf. He stooped to collect a handful of seawater, and then went over to the somber line of bodies. He planted his staff in the sand and cast the water over the bodies as a dun-colored dust stone on his staff glowed. A sheet of something like quicklime rose over the bodies, forming a tomb. He smoothed it out with a gesture from his staff, and then used the base of the staff to write an epitaph in the rock before it fully set.
"Here lie brave souls from Vale, perished on their journey. May they rest in peace."
Everyone assembled bowed their heads in a moment of silence, and then looked at Ruby as she spoke up.
"All right! RWBY, students, Melody and team!" Ruby called, gathering their attention. "We have seventy people to protect and three miles to cover! Al, you're on point with Blake, I need you to path find, and Blake will be our eyes and ears. Melody, you're on morale duty! Weiss and Troy, Yang and Rime, I want you on the left and right flanks respectively. Jack, you've got rearguard. And I will rotate and cover where needed. Questions? No? Ok, let's move!"
Melody struck up a tune, and began to sing in a clear, high voice. The effect was immediate, as the spirits of everyone listening picked up. Ruby remembered that she called her semblance 'Inspiration,' and that she could use it to boost the energy of everyone listening. Formation in place, the train of refugees began to trudge their way inland as the Hunters roamed their flanks, ever vigilant.
Ruby circled the group, splitting her attention between the woods and the people. Periodically, she would stop to chat with someone. Arlo in particular fascinated her. He had said that these weren't his people, but she noticed how he always seemed to take charge, and that people listened to him. He had a habit of peppering his speech with light vulgarities, and he liked to talk. She got out of him a more or less cognizant version of the events that had befallen Vale.
"I was on a construction crew, helping with the rebuild. Beacon was still a no-go, of course, with that big wyvern bastard drawin' in the grimm. Goodwytch and the others had cleared and kept clear a section of the city though, and well, we kept on a livin' there. More fools us." He sighed, shifting his grip on the travois he was trekking along with.
"She came with a wave of darkness. It blocked out the sky, like. Red lightning cracklin' and just thousands of grimm swarmin' everywhere. I saw her, briefly. Terrible face on that one. All the destruction she was causin', and she just looked bored with it. Like the people she was slaughtering didn't matter a single lick one way or the other." He sighed, his expression far away.
"The Hunters tried to fight, o'course. She cut them down, one after the other. Goodwytch was goin' toe to toe with the bitch last I saw. Hope she made it out, she was a good sort. The city was broken. All that work we had done, undone in hours. Didn't really have a plan, just knew we needed to get gone. Lotsa people wanted to get to Patch, it was closer, see, and has the school. Last thing I remember seeing of the city was the wyvern atop Beacon taking flight, and the skyline in flames." He paused there, stolidly moving forward in silence. After a moment, he continued.
"So to Patch we went. I dunno what happened to all the Hunters. I know a lotta the poor bastards died in the city, and a handful kept with us, trying to keep us safe. Bless their hearts. The group we were travelin' with got smaller and smaller, and when we finally got to the coast it was maybe a hunnerd of us, plus the single Huntsman. Name a Siegfried. Wish I'd gotten to know'im better. He fought like a bastard for us." He paused again as he recalled the last moments of the brave Huntsman who had given his life protecting the refugees.
"And now here we are," he concluded, still stoically pulling the travois without complaint.
"And here you are," Ruby said. "I'm sorry we weren't there to help in Vale, but I'm glad we found you when we did."
"Me too, lass. Now get on with ya, you've spent too long listenin' to me. You've got a lot more people to watch out for."
"Thanks, Arlo," Ruby said, and then went to check on the right flank.
Yang and Rime were spaced a couple hundred feet apart, both keeping an eye on the woods as they traveled. "Hanging in there?" Ruby asked Rime.
"Yeah. Makes me nervous, having this many people to watch over though," Rime said, eyes darting from shadow to shadow.
"Me too. We got confirmation from the town, someone is going to meet us part way. We'll be ok, Rime."
Rime just nodded, focused on her job.
Next, Ruby went to check on the left flank. Troy was ahead of Weiss, talking to the young man that had broken down on the ship.
"I'm sorry you went through all that. I know Patch is going to seem a lot different than the city, but we have a lot of good people here. There are the teachers, and other students, and we even have a militia," Ruby heard him say.
The boy made a noncommittal noise, and then spotted Ruby. His face reddened, and he looked away.
"You doing ok?" she asked him softly.
"No. But, for what it's worth, I'm sorry I got mad earlier. I just feel so helpless. I kept expecting someone to show up, but the nightmare just wouldn't end," he said, eyes down.
"I know the feeling. Atlas was bad, and it just kept getting worse, all the way to the bitter end. But, you know what? Despite all that, I know a lot of people that are still in the fight. There's a huge effort under way in Vacuo right now, getting everyone together and preparing to take Salem on," Ruby said.
"How do you do it? How do you keep going?" he asked, bitter, intense pain coloring his voice.
Ruby considered this for a long moment, and then spoke. "I almost didn't. After Atlas, I went through a really bad spot. I didn't want to hurt anymore, didn't want to fail anymore, and almost ended it. My team helped me out, and I got through it," she said. It was the first time she'd admitted anything of the sort to anyone that hadn't been with her in the Ever After.
Troy paled at this, looking at Ruby with a fresh perspective. "I had no idea, Ruby," he said.
"Not a lot of people do. I'm still working through it, honestly. I keep going, because I don't want other people to feel this pain. I'm so sorry that you have to," she said to the boy.
He sniffed, then said, "My name is Asher. Thanks, for coming to our rescue on the boat."
"Hey, it's what we do. As long as we're standing, we'll keep fighting."
Troy nodded fervently. "You can count on us!"
Asher nodded, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Ruby patted him on the shoulder, nodded to Troy, and then dropped to the back of the group. Jack was plodding along, massive and solid as a walking cliff-face. His straw-colored hair obscured his eyes, and his ham-like arms swung slowly at his side. Ruby hadn't really interacted with him during her time at Signal, and only knew he was ferociously strong and famously laconic.
"Long time no see, Jack!" Ruby said.
"Mmm." Jack grunted.
I see you got a bigger sword," Ruby ventured.
"Yep."
"Well, keep up the good work!"
Jack nodded, and Ruby went looking for Melody. She found the avian faunus in the middle of the group, still singing brightly. Melody had been her closest friend, apart from Yang, before she had started at Beacon. Melody could get along with anyone, and had always made Ruby feel welcome in her presence, despite how introverted Ruby had been. Ruby, not wanting to interrupt Melody's performance, just nodded at her and then moved up to Blake and Al. When she found them, Al was explaining some bit of esoterica to Blake.
"You see, grimm are in a constant state of flux. We kill them and they return to the umbral void from whence they came, only to be reborn and return. You could say that they are in state of ebb and flow, creation and destruction, and how do you kill that which cannot die? I posit that you cannot, but my thesis is rather difficult to defend without solid proof, and proof is so hard to obtain from something that vanishes when you destroy its physical form."
Blake caught Ruby's eye and raised an eyebrow. Ruby heard the unasked question, and yes, Aoluine had always been a bit odd. She nodded to Blake, then spoke out loud. "Everything clear up here?"
"Ruby! Indeed, we have encountered no resistance. An odd occurrence, giving the negativity that is surely brimming from these road-weary and despairing travelers, but not an unwelcome one." Aoluine was using his staff as a walking stick, and the various dust stones embedded in the wood glowed softly in the afternoon light.
"Keep it up. We've got to have covered at least half the ground to Patch by now."
"If I've got the geography correct, and I'm rarely wrong, we have three quarters of a mile to go," he said, tapping his temple.
"Good. Keep the pace, and don't slack. We don't want to get surprised in the homestretch," Ruby said.
Al nodded, and then continued his monologue to Blake. Ruby knew that Al had a near perfect memory and wasn't afraid to let people know it. He had always been a bit egotistic, but from what she remembered he was rarely wrong. He could absorb books like a sponge absorbed water, and that made him a very valuable asset. His semblance, which he called 'Alchemy', was essentially just advanced chemistry. He used his encyclopedic knowledge to combine dust and other elements to create marvels out of thin air. Ruby remembered a memorable day when he had conjured a fireball and nearly burned the school down. Hopefully he had learned a little more control in the intervening years.
She continued walking for another few minutes, still scanning the woodlands for danger, when a voice called out to her.
"Ruby! Glade to see you made it!"
Ruby looked towards the figure on the hilltop and smiled. She called back, "Dad! We've got several wounded with us, is Patch ready?"
"Yup. We've got people standing by, ready to help. How'd the trip go?" Tai asked.
"It went well, other than the fight at sea. No more grimm attacked after we made landfall."
"Glad it stayed quiet. Yesterday the grimm stayed on us, even when we got to Patch. How'd Rime and Troy do?"
"They were great! Even helped me take down a beowolf alpha. I'll let you talk to them, but they handled themselves well. Credit to their teacher," Ruby said, smiling.
"Credit to you and your team, Ruby. I know Rime can be hard to work with. Don't tell her I said that, though." Tai winked at her.
The remainder of the trip went just as smoothly as the first portion had, and once they got through the gates of Patch Ruby was gratified to learn that none of the gravely injured had passed along the way. Her team helped get the last of the refugees behind the walls, and then they grouped up.
"Good work out there everybody," Ruby told them. "That was a long day, but at the end of it we saved a lot of lives. I'm proud of all of you."
Troy beamed at the praise, and even Rime looked gratified. Blake leaned into Yang, who wrapped an arm around her, and Weiss smiled back at Ruby. Melody, Aoluine, and Jack all nodded to her. They basked for a moment, just enjoying the sun and the feeling of a job accomplished. As they stood there, Arlo found them, shadowed by Asher.
"Hey ya'll. Just wanted to say thanks again, for coming to our aid," Arlo said. Asher nodded beside him.
"Happy to help. You just take it easy for a while, Patch is safe," Ruby assured them.
"I seen the work bein' done on the walls, and I gotta say that sorta thing appeals to me. I'm gonna start chippin' in. More hands make less work. You've given us all another chance, I mean to make the most of it," Arlo said.
"I will too," Asher said fervently. "Sorry again, for yelling earlier."
"Don't worry about it. Just keep your head up, ok?" Ruby told him.
He nodded, and with Arlo by his side, walked away. Melody came over to Ruby, and when she spoke her voice was hoarse.
"I haven't had to keep my semblance going for that long before, and my voice is shot. But I'm so glad we got everybody here in one piece." She grinned, flashing white teeth at Ruby.
"It was good we had you," Ruby said. "That likely would have taken twice as long if you weren't there to boost our spirits. How have you been? What have you been up to since I left for Beacon?" They started to walk towards signal as they talked.
"Just keeping up with training. I was so excited to go to Beacon myself, but then, well, everything happened. Attendance went down after that. Less kids coming into the school, and the others in our class decided to try to get to Shade when they graduated from Signal. Me, Jack, and Al are the only ones who stuck around to help Patch."
"I hope they made it. It's more dangerous than ever right now. Not even the kingdoms are safe, let alone the outlying settlements," Ruby said, worried.
"They chose their path," Al shrugged. "I wouldn't mind testing my mettle in the wilds, personally. The time is ripe for adventure."
"You wouldn't be so quick to say that if you'd seen what we have," Blake said.
"My dear lady, the world hasn't seen Aoluine yet! I yearn to face challenge, for that is the only way to grow."
"Why'd you stay then, if you're so keen to challenge yourself?" Yang asked him.
"I have my reasons." His eyes slid to Melody before he could stop himself, and Yang didn't miss it.
"Oh-ho, staying for a woman, eh? Good for you."
"Base urges do not appeal to me. There is still much for me to learn here, and so I stay," he sniffed haughtily.
"You spent an awful lot of time chatting me up earlier, just putting that out there," Blake said, joining in on the needling.
He flushed slightly. "I was making conversation! Is that not a worthwhile pastime when traveling?"
"There's a difference in making conversation and just talking over the other person, Al," Melody said. "You do tend to let your mouth run ahead of your sense."
"I see. You're all allied against me. Well, I know someone who enjoys my erudite company." And with that, Aoluine dropped back to walk by Jack.
"Good to see some things don't change," Ruby said.
"He's really not so bad," Melody replied. "He has a fantastic mind for recitation, and the vocal elegance to back it up. Just needs to work on his ego a bit. Besides, someone has to make up for Jack."
"Is Jack ok? I've never met someone as quiet as him in my life," Weiss asked.
"Yeah yeah, he's great. Just doesn't like to talk. He's a hard worker, never complains, and comes in handy in a fight, believe me. With him in the front, Al firing off his elemental marvels, and me bolstering them we make a solid team. Jack also gets along fantastically with Al, which will always amuse me because they're such wildly different people."
Ruby spared a look over her shoulder at the two. Jack was easily twice the size of Al, plain, broad, and simple. Al, diminutive in comparison, with his colorful hair and elegant robes, talking quickly and enunciating his words with extravagant gestures. They did make quite the pair, she had to admit.
They stopped outside of Signal and looked at one another. "We should go see if Tai needs anything," Ruby told Melody.
"No worries! I need to take a few, let my aura recharge a bit. It's so good to have you here!" She hugged Ruby tightly, and then went into the school. Al and Jack followed her in, Al steadfastly ignoring them as he expounded on social graces and manners to his large companion.
"Alright team, let's go see what else we can do," Ruby told her companions.
An hour later, Team RWBY was once again sitting around Tai's kitchen table with a plus one. Raven had shown up as they were walking back to the house, quiet and subdued. They sat there in silence, a contrast to the cheerful night they had had before. Raven and Tai sat at opposite ends of the table, with Yang in the middle looking from one to the other.
"Things are going fairly well here!" Ruby said brightly, to break the lockdown.
Raven stirred. "That's good. Will you need any additional assistance?"
"We wanted to see if we could get JORNE here, at least until the walls are back up," Ruby replied.
"I'll run it by Theodore," Raven said.
"Are we not going to talk about how the three of us are in the same room for the first time in who knows how long?" Yang interjected angrily.
Tai cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh. It's good, having you both here," he said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Zwei whined at his feet.
"Yang, it's going to take a while, for things to go back to normal. If they ever can," Raven said, looking at her daughter.
"We don't have to be a happy family, but we need some kind of closure, I think," Yang said. "Why'd you leave us?"
"Uhm, should we, ah, wait outside? Maybe?" Ruby asked, already halfway out of her seat.
"I can't speak for the other two, Ruby, but you should probably stay for this," Raven said.
Ruby sat back down, fidgeting in her seat. Blake put her hand on Yang's human one and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Weiss, arms crossed, leaned back in her seat but didn't get up.
Raven sighed, a deep, forlorn sound. "Ok. Well. This isn't going to be easy, but here goes."
"I left because I was scared. Terrified, even. I had decided that Tai couldn't fight for Ozpin if he had a child to raise, and I wouldn't have to fight if I left. So, I left. I'm not saying it was a good choice, but it made sense to me at the time."
Yang sat, tapping her metal fingers audibly against the table, but didn't say anything. Raven continued.
"Then, a few years later, after you had been born, Ruby, Summer came to me. She wanted to take the fight to Salem. Salem was actively hunting silver eyed warriors. An attempt had already been made on Summer's life, and she knew it was a matter of time before another was made on her, or even you, Ruby. So, she wanted to take out Salem first." The tapping from Yang intensified, and Ruby leaned in, raptly listening to Raven.
"If Salem wanted to kill the silver eyed warriors, then she was afraid of them. And if Salem was afraid of people with silver eyes, then silver eyed warriors were a threat to her. That was Summer's logic. She thought she could kill Salem. She didn't tell you, Tai, or Qrow, because she knew you would have gone to Ozpin. I was the safe choice." Raven laughed bitterly, without humor.
"So we hunted down Salem. We found her, in the Evernight, and we fought. There was something to Summer's plan, at least. We hurt Salem, but we couldn't defeat her. And… Summer was killed. I watched it happen, and I ran. Coward that I am, I ran." Raven broke off, head down, tears falling into her lap.
"You left her? With Salem?" Ruby asked, voice small and broken.
"I did, Ruby. And I am terribly sorry for that." Raven looked up and met Ruby's eyes.
"You knew, all these years, what happened, and didn't tell me?" Tai stood up, gripping the table edge, knuckles white.
"What was I supposed to say, Tai? After I left, I got your second wife killed? I couldn't face you," Raven said bitterly.
"You really are a piece of work, you know that?" Yang said, eyes a dangerous mix between purple and red.
"I am. I don't deserve anything from you. I'm here now, to try to honor Summer's memory. I needed you to know the truth, so you can be prepared."
"Honor her memory? The memory of the woman you brought into the teeth of hell and then abandoned?" Yang stood now, hair starting to shine with incandescence.
"Yang, it's ok," Ruby said, standing and trying to pull Yang back into her seat.
"No, Ruby, it isn't! She abandoned me, and Dad, and then Summer," Yang shouted, pulling her arm out of Ruby's grasp.
"Yang, enough." Tai said.
"But Dad,"-
"Enough!" Tai thundered. "This was hard enough for Raven to do. We don't need to make it worse. All of us are hurting, her too."
Yang tsked and walked out. Blake followed, after an apologetic look at Ruby. After a moment there was the loud crack of shattering timber, and the crash of a tree falling over. Tai winced.
Weiss leaned forward, uncrossing her arms. "What I'm taking from this, personal feelings and character judgments aside, is that Ruby can possibly take on Salem, and win. Did I get that right?"
Raven looked at her, tears still in her eyes. "Possibly, yes. I don't know if the silver eyes can actually kill Salem, but I know they can hurt her. I saw it happen." She flinched and looked at the door when Yang loosed a scream of fury from outside.
Ruby, her own eyes wet with tears, said, "Raven, thank you. I wish things had happened differently, but thank you for telling us."
Raven looked back at her. "I wish it had happened differently too, Ruby."
Later, after Raven had gone back to Shade, Ruby sat with Tai in the living room. She was stroking Zwei, who was resting on her lap. Weiss had retired early, to give the family space, Ruby thought, and Blake and Yang were still outside. When Ruby had checked, Yang was crying into Blake's arms while the other woman held her tight. Ruby was glad that Yang had someone in that moment, even if she was a little sad that it wasn't her.
Her emotions felt muted, far away. She had spent so much energy on being sad or angry the last few days that it was hard to muster up much feeling right now. She was sure it would hit her later, though. It always did. She looked at Tai. "What do you think, Dad?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know. I wish they would have told us what was going on. Summer left on what I thought was a normal mission, after putting you and Yang to bed. We said our goodbyes, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. If I had been more observant, maybe"- he broke off and sighed. "How're you doing, kiddo?"
"Ok. I hurt, but it kinda helps, knowing what happened. It sounds like she did it partially for me, to keep Salem from coming after us."
"That's Summer for you. Always looking out for other people. She was a great woman," Tai said, smiling sadly. "And believe me, if she had her mind set on that course, it would have been impossible to turn her aside. She would have ended up going alone, if she couldn't get anyone to help her. Despite how it turned out, she had Raven, at least."
They sat in silence for a while, and Zwei started to snore. "You think Raven is going to be ok?" Ruby eventually asked.
"I don't know. She's always had her secrets. It really seems like she's trying to make amends, but there's a lot of ground for her to cover. Best thing we can do is be there for her. I hope Yang can get her head around that. Those two need each other, more than either of them knows. But Yang's her mother's daughter. Stubborn to a fault."
"Yeah. Maybe Blake can help, those two have been through a lot together. I sometimes think they're closer now than me and Yang are," Ruby said sadly.
"Hey, you know you can't replace the bond between sisters. Yang will need both of you, just for different reasons," Tai said consolingly.
"Thanks, Dad. I think I'm going to head upstairs. See if I can get some sleep."
"You got it, Ruby. Goodnight."
"Night, Dad."