Gamer4 in. ...Tea. That's the headspace I'm in right now. I just learned about the tea. Holy smeg, the tea. Well, I have to finish this now- anything to give a better ending than the smegging tea.
Episode XXVII
Chariots of Fire
Alone Together
"Let's see... this is the one you told us about with the eternal war, ain't it?" Qrow remembered.
"Yeah... I don't really like it," Nora rubbed her arm.
"This one really likes its shades of grey," Vanessa nodded.
"Me... fighting Renny?"
"But we seemed to be getting together at the end!" Ruby reminded her. "Maybe it won't be so bad!"
It was Jaune that broke the long silence. "C'mon, Yang, Ren... it's time to go."
"Huh?" Ren blinked as though snapped out of a trance.
"The mission's over," Jaune pointed out. "Time to go back to the Colony and report the sitch."
"Or... maybe not," Ruby pouted.
"I didn't suspect one moment of forced unity would be enough to snap them out of years of conditioning," Ren admitted. "Yet... even so..."
"We have similar obligations," came the cool voice of Whitley. "Ruby, Nora... time to withdraw."
"Ah- this is the world you were talking about- the one where I'm present," Whitley realized. "And what of my dear sisters?"
"We didn't see any sign of Winter," Weiss denied. "As for myself... well... I have no wish to talk about it."
Nora seemed taken aback. "But... them and us...?"
"There is no 'them and us,'" Whitley shook his head. "It would be quite ill-mannered to start a fight to the death after what we've survived, so we leave now, and accept that the next time we meet, we will be enemies once more."
"But-"
"This is war. There's no time for pleasantries."
"At least one of them has a good head on his shoulders," Raven nodded approvingly.
"I don't think I like him that much," Nora pouted.
"Furthermore, we have lost many of our comrades. We have a duty to those who remain."
"...But I can't hate him when he says stuff like that!" she wailed.
"Yeah... so do we," Jaune agreed, rather pointedly. "Due to a certain bunch of snuffheads who came charging-"
"I wished to leave in relative peace," Whitley gritted his teeth, "but it seems there are certain barbarians that would prefer to finish things now."
"Oh, dear," Pyrrha looked downcast.
"Just after that old lady finally got us to stop fighting," Yang bit her lip.
"Sounds good to me!" Yang agreed, smashing her knuckles together. "You and me, pretty boy, right here, right now!"
"Jaune, Yang!" Ren raising his voice alone was enough to cow his fellow soldiers. "That's enough."
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked, wide-eyed.
"There's no point in continuing this fight."
"Are you snuffing me?"
"So strange to see Jaune raring to fight like this," Pyrrha noted sadly.
"To those lucky few who've never seen anything past Volume 3, of course," Vanessa rolled her eyes.
"Before," Ren began, "when she and I... when whatever that was... happened..." He indicated Nora, struggling to meet her gaze or to describe their odd metamorphosis, "I... felt her thoughts... her memories. It was as though they became a part of me. I doubt I could tell you anything about them- there were so many, so difficult to pull apart, but it was enough for me to... to understand. She's lost so much in this war... we took so much away from her. She's experienced... quite as much grief as we have."
"Would that conflicts in our world could be resolved so easily," Ozpin noted wistfully.
"And like emo chick over there said, wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which fills first," Torchwick rolled his eyes.
"You mean when you... were that... thing?" Jaune asked, clearly at just as much of a loss to describe what had happened.
"Yes."
"I felt the same," Nora told her team. "His grief... became my grief."
"Regardless," Whitley began, but Nora was getting wound up.
"And in one of those memories- there's something that might be our fault! I mean..." her feline ears drooped as she looked to the ground. "That's something that happens in war, I get that, but..."
Whitley seemd truly taken aback. He fell silent, crossing his arms in contemplation.
"So, what is plan from here?" asked Qrow, emerging from behind the humans.
Winter did a spit take. "What is that?!"
"Oh, yeah, we forgot to mention, Uncle Qrow's a nopon in this particular world!" Ruby beamed brightly. "He's so cuuuute!"
Winter didn't speak for the moment, but the smirk on her face told of great suffering in the future.
"I would not have expected him to have the same voice as our Qrow," Tai failed to contain a chuckle.
"Welp, I'm never livin' this one down," Qrow sighed, eagerly accepting the fresh bottle of booze Vanessa offered him.
"I think it's quite the improvement myself," Raven smirked. "Even easier to kick around."
"Yuck it up all you want," Qrow rolled his eyes. "If I'm a nopon here, odds are, you are too."
That wiped the smirk off her face pretty quickly.
Qrow pointed up with one of his wings. "Sun kind enough to show face, but will return to hiding again if friends drag on."
From behind the Nohrians, another nopon began bouncing up and down- she was dressed in clashing white, perfectly matching her fur, and had a bright, cheery voice. "True, true, time is wasting itself!"
A stunned silence descended upon the room. Qrow was the first to recover. "Sh-Shortstack?"
"Mom is there?" Ruby finally took a breath. "And... she's a nopon, too?"
The smirk disappeared from Winter's face- she only knew by hearsay the relationship between Qrow and Summer Rose, but she had no intention of using this in her verbal spars with him. That would be far below the belt even for their petty squabbles.
Tai cleared his throat, struggling to recover his composure. "From the looks of things... she's a cook in this world, too."
"I wonder if she has any crazy nopon recipes," Yang considered wistfully.
"I bet she'd make the best cookies," Ruby agreed with a sad smile.
Ren took a deep breath. "Alright... for now, we should report back to our colonies. They need to know what's happened here. That was the right call, Jaune. Apologies for confusing things."
Jaune glanced away, looking rather wrong-footed. "Er... don't worry about it."
"We... ought to do the same, Nora," Whitley repeated, more gently this time.
"Yeah... I guess we should," Nora agreed.
"Oh, after all that, we're still breaking up?" Nora's pouting intensified.
"From the looks of things, we should be glad they haven't killed each other yet," Ghira pointed out.
"Still, a seed has been planted," Kali countered encouragingly. "These sorts of bridges are built one stone at a time."
"Well, there you have it," Whitley addressed the Hoshidan team. "I sincerely hope for your safe return." No sincerity was apparent in his voice.
"Assuming some people don't try to blow that bridge up," Blake growled.
"Yeah, take care not to die in a ditch somewhere," Jaune returned the sentiments.
"Well... some bridges take longer to build than others," Kali shrugged, somewhat helplessly.
"Remember- the next time we meet, it will be as enemies," Whitley reminded them as they started on their way.
"Oh, don't worry about that- I've got a good memory," Yang fired back.
As the two teams turned their back on each other, Ren and Nora's eyes met again, for a fraction of a second, and they both recalled their brief time as one.
The contact was broken, and they were on their way.
"Their time as one, e- ow!" Yang raised a hand to where Blake had slapped her upside the head.
"I appreciate trying to break the mood, but your awful sense of humor is not the way to do it."
The morning fog had yet to dissipate by the time Ren and his team made it back to Colony 9. Beyond their scope of knowledge, one of the soldiers therein turned in their direction as they approached. "It's the enemy..." he said quietly. "The enemy's approaching."
One by one, the other soldiers around him spread the message, readying their weapons.
"Um... I know I can be bad at reading social cues, but that doesn't look good to me," Jaune gulped.
"Oh, my!" Pyrrha raised her hands to her mouth. "Remember what that... that moebius said last time?"
"It's been quite some time, I could use a refresher," Weiss encouraged.
Blake found the spot in her notebook. "'The whole world will be after you now,'" she quoted.
"You think he did something to turn even their own colony against them?" Pyrrha asked.
"It's starting to seem that way..." Ren worried in a way that only JNPR picked up on.
The camera panned, revealing that the soldiers' irises had turned a bloody red, and among them was one of the strange armored figures with the Zohar-shaped chestpieces.
"Yes... it would seem they have turned the whole world into a giant trap," Ironwood assessed.
Amongst the team, Qrow was yawning. "Qrow quite sleepy," he muttered. "Would like long hot bath."
"Oh, to be a carefree nopon," Yang chuckled, somewhat humorlessly.
"Hold out a little longer," Jaune encouraged them. "Hey, looks like they sent a squad out to greet us!"
A squad of Hoshidan soldiers was, indeed, emerging from the fog- Jaune eagerly raised a hand and waved to them. "Over here- we're back from last night's mission!"
"Get down, you dolt!" Weiss was chewing on her nails.
"There's no way he can know," Whitley pointed out ominously.
Sure enough, it was only his years of training that allowed Jaune to duck out of the way of the first salvo that was fired. An entire volley followed soon after, forcing the four soldiers to take cover behind a nearby stone wall. Jaune peeked out- as the riflemen kept them pinned with their fire, other soldiers were advancing with more melee weapons. "What the hell are you doing?!" he demanded. "We're your allies- from Colony 9!"
He was forced to duck back into cover as a beam narrowly grazed his face.
"They're not listening!" Yang pointed out.
"But why?!" Jaune demanded. "We're not exactly wearing Nohrian colors here- don't they recognize us?"
Ren closed his eyes, but they moved rapidly beneath the lids, showing the gears rapidly turning in his brain.
"Of course Renny would be able to put it together!" Nora cheered. "But... what now?"
Jaune clearly had the same question. "What do we do, Ren?"
Ren finally opened his eyes, a grim look across his face. "We have no choice- we have to fight back."
"Fight ba- are you crazy?" Yang objected. "These are our friends!"
"Not to the death, of course," Ren agreed.
"Oh, fight to incapacitate, that's simple," Yang rolled her eyes.
"Quite easier said than done," Qrow agreed.
"If they end up dead, it's their fault for permitting it," Raven scoffed.
"Go and make some friends before telling us how to treat ours," Qrow fired back.
Jaune located the best place to make a break for it, and led them quickly down the path- where they were cut off by three soldiers. He quickly plunged his great sword into the ground, forming a shield and forcing them apart with turret fire. Yang leapt up in the air and took out the two on the left with a strike to the ground that sent out a heavy shockwave, while Ren took out the one on the right with the flat end of his knives. Before they could make any further movements, Jaune was forced to remove his blade from the ground and project a shield to block more gunfire.
"What the snuff is all this?" he roared. "We're supposed to be on the same side!"
"We can't take 'em all, especially if we're going non-lethal," Yang warned.
Ren remembered again what that monster had said: "The whole world will be your enemy!"
"Yeah, we already remembered that part, thanks!" Blake hid her panic behind frustration.
"He wasn't exaggerating," he realized.
"Who wasn't what?" Yang asked.
Ren shook his head. "Never mind. Clearly, we're not getting to Colony 9- we'll just be surrounded. I think this fog is the only reason we're not dead yet. We only have one choice- fall back."
None of the others looked happy about it, but they nodded, seeing the sense in his words.
"Wait, I just realized- if they're facing this, than doesn't that mean..." Ruby trailed off.
As if in answer, the next shot was of Nora, Ruby, Whitley, and Summer running and evading gunfire of their own. Just like with Ren's team, the gunfire was coming from people wearing matching uniforms- but their irises were a corrupt crimson.
Despite all the ducking, weaving, and cover they'd taken, they couldn't truly escape their pursuers. "How do they keep finding us?" Ruby whimpered as they took cover behind another rocky outcropping.
"Why are they shooting at us at all?!" Nora threw her hands in the air. "Whitley?"
Whitley narrowly poked his head out of cover. "There's a light... in their irises. Could it be...?"
"Why couldn't you guys have Whitley, and I have Renny right now?" Nora pouted.
"She doesn't mean anything bad towards you," Ruby quietly assured Whitley. "She just... really likes Ren."
"I'd... surmised as much," Whitley nodded.
"You have something?" Nora demanded.
"I'll explain later- for now, we should focus on retreating."
He led the dash back away from their former friends. Up above, the sun slowly crawled higher and higher into the sky. Whether it was intentional or not, both teams seemed to find themselves drawn to one spot in particular.
And so it was that, when they finally shook off their pursuers under a bright noon sun, they also found each other in the very same clearing where they'd first met the previous night, where everything had gone so far off the rails.
"A coincidence?" Neptune wondered.
"Moreso a probability," Ozpin shook his head. "Besides, it is where they just had a rather life-changing experience- it's not so surprising they might think to retreat here."
By the time Team NWRS reached the clearing, Team RYJQ was already there, taking shelter under the ruined craft and among the various supply crates.
"What?!" Ruby gasped. Whitley expressed his surprise more quietly, but Nora didn't seem shocked at all- nor did Ren, as he rose to his feet and met her gaze quite steadily.
"Of course!" Nora forced a smile. "Even when we're force apart in another world, we're still connected!"
Of the others, Whitley seemed to regain his composure fastest. "As much as I love a good reunion, I would ask what you are doing here."
"What, couldn't figure it out on your own, smart guy?" Yang scoffed.
"It's always best to confirm the facts- you know what they say about assuming," Whitley pointed out.
"No, she doesn't," Blake sighed. "I promise you, she has never heard that saying in her entire life."
"I could ask you the same thing," Jaune countered.
"You could say we've been kicked out of our comfort zone a tad," Yang pointed out.
"And you think we haven't?" Whitley countered.
"Whitley... don't," Ruby pleaded. "We can't be like this."
Whitley crossed his arms but remained silent."
"That's my girl," Tai grinned.
"She certainly helped cool down a couple spats earlier," Vanessa informed him.
Ren hardly reacted to anything they said- he was remembering the words of the old woman who had died here less than twenty-four hours ago. "This is the end of the path for me, but... only the beginning for you."
"Maybe so..."
"You say something, Ren?" Yang asked.
Ren slowly rose to his feet, and spoke- not just to his team, but to all of them- "Guys... let's just live. Survive. Day by day."
For a moment, the others were silent, then Yang laughed. "What kind of pep talk was that? I don't know about you, but I wasn't planning on kicking the bucket anytime soon!"
"I'd be disappointed if you were just gonna lie down and die after one setback!" Sun agreed.
"Quite the large setback..." Velvet pointed out. "But of course I feel the same!"
"Well, if we're agreed," Ren continued, "then it seems our goal is clear- find the city of Pleroma."
"City of- what are you talking about?" Jaune asked.
"Has he really forgotten the old woman's words?" Weiss asked, exasperated.
"In all likelihood, he simply doesn't understand the words' meaning," Penny guessed.
"We can hardly go back to our colonies," Ren pointed out. "Thanks to that creature, they see us as enemies now."
"I noticed, when we were retreating... their irises were glowing blood-red," Whitley finally revealed. "It was the same color as that creature's."
"Now that you say it... yeah, I remember seeing that," Nora agreed.
"Admittedly, this is still a hypothesis, but I think it's less that they've betrayed us," Whitley continued, "and more that they don't even see us as human. Their perception has been warped."
"Very astute, Whitley," Winter nodded approvingly.
"I don't need your praise." Whitley looked pointedly out of the window, leaving Winter working to hide her hurt.
"And that freak did it?" Jaune clarified. "How?"
"Like I said, it's still a hypothesis- I hardly know the details," Whitley freely admitted. "But it's quite clear he did something."
"Exactly," Ren nodded in agreement. "We've all become outcasts. So instead of turning our backs on each other, isn't it more logical to work together to survive?"
Whitley frowned, clearly not fond of the idea, but unable to refute it. "Your reasoning is... solid," he finally begrudgingly admitted.
"That's Renny- he can logic his way out of any situation!" Nora cheered.
"I did watch a lot of MacGyver growing up," Ren mused.
"I don't think diplomacy has much to do with MacGyver," Ironwood shook his head.
"And aimless running will hardly get us anywhere, either," Ren pressed his advantage. "We ought to be running towards something, rather than simply away from danger. Think of it- soldiers from opposite sides, working together for a common goal!"
"You think that's the best way to survive?" Yang tilted her head.
"Yes... I am," Ren agreed.
"Maybe Ren should have been the leader of our team!" Jaune smiled, impressed.
"I'm flattered, but I truly do not believe I could be half the leader you've proven to be," Ren deferred.
"Somebody cue the strings," Neo pretended to gag.
"And... what about Homecoming?" Jaune asked.
Ren furrowed his brow as he turned towards him. "Are you quite serious?"
Jaune's voice caught in his throat.
"If you want to go back, I can hardly stop you," Ren admitted. "If you would kill our new friends."
Ruby gasped, immediately summoning her scythe. Whitley dropped into a defensive stance, his paper creations swirling protectively around him. Nora, however, did not budge from her seat.
"She truly has developed trust in him," Ghira noted. "She doesn't believe he'd actually let that happen."
"Of course he wouldn't!" Nora declared confidently. "Ren ain't that kinda guy!"
Despite the ultimatum, Jaune remained still, his sword conspicuous in its abscence.
"Is that the life you'd choose?" Ren once more pressed his advantage.
Jaune looked away from the Nohrians, eye-to-eye with Ren. "I made a promise, Ren- a promise to carry you and Yang to Homecoming. To see us all showered with praise, as we stood together on that platform!"
"And what will be left after that?" Ren challenged. "I never told you this, but I despise sending people off during Homecoming. All I can see... is a pillar of husks. A terrible altar built upon countless lives."
"I did notice that Ren seems to have already broken away from the conditioning somewhat, even before any of this happened," Blake noticed. "I wonder why that is?"
"Uh, because he's super special awesome?" Nora said as if it should be obvious.
"Once again, I'm flattered," Ren rolled his eyes, pulling her back to her seat, "but I'd like to think there's a little more going on than the classic 'chosen one' plot."
"Would you have that as your legacy?" Ren asked, a surprising amount of emotion entering his voice. "Look me in the eye and tell me you're okay with that!"
Nora gasped, her eyes wide.
"I do believe I'm coming to like this young man," Ghira considered. "Perhaps he would be better suited for courtship with Blake-"
"Dad, stahp..." Blake pleaded.
Jaune was quite clearly uncomfortable, folding his arms and looking away from Ren's burning gaze. "What do you want me to do?"
"Not to look for answers in me... or anyone else," Ren shook his head. "I'm far from omniscient. That's why I want answers- why we need answers. I'm suggesting we go out and find them. To understand why we were entrusted with these... these powers. What Maria meant by the 'real enemy.'"
"And you think we'll get those answers at this 'City' place?" Nora asked.
"That's right- they wouldn't have any idea what a city is," Weiss realized. "They live in colonies- and even those aren't real fixed places, more like nomadic camps centered around those giant machines."
"The concept of settling down into one area with solid buildings... it must be completely alien to them," Velvet agreed, wide-eyed.
"I do," Ren agreed.
"What did she say? Something about the land pierced by the great sword?" Ruby struggled to remember.
"Well, that's no mystery," Yang pointed out. "She had to be talkin' about that giant sword way down south!"
The camera panned up, showing what looked like a sword crafted from a mountain, its blade piercing the earth, its haft and handle piercing the heavens above.
"That is... bizarre," Ironwood stared. "How could a mountain possibly form in such a way?"
"There's no way that's a natural formation," Qrow agreed.
"There's... something familiar about it," Ruby rubbed at her chin. "It's right at the tip of my tongue, but... I can't quite place it..."
Nora was drumming her fingers against her leg, her mind whirling. Defeat... the real enemy? Turn all to right?
Before she was fully conscious of it, her hand was in the air. "I'm going with him!" she declared.
"Nora?" Whitley stared.
"He can't know her that well if that level of impulsiveness surprises him," Ren sighed.
"Then again... does this kind of world really allow for such impulsiveness?" Ironwood pointed out.
"She has been rather more subdued than normal," Pyrrha pointed out.
"That woman... I feel like I could trust her," Nora explained. "Besides, after everything we've done... I don't really want to fight Hoshido anymore."
"Hoshido is the enemy," Whitley reminded her severely.
"Hoshido was the enemy," Nora corrected.
Whitley frowned, but it slowly ebbed, as he recalled using his shikigami to protect a Hoshidan soldier, who later returned the favor by using his shield to protect Ruby. Ruby would be dead now if it weren't for them...
On which subject, Ruby was the next to raise her hand. "If you're going with him, I'm coming too!" she insisted. "You'd have to send me home tied up in a sack to stop me!"
"Huh, almost looks like Nora's taken Yang's place as Ruby's big sister figure in this world," Tai observed.
Nora shuddered. "Why do I suddenly hear boss music?"
Whitley crossed his arms, but sighed. "I suppose... it would be highly illogical... to turn down such an advantage."
"Careful there, bud, you almost ended up kissing 'em!" Sun chuckled.
"Don't be obnoxious," Whitley glared at him.
"You've clearly never met Sun," Blake sighed.
With Whitley's assent, all eyes turned next to Jaune. He was clearly uncomfortable, being put on the spot like this. "What? What's with the looks? Ren, enough with the look!"
"Apologies," Ren bowed his head quickly. "However, we will need your decision sooner, rather than later."
Jaune grimaced. "Like I have a choice..." He grudgingly raised his hands.
"Well, yeah, you could turn and head back to your Colony," Neo pointed out with a smirk.
"That's not a choice, that's an ultimatum, at this point," Jaune pointed out.
Which only left Yang, who let out a heavy sigh. "Ah, what the spark. In for a penny, in for a pound!" She lazily raised her hand to the sky as well.
"Excellent," Ren nodded. He then turned and climbed up on one of the supply boxes before turning to face all the others. "My name is Ren. Colony 9, special forces. In case you missed last night's performance, I'm an off-seer. I've been fighting along these three- Jaune, Yang, and Qrow- since I came out of the cradle. Playing my flute has always been my passion- it naturally led me to off-seeing, I suppose. One day, I'd like to compose some music of my own."
"Oh, gods, we're doing this now," Raven groaned.
"What, you didn't bother telling them your favorite color?" Torchwick snarked.
"Green," Ren shrugged offhandedly.
"I mean, we gotta break the ice somehow," Ruby shrugged sheepishly.
"Wish there was a slightly less lame way to do it, though," Yang reluctantly agreed with her mother.
Jaune didn't seem to understand Ren's intentions at all. "What is this, some kind of surprise inspection?"
"It'll help in the long run," Ren assured him as he hopped down from the supply crate.
"You cannot be serious." Yang seemed torn between frowning in annoyance and laughing.
Nora, however, rose to her feet without question. "My name is Nora!" she announced. "I'm an off-seer, too- Colony Gamma's music unit!" She trailed off, uncertain what to say next. "Um... I'm the only one who's ever finished the Pacer Test!"
Yang began foaming at the mouth. "TheFitnessgramPacerTestisamulti-stageaerobiccapacitytestthat-"
"Uh-oh, the trauma's coming back," Ruby winced.
"I would have thought that would be more Ruby's thing," Velvet proposed. "Speed semblance and all."
"I definitely aced it in our world," Ruby confirmed. "Who knows how things work over there, though."
Nora reached into a pocket of her uniform and produced a small booklet. "I keep a diary. I like writing down what happens! Never missed a single day!"
"Does Nora keep a diary?" Penny asked.
"Sure do!" Nora thumped herself on the chest.
"You sure you wanna announce it like that?" Sun asked. "What if someone tries to steal it?"
"It's written in the one code no cryptologist has ever been able to crack- Noranese," Ren sighed. "I don't think even she can read some of her entries."
Yang finally rose to her feet. "Yang's the name, don't wear it out! Colony 9's special forces, and special escort to this guy." She gently slugged Ren on the shoulder. "Personally responsible for fending off many an attack while he's sending off the people who just tried to murder him. Like he said, we've been inseparable from the pod." She clenched her fists, and threw a few punches. "I'm mostly a hand-to-hand fighter, but believe it or not, I can load some ether into these gauntlets and punch the ground to disperse it- give my buds some healin'."
"Yang, a healer?!" Weiss snorted- had she been drinking milk, it would have come out of her nose.
"Oh, bullcrap, I'm definitely an attacker!" Yang objected.
"I suspect that was your role- we saw you during training," Ren recalled. "It doesn't seem like her gauntlets were designed for that. I think it was a stopgap solution after losing the team's actual healer."
"Which was... me..." Velvet looked at the ground.
"You went out like a hero," Jaune assured her. "Your other's the only reason mine is still standing."
"Thanks..." she dabbed at her eyes a bit.
"As far as hobbies go... well, I like collecting fourtune clovers," she shrugged.
Ruby hopped up and down in excitement. "I'm Ruby- the girl with the gall! Nono and I have been together ever since I was assigned to Colony Gamma! I... I don't know that I have a special move... I'm just kinda strong, I guess."
"Yeah, you'd have to be, to swing that scythe around like a paper plane," Neptune assessed.
"As for a hobby... um... lifting!"
"Strange, it's almost like Yang's personality somehow got transferred into Ruby," Blake blinked. "Say, that gives me an idea..."
"Leave us out of your fanfics, kit-kat!" Yang ordered.
"Well, whaddya know, Jaune?" Yang smirked. "You've got yourself a muscle-buddy!"
"Kinda on the small side for lifting, isn't she?" Jaune looked her up and down.
"Ohh, you hear that, Ren?" Yang's smirk widened. "Jaune wants something a bit meatier!"
It was Jaune's turn to spit. "I'm sorry, what?!"
"Yang, why are you like this?!" Ruby buried her face in her hands.
"Yang is as Yang does," Yang shrugged.
Jaune turned red-faced and spluttered for a bit, before Whitley spoke up. "Enough with this sideshow. My name..." he paused, then shook his head. "Tch... I'm Whitley. Part of operations and planning in Colony Gamma's survey branch. A tactician, to any layman. I was assigned to support our off-seer for this mission."
"Oh, he's kinda the outsider here," Ruby realized sadly. "Ren, Jaune, and Yang have known each other since forever, Nora's like my big sister, but he just kinda drew a short straw."
"I don't think that's entirely the case," Ren shook his head. "There was some dialogue between them during the old battle that makes me think he has gone on at least some missions before- 'Eyes open, Ruby- I can't protect you all the time.'"
"Oh, yeah," Ruby remembered.
"Still, he doesn't seem to share quite the same bonds that the others do," Pyrrha pointed out.
"If you're done talking about me as if I'm not here," Whitley narrowed his eyes.
Whitley fell silent, but Ruby and Nora were still looking up at him expectantly. "Go on!" Ruby beamed encouragingly. "Your special move!"
"What special move?" Whitley scoffed- as one of his paper creations came to hover by his head, bending over as if it were sulking. "...I don't see any value in sharing the details of my shikigami. Nor do I have any hobbies to speak of."
"You're just a bundle of joy and laughter, aintcha?" Yang jeered.
"No, he's being wise... loathe as I am to say that about a Schnee," Adam sneered. "Never tilt your hand towards potential enemies."
Whitley didn't seem to appreciate being talked about at all by Adam, but didn't dare raise his voice in protest either.
Qrow cleared his throat. "Name is Qrow- head of Colony 9's Maintenance and Crafting Division. These are attendants of Qrow. All at your service."
"When exactly did we become your attendants?" Jaune side-eyed him.
"The worst has come to pass- his head has grown even larger," Winter despaired.
"Not sure I like this particular other," Qrow rolled his eyes behind the flagon Vanessa had handed him.
"I Summer!" declared the other nopon on the scene, bouncing up and down in excitement. "Summer was chefypon in Colony of Nora and friends! Name food, and Summer can make, but cookies are specialty! Come to, can even turn Gonzalez brains into fine delicacy!"
"Gonzalez... brain?" Yang choked out.
"They eat some weird things in other parts of the world," Sun shook his head. "Heck, they don't even know what goes into those hot dogs in Vale."
"You've got a nopon, too?" Ruby beamed. "I didn't know Hoshido assigned nopon to their off-seer squads!"
"True... there are certainly some odd parallels," Whitley acknowledged reluctantly.
"Fascinating..." Blake agreed, scribbling furiously in her notebook.
Once again, all attention fell on Jaune, who grumbled. Ren met his eyes. "Come on, Jaune... or shall I give you the look again?"
This finally seemed to shake Jaune out of his apathy. "My name's Jaune," he introduced himself. "I've always been in the same colony as these two. I'm our unit's shield... and... a special move... ah, figure it out yourself." He turned pointedly away. "This is ridiculous!"
"Nevertheless, I thank you for bearing with it," Ren bowed slightly. "Now that we're all on the same page, it's time to start planning."
"Acting like we're a team already..." Jaune grumbled. "Sparks alive... like Yang said, in for a penny, in for a pound. It's just death waiting back home anyways. Alright, Ren, what's the plan?"
"I think we can see who the biggest troublemakers are going to be," Kali chided in a singsong sort of voice.
"I'm sorry," Jaune apologized, a crimson hue on his cheeks.
"..." Whitley said nothing at all.
Ren looked around. "We've made good distance, but we're still well within our colony's search zone, at the very least. Fortunately, last I checked, there are no Hoshidan colonies to the south at the moment." He looked pointedly towards the Nohrian team.
"None that are mobilized," Nora shook her head.
"Welp," Yang clapped her hands together, "between that and Swordmarch being our final destination, it sounds like south is the way to go!"
"So it would seem," Ren agreed. "...What are you doing?"
Yang had moved to the nearest supply crate and forced it open. "Well, I don't know if you noticed, but our clothes got kinda filthy, being mobilized, fighting, more fighting, then being on the run all since yesterday morning, you know. Thought I'd see if there's anything to change into." She let out a laugh of victory as she turned to reveal a leather jacket. "Now this is my kind of fashion!"
Yang blinked, stunned. "That's... literally my jacket."
"Hmm..." Ozpin leaned forward on his cane. "I wonder what other clothing is in those crates...?"
Ruby looked at her uniform- black as it was, she could still see the signs of filth on it. "Yeah, I could use a change of clothes too," she agreed, moving towards the crate.
"I suppose there's no point in our uniforms anymore..." Whitley pinched the bridge of his nose.
"No need to stop at clothes," Ren pointed out. "Search all the crates- food, water, maps, anything that might be useful."
"At least they have some element of resourcefulness," Raven admitted grudgingly.
Ren turned and opened the crate he'd just been standing on. Just inside was a set of green robes and pants that he immediately took to. "More clothes over here," he announced.
"Summer find cooking ingredients!" Summer proudly announced from a crate she and Qrow were rummaging through. "Oh, so many recipes to try!"
"We've got some equipment over here," Jaune announced from a crate of his own. "Doesn't quite match our setup, but... better than nothing." Reaching under the equipment in question, he produced a large black hoodie.
"That's Ren and Jaune finding their own clothing, too!" Pyrrha realized. "What is going on here?"
Whitley was carefully picking through the contents of his own crate, a pronounced frown on his face- something Ruby noticed quickly. "What, nothing in your size?" she asked, looking up from the black skirt and red cloak she'd discovered.
"No, it's the fabric," Whitley shook his head. "It seems rather thin... unreliable."
"Well, it's that or your uniform," Nora pointed out. "Heck, I'm not gonna tell ya what you can or can't wear." She hoisted the pink dress she'd discovered.
"No... I foresee nothing but trouble if we rely on our uniforms," Whitley decided, preparing to don the white shirt and blue vest he'd uncovered.
"What the hell is going on?" Qrow agreed with Pyrrha. "They all just happen to find clothes that perfectly match what they wear in our world?"
Jack raised a contemplative finger to his chin. "Tell me... do you believe in gravity?"
"...The hell are you talking about?" Torchwick stared.
"He's jumping the gun- as usual," Vanessa interjected, delivering a light chop to the back of Jack's neck.
"It's something we're probably gonna end up explaining later," Tom assured them. "Especially on the Voyage Home side of things."
"That... only makes me more confused," Jaune shook his head.
"Indeed... however, I see no route but to continue for now," Ghira closed his eyes in acceptance.
"Ah... I don't know how to say it, but this cloak just feels... good," Ruby sighed in delight as she fastened it around her neck.
"I prefer the colors on this dress," Nora unfolded the dress she'd chosen.
"Not quite what I'd call 'fresh,' but... they'll do," Jaune decided as he slid the hoodie over his head.
"No Pumpkin Pete, though," Jaune observed.
"I suppose there's little room for cereal mascots in a world like this," Pyrrha pointed out.
"Yes, it's rather old," Ren agreed, "but it's entirely intact. We'll be fine."
From behind them, the boys heard the girls talking about their clothes. "Funny designs, some of these," Ruby was saying.
"You're telling me- I'm not even sure how this one goes on," Yang agreed.
They all stood up straight and slowly turned, until they saw the girls stripping off their uniforms out of the corner of their eyes.
Ren cleared his throat. "I think I'll... go change over there." He seized his robes and moved towards the other side of the crashed ship.
"Yeah, that... that looks like a nice spot!" Jaune agreed somewhat awkwardly, following close behind.
Whitley quickly cleared his throat. "Yes, I suppose I should determine the ideal spot... over there... quite so... therefore... ergo..." He continued to stammer as he grabbed the vest and ran after the others.
The three girls were left looking rather bemused. "What's up with them?" Yang asked, looking after them with her top off (shot tastefully from the neck up.) "This spot looks as good as any other to me..."
"Yang, I know you're shameless sometimes, but this is a whole different thing!" Tai spoke up scoldingly.
"It's not just her, it's this world!" Ruby quickly came to her sister's defense. "Earlier, they were all in co-ed baths, and they didn't even seem to notice each other being naked!"
"That... actually makes a degree of sense," Ozpin noticed. "They say they're born from cradles- from pods, not from actual birth. It's quite possible they simply don't understand the concept of sex at all."
"But then, why's it bothering them now?" Sun asked. "If it hasn't mattered to them this whole time..."
"I suspect it has something to do with their awakening," Blake suggested. "Things that were deactivated to make them perfect soldiers have now been re-activated."
"Reminiscent of Paradise Lost," Ozpin realized. "Upon eating the apple of knowledge, Adam and Eve became quite conscious of each others' sexual characteristics- they lost a form of innocence."
"Man, I was laughing at that scene, now you had to go and make it all confusing," Yang groaned.
Qrow and Summer ignored all of the above, still foraging through crates and pulling out all the food they could find.
Once they had everything packed, the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon. "We should go as far as we can before it gets dark," Ren suggested. "We don't want our old colonies attacking us in our sleep."
Nobody objected to this, but they made the first steps of their journey in silence, moving as straight south as they could manage, while also making a move towards the thicker patches of trees, lest any soldiers from either kingdom spot them and attack. For several hours, they walked, until the clearing was far behind, but the towering sword hardly seemed any closer. Finally, as the sun began to shroud itself behind the horizon, they halted and set up a small campfire, still only exchanging what words were strictly necessary.
"A dreary start indeed," Ironwood noted.
"It could have been worse- far worse," Ozpin shook his head.
Summer used the fire to cook them a nice dinner, and compliments to the chef were the first words spoken since the clearing. After dinner, tey all separated to their own activities- Ruby began doing push-ups, while Jaune matched her pace on the other end of the camp, though he couldn't stop his eyes from wandering in her direction on occasion, sizing her up. Yang elected to go directly to sleep, while Whitley stayed up, tinkering with the gauntlets that controlled his shikigami. Ren watched over them all, before his eyes landed on Nora, using her legs as a makeshift desk to scribble in her diary.
Ren found himself drawn to her- as he approached, she flipped to the back page and placed a check mark in one box in a series she seemed to have penned in herself. "Is that...?" he asked tentatively, unsure if he dared to be too direct.
He needn't have worried. "Yeah, that's my time left," she nodded, snapping the book shut. "Didn't wanna lose track of time and just wake up dead one day."
"Oh, that's right," Nora shrank. "According to that old lady... my other only has a few months left..."
"Then they'd best hurry to that city," Ren said firmly. "There must be a way to fix it there- I'm sure there is."
Nora gave a small smile and sniff. "I... hope so."
"It's three months exactly today. I guess I'd better make good use of it."
She looked up, and gave a wan laugh at the concern in his eyes. "Try not to worry about it- I've thought about it a lot. What I can do before then... what I can leave behind... I know all the people I've sent off felt the same."
"So... that's why you're willing to place your trust in Maria," Ren assessed.
Nora nodded. "If there's a chance that I can live more..." She shook her head. "I don't know. But... you and me, talkin' like this? That's kind of... amazing itself, isn't it? If there's any hope- any chance that she's right..."
Ren sat as close to her as he dared. "Do you think... that those who leave a legacy... that they're content, in the end? That those who are left behind can come to terms with their loss?"
"Something to think about, I guess," Nora shrugged.
"Renny, you know I've never been good with this philophizing stuff!" Nora pouted.
"I'm well aware," Ren agreed. "But these worlds seem to favor it."
"That's what I think about, all the time," Ren admitted. "What's left when a person dies. What happens to their connection with others."
"That's some... heavy stuff," Nora nodded, somewhat evasively.
"I suppose it is, at that," Ren agreed. "But then, such is life."
The camera slowly rose up to the sky, where the stars twinkled above, absolutely unconcerned with the events going on below.
XXXX
I polished this one off faster than I thought I would- though writing around Nyx proved to be a bit of a challenge. Little purr monster... Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the long-awaited return to Chariots of Fire! I think we'll progress a little more here in the next episode, before returning to... either Chronicles of the Crescent Blade or Last Contact, I'll decide later, after I've gotten some sleep. I've got two slots of the last four reactors filled, I'm just trying to decide on the last two- it'll likely be some combination of Cinder, Cardin, or Coco- I promise, the fact that they're all C-names is completely coincidental. Maybe later, I'll switch out some reactors– it's been noted that some of them are rather one-note. Again, I don't know, we'll see how I feel if I wake up. Until then, don't you dare go hollow- Gamer4 out!